1. Poetic Terns and techniques
Junior Cert Poetry

2. Poetic terms/Techniques
Speaker/ person: the voice in the poem. This is usually but not always the voice of the poet.
Title: name of the poem
Tone/Mood: how the poet feels about what she/he is writing (joyful, angry, bitter, self-pity etc.)
Alliteration: when two or more words close to each other or on the same line begin with the same letter.
Safe side, burnt black, cold case

3. Poetic terms/Techniques
Assonance: When two or more words close to each other or on the same line have the same vowel sound(A, E, O, I, U)
The fat cat sat on the mat.
Simile: When two things are compared using the words ‘as, ‘like, or ‘than’.
As black as coal
He ran like the wind
Faster than the speed of light

4. Poetic terms/Techniques
Metaphor: when two things are compared without using the words ‘as’, ‘like’ or ‘than’.
You are a star
I turned to ice
My house is a wreck
Onomatopoeia: when a word sounds like what it is describing
The bees buzzed around the flower
I heard the pitter-patter of raindrops on the window

5. Poetic terms/Techniques
Imagery: the picture you imagine in your head while reading the poem.
Personification: When a writers attributes human qualities to an animal, object or idea.
“the happy sun smiled down on me”.
Rhythm: This refers to the movement or flow of words.

6. Poetic terms/Techniques
Symbol: this is a word or phrase, which represents something real and concrete but also represents something other than itself.
A dove is symbol of peace
A flower is a symbol of beauty
Analogy: a comparison made to show how things are similar

7. Poetic terms/Techniques
Allusion: when a writer refers to a well-known character, event, historical happening or work of literature.
Sibilance: this is a whispering/hissing ‘S’ sound. “it’s surface seems titled to receive the sun perfectly”.
Elegy: this is a poem of lamentation: a poem mourning the dead.

8. Poetic terms/Techniques
Hyperbole: The deliberate use of exaggeration or overstating to emphasise a point.
Paradox: a statement that appears to be, but is not, a contradiction
‘The freezing ice burnt my head’
Cliché: a well know, overused expression or a phrase.
Tomorrow is another day

9. Poetic terms/Techniques
Epiphany: this refers to a moment of insight/ understanding.
Irony: verbal irony occurs when one thing is said, but the opposite is meant.
‘irony of a situation occurs when a situation is very different from what the protagonist believes it to be