1. Poetic Devices

2. Simile A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using the words “is like” or “as.” “Stars” They are like flashlights in the night sky; God’s little helpers guiding us on our journeys. Stars are as bright as a lighthouse on an icy, ocean night; they are like guardians committed to bringing you home. The words in black are examples of similes

3. Metaphor A metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things in which one thing is directly stated as being the other The clouds are white, fluffy cotton balls.

4. Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in lines of poetry. She sells seashells by the seashore.

5. Assonance Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in lines of poetry. Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese. Free and easy. Make the grade. The stony walls enclosed the holy space.

6. 6 Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came. --Carl Sandburg, Early Moon “I made my way to the lake.” “…on a proud round cloud in white high night…” - E. E. Cummings Assonance

7. Imagery Using any of the senses to paint a mental picture with words. Robert Frost is known for his use of imagery in his poetry.

8. Onomatopoeia A word that sounds like what it describes. Example: The crackle of fire struck a cord of fear in our hearts. buzz… hiss… roar… meow… woof… rumble… howl… snap… zip… zap… blip… whack … crack… crash… flutter… flap… squeak… whirr.. pow… plop… crunch… splash… jingle… rattle… clickety-clack… bam!

9. Personification Giving any nonhuman object or animal a human characteristic This is the first stanza of William Wordsworth’s poem “Daffodils” I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. The daffodils are personified by being in a a crowd and dancing like people do.

10. Allusion Allusion is a reference to another well known written work, movie, song, painting, or poem. The song “Stealing Cinderella” by Chuck Wicks includes an allusion. The singer refers to the woman he loves as Cinderella and he is Prince Charming

11. Repetition Words or phrases repeated in writings to give emphasis, rhythm, and/or a sense of urgency. Example: from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Bells” To the swinging and the ringing of the bells, bells, bells – Of the bells, bells, bells, bells Bells, bells, bells – To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! Think of all the songs you know where words and lines are repeated – often a lot !

12. Hyperbole Hyperbole is an exaggeration. Example: I will love you until the ocean runs dry.

13. 13 Rhyme The repetition of end sounds in words – End rhymes appear at the end of two or more lines of poetry. – Internal rhymes appear within a single line of poetry. Ring around the rosies, A pocket full of posies, Abednego was meek and mild; he softly spoke, he sweetly smiled. He never called his playmates names, and he was good in running games;

14. 14 Rhyme Scheme The pattern of end rhymes (of lines) in a poem. Letters are used to identify a poem’s rhyme scheme (a.k.a rhyme pattern). The letter a is placed after the first line and all lines that rhyme with the first line. The letter b identifies the next line ending with a new sound, and all lines that rhyme with it. Letters continue to be assigned in sequence to lines containing new ending sounds. a.k.a = “also known as” This may seem confusing, but it isn’t. Really!

15. 15 Rhyme Scheme continued… Examples: Twinkle, twinkle little stara How I wonder what you are.a Up above the earth so high,b Like a diamond in the sky.b

16. 16 Rhyme Scheme continued… What is the rhyme scheme of this stanza? Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. From Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

17. Denotation The strict dictionary meaning of a word

18. Connotation The emotional and imaginative association surrounding a word Connotation examples

19. Point of View Positive We bought inexpensive souvenirs at the amusement park. Negative We bought cheap souvenirs at the amusement park.

20. Point of View: Positive Everyone had a (smile, smirk) on his/her face on the ride home. Everyone had a smile on his/her face on the way home.

21. Positive? You Decide! averagemediocre spitsaliva childishchildlike antiqueold-fashioned