Common Literary Devices in Poetry Flashcards
Anaphora
Anaphora describes a poem that repeats the same phrase at the beginning of each line.
Ex. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speach “I have a Drean” is an example of Anaphora (Although not a poem).
Conciet
Conciet is an extended metaphor.
A conceit must run through the entire poem as the poem’s central device.
Ex. Wet Dreamz music video by J. Cole, the dogs are an example of conciet.
Apostrophe
Apostrophe describes any instance when the speaker talks to a person or object that is absent from the poem.
Apostrophe is often employed in admiration or longing.
Metonymy
A metonymy is when the writer replaces “a part for a part,” choosing one noun to describe a different noun.
Using one word in place of another.
Ex. You can’t critique my pen (Pen is a metonymy for wrtiing).
Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a form of metonymy, but instead of “a part for a part,” the writer substitutes “a part for a whole.”
Using an apect to a describe a whole idea.
Ex. All hands on deck (All workers present).
Enjambment
Enjambment refers to a line break that interrupts the flow of a sentence: either the line usually doesn’t end with punctuation, and the thought continues on the next line.Line breaks and stanza breaks help guide the reader through the poem.
This affects the mood of the poem, making it jumbled and frantic.
End-Stopped Lines
End-stopped lines are lines which end on a period or on a natural break in the sentence.
This makes the poem more still, short, and serious.
Zeugma
A zeugma occurs when one verb is used to mean two different things for two different objects.
Ex. He stole my heart, and my dog.
Repetition
Strategic repetition of certain words or phrases.
Ex. I tried to run, but it tired harder, ran faster, ran better.
Internal Rhyme
Two rhyming words juxtaposed inside of the line, rather than at the end of the line.
Ex. Liar Liar pants on fire.
Alliteration
The repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Ex. Piper picked a peck of peppers.
Consonance & Assonance
Consonance is the alliteration of consonant sounds, whereas assonance refers to vowel sounds.
Ex. Week, Beef, Green; Park, Polk, Pork.
Euphony & Cacophony
Euphony uses pleasant sounding words wheras cacophony uses harsh sounding words.
Ex. Love and lavender sweeps the gallery; The rancid stench rips the oxygen from my scrawny lungs.
M
Meter
The organization of stressed and unstressed sylables to create a rhythm.
Ex. “love is a smoke made with the fumes of sighs.”
