poetic device - pun Flashcards
poetic device - definition
A device used in poetry to manipulate the sound of words, sentences or lines.
alliteration - definition
The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words.
alliteration - example
“Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore”
alliteration - impact on text
The use of alliteration creates a lyrical or bouncy quality that can make the text seem bright and cheerful
assonance - definition
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.
assonance - example
“From the molten-golden notes”
assonance - impact on text
It helps to embed a set of words within the mind of whoever is hearing them
consonance - definition
The repetition of the same consonant sound at the end of words or within words.
consonance - example
“Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door”
consonance - impact on text
Consonance is used by writers to communicate rhythm, mood, and flow
onomatopoeia - definition
The use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes.
onomatopoeia - example
Snap, rustle, boom, murmur
onomatopoeia - impact on text
It can add excitement, action, and interest by allowing the reader to hear and remember your writing.
internal rhyme - definition
When a line of poetry contains a rhyme within a single line.
internal rhyme - example
“To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!”
internal rhyme - impact on text
Poets can break a rhythm they have created with internal rhyme to unsettle the reader or change the mood of the poem.
slant rhyme - definition
When a poet creates a rhyme, but the two words do not rhyme exactly – they are merely similar.
slant rhyme - example
“I sat upon a stone, / And found my life has gone.”
slant rhyme - impact on text
Slant rhymes make poetry and prose sound more cohesive.
end rhyme - definition
When the last word of two different lines of poetry rhyme.
end rhyme - example
“Roses are red, violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, and so are you.”
end rhyme - impact on text
End rhymes can make the words more memorable and easier to memorise for readers / listeners.
rhyme scheme - definition
The pattern of a poem’s end rhymes.
rhyme scheme - example
the following lines have a
rhyme scheme of a b a b c d c d:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. b
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May. a
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. b
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines c
And often is his gold complexion dimmed d
And every fair from fair sometime declines c
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed d
rhyme scheme - impact on text
The regular pattern of the rhyme builds a sense of completeness–probably tied to the human need for psychological closure.
stressed and unstressed syllables - definition
In every word of more than one syllable, one of the syllables is stressed, or said with more force than the other syllable(s).
stressed and unstressed syllables - example
In the name “Nathan,” the first syllable is stressed. In the word “unhappiness,” the second of the four syllables is stressed.
stressed and unstressed syllables - impact on text
Stressed and unstressed syllables can shift pronunciation and meaning within words as well. Often the shift in the stressed syllable will change a word from a noun to a verb.
meter - definition
A regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry.
meter - example
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” Here, the meter pattern is: unstressed unstressed stressed, unstressed unstressed stressed
meter - impact on text
it creates regular pattern of sound in your poetry! If the pattern is too rigid, happening the same way all the time, then it can become mechanical, or hypnotic in a bad way—sending your readers to sleep, irrespective of the words!
free verse - definition
Poetry that doesn’t have much meter or rhyme.
free verse - example
William Carlos Williams’s short poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” is written in free verse. It reads: “so much depends / upon / a red wheel / barrow / glazed with rain / water / beside the white / chickens.”
free verse - impact on text
Open-form free verse (where the lines move around on the page in unexpected ways among white space, like e.e. cummings or Robert Duncan) can stretch your readers’ minds in new ways, especially on the page.
lambic pentameter - definition
Poetry that is written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.
lambic pentameter - example
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
lambic pentameter - impact on text
Iambic pentameter creates rhythm to the pattern of da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM. This underlying structure provides writing with a sense of musicality and order.
sonnet - definition
A 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter. Usually divided into three quatrains and a couplet.
sonnet - example
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
sonnet - impact on text
The first and most obvious influence of Shakespeare’s sonnets on modern poetry is their structure. The typical sonnet structure, consisting of 14 lines with a rhyming scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, has become a staple of modern poetry.
polysyndeton - definition
When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions. Normally, a conjunction is used only before the last item in a list.
polysyndeton - example
“I walked the dog, and fed the cat, and milked the cows.” “Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, or a carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean creeping things…he also shall be unclean.”
polysyndeton - impact on text
Polysyndeton is often used to slow down the pace of the writing and/or add an authoritative tone.
pun - definition
When a word that has two or more meanings is used in a humorous way.
pun - example
My dog has a fur coat and pants!” “I was stirred by his cooking lesson.”
pun - impact on text
Puns in writing are most often used in a humorous way, to elicit a “jokey” tone,
