Poetic Devices Flashcards
Poetry techniques
Simile
A comparison made using the words “like” or “as”
e.g. like the smell of smog - Where I come from
Metaphor
A comparison - made directly or indirectly- with out using “like & as”
e.g. People are made of places - Where I come from
Extended metaphor
when the metaphor is continued though-out the whole of the poem
E.g. Go and open the door - The door
Personification
Giving human characteristics to something which is not human
e.g. The moon me the sea weeps me - Homeland
Onomatopoeia
Words which attempt to imitate sounds
e.g.
Alliteration
A repetition of consonant sounds
e.g. Full of threats, full of thunder - Below the Green Corrie
plosive
“b”, “p”, “t”,”d”, sounds - which can be harsh, aggressive or shocking
Assonance
a repetition on vowel sounds
Sibilance
Repeated “s” sounds - most often
Anaphora
A repetition of words, phrases or clauses
Juxtaposition
Two things being placed close together for contrasting effect
Oxymoron
To opposite things describing something together (e.g. friendly fire)
Semantic field
A set of words relating to the same topic. (e.g. “Foul” and “Shot” would appear, In the semantic field for sports
Pathetic fallacy
When the mood, thoughts and emotions are decided by the wether and the environment around them
Anachronism
A person or object placed in a inappropriate time
Cliche
An overused phrase or saying
Hyperbole
Exaggeration
Irony
A use of words to mean something very different from what they appear to mean
Rhyme
The repetition of syllable sounds - usually at the ends of lines but sometimes in the middle of a line
Couplet
A pair of rhyming lines which follow on from one another
Stanza
A group of lines separated from others in a poem
Enjambment
The running over of a sentence from one line to the next without a piece of punctuation at the end of the line
Caesura
A stop or a pause in a line of poetry - usually caused by punctuation
Blank verse
Poetry written in non- rhyming, ten syllable lines
Dramatic monologue
A poem in which is about the death of its subject
Elegy
A form of poetry which is about the death of its subject
End stopped
A line of poetry ending in a piece of punctuation which results in a pause
Epigraph
a quotation from another text, Included in a poem
