Poetic Devices Flashcards
Revise poetic devices
Connotation
The thoughts, feelings, meanings we associate with a word.
‘Home’ connotes warmth and comfort.
Denotation
The literal, dictionary definition of a word
‘Home’ denotes a place where one lives.
Semantic field
A group of words that link to the same topic or theme
The words ‘ocean,’ ‘waves,’ and ‘seashore’ = semantic field of the beach
Verb
A doing word, an action, a process or a happening
Danced, live, said, went.
Adjective
A describing word
Graceful, peaceful, loud, slow.
Pronoun
I, you, he, she, we, they
Speaker
The person or thing whose voice, ideas, opinions we hear
It could be the poet, or it could be an object or an animal
Message
The poet’s aim - what they want the reader to know
Atmosphere
The general feeling, usually created by a place or setting
The setting of an abandoned house may create an eerie atmosphere.
Mood
The feelings experienced by the reader
A description of a single house on a rainy day = a melancholic/sad mood.
Tone
The writer’s/speaker’s attitude towards the subject being spoken about
A writer’s sarcastic tone can make a text both humorous and critical.
Simile
A comparison of two different things using the words “like” or “as.”
Her smile was as bright as the sun.
Metaphor
- Direct metaphor
- Implied metaphor
Direct - A comparison that directly states one thing is another. (My brother is a pig.)
Implied - A comparison where the literal thing being compared isn’t mentioned. (The pig ate all of my birthday chocolates.)
Personification
A comparison giving human characteristics to nonhuman things.
The wind whispered through the trees.
Zoomorphism
A comparison giving animal characteristics to non-animal things.
The politician displayed cunning, fox-like behaviour in the negotiations
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a series of words
He ran rapidly round the racetrack.
Onomatopoeia
A sound device using words that imitate the sound they describe
The clock goes ‘tick-tock’ as time passes.
Buzz. Clang.
Assonance
A sound device using the repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words
Consonance
A sound device using the repetition of consonant sounds within nearby words
Sibilance
A sound device using the repetition of sss/shh sounds like “s,” “sh,” or “z” within nearby words
The snake hissed as it slithered through the grass.
Stanza
A paragraph in a poem.
Repetition
A word or phrase that is repeated - this is usually to emphasise a particular event or feeling.
The ship sunk down, down, down
Rhetorical question
A question that is asked to make an audience think, but not expected to answer.
Did you know..? What else could I do?
Linking phrases
to emphasise / to show / to imply / to highlight
Use these to explain the effect of the poet’s language and structure
Contrast
Placing different/opposite emotions/ideas across a text to highlight differences.
A poem may start negative and then end on a positive note.
Juxtaposition
A contrast device placing two or more things side by side to emphasise their similarities or differences.
The vibrant flowers stood before the dull, grey wall.
Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction
“O loving hate”
Abstract Noun
Something you cannot touch, like ‘hate’ ‘love’ ‘fear’
Test if something is a noun by placing ‘the’ or ‘a’ before it.
Pathetic fallacy
Using the weather or environment to reflect human feelings.
Enjambment
The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
Caesura
A pause near the middle of a line in a poem. Could be a . - : ;
Iambic Pentameter
A line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable
“Two households, both alike in dignity”
