Poetic Devices Flashcards
Allegory
a symbolic narrative with a second meaning
Alliteration
repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words
Allusion
brief reference to other works, often classical or biblical
Anastrophe
reversing normal syntax (Yoda talk)
Apostrophe
addressing an entity that cannot respond
Assonance
repeated vowel sounds
Caesura
deep pause or break in the middle of a line
Cacophony
discordant sounds
Consonance
repeated consonant sounds
Elision
taking out syllables to make a line fit in a particular meter
Contrast
combination of unlike elements for effect
Connotation
associations called up by words beyond their dictionary meaning
Litotes
expressing an affirmative with the negative of its opposite
Euphony
a series of musically pleasing sounds
Enjambment
a run-on line of poetry
Hyperbole
extreme exaggeration
Irony
a disconnect between what is said and what is meant
Image
a concrete representation of one of the five senses
Imagery
a pattern of related images
Juxtaposition
two things placed next to one another for effect
Metaphor
comparing two unlike things
Onomatopoeia
a word that imitates the sound it represents
Oxymoron
combination of two words that appear to contradict one another
Personification
endowing non-living objects with living characteristics
Repetition
purposeful re-use of words or phrases for effect
Simile
metaphor that uses the words “like” or “as”
Slant rhyme
words that almost rhyme
Synecdoche
part represents the whole
Symbols
an ordinary object that stands for greater meaning
Synesthesia
using one sense to represent another
