Poetic Devices

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

When two or more words in a line of poetry begin with the same consonant sound; sometimes the letters are different but the sounds are the same; used to create pleasing musical sounds.

E.x. See the sights of the city
To sit in solemn silence in the dull, dark, dock

Question 2

Assonance

Answer 2

When two or more words in a line of poetry contain the same vowel sound. Gives emphasis

E.x. See that his piece of paper is clean

Question 3

Simile

Answer 3

A comparison between two unlike objects using “like”, “as”, or “than”. Makes description memorable. Shocks the reader into appreciating the qualities of the two things being compared.

E.x. “Robin is as smart as Jose” is a comparison, but not a simile because the two objects being compared are too similar (two students), but “Robin is as smart as a whip” is a simile, because the objects compared are not similar.
My love is like a red, red rose
Superman is faster than a speeding bullet

Question 4

Metaphor

Answer 4

A device in which two unlike objects are compared by stating that one is actually something else when logically it isn’t. Deepens the appreciation of the things being compared.

E.x. She is a bear before she has her morning coffee
Each seagull was a white boat on the water

Question 5

Personification

Answer 5

When human qualities or actions are given to inanimate (not living) objects or non-human objects. Makes things or ideas seem more real.

E.x. And there tiptoe, the stars among the branches go
The flowers danced in the wind

Question 6

Onomatopoeia

Answer 6

The use of words which have soundsEuphemisms that express their meanings. Creates musical effects and reinforces meanings.

E.x. The snake hissed warningly

Question 7

Euphemism

Answer 7

Calling a harsh or unpleasant thing by a more pleasant or acceptable word or phrase as a substitute.

E.x. “passed away” or “no longer with us” instead of dead.
“servicing the target” instead of dropping a bomb

Question 8

Allusion

Answer 8

A reference (usually brief) to a person, object, or event from literature, religion, history, or mythology. Expresses complicated ideas simply.

E.x. She has the Midas touch (mythology)
He sat Buddha-like on the floor (religion)
He felt that he had met his Waterloo (history)

Question 9

Rhyme

Answer 9

Repetition of the sounds of the ends of words.

E.x. In Flanders Fields the poppies blow/ Between the crosses row on row

Question 10

Rhythm

Answer 10

The regular patter of syllables or beats in a line or lines of poetry.

E.x. He was always cold but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell

Question 11

Hyperbole

Answer 11

Using deliberate, extreme exaggeration for emphasis

E.x. He is dying to act in the school play
Each minute lasted a week

Question 12

Imagery

Answer 12

Descriptive language used to “paint an emotional picture” for the reader.

E.x. “you are not here, waiting like a fern, making a spiny shadow”

Question 13

Irony

Answer 13

Gives surprising, amusing, interesting contradictions.

Question 14

Situational Irony

Answer 14

When what is expressed or what happens is contradictory or opposite to what is expected.

E.x. A soldier survives a war, and is killed by a car when he returns home

Question 15

Verbal Irony

Answer 15

A difference between what is stated and what is true.

E.x. “What lovely weather we’re having,” spoken during a bad storm.

Question 16

Apostrophe

Answer 16

Used to add emotional intensity
a. Speaking directly to something which cannot answer
E.x. “O wild west wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being”
b. Speaking to an absent person as though they were present when they are not.
E.x. “Grandmother, why did you have to die”

Question 17

Paradox

Answer 17

A statement which at first glance appears contradictory, but contains possible truth. Draws the reader’s attention

E.x. I must be cruel to be kind

Question 18

Symbolism

Answer 18

Something concrete is used to represent an idea; often symbols are established and generally understood by people. Used to create an emotional response in the reader.

E.x. A dove represents peace
A river represents life
A cross represents Christianity

Question 19

Cliché

Answer 19

A worn-out expression which has lost its vitality (and sometimes its original meaning); but sometimes a cliché can be used successfully for humorous purposes.

E.x. He was as busy as a bee. She was as strong as an ox (both of these are similes)
It was a dark and stormy night

Question 20

Metonymy

Answer 20

When name of some object or idea is substituted for another with which it is closely associated

E.x. A statement came from Buckingham Palace: this represents the British Royal Family
We studies Shakespeare in English: this represents a written literary work of William Shakespeare

Question 21

Mood/ Atmosphere

Answer 21

The feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. Mood may be suggested by the writer’s choice of words, by events in the work. or by the physical setting. For example, the mood in a story set in a South African train station, may be a sultry or heavy one; the mood-evoking description may focus on the brick, mud, and tin buildings at the hot, sandy train station

Question 22

Tone

Answer 22

The tone of a literary work is the writer’s attitude toward the readers and toward the subject. A writer’s tone may be formal of informal, friendly, or distant, personal or pompous, familiar or engaging.

E.x. “Great God! I’d rather be a pagan suckled in a creed outworn;” (frustrated)

Question 23

Oxymoron

Answer 23

two apparently contradictory words are used together.