Poetic Devices and their Effect

Question 1

Define Alliteration.

Answer 1

Alliteration is the repetition of similar sounds, generally at the beginning of words and usually by means of consonants or consonant sound clusters in a group of words.

Question 2

What is the effect of alliteration?

Answer 2

The effect of alliteration is it creates aggressive sounds and emphasizes specific words in the phrase.

Question 3

Define Allusion.

Answer 3

In literature, this is the reference to another work.

Question 4

What is the effect of allusion?

Answer 4

The effect of allusion is that it allows the reader to comprehend the message on a deeper level and allows the reader to connect to the poet emotionally. It allows the reader to contemplate the poem’s meaning and see how it relates to real life.

Question 5

Define Anaphora.

Answer 5

Anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Question 6

What is the effect of anaphora?

Answer 6

The effect of anaphora is that it emphasizes a specific or particular idea throughout the poem, and helps draw the readers attention towards these lines.

Question 7

Define Assonance.

Answer 7

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words.

Question 8

What is the effect of assonance?

Answer 8

Assonance is used by authors to play with the rhythm and connect to the mood. The longer vowel sounds are used to slow down the rhythm and the shorter sounds are used to speed it up. This speed-up can help develop an urgent mood.

Question 9

Define Blank Verse.

Answer 9

Without rhyme.

Question 10

What is the effect of blank verse?

Answer 10

It allows the poem to flow like a regular conversation, and may create a more solemn throughout the poem.

Question 11

Define Consonance.

Answer 11

The repeating, at close intervals, of consonants at the end of important words.

Question 12

What is the effect of consonance?

Answer 12

The effect of consonance is that it creates a more harmonious, cohesive sound for the audience.

Question 13

Define Enjambment.

Answer 13

Enjambment is the incomplete syntax at the end of a line; meaning ‘runs over’ from one poetic line to the next, without punctuation.

Question 14

What is the effect of enjambment?

Answer 14

The effect of enjambment is that it creates a rising urgency, and may also speed up the poem. It also creates a rising tension and may elicit emotional responses from the audience (suspense). Also emphasizes certain lines.

Question 15

Define Epiphora.

Answer 15

Epiphora, also known as “epistrophe,” is a stylistic device in which a word or phrase is repeated at the ends of successive phrases.

Question 16

What is the effect of epiphora?

Answer 16

The effect of epiphora is it highlights a specific part of the poem to draw the reader’s attention to it. It helps create a more harmonious transition throughout the poem.

Question 17

Define Hyperbole.

Answer 17

Hyperbole is an exaggeration of fact used either for serious or comic effect.

Question 18

What is the effect of hyperbole?

Answer 18

The effect of hyperbole is that it allows the audience to understand the severity of the situation. Furthermore, it creates a rising intensity throughout the poem.

Question 19

Define Imagery.

Answer 19

A literary device when the author uses the five senses to suggest a picture in the readers mind.

Question 20

What is the effect of imagery?

Answer 20

The effect of imagery is that it paints a picture in the audience’s mind, and it allows the audience to connect with the reader on a deeper level. Helps them to comprehend the message at a level that is easy to understand.

Question 21

Define Metaphor,

Answer 21

A metaphor is a comparison that is only suggested or implied, with no clear indication of a relation between the two items.

Question 22

What is the effect of metaphor?

Answer 22

One effect of metaphor on the reader is it creates connection and empathy because metaphor delivers more than literal significance, it can make a reader understand something at a deeper level than any literal description.

Question 23

Define Metre.

Answer 23

Metre is the beats in each line of the poem. It is the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up the lines in poetry.

Question 24

What is the effect of metre?

Answer 24

It creates a more cohesive, musical, and harmonious effect throughout the poem.

Question 25

Define Motif.

Answer 25

Motif is a reoccurring feature, such as a name, an image, or a phrase, in a work of literature.

Question 26

What is the effect of motif?

Answer 26

The motif helps to emphasize specific ideas that are important to the poem as a whole. These features can represent a bigger idea or meaning.

Question 27

Define onomatopoeia.

Answer 27

The use of a word in which the sound imitates or suggests its meaning.

Question 28

What is the effect of onomatopoeia?

Answer 28

The effect of onomatopoeia is that it adds excitement, action, and interest by allowing the reader to hear the poem.

Question 29

Define Oxymoron.

Answer 29

When two or more words of opposite meaning are placed next to each other.

Question 30

What is the effect of oxymoron?

Answer 30

The effect of oxymoron is that it creates a dramatic effect and forces the reader to stop and think about the complexity of an idea.

Question 31

Define Paradox.

Answer 31

A statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory and untrue.

Question 32

What is the effect of paradox?

Answer 32

A paradox creates the effect that the audience has to think at a deeper level about certain ideas present in the poem. The audience must think more critically about the topic.

Question 33

Define Personification.

Answer 33

A figure of speech in which something non-human is given human qualities.

Question 34

What is the effect of personification?

Answer 34

This technique helps create a deeper emotional connection and enhances the imagery, making the narrative more engaging and memorable.

Question 35

Define Rhythm.

Answer 35

A strong, repeated pattern of movement or sound.

Question 36

What is the effect of rhythm?

Answer 36

The effect of rhythm is that it helps create a harmonious connection between the reader and the poem. It also creates a sense of cohesiveness.