Poetic Devices/word Play Flashcards
Alliteration
The repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of the word
Ex: She went sailing on a sunny summer Sunday.
Ex: Phill Fell
Onomatopoeia
Words used to imitate sounds
Ex: Shush, boom, swoosh, whiz, bang
Metaphor
An implied comparison between two seeming unlike things
Ex: He had a heart of gold
The rose petal was a drop of blood on the ground
Personification
Giving inanimate objects, animals, or ideas human qualities or abilities
Ex: The trees danced in the wind
The hinges screamed as the door swung open
Simile
A comparison between two objects usually using the words like, than, or as
Ex: she is like a firecracker
When she danced she was as graceful as a swan
Allusion
A reference to a person, place, or event outside of the work in which it appears
Ex: he is such a Romeo
Standing up to his bully he felt like David fighting Goliath
Hyperbole
A deliberate exaggeration, used for either serious or comic effect
Ex: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse
The pen is mightier than the sword
Oxymoron
When there seems to be a contradiction between two words when they are put together
Ex: jumbo shrimp
Alone in a crowd
Paradox
A statement or sentence which is contradictory (similar to an oxymoron)
⭐️but when examined contains elements of truth
Ex: youth is wasted on the young
Less is more
Pun
The humorous use of a word to suggest different meaning or of words of the same sound and different meanings
Ex: Why are Teddy bears never hungry? Because they are always stuffed
Synecdoche
When a part of something is used to represent a whole
Ex: he had some sweet new wheels
She needed to get back on the waves
Stanza
A division in a poem, composed of two or more lines with a common pattern of rhyme, metre, and number of lines
Repetition
Repetition, repetition, repetition
Rhyme scheme
The arrangement of rhymes in a poem or stanza (a, b, b)
Assonance
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in words
Ex: The walrus walked over the rocks
Hop scotch
