Poetic Techniques

Question 1

The strings played beautifully yesterday.

What poetic technique is this?

Answer 1

Synecdoche: the part of something represents the whole, or the whole represents the part.

Question 2

I had to read Hemingway for a class
[What is really meant]: I had to read a work by Hemingway for a class

Houston was ahead by six points
[What is really meant]: The Houston Rockets were ahead by six points

With reference to ‘Hemingway’ and ‘Houston’, what poetic technique is this?

Answer 2

Metonymy: The use of the name of one thing to represent something related to it.

[Achieves an effect]:

Question 3

In these times of pressurised happiness, we must all hold firm.

With reference to the phrase pressurised happiness, what poetic technique is this?

Answer 3

Epithet: describes a person/place/object by accompanying/replacing it with an adjective/adjective phrase. Hits a key characteristic

Question 4

This I’ve got to see.

With reference to structure, what technique is this?

Answer 4

Hyperbaton: the inversion of the usual structure of a sentence.

Question 5

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

With reference to the opening three phrases, what type of poetic technique is this?

Answer 5

Tricolon: series of three parallel words/phrases.

Question 6

You’ve probably heard an example of a non sequitur before, therefore bunny rabbits are way cuter than chipmunks.

What technique is this?

Answer 6

Non sequitur: inference doesn’t follow from a premise