Poetry 3 Flashcards
the use of specific words to describe a person, place, thing,
or action.
Example: Notice how Paul B. Janeczko uses proper nouns in his poem “Reverend
Mona”: When the elders said she was too old,
Reverend Mona
surrendered her tabernacle
next to Fast Frankie’s Pawn Shop
Precise Language
the use of descriptive details that appeal to one or more of
the five senses.
Example: Notice the sensory details in the following lines from “The Sea” by
James Reeves:
The giant sea dog moans, Licking his greasy paws.
Sensory Details
a comparison of two unlike things, using the words like or as.
Example: “I read the shoreline like an open volume.”
Simile
a comparison of two unlike things, not using the words like or as.
Example: “Ribbons of sea foam / wrap the emerald island.”
Metaphor
To ascribe human traits to non-human or non-living things.
Example: “The unfurled sailboat glides on / urged by wind and will and brilliant
bliss.”
Personification
a person, place, thing, or action that stands for something else.
Example: In “From Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, a set of stairs symbolizes
life.
Symbolism
– the use of exaggeration to express strong emotion or create
a comical effect.
Example: “I’m so hungry I could eat a hippo.”
Hyperbole
when you mean the opposite of what you say.
Example: “My darling brother is the sweetest boy on Earth,” she muttered
sarcastically.
Verbal Irony or Sarcasm
when the outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is
expected.
Situational Irony
a humorous phrase that plays with the double meaning or the similar
sounds of words.
Examples: “Tomorrow you shall find me a grave man,” said the duke on his
deathbed. The cookbook Lunch on the Run by Sam Witch is awesome.
Pun
a reference to a familiar person, place, or event.
Example: The following two lines from the poem “My Muse” hunched over from carrying that old familiar Box
Allusion
- a cultural expression that cannot be taken literally.
Examples: She is the apple of his eye. He drives me up the wall.
Idiom
the conversation between the characters in a story or
poem.
Dialogue
the particular style of speaking of the narrator and the characters in a story or poem (according to their region, time
period, and social expectations).
Dialect
the problem or situation a character or characters face in a story or
poem.
Conflict
