Poetry Unit Literary Devices
Alliteration The repetition of initial consonant sounds; draws attention to certain words or ideas Slowly, silently, now the moon Walks the night in her silver moon
Allusion A reference to a well-known person, place event, literary work, or work of art Ex: Robert Frost s Nothing Gold Can Stay references the Garden of Eden
Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds. And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride. --Edgar Allan Poe, "Annabel Lee"
Atmosphere (mood) The feeling created in the reader by the poem; it may be images, dialogue, words; usually established at the beginning
Audience The particular group of readers the poet is addressing; this is considered by the poet when he/she chooses his/her tone, word choice, etc.
Blank Verse un-rhymed lines of iambic pentameter (ten syllables with all even numbered syllables accented) example: Mending Wall by Robert Frost: SOMETHING there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun; And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
Concrete poem A poem with a shape that suggest its subject Poe's raven told him nothing nevermore and Vincent's circling crows were a threat to destroy sunlight. Now I saw a bird, black with a yellow beak, orange rubber legs pecking to kill the lawn, storm bird hates with claw, evil beak, s u n and eye By Don J. Carlson
Couplet A pair of lines (two) that usually ryhme
Dialect The form of language from a particular people or group; differences include punctuation, grammar, and word choice
Dialogue A conversation between characters; usually set off with quotations
Elegy a poem of lament (extreme sorrow, such as caused by death) example: Elegy for Jane by Theodore Roethke: My sparrow, you are not here, Waiting like a fern, making a spiney shadow. The sides of wet stones cannot console me, Nor the moss, wound with the last light.
Enjambment the continuation of thought from one line of poetry to the next without punctuation needed at the end of the previous line(s). Annabel Lee contains an example of this: And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride. --Edgar Allan Poe, "Annabel Lee"
Epic poetry A long poem Written in formal, elegant language Tells about a series of quests undertaken by a great hero Closely connected to a particular culture and represents the values of that society Examples: The Odyssey and Beowulf
Free Verse a poem without either a rhyme or a rhythm scheme (rhyme may be used, just without a pattern) Winter Poem by Nikki Giovanni once a snowflake fell on my brow and i loved it so much and i kissed it and it was happy and called its cousins and brothers and a web of snow engulfed me then i reached to love them all and i squeezed them and they became a spring rain and i stood perfectly still and was a flower
Imagery Words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses
Try to pick out the words or phrases that appeal to particular senses: The hot July sun beat relentlessly down, casting an orange glare over the farm buildings, the fields, the pond. Even the usually cool green willows bordering the pond hung wilted and dry. Our sun-baked backs ached for relief. We quickly pulled off our sweaty clothes and plunged into the pond, but the tepid water only stifled us and we soon climbed onto the brown, dusty bank. Our parched throats longed for something cool--a strawberry ice, a tall frosted glass of lemonade.
Inference Taking the information and details at hand, and making an educated guess
Irony Situational when what is expected to happen is in direct contradiction to what actually occurs Dramatic when the readers know something that the characters do not
Metaphor Comparison of two unlike things; a figure of speech where something is described as something else Example: ` I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour. ( All Summer in a Day )
Meter The recurrence of a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Mood the emotional effect of a poem or a story
Simile A figure of speech that uses like or as or than to make a direct comparison of two unlike things Concrete Mixers" by Patricia Hubbell Concrete mixers Move like elephants
Narrative poem A story told in verse that has all the elements of a short story (conflict, plot, characters)
Onomatopoeia Use of words that imitate sounds Ex: buzz, crash
Oxymoron the use of contradictory terms (together) for effect. (jumbo shrimp)
Personification A nonhuman subject is given human characteristics
Point of view The perspective from which the story is told 1st person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her perspective (uses "I") 3rd person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other characters but limits information about what one character sees and feels. 3rd person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to "know" and describe what all characters are thinking.
Prose Ordinary form of written language
Quatrain Four lines in poetry
Refrain (chorus) Regularly repeated lines or group of lines in a poem
Repetition The use, more than once, of sounds, words, clauses, phrases Repetition by Harrison Fuller Repetition can be good Repetition can be bad Repetition can make you smile Repetition can make you mad To repeat a specific word That is repetition Repetition can take a hold That is the repeating mission Repetition is used in life Repetition is used in speech Repetition is used in writing Repetition is in reach
Rhyme The repetition of sounds at the ends of words
Rhyme Scheme The regular pattern of rhyming words in the poem The first end sound is represented as the letter "a", the second is "b", etc. 'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill Appear in writing, or in judging ill; But of the two, much greater is th' offence To tire the patience, than mislead the sense rhyme "aa bb," -- "a" represents the -ill sound, "b" represents the -ence sound.
Rhythm a musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables. Example: My Papa s Waltz Theodore Roethke The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.
Sonnet 14 line lyric poem 2 types - Italian and Shakespearean. They are different in their rhyme schemes
Speaker The imaginary voice assumed by the writer in the poem; the character who tells the poem
Stanza The formal division of lines in a poem Ex: couplet, quatrain, etc. Gaily bedight, A gallant knight, In sunshine and in shadow, Had journeyed long, Singing a song, In search of Eldorado. But he grew old- This knight so bold- And o'er his heart a shadow Fell as he found No spot of ground That looked like Eldorado Couplet 2 lines Tercet 3 lines Quatrain 4 lines Quintain 5 lines Sextain 6 lines Septet 7 lines Octave 8 lines
Theme The central message; the lesson learned; a universal truth
Hyperbole An obvious and intentional exaggeration Ex: I d give a million dollars for a bite of that cookie.
Slant Rhyme Slant rhyme differs from a perfect rhyme in that not all of its vowel or consonant sounds match those of the rhyming word. Slant rhyme was looked down upon by most Western poets until Yeats in England and Dickinson in America wrote slanted rhyme poems that critics couldn t ignore. Rap music has always featured slant rhyming since rap is fundamentally an oral-tradition based on lyrical dexterity and flexibility Perfect rhyme examples: rink, wink / gratitude, latitude Slant rhyme examples: how, row / lovely, funny.
Symbolism Anything that stands or represents something else
Lyric poem A short, highly musical poem that expresses the feelings and observations of a single speaker
Ballad A songlike poem that often deals with adventure or romance and tells a story; usually written in 4 to six line stanzas; has often repeated lines