Poetic Devices LI: To identify and create a range of figurative language devices in poetry.
Warm Up -
Imagery and Sound Imagery is a technique the poet can use to capture an image in time. Sound is often the first thing we notice about a poem, for example the repetition of a certain sound, or a sound that reminds us of something (like ssss for the hiss of a snake).
Imagery
Simile Definition: a way of describing one thing as like or similar to another, using the words like or as Examples: - as wild as a clawing cat - he ate like a front-end loader - the sun is like a flame thrower
Activity: Identify the similes in each of the poems below: Umbrella by Carol Stuart Wet black umbrella Spines drawn up like a spider s knees Sulks in a corner This poem is a simile that compares an to.
Refrigerator by Rebecca Gollan Standing on its own Like a soldier in the rain Silent and cold This poem is a simile that compares an to.
Creating Similes To make your own simile, follow these steps Noun What is the thing you re creating your simile for? Characteristics What are the characteristics of that thing? Similarity What is something else with the same characteristic? Cat Sneaky Furry Lazy Playful Ginger/Orange Spy Cushion Couch potato Toddler The sun The cat is as sneaky as a spy.
Write your own Similes about the following things: A Dog The Beach
Metaphor Definition: another powerful way of creating an image. Whereas the simile says one thing is like another, the metaphor says one thing is another. Examples: - The sun is a flame thrower - The wind is the howling of the dying wolf.
Creating Metaphors To make your own metaphor, follow these steps Noun What is the thing you re creating your simile for? Characteristics What are the characteristics of that thing? Similarity What is something else with the same characteristic? Baby Smelly Loud Soft Chubby Stink bomb Siren Marshmallow Marshmallow The baby is a soft, chubby marshmallow.
Activity: Read the following poem and answer the questions on the next page: What is the Sun by Wes Magee The sun is an orange dingy sailing across the sea. It is a gold coin dropped down a drain in heaven. It is a yellow beach ball kicked into the summer sky. It is a red thumb-print on a sheet of pale blue paper. It is the gold top from a milk bottle floating on a puddle.
1 - Pick one of the metaphors Wes Magee uses to describe the sun. Why do you think he used this metaphor? What is the purpose or effect of using this metaphor? Wes Magee uses the metaphor of the sun as a to. 2 - Create your own metaphor for the sun.
Personification Definition: a special kind of metaphor which gives human qualities to non-human things Examples: - The stars watched over the sleeping child - The trees waved their arms in the storm - Stare stern mountain stare, upon our fragile camp - The sun creeps over the hill every morning and knocks on my window
Activity: In a sentence describe the image that you get in your mind when you read these personifications: a) The stars watched over the sleeping child. b) The trees waved their arms in the storm. Use the sentences starters to help you: This sentence makes me think I see This means The use of personification helps me see The image I see is In my mind I can see
The 5 Senses Writers often describe the senses to create an image.
Poetic Devices LI: To identify and create a range of figurative language devices in poetry.
Warm Up -
Sound
Alliteration Definition: repeating the same sound at the beginning of the words. The effect can add humour or power. Examples: - Sunset s slowly spreading shade - Rapid rifle s stuttering fire
Activity: Read the alliteration out loud: Sunset s slowly spreading shade. Notice how it makes you speak slowly, just like the image it s describing. How does it make you feel?
Compare this with: rapid rifle s stuttering fire The repeated r and the short crisp vowels speed up the sentence, while the consonants p d t make you almost hear the gunfire. Describe the difference you notice between the two examples of alliteration.
Assonance Definition: the repetition of similar vowels to create sound effects. It is different from rhyme as it does not need to be at the end of each line of poetry: Example: - How now brown cow. - The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains. - The man with the tan was the meanest in the land. - Saving the whales is a crucial detail.
Activity: Identify the vowel which is being repeated in the following examples of assonance: a) How now brown cow. b) The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains. c) The man with the tan was the meanest in the land.
Write three words that could be used in a poem using the technique of assonance for the following: a) splat (attack) b) weary (eerie) c) oozing (loosing) d) snow (go) CHALLENGE: Come up with your own example of assonance using igh
Onomatopoeia Definition: The sound of the word is similar to its meaning. Onomatopoeia works best when the words are read aloud. Examples: - There was a big thud when the brick hit the floor. - Little Janey bounced around on the pogo stick - boing, boing, boing. - James whacked the cricket ball. - The engine of the plane moaned as it executed a huge arc in the sky. - The tyres screeched as they hit the tarmac.
Write examples of onomatopoeia for: Activity: a) A window breaking b) A car speeding around a corner c) A bat hitting a ball
Rhyming When describing a rhyming pattern refer to the words at the end of each line
Rhyme by David Alexander Rhyme can make your poem dance A Rhyme can make it race and prance A Rhyme can give it quite a bite B Rhyme can make it cute and tight B Rhyme can make your poem a hit C Rhyme can help you remember it C But Just remember by and large A Not to let the rhyme take charge. A Forcing words that won t quite fit B And lose your meaning just a bit B Making feelings seem untrue C By using words that just aren t you. C When describing a rhyming pattern, identify the words that rhyme by lettering them A, B, C, etc. The rhyming pattern will then look something like, AABBCC.
Rhythm The flow and beat of a poem. Rhythm is created by the stress we place on certain words or parts of words when we read. We identify the rhythm (or meter) of a poem by marking the stressed (heavy) sounds with /, and the unstressed (soft) sounds with X.
Read this out loud to yourself. The windand rain, the sleetand hail Lashedthe boatand rippedthe sail. In this example each line has four strong beats this creates the rhythm. Da dum, Da dum, Da dum.