Imagery
Giving human attributes to a non-living object
Personification
a figure of speech that directly compares one thing to another for rhetorical effect
Metaphor
repeated sound of the first letter in a series of multiple words, e.g. "green globs of goo"
Alliteration
refers to a break or pause in the middle of a line of verse
Caesura
a form of poetry that typically reflects on death or loss
Elegy
Comparing two thing using "as" or "like
Simile
a literary device in which a writer uses one thing—usually a physical object or phenomenon—to represent something more abstract
Symbolism
special case of consonance in which the repeated consonant sound is either s, sh, or z; e.g. "soft sea shells"
Sibilance
lines in a poem that do not have a punctuation at the end and is open-ended
Enjambment
a type of poem that is fourteen lines in length and follows a rhyme scheme; is typically written to address the theme of love
Sonnet
use of exaggeration to create an effect
Hyperbole
a figure of speech pairing two words together that are opposing and/or contradictory, e.g. pretty ugly
Oxymoron
word that mimics the natural sound made by the word being described
Onomatopoeia
is a literary device that features two successive rhyming lines in a verse and has the same meter to form a complete thought
Couplet or Rhyming Couplet
a traditional style of Japanese poetry in which 17 syllables are written in three lines
Haiku
a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story to create dramatic tension
Foreshadowing
set of words grouped by meaning or association to a common theme or idea; e.g, black, death, crow all pertain to "death"
Semantic Field or Connotation
repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words; e.g. "mad cat sat on a mat"
Assonance
is the rhythm of syllables in a line of verse or in a stanza of a poem
Meter
poetry that lacks a consistent rhyme scheme, metrical pattern, or musical form
Free Verse