Poetic Devices
An implied comparison between two unlike things that share underlying similarities. Example: "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright."
What is a metaphor?
Giving something that is not human the characteristics of a human: Mercutio says, “True, I talk of dreams;/ Which are the children of an idle brain” (1.5.103-104).
What is personification?
In "Lamb to the Slaughter," the detectives say "Helluva big club the guy must've used to hit poor Patrick." This qualifies as...
What is dramatic irony?
A poem that does not rhyme or contain regular meter.
What is free verse?
A work of literature that is meant to be morally instructive and teach a moral lesson. Example: Christmas Carol is ______________ because it teaches a lesson about greed and the inability of money to make us happy.
What is didactic?
An extended metaphor. Example: In "The Gallery," Marvell describes his mind as an art gallery throughout the poem.
What is a conceit?
"Dude, I'm drowning in work."
"He's a couch potato."
"She's got a heart of gold."
"That party was the bomb."
What are metaphors?
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Example: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
A figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other. Example: “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins."
What is antithesis?
The omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence. Examples: "I came, I saw, I conquered." "Guttering, choking, drowning."
What is asyndeton?
The repetition of beginning phrases and clauses. Example: "We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men."
What is anaphora?
A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used to convey the intensity of an emotion. Example: Romeo says, "Then mightst thou speak, then mightst thou tear thy hair,/ And fall upon the ground as I do now, Taking the measure of an unmade grave."
What is hyperbole?
In the Poe short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," Fortunato says, "I drink to the buried that repose around us." Montresor responds with, "And I to your long life," just before Montresor kills Fortunato.
What is verbal irony?
The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions. Example: The ancient Greeks believed this would result from viewing works of tragedy (plays).
What is catharsis?
The repetition of conjunctions in close succession. Example: "We have ships and men and money."
What is polysyndeton?
The rhythmic structure of a poem or piece of music. Example: Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 is written in iambic pentameter, which is a type of...
What is meter?
A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction with one another. Examples: "When Juliet finds out that Romeo killed Tybalt, she says the following about Romeo: “…Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical! Dove-feather’d ravent!...A damned saint, an honourable villain!” (3.2.78-82).
What is oxymoron?
A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. Example: Saying someone "passed away" instead of saying they died.
What is a euphemism?
A reference in one literary work to another literary work. Example: Dido, a goddess from Roman mythology, is mentioned in Romeo and Juliet.
What is allusion?
A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Example: Animal Farm is often thought to be an _______________ of the Russian Revolution, in which each of the characters represent Marx, Trotsky, Stalin, etc.
What is allegory?
A speech or address to a person who is not present or to a personified object. Example: "Death, be not proud, though some have called thee/
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so."
What is apostrophe?
Read the following example and identify which types of figurative language are used therein: After Juliet has been found “dead,” Capulet says, “Death lies on her like an untimely frost/ Upon the sweetest flower of all the field” (4.5.31-32).
What are personification, simile, and metaphor?
In Night, by Elie Wiesel, Eliezer's father says that the yellow stars they wear aren't lethal.
What is situational irony?
A particular form of a language, which is specific to a region or social group. Example: In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character Janie says, "'G'wan! G'wan! You must think Ah brought yuh somethin'. When Ah ain't brought home a thing but mahself.'" This is an example of...
What is dialect?
A traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.
What is myth?