Literary Devices
A comparison that uses the word "like" or "as."
Example: Mr. Dean's scalp is like a mirror.
What is a simile?
Poetry that does not rhyme or have a measurable meter.
What is free verse?
The repetition of stressed and unstressed sound in poetry. Depending on how sounds are arranged, the [blank] of a poem may be fast or slow, choppy or smooth.
What is rhythm?
The author's specific word choice.
What is diction?
A direct comparison that does *not* use the word "like" or "as."
Example: Mr. Dean's scalp is a mirror.
What is a metaphor?
An object or action that means something more than its literal meaning.
What is a symbol?
A story/narrative in poetic form.
What is a ballad?
A single line of poetry.
What is a verse?
A word that sounds like what it means.
Example: buzz, bang, pop, sizzle
What is onomatopoeia?
A central meaning or message the poet is trying to deliver to the reader.
What is a theme?
A group of lines in a poem.
What is a stanza?
What is meter?
The repetition of vowel sounds in a chunk of text.
Ex: *I*van will tr*y* to l*i*ght the f*i*re
What is assonance?
The repetition of consonant sounds, but not vowels, in a chunk of text.
Ex: A worm named Maurice took the garden by storm.
(the M sound repeats here)
What is consonance?
The attitude the poem's narrator takes toward a subject, such as serious, humorous, sarcastic, etc.
What is tone?
A brief reference to a real or fictional person, event, place, or work of art.
What is an allusion?