Comparison Devices
What is a comparison device?
Poetry that doesn't rhyme or have a regular meter (or beat)
What is free-verse?
When repetition of the same or similar sounds occurs in two or more words, usually at the end of lines in poems or songs. In English, rhyme is mostly when the main vowel sounds and following consonants sound the same, while the beginning of the word is different.
What is rhyme?
A reference to something well-known that exists outside of the piece you're reading. For example, it could be a reference to real or fictional, historical event, character, movie, quote, cultural object, etc.
What is an allusion?
The use of words to imitate the sounds they describe
What is an onomatopoeia?
a strong comparison that says 2 things are essentially the same as each other (because they are so similar in so many ways). It makes this comparison by saying one thing IS the other. It often says this without using the words "like" or "as."
What is a metaphor?
The group of words that fit together on one line; often a line is not a complete sentence; a poet chooses when to make line breaks as a part of the desired effect of the poem/how they want it to be read.
What is a line?
When there is an exact rhyme at the end of the lines of poetry
What is end rhyme?
the specific words an author chooses to use. This usually establishes that writer's "style" or "voice." Writers choose words based on the word's connotation or denotation. Think about the different implications of choosing the word "yelled" versus "screamed" versus "hollered" versus "exclaimed."
What is diction?
The act of repeating words, phrases, lines, or even whole stanzas, often for emphasis or effect
What is repetition?
a comparison that says 2 things are similar but not that they are the exact same in every way. This is NOT as strong as a metaphor. It oftentimes uses the words "like" or "as"
What is a simile?
lines of poetry separated from other groups of lines. Oftentimes these have a fixed length, meter, or rhyming scheme (except for in free verse poetry). Stanzas in poetry are similar to paragraphs in books.
What is a stanza?
When words within lines of poetry (not only at the end) rhyme
What is internal rhyme?
Words or phrases evoking a sensory experience. This includes ALL 5 SENSES-sight, sound, touch, taste, and feel. It consists of such descriptive language that functions as a way for writers to paint a picture for the reader. (***The words have to convey a strong sensory experience, not just say "It smelled good" or "I saw a dog.")
What is imagery?
The literal, straightforward meaning of a word.
What is denotation?
The emotional feeling or atmosphere that a work of
literature provokes in a reader.
*I know it doesn't fit with the category, I just needed more room ;)*
Two consecutive lines with end rhyme
What is a couplet?
The pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines in a poem
What is rhyme scheme?
giving human characteristics (that normally belong only to humans) to non-human things (inanimate objects, animals, nature, etc.). The characteristics can also be emotions, feelings, or motives given to objects incapable of thought. For example, if someone said, "the trees whispered their unhappiness," this would personify the trees both as able to whisper and of feeling unhappy.
What is personification?
An idea that is implied or suggested by a word - the associations it brings up. A "connection" most people make with that word. A word's connotation IS NOT the same as the dictionary definition (or "denotation")
What is connotation?
Breaking a full thought or 'sentence' across more than one line of the poem without any punctuation
What is enjambment?
This can be described as the beat and pace of a poem, created by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables/sounds. This can help to strengthen the meaning of words and ideas in a poem.
What is rhythm?
An object or action that stands for something beyond itself. Authors use these purposefully in writing, symbols could be a character, setting, things, etc., and they often lead to a larger theme or idea.
What is a symbol?
Important hints that an author drops to prepare the reader for what is to come and help the reader anticipate the outcome. In movies, for example, scary music often happens before the scary object jump out.
What is foreshadowing?