Figurative & Poetic Devices
What is a HYPERBOLE?
Descriptions not meant to be taken literally but, rather, to provide a more detailed explanation or hint at the narrator, context, or deeper themes.
What is FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE?
When the author stops the action to describe a previous event.
A poem that tells a complete story with character and clear plot points.
What is NARRATIVE POEM?
Give an objective recounting of the main idea and event(s) within a text.
What is to SUMMARIZE?
Also known as anthropomorphism, this is the giving of humanlike qualities to non-human objects; ex: "The tree branches danced in the wind."
What is PERSONIFICATION?
A reference to pop culture, an historical event, or another work of literature or art.
What is an ALLUSION?
The method by which authors describe the people in their stories through showing the reader how they speak or think, what they look or act like, or how others respond to them.
The organization of events or details within a text (chronologically, problem-solution, etc.)
What is STRUCTURE?
To break something down and understand its features and the reasoning behind it.
What is to ANALYZE?
What is a SYMBOL?
What is the CONFLICT?
The message or lesson meant to be learned from reading a given text; the formula is generally UNIVERSAL IDEA + OBSERVATION ABOUT IT.
What is the THEME?
Each "paragraph" in a poem; each section by which a poem is broken into parts.
What is a STANZA?
To build an argument or opinion by including evidence and reasoning.
What is to DEVELOP?
What is IMAGERY?
Words spoken within a story; what the characters say.
What is DIALOGUE?
When the audience or reader knows or understands something the characters within a story do not.
What is DRAMATIC IRONY?
A type of story in which the characters are real-life people and in which the events are describe using dialogue and narrative pacing. Some examples include memoirs and reflective writing.
What is a NONFICTION NARRATIVE?
What is to EVALUATE?
Techniques utilized by poets to create rhythm, mood, and emphasis. Examples include alliteration, rhyme, assonance, and consonance.
What are SOUND DEVICES?
The historical, social, or cultural influences and norms of a story's setting that can impact the plot and characters' actions.
What is CONTEXT?
The choice of words utilized by an author which can hint at their tone (attitude) or create the text's overall mood.
What is DICTION?
The "lens" through which a text is told and which is often influenced by the narrator's age, gender, social standing, experiences, etc.
What is PERSPECTIVE?
To refer to evidence that cannot be refuted; this is often a quote from a given text.
What is TO CITE?