Poetic Devices
Terms
Terms
a word that sounds like what it refers to or describes
onomatopoeia
directly compares two unlike things; to make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as
simile
I hear the birds chirp and tweet in the morning.
Onomatopoeia
His hours are as busy as bees
Simile
to tease, ridicule, or laugh at in a scornful way
mock
the same sound repeats in a group of words; the repeating sound must occur either in the first letter of each word, or in the stressed syllables of those words
alliteration
non-human things are described as having human attributes
personification
She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
Alliteration
The living dead
oxymoron
a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at something regarded as a wrong, insult, or injury
resentment
The beat and pace of a poem created by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line or verse.
rhythm
a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase
idiom
The string was hung before I sung
consonance
Darkness crept into the room slowly and quietly.
Personification
She shows much ______ or passion in her speech when trying to persuade others.
fervor
descriptive language that engages the human senses
imagery
something is expressed less strongly than would be expected
understatement
Nothing further than he uttered while the his feathers fluttered.
Assonance
The test was a piece of cake.
Idiom
The whole floor was __________ for the dog, after playing in mud, walked around the room with its dirty paws.
soiled
A repeated part of a poem, particularly when it comes either at the end of a stanza or between two stanzas
refrain
how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are
irony
Chocolate is her Achilles's heel.
Allusion
She is a ray of sunshine
Metaphor
spurn