Metaphor: A direct comparison between two dissimilar items. She is a monster is a metaphor comparing a girl to a monster.
Personification: A comparison between a non-human item and a human so that the non-human item is given human characteristics. The trees stretched their arms to the sky is a personification because the trees are described as if they are people stretching.
Simile: A comparison between two dissimilar items using “like” or “as” to make the comparison. The stars are like diamonds in the sky is a simile, comparing stars to diamonds.
Imagery: Poets create pictures in the reader’s mind that appeal to the sense of sight; they also create descriptions to appeal to the other four senses. This collection of appeals to the five senses is called the imagery of the poem. Also: the collection and/or pattern of images in a poem.
Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of rhyme in a poem, indicated with letters of the alphabet. To decide on a rhyme scheme, you assign a letter of the alphabet to all rhyming words at the ends of lines of poetry, starting with the letter “a”. When you run out of one rhyme sound, you start with the next letter of the alphabet. For example, the following is an example of an aabb rhyme scheme (star, are, high, sky):
Twinkle, twinkle, little star (a)
How I wonder what you are (a)
Up above the world so high (b)
Like a diamond in the sky (b)
Theme: A poem's subject is the topic of the poem, or what the poem is about, while the theme is an idea that the poem expresses about the subject or uses the subject to explore.
Mood: The emotion of the poem. The atmosphere. The predominant feeling created by or in the poem, usually through word choice or description. The feelings created by the poem in the reader; mood is best discovered through careful consideration of the images presented by the poem, and thinking about what feelings those images prompt. For example: if the “rain weeps”, the mood is sad; if the “rain dances”, the mood is happy. Mood and tone are not the same.
Tone: The narrator’s attitude toward the subject of the poem and, sometimes, toward the reader of the poem. Tone is NOT THE SAME AS MOOD, although the two can overlap.
Symbol: Something that represents something else. For example, a dove often represents the concept of peace.
Repetition: Deliberately repeated words, sounds, phrases, or whole stanzas. Repetition is used to make a point.
Alliteration: Repeated sound at the beginning of words placed near each other, usually on the same line.
Assonance: Repeated vowel sounds in words placed near each other, usually on the same line or adjacent lines.
Consonance: Repeated consonant sounds in words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines.
Denotation: all words convey a literal meaning, the specific meaning found in the dictionary is denotation.
Connotation: words that stir up emotions or suggested associations.
Enjambment: continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
Allusion: indirect reference to a person, place, thing, idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.
Literary Devices and Poetic Terms
Metaphor: A direct comparison between two dissimilar items. She is a monster is a metaphor comparing a girl to a monster.
Personification: A comparison between a non-human item and a human so that the non-human item is given human characteristics. The trees stretched their arms to the sky is a personification because the trees are described as if they are people stretching.
Simile: A comparison between two dissimilar items using “like” or “as” to make the comparison. The stars are like diamonds in the sky is a simile, comparing stars to diamonds.
Imagery: Poets create pictures in the reader’s mind that appeal to the sense of sight; they also create descriptions to appeal to the other four senses. This collection of appeals to the five senses is called the imagery of the poem. Also: the collection and/or pattern of images in a poem.
Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of rhyme in a poem, indicated with letters of the alphabet. To decide on a rhyme scheme, you assign a letter of the alphabet to all rhyming words at the ends of lines of poetry, starting with the letter “a”. When you run out of one rhyme sound, you start with the next letter of the alphabet. For example, the following is an example of an aabb rhyme scheme (star, are, high, sky):
Theme: A poem's subject is the topic of the poem, or what the poem is about, while the theme is an idea that the poem expresses about the subject or uses the subject to explore.
Mood: The emotion of the poem. The atmosphere. The predominant feeling created by or in the poem, usually through word choice or description. The feelings created by the poem in the reader; mood is best discovered through careful consideration of the images presented by the poem, and thinking about what feelings those images prompt. For example: if the “rain weeps”, the mood is sad; if the “rain dances”, the mood is happy. Mood and tone are not the same.
Tone: The narrator’s attitude toward the subject of the poem and, sometimes, toward the reader of the poem. Tone is NOT THE SAME AS MOOD, although the two can overlap.
Symbol: Something that represents something else. For example, a dove often represents the concept of peace.
Repetition: Deliberately repeated words, sounds, phrases, or whole stanzas. Repetition is used to make a point.
Alliteration: Repeated sound at the beginning of words placed near each other, usually on the same line.
Assonance: Repeated vowel sounds in words placed near each other, usually on the same line or adjacent lines.
Consonance: Repeated consonant sounds in words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines.
Denotation: all words convey a literal meaning, the specific meaning found in the dictionary is denotation.
Connotation: words that stir up emotions or suggested associations.
Enjambment: continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
Allusion: indirect reference to a person, place, thing, idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.