Poetic Devices
Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds
Hyperbole: An exaggeration that is used for dramatic effect. John Donne uses hyperbole in his poem 'Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star.'
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
'Til age snow white hairs on thee,
Obviously, ten thousand days and nights might be a bit of an exaggeration (as is claiming that we'll be white-haired by the time the journey is over), but the point gets across: a long, long time will pass.
Imagery: Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any combination of senses
Metaphor: A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them. Often forms of the "to be" verb are used, such as "is" or "was", to make the comparison
Meter: The recurrence of a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
Onomatopoeia: The use of words which imitate sound
Personification: A figure of speech which endows animals, ideas, or inanimate objects with human traits or abilities
Point-of-view: The author's point-of-view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller", of the story or poem (1st person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her perspective, 3rd person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other characters but limits information about what one character sees and feels, 3rd person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to "know" and describe what all characters are thinking)
Repetition: The repeating words, phrases, lines, or stanzas
Rhyme: The similarity of ending sounds existing between two words
Simile: A comparison between two objects using a specific word or comparison such as "like", "as", or "than"
Stanza: A grouping of two or more lines of a poem in terms of length, metrical form, or rhyme scheme
Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds
Hyperbole: An exaggeration that is used for dramatic effect. John Donne uses hyperbole in his poem 'Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star.'
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
'Til age snow white hairs on thee,
Obviously, ten thousand days and nights might be a bit of an exaggeration (as is claiming that we'll be white-haired by the time the journey is over), but the point gets across: a long, long time will pass.
Imagery: Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any combination of senses
Metaphor: A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them. Often forms of the "to be" verb are used, such as "is" or "was", to make the comparison
Meter: The recurrence of a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
Onomatopoeia: The use of words which imitate sound
Personification: A figure of speech which endows animals, ideas, or inanimate objects with human traits or abilities
Point-of-view: The author's point-of-view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller", of the story or poem (1st person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her perspective, 3rd person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other characters but limits information about what one character sees and feels, 3rd person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to "know" and describe what all characters are thinking)
Repetition: The repeating words, phrases, lines, or stanzas
Rhyme: The similarity of ending sounds existing between two words
Simile: A comparison between two objects using a specific word or comparison such as "like", "as", or "than"
Stanza: A grouping of two or more lines of a poem in terms of length, metrical form, or rhyme scheme