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poetic and literary devices - Coggle Diagram
poetic and literary devices
Comparisons
Simile
The comparison of two things using like or as
Ex. The snake was like a train speeding to its destination.
Extended metaphors
a metaphor which extends over multiple stanzas, lines or paragraphs
Ex. Hope being the thing with feathers is an ongoing metaphor in Emily Dickinson's poem "Hope is the thing with feathers"
Metaphor
A figure of speech which metaphorically compares two things without using like or as
Ex. She was a star in a large crowd.
figurative language
Describing something by comparing it to something else
Ex. simile, metaphor, hyperbole etc..
Word Play
Verse
A collection of lines in poetry with rhythms, rhymes and patters.
Ex. Stanza :
The road not taken
by Robert Frost
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;"
couplet
two lines of a verse
Ex.
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow."
Sound devices
Cacophony
harsh mixture of sounds
Ex. from
Jabberwocky
by Lewis Carroll’
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
Alliteration
The same sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Ex. Willy was watering a wallflower.
euphony
a combination of words which are pleasing to the ear
Ex. from
To Autumn
by Jhon Keats
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
Poem types/structures
Sonnet
A fourteen line poem using a formal rhyme scheme
Ex.
How do I love thee
by Elizabeth Barett
Free verse
Poetry with no regular rhyme or meter
ex.
After the Sea-Ship
by Walt Whitman
Elegy
A reflective poem, typically about the dead.
ex.
Because I Could Not Stop For Death
by Emily Dickinson
Lyric
poem
A short poem that conveys strong emotions
ex.
sonnet 18
by William Shakespeare
narrative poem
a poem that tells a story with a beginning, middle and end
ex.
The Lliad
by Homer
Literary techniques
Circle technique
When the beginning of the story, in some ways mirrors its ending in
ex.
Indian horse
by Richard Wagamese
Flashback
moving to a scene set in a time before the main story
ex. Alex is eating her cookies, suddenly she remembers baking cookies as a kid with her parents.
Rule of 3’s
the idea that groups of three are more satisfying or amusing than other numbers
Ex. She loves cats, dogs and birds.
Symbolism
a meaning attributed to an object, or symbol
Ex. Dove symbolizes peace
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements, not meant to be literally
ex. My heels are killing me.
Tone
mood implied by an author's word choice
Ex. funny, ironic, light, condescending
Sentence fluency
The rhythm and flow of language,
ex. Alex really loved eating cookies. Hungrily, she wolfed down the whole box, not realizing they were meant for her entire family.
Connotation
an additional feeling that a word invokes other than its meaning.
ex. She's such a dog.
Personification
Giving human characteristics to something nonhuman
ex. The wind laughed.
Allusion
An expression that is made to indirectly call something to mind
ex. She's my achilles heel
imagery
visual symbolysm
ex. The song ran like a river
mood
The emotion the author is trying to evoke
ex gloomy, cheerful, reflective