Poetic Devices

These terms are important for your understanding during this poetry unit

and for your upcoming exam

Hyperbole

• An extreme exaggeration for effect

Hyperbole….remember Napoleon Dynamite?

• Napoleon: This is pretty much the worst video ever made.

• Kip: Napoleon, like anyone can even know that.

AlliterationAlliteration is the repetition of front consonant sounds.There only needs to be two for it to be alliteration

Ex: Miss Marbles loves moving muppets.

Fred Flingstone went to the market.

Many comic names are alliterative:Clark KentLois LaneLex LuthorLana Lang

OnomatopoeiaWords that imitate sounds. These are very popular in comic action scenes

POW! BANG!!Or animal soundsMeow! Baaaaaaaaaa!

Or even a ‘clanking’ old lock or the ‘thumping’ of feet

Metaphor• Metaphors are comparisons that show how

two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way. Metaphors are a way to describe something.

• Ex: You are the light in my life.• All the world is but a stage and we are merely

actors.• She is a cat, quick on her feet and always in

trouble.

Simile • Similar to a metaphor, a simile is also a

comparison• Similes make comparisons using the words

“like” or “as”• Ex: Did you see that guy? He was as fast as

The Flash!• I love my mom, she is strong like Wonder

Woman and just as pretty. • He eats like a pig!

PersonificationThis is giving non human animals or objects human qualities.

The wind howled all night long.

The birds chattered as the morning dew settled.

The engine roared its approval as I revved it up to get ready for the race.

His muscles were so large they danced as he flexed them.

Think Disney! Talking chairs, dancing teapots, singing birds, happy robots and so on. All of this is personification