poetic devices literary elements notes miss russ’s english class

Poetic DevicesLiterary Elements NotesMiss Russ’s English Class

Figurative Language

Expressions that emphasize imaginative

language.METAPHOR

SIMILEPERSONIFICATION

Metaphor

Comparison between two unlike things.

Example:sea of grief

green with envy

Simile

Comparison between two unlike things using like

or as.Example:

hungry as a horsebright like a flashlight

Personification

Giving human qualities to something

that is not human.

Example

ImageryUsing language that

appeals to the senses.VISUALAURAL

OLFACTORYTACTILE

GUSTATORY

Theme

The unifying subject or idea.

Oxymoron

Contradiction of word meanings that create a

new understanding.Example:

jumbo shrimpliving dead

Symbol

Something that stands for something else.

Hyperbole

Using exaggeration to evoke strong emotion or ideas, and are NOT

taken literally.

Irony

Contrast between what we expect and what

really happens.DRAMATIC

SITUATIONALVERBAL

SARCAS

M

Tone

Speaker’s attitude!

Mood

Emotional effect that the text creates for

the audience.

Rhyme

The repetition of similar sounds in more than one

word.

cat hat bat that vat gnat fat at chat splat brat flat spat mat pat

rat sat

Rhyme Scheme

Pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song.

“Sharing” by Shel SilversteinI’ll share your toys, I’ll share your money, I’ll share your toast, I’ll share your honey, I’ll share your milk and your cookies too— The hard part’s sharing mine with you.

AABB

Rhythm

Musical quality produced by repetition.

Example

Onomatopoeia

Word that imitates sound.

BUZZ…

.

BOOM!

AlliterationRepetition of a particular

sound in a series of words; same sound at the beginning

of the words.

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

Consonance

Repetition of the same consonant (non-vowel)

sound in a series of words; same sound in the words.

Mammals named Sam are clammy.

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound to create

internal rhyming.

white high night