“Poetic” Literary Terms

Figurative Language Language used to create an image or a “picture” in ones mind. Most Common Forms of Figurative Language: Personification Simile Metaphor

Simile Used to compare 2 unlike things in order to create an image Uses “like” or “as” in the comparison Example: I saw 5 school buses, parked side by side like a row of well trained soldiers.

Metaphor Used to compare 2 unlike things in order to create an image Different from simile because it draws a direct “parallel” between the two things being compared Example:A mighty giant is that tree.

Personification Used to create an image by giving human qualities to non-human objects or ideas. Example: Like a stubborn child, my roses refused to grow unless I spoke kind words to them daily.

Alliteration Repeated initial sounds in words Example Quietly, quacking, I caught quite a cough.

Anaphora Deliberate use of a word or phrase at the beginning of verses or clauses Example Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore. Others will watch the run of the flood-tide, Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east, Others will see the islands large and small W.Whitman

Assonance Repeated use of vowel sounds Example: Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geeks.

Iambic Pentameter Iambs=2 syllables with accent on 2 nd syllable Pentameter= 5 sets of “iambs” per line Example (Shakespeare Sonnet 79) Whilst I /alone /did call /upon /thy aid, My verse/ alone /had all/ thy gen/tle grace

Internal Rhyme Rhyme within the same line Example I awoke to black flak

Imagery Language that uses sensory images (relating to the 5 senses) Example It burned my lips like acid, tearing the skin, wearing it away like erosion.

Metaphor literary comparison without using “like” or “as” (by employing a form of the “be” verb) Example: He was a bear, grouching and grumbling as he dragged himself to breakfast.

Mood The emotional attitude the author wants the reader to have while reading. Can be controlled by the tone of the piece Example Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary E.A. Poe

Onomatopoeia A word that imitates the sound it takes Example Whoosh, the plane zoomed by us.

Rhyme Scheme Rhymes at the ends of verses Example Spring is here the grass has ris’ I wonder where the birdie is?

Simile the comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as”

Symbolism the use of one thing to represent or describe another/something else Example: “Two roads diverged in the woods and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost

Theme The general subject matter or idea the writer is trying to convey. It can be determined by asking yourself “What is it that the author wants me to understand?” Example The theme of Thoreau’s “Walden” is finding independence in nature and self-reliance.

Tone The attitude a writer takes toward the subject matter of the piece he/she has written This is different than mood because this is the tone the author takes, not the way it makes one feel. Example Then, in a final act of selfishness, the dog up and died.

Stanza/Verse *Verse is a line of poetry *Stanza is a group of verses ( poetry’s paragraphs) Example She smiles like a summer’s day Enlightening all upon the way Her attitude is pure as silk Her voice like cream and sweetened milk

Diction—purposeful choice and order of words There interposed a fly, With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,... A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally rides; You may have met him,--did you not, His notice sudden is.... Emily Dickinson