Techniques Poets Use to Create Meaning

Technique Definition Example

A group of words repeated at key intervals in poetry Refrains A group of words repeated at key intervals in poetry

The Climb Miley Cyrus There's always gonna be another mountain I'm always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be an uphill battle Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose Ain't about how fast I get there Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side It's the climb

Personification Figurative Language in which non-human things or abstractions are given human qualities

The Stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky. The run down house appeared depressed.

Summer Grass   Summer grass aches and whispers It wants something: it calls and sings; it pours out wishes to the overhead stars. The rain hears; the rain answers; the rain is slow coming; the rain wets the face of the grass.

An over exaggerated figure of speech used for emphasis or effect Hyperbole An over exaggerated figure of speech used for emphasis or effect

When she smiles her cheeks fall off. I'm so hungry I could eat a goose with its beak!

My Dog Little girl is my dog. She sleeps like a log My Dog Little girl is my dog. She sleeps like a log. She has a huge mouth, And eats like a hog. In her excitement Her tail is a whip times ten. When she sees food Her eyes start to spin.

The repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words Alliteration The repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words

"You'll never put a better bit of butter on your knife." Pretty Polly picked pears for preserves.

Caring Cats Caring cats cascade off Laughing llamas Lounging Caring Cats Caring cats cascade off Laughing llamas Lounging. Underneath yelling yaks, Yelling at roaming Rats.

The use of words that sound like what they mean Onomatopoeia The use of words that sound like what they mean

30 seconds 'til the game is over. Tick tock. Tick tock. Splat ! Splat ! Goes the sauce on the dough. 30 seconds 'til the game is over. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Ah It’s School Time! Click clack the shoes move around tick tick the clock strikes eight ha-chew hiccup everyone feels different chit, chat talking as for the bell we wait. Ring, ring it finally happens Scatter swoosh no one wants to be late screech, yelp it is like a mad house when we go into school at eight

Simile A comparison of two things that are essentially different, usually using the words like or as

Playing the piano is like A bird soaring in the Sky. My mind is as brave as a warrior of the night.

Berkley Black as midnight, Bad as the devil With eyes like pieces of dark chocolate, He thinks he’s king of the world, My dog Berkley. He’s very much like a pig With his pudgy stomach and all. Like a leech, he’s always attached To his next meal. Even though he’s as bad as the devil, Berkley is my best fellow.

Metaphor A comparison of two things that are essentially different, not using like or as

Brian was a wall, bouncing every tennis ball back over the net. Cindy was such a mule. We couldn’t get her to change her mind Brian was a wall, bouncing every tennis ball back over the net.

I am a River I am a river that finds its way I am a candle that beams a say I am a flower that opens wide I am a bee that works the ride. I am a caterpillar in a cocoon I am a butterfly emerging soon I am a pond that looks within I am a man of top spin.

Idioms An expression that has a different meaning from the literal meaning of its individual words

Our boss will stop working and help someone at the drop of a hat. The little boy was running through the park in his birthday suit.

Cat Got Your Tongue I was feeling shy when my uncle came Cat Got Your Tongue I was feeling shy when my uncle came. "Has the cat got your tongue?" he said. He must have meant, "Why aren't you talking?" Because my tongue was still in my head.

Metaphor Hyperbole Idioms Alliteration Simile Metaphor Hyperbole Idioms Alliteration Simile Personification Onomatopoeia Refrains