Literary Devices Poetry Unit: 2014-2015

Prose Definition: spoken or written language that is not cast in poetical measure or rhythm Example: Any poem that does not rhyme.

Memoir Definition: An autobiographical account of a personal experience recalled from memory, usually written in an informal style; differs from autobiography in scope. Example: Six word memoirs

Biography Definition: An account of a person’s life written, composed, or produced by another person. Example:

Autobiography Definition: An account of a person’s life written, composed, or produced by that same person. Example:

Structure Definition: The organizational pattern of a text; structure may be apparent in either content or form or both. Example: abba / abab / or repeition

Poetry Definition: A genre of literature in which individual works are generally recognizable in terms of form and/or structure and figurative use of language Example:

Diction Definition: Precise word choice; selection of words for specific denotative, connotative, or figurative purposes Example: High Diction with teacher / Lower diction with friends

Imagery Definition: Vivid or figurative language used to represent those things that can be perceived by the five senses: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures Example: The sun is red, red joy.

Symbolism Definition: The practice of representing things or ideas by means of other objects or ideas; attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships. Example: American Flag / White Dove.

Figurative Language Definition: Speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning; speech or writing employing figures of speech such as similes or metaphors. Example:

Point of View Definition: The vantage point from which an author tells a story. Example: 1st person / 2nd person / 3rd person limited / 3rd person Omniscient

Aesthetic Effects The reactions a reader has to the form, content, and or beauty of a work and that engender enjoyment or an emotional reaction in that reader.

Alliteration Definition: The repetition of initial identical consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in successive or closely associated syllables Examples: She sells sea-shells down by the sea-shore

Onomatopoeia Definition: Words whose sounds suggest their meaning. Example: Buzz / Clang / drip

Rhyme Scheme Definition: The pattern in which rhyme sounds occur in a stanza or an entire poem Example: AABA / AABA / AABA

Slant Rhyme Definition: Off rhyme where the ending consonants rhyme but the initial sounds do not Example: sown/clown; after/brother

Personification Definition: Giving non-human things (animals,ideas,objects) human like qualities. Example: The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky.

Metaphor Definition: A figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another Example: A sea of troubles

Simile Definition: A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared using like or as. Example: My love is like a red rose

Hyperbole Definition: An exaggeration Example: I walked A MILLION miles to school

Fixed Form Poems Definition: Poems that conform to predetermined lines and stanzas Example: Haiku / Sonnet / Ballad

Free Form Poems Definition: Poems that do not follow any pattern Example: Any other poem that doesn’t have a specific rhyme pattern or structure

Narrative Poem Definition: Poems that tell a story Example: Tears on Santa’s Cheek

Lyric Poem Definition: A poem, generally brief, that creates a single, unified impression, usually dealing with emotion.