Poetic Terms and Devices

SPEAKER The speaker is the voice of a poem. The speaker is often the poet, however…. It may be a fictional character or even an inanimate object or other nonhuman entity. Understanding and interpreting a poem often depends upon recognizing who the speaker is, whom the speaker is addressing, and what the speaker’s attitude, or tone is.

Diction Diction is a writer’s or speaker’s word choice. It is part of a writer’s style and may be described as formal or informal, plain or ornate, common or technical, abstract or concrete. EX:

COMPAre Connotation denotation An association that a word calls to mind in addition to the dictionary meaning of the word. The objective meaning of a word, independent of other associations that the word brings to mind. Many words that are similar in their dictionary meanings (denotations) are very different in their connotations. For example, Jose Garcia Villa’s line, “Be beautiful, noble, like the antique ant,” would have a very different effect if it were, “Be pretty, classy, like the old ant.” Why? What do these two sets of words bring to mind?

Figurative Language Figurative language is writing or speech not meant to be taken literally. Used to express ideas in vivid or imaginative ways. Example: Emily Dickinson begins one poem with the following description of snow: It sifts from leaden sieves, It powders all the wood. By describing the snow as if it were flour, she gives us a precise and compelling picture of it.

Comparisons Simile metaphor A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two subjects using either “like” or “as.” A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else; it suggests a comparison between the two things that are identified.