Poetry Investigation Unit Put Your Strengths to Work… And Discover Poetry!

Poetry Term: Simile  Definition: Similes are comparisons using the words “like” or “as.”  Example(s):  You smell like a flower in bloom.  You’re strong like a rock.  You are as pretty as the sunrise.

Poetry Term: Metaphor  Definition: Metaphors are comparisons not using the words “like” or “as.” They are a direct comparison.  Example(s):  You are the sunshine on a cloudy day.  You are my rock.  He’s such a doormat.

Poetry Term: Irony  Definition: Irony is a contradiction between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.  Example(s):  From “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (Coleridge)  Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink ; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink

Poetry Term: Hyperbole  Definition: Hyperbole is an (extreme) exaggeration used for effect.  Example(s):  You took forever to call me back  I told you one thousand times already

Poetry Term: Idiom  Definition: An idiom is a phrase that cannot be taken literally.  Examples:  Skating on thin ice  Kicked the bucket  Raining cats and dogs

Poetry Term: Personification  Definition: Personification is giving human characteristics to inanimate (nonhuman) things.  Examples:  The wind whispered in my ear  The sun smiled at me  The trees waved goodbye to the sun

Poetry Term: Onomatopoeia  Definition: Onomatopoeia means “sound words.”  Examples:  Bang!  Whoosh!  Splish! Splash!  Plop!  Meow!

Poetry Term: Alliteration  Definition: Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds between two or more words in one line of poetry.  Examples:  Peter ate a pickle  The giraffe jumped  The cat flew a kite

Secret Poetry Terms: Assonance and Consonance  Definitions:  Assonance is the repetition of initial VOWEL sounds in one line of poetry.  Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds (at any point in a word) in one line of poetry.  Examples:  Assonance: Alice ate an almond  Consonance: Penelope hates pulp in her juice

Poetry Term: Rhyme  Definition: Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words.  Examples:  Cat, hat, bat  Fell, smell, gel

Poetry Term: Rhythm  Definition: Rhythm is the pattern of strong and weak beats in a song or poem (stressed or unstressed syllables)  Example:  My love was like a red, red rose  I may never see tomorrow

Poetry Term: Allusion  Definition: An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, event, place, literary work, or piece of artwork, with which the reader should be familiar.  Examples:  The Simpsons’ allusion to Edgar Allen Poe/ The Tell Tale Heart  The allusion to the biblical story of Eve and the apple in Snow White