{ The Language of Poetry

 The poet’s choice of words  A good poem carries meaning on both a literal and abstract level Diction

 Again, it is not just enough to identify a metaphor or simile. What matters is your ability to analyze and explain its function Metaphors and Similes

 A single metaphor developed at length. Extended Metaphor

 A single metaphor developed at length. Extended Metaphor

 A figure of speech that communicates a second meaning along with its literal meaning  Be prepared to determine how symbols contribute to a poem’s meaning and effect Symbol

 Words or phrases that refer to something that can be seen, heard, tasted, smelled. Or touched  Usual literal and concrete Imagery

 When poets assign human characteristics to nonhuman objects Personification

 A figure of speech that substitutes a word or phrase that relates to a thing for the thing itself  White House  “The crown will find an heir” Metonymy

 This is when you substitute a part for a whole  “saving my skin”  Wheels  Toll for the brave!/The brave that are no more,/All sunk beneath the wave Synecdoche

 A historical, literary, or cultural reference to a person, place, or event  Once you recognize the source, grasp the intent Allusion

 A story or vignette that, like a metaphor, has both a literal and a figurative meaning Allegory

 A phrase that seems contradictory or incompatible with reality  Eloquent silence  Jumbo shrimp Oxymoron

 An apparently self-contradictory statement that under scrutiny makes perfect sense  If you find this on the exam, start looking for the presence of subtexts and implied meaning  “I must be cruel only to be kind” Paradox

 Saying less than one means or using resraint in an ironic contrast to what might be said Understatement

 A form of understatement in a which a positive fact is stated by denying a negative one  That soup wasn’t bad! Litote

 An exaggeration used by poets to intensify emotions, values, features, weather, etc  ‘ll love you, dear, I’ll love you/Till China and Africa meet,? And the river jumps over the mountain/And the salmon sing in the street  It’s a slow burg—I spent a couple of weeks there one day Hyperbole