1. Elements of Poetry

2. What is Poetry?
Expression of emotion or ideas in an arrangement of words most often rhythmically
Using imagery and senses to express the way we feel about a subject
Doesn’t have to rhyme

3. Elements Simile Onomatopoeia Metaphor Idiom Hyperbole Theme Assonance
Alliteration
Personification
Imagery
Rhyme
Rhythm

4. Simile Compares one thing to another using “like” or “as” Examples:
The milk tasted like pickles.
It was as dry as a bone.
Life is like a box of chocolates.
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5. Onomatopoeia Using words that sound like their meaning Examples:
buzz splat crash whoosh
moo pow chug whew
beep bam bang chirp
Buzz went the bees.
Moo said the cow.
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6. Metaphor
A comparison between two things which does not use like or as.
May sound false at first, but is a clever way to make a point.
Examples:
My love is a rose.
You are my sunshine.
America is a melting pot.
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7. Idiom A language familiar to a group of people.
The dialect of people or a region.
Examples:
That was easy as pie.
Boy, my brain was cookin’.
Ya’ll comin’ to da party tonight?
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8. Hyperbole A large exaggeration, usually used with humor. Examples:
Her feet were so big she could go water skiing without the skies.
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
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9. Assonance
A repetition of vowel sounds within syllables with changing consonants.
Examples:
Tilting at windmills.
The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains.
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10. Alliteration Starting three or more words with the same sound.
Examples:
A skunk sat on a stump.
Wendy worries about her weird wart.
She sells seashells by the seashore.
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11. Personification
Assigning the qualities of a person to something that isn’t human.
Examples:
The leaves danced in the wind.
Opportunity knocked on the door.
At precisely 6:30 a.m. my alarm clock sprang to life.
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12. Imagery The reader can picture the scene in his mind.
Usually appeals to the 5 senses.
Examples:
I wandered lonely as a cloud.
A host of golden daffodils.
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Beside the lake, beneath the trees.
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13. Rhyme
The repetition of sounds within different words, either end sound, middle or beginning.
Words having a sound similar to others.
Examples:
bat hat cat fat
lake snake fake rake
remain refrain regain
trim brim prim
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14. Rhythm The flow of words within each meter or stanza.
Music, speech, or movements which are characterized by equal or regularly alternating beats.
Examples:
Chicka-chicka boom chicka boom chicka boom
Da-da-da-dummmm, da-da-da-dummmm
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15. Theme The message, point of view, and idea of the poem.
The topic or subject.
Examples:
Nature
School
Love
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16. Bibliography
Basic Elements of Poetry
Literary Terms
Online dictionary
Microsoft Clip Art
Georgia Performance Standards – 5th grade