Poetry Terminology

Poetry TerminologyPresented by: Mrs. Tenney

TERMSTERMS

Alliteration

Assonance

Hyperbole

Imagery

Irony

Metaphor

PersonificationOnomatopoeiaOxymoronRepetitionRhymeSimile

RESOURCES

MORE INFO

Meet the PresenterMeet the Presenter Mrs. Tenney

6th year at KAHS

Enjoys reading and writing poetry!

RESOURCESRESOURCES Academy of American Poets Website

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/17105

Multimedia Resources http://magnussonllc.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/pimp-

my-presentation-alliterations/ Microsoft Office Clipart Galley

ALLITERATIONALLITERATION

Repetition of the same, initial consonant sounds

EXAMPLES: Soft Sighing of

the Sea

ASSONANCEASSONANCE

The repetition of the vowel sounds followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables.

EXAMPLE: As high as a kite in a bright sky

HYPERBOLEHYPERBOLE

A bold, deliberate overstatement not intended to be taken seriously. The purpose is to emphasize the truth of the statement.

EXAMPLES: He weighs a ton, I could eat a horse

IMAGERYIMAGERY Usually these words or phrases create a

picture in the reader’s mind. Some imagery appeals to the other four senses (hearing, touch, taste, smell).

EXAMPLES: Sight – smoke mysteriously puffed our from his ears Sound – he could hear a faint but distant thump Touch – the burlap wall covering scraped his skin Taste – a salty tear ran down his cheek Smell – the scent of cinnamon floated into his nostrils

IRONYIRONY The general name given to the literary

techniques that involve differences between appearance and reality, expectations and result, or meaning and intention.

EXAMPLE: It was ironic that the police station was robbed. It was ironic that the Olympic swimmer drowned in

the bathtub. It was ironic that the soldier survived the war and

then was shot on his own front porch after returning home safely.

METAPHORMETAPHOR

A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken as though it were something else, a direct comparison of two unlike things.

EXAMPLE: It is raining cats and dogs

PERSONIFICATIONPERSONIFICATION

Figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics

EXAMPLE: The wind spoke her name

ONOMATOPOEIAONOMATOPOEIA

The use of words that imitate sounds.

Buzz, Thud, Hiss, Woof, Quack

OXYMORONOXYMORON

The junction of words which, at first view, seem to be contradictory, but surprisingly this contradictions expresses a truth or dramatic effect.

EXAMPLES: Pretty ugly, Icy hot

REPETITIONREPETITION

The use, more than once, of any element of language – a sound, a word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence.

EXAMPLE: By Edgar Allan Poe

By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells

Of the bells

Of the bells, bells, bells, bells

RHYMERHYME

Word endings that sounds alike

Internal Rhyme – rhyme within a line

EXAMPLES: Time, Slime, Mime

Internal Rhyme – Scornfully scaly snake which held his very fate

SIMILESIMILE

A comparison using like or as.

EXAMPLES: As brave as a lion, As dumb as an ox

MORE MORE INFORMTAIONINFORMTAION

If you’d like to learn more about poetry terms, please refer to Mrs. Tenney’s Moodle page. The website is:

http://ecougar.kasd.org/