POETIC DEVICES & LITERARY TERMS USE IN

POETRY ANALYSIS

Figures of speech/ Figurative language:A form of language use in which writers

and speakers convey something other than the literal meaning of their words

Figures of speech

Hyperbole or Exaggeration Metaphor Simile Personificatio

n

Personification:Giving human attributes to an animal, object or idea. For example: “The cat cries”

Simile:A comparison between two things which are essentially

dissimilar. The comparison is directly stated through words such as like, as, than, as though or

resembles For example: "My love is like a red, red rose."

Metaphor:like a simile, makes a comparison between two unlike

things, but does so implicitly, without words such as like or as.

For example: “The crowd was a storm”

Hyperbole / Exaggeration:A figure of speech involving exaggeration.

(overstatement) For example: John Donne uses hyperbole in his poem:

"Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star.”

Image/ Imagery:A word, phrase, or figure of speech (esp. a simile or

metaphor) that addresses the senses, suggesting mental pictures of sights, sounds, smells, tastes,

feelings, or actions. (Image of blood, light, darkness …etc )

Symbol:Something that represents something else

beyond themselves.

Paradox: A statement that initially appears to be self-

contradictory, but that on closer inspection turns out to make sense

Tone: The author’s attitude toward the subject, character and audience. An author's tone

might be sarcastic, sincere, humorous… etc

Theme: A central idea or meaning.

Speaker: The voice used by the author in the poem. Often a

created identity rather than the author’s actual self.

Poetic diction: The use of elevated language over ordinary

language.

Stanza: A grouping of lines, set off by a space, that usually

has a set pattern of meter and

Alliteration: The repetition of the same consonant sounds at the

beginnings of nearby words.

Allusion: A brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or

idea in history or literature.

Denotations: Literal, dictionary meanings of a word

Connotations:Associations and implications that go beyond a word’s literal meanings and are based on context.

Rhyme: Two or more words or phrases that repeat the

same sounds. Rhyme scheme:

The pattern of end rhymes.AABBABABAABCBC

Rhythm:A series of stressed or accented syllables in a

group of words, arranged so that the reader expects a similar series to follow.

Irony: A literary device that uses contradictory statements or

situations to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true

Situational irony: an incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens due to forces beyond human comprehension or control.

Cosmic irony: a writer uses God, destiny, or fate to dash the hopes and expectations of a character or of humankind in general.

Dramatic irony: a discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what the reader or audience member knows to be true.for example: when a character says to another "I'll see you

tomorrow!" when the audience (but not the character) knows that the character will die before morning.

Verbal irony:  a disparity of expression and intention: when a speaker says one thing but means another, or when a literal meaning is contrary to its intended effect.

An example: of this is when someone says "Oh, that's beautiful", when what he means (probably conveyed by intonation) is he finds

"that" quite ugly.

Kinds of Poetry

Elegy: Poem

written for someone who died

Ballad:Song-like poem that tells story

(sad/ tragic story)

Free verse :called open form poetry. It sounds

like ordinary speech

Sonnet:14 lines poem that follow strict rules

of structure, meter and rhyme

Epic:Long narrative poem about

many deeds of a great hero

Lyric:Shot personal

poem that expresses the poet feelings

Ode:A long lyric, usually

parsing some subject, and written in

dignified language

WORK CITATION http://

www.roanestate.edu/faculty/ccurrie/engl%202020%20resources/poetic%20terms.pdf

http://www.bestlibrary.org/murrayslit/2009/09/poetic-devices.html