Poetic Devices

Common Poetic Devices

1. Imagery: It is the use of figurative language to create visual representations of actions, objects and ideas in our mind in such a way that they appeal to our physical senses. For example:

• The room was dark and gloomy. -The words “dark” and “gloomy” are visual images.
• The river was roaring in the mountains. – The word “roaring” appeals to our sense of hearing.

2. Simile and Metaphor: Both compare two distinct objects and draws similarity between them. The difference is that Simile uses “as” or “like” and Metaphor does not. For example:

• “My love is like a red red rose” (Simile)
• He is an old fox very cunning. (Metaphor)

3. Hyperbole: It is deliberate exaggeration of actions and ideas for the sake of emphasis. For example:

• Your bag weighs a ton!
• I have got a million issues to look after!

4. Personification: It gives a thing, an idea or an animal human qualities. For example:

• The flowers are dancing beside the lake.
• Have you see my new car? She is a real beauty!

5. Alliteration: It refers to the same consonant sounds in words coming together. For example:

• Better butter always makes the batter better.
• She sells seashells at seashore.

6. Allegory: It is a literary technique in which an abstract idea is given a form of characters, actions or events. For example:

• “Animal Farm”, written by George Orwell, is an example allegory using the actions of animals on a farm to represent the overthrow of the last of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution of Russia before WW II.  In addition, the actions of the animals on the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the Revolution.

7. Irony: It is use of the words in such a way in which the intended meaning is completely opposite to their literal meaning. For example:

• The bread is soft as a stone.

• So nice of you to break my new PSP!

8. Situational Irony:  Situational irony occurs when the expected outcome does not happen. This is also called an irony of events. The outcome can be serious or humorous. For example:

• A fire station burns down
• A police station is burgled

9.  Connotation: suggested or implied meaning.

10. Juxtaposition: The arrangement of two or more ideas, characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words side-by-side or in similar narrative moments for the purpose of comparison, contrast, rhetorical effect, suspense, or character development.

11. Onomatopoeia: The use of words which sound like what they describe; e.g. "buzz, whir, babble."

12.  Pun: A humorous use of words which sound alike.

•  A German vegetarian drives a Volks Vegan

13.  Theme: A theme is an author’s insight about life.  It is the main idea or universal meaning, the lesson or message of a literary work. Themes can be summed up in one or two words.

14. Tone: The writer’s attitude, mood or moral outlook toward the subject and/or readers.

15.  Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which incongruous or seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side.

16.  Rhyme Scheme: the pattern of rhymes used in a poem, usually marked by letters to symbolize correspondences, as rhyme royal, ababbcc.

17.  Stanza: One of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines.

18. Colloquial language: is a variety of language commonly employed in conversation or other communication in informal situations.

19. Euphemism: is a generally innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant.

20. Cliché: is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being trite or irritating.

21. Assonance: is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences.

22. Rhetorical Question: a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point.

23. Addressing the reader directly: makes writing more personal and more likely to evoke an emotional response from the reader.