Poetic Devices (#26-40)

Figurative Language

Language that is not meant to be taken literally (also called figures of speech)

Imagery

Descriptions appealing to the senses

Simile

A comparison between two distinctly different things indicated by the words "like" or "as"

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two unlike things that applies the characteristics of one to the other

Conceit

An extended metaphor that draws out the comparison between two unlike things

Allusion

A direct or indirect reference to a person, place, event, or to another literary work that serves to illustrate or clarify a subject

Oxymoron

Two terms that are in ordinary usage opposites that are combined into one phrase/idea

Paradox

A statement which on its face seems to be self-contradictory or absurd yet turns out to make good sense or have some validity

Personification

Referring to an inanimate object or an abstract idea as having life, human attributes or feelings

Hyperbole

A bold overstatement; an extravagant exaggeration; often ironic

Understatement

The opposite of a hyperbole; a figure of speech that deliberately represents something as much less in magnitude or importance than it really is

Epiphany

A sudden flair of revelation; a moment of insight

Anecdote

A story or brief narrative episode used by a writer/speaker to illustrate a point

Symbol

Something which is itself (often concrete) yet also stands for something else

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which someone or some abstract thing that is usually absent is directly addressed as if it is present