HOW TO IDENTIFY POETIC DEVICES?

Fricative alliteration?

The repetition of “v”, “f”, “s“, “z“, “sh“, “th“ sounds at the start of successive words

Effect:

• Creates a harsh, violent noise to communicate anger, or bright, airy sounds

e.g. fair is foul and foul is fair

Plosive alliteration?

The repitition of “p“ and “b“ sounds at the start of successive words

Effect:

• often used to create the sound of an impact, conveying anger or frustration.

• Can also lend to an upbeat tone.

e.g. Bella broke the breakfast bar perched on the tabletop

Guttural alliteration?

The repetition of “g“ and “c“ sounds at the start of successive words

Effect:

• harsh

• conveys disgust or disapproval

e.g. Grace ran after the cat that got away

Anaphora?

A phrase repeated at the beginning of successive sentences

Effect:

• Creates emphasis (on key ideas etc.), rhythm, emotional impact (evokes…)

e.g. I have a dream…

Assonance?

Repetition of vowels sounds in a phrase

Effect:

• subtle musicality to the piece

• flow

e.g. I might like to take a flight to an island in the sky.

Consonance?

Repetition of consonant sounds in a phrase

Effect:

• Enhances rhythm and musicality of a text

• Flow

e.g. A duck that clucked drove a truck into an aqueduct

Chiasmus?

The reversal of words and ideas

Effect:

• Draw attention to a contrasting idea

• Emphasis

e.g. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country

Enjambment?

Run on lines, line continues over to the next without a pause

Effect:

• Increased pace, tension

• flow/continuity between lines

Epistrophe?

Successive sentences or sentence fragments end with the same phrase

Effect:

• Creates emphasis (on key ideas etc.)

• Rhythm

• Emotional impact (evokes…)
  

e.g. Abraham Lincoln’s speech, “A government of the people, by the people, for the people”.

Vivid imagery?

Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses to create a strong, clear mental picture for the reader or listener

Effect:

• Stronger emotional connection

• immerses reader in the experience

e.g. 

Juxtaposition?

Two things/ideas placed close together with contrasting effect

Effect:

• Builds connections via comparison

• highlights the difference

e.g. All’s fair in love and war

Metaphor?

Compares two unlike things by stating that one is the other to create a vivid image or emphasize a similarity

Effect:

• Helps ppl understand a perspective/concept

• evokes emotion

e.g. Love is a battlefield

Metonym?

Substituting a related word or concept for another, which adds depth and complexity to a simple phrase

Effect:

• Influences the reader's understanding by drawing on the associations of the substituted word

• Creates a more vivid, concise, and powerful image

e.g. The White House issued a new law

Motif?

Symbol or idea repeated thru out

Effect: 

• Reinforces a theme/idea

• Creates a mood

e.g. Blackbird

Personification?

Giving human characteristics to a non-human entity

Effect:

• Allows the audience to emotionally resonate with the non-human thing

• Enhances imagery

e.g. The wind whispered

Tmesis?

The separation of parts of a compound word by an intervening word or words, used mainly in informal speech for emphasis

Effect:

• Emphasis

• Humour

• Interruption forces the reader to pause and grabs their attention

e.g. un-freaking-believable

Sibilance?

Repetition of “s“, “z“ , and “sh“ sound in a sentence

Effect: 

• Hissing/hushing

• Creates mood 

• Emphasis on certain words

• Evokes feelings of unease

e.g. vicious racists

Caesura?

A break or pause in a line

Effect:

• altered rhythm - allows the reader to pause and reflect on the preceding words

• Emphasises certain words

e.g. In fair Verona, // where we lay our scene

Parallelism?

The use of the same phrase to begin successive sentences.

Effect:

• Highlights key ideas

• Rhythmic quality - makes arguments more convincing/memorable

e.g.

They tell us to be patient.

They tell us to be quiet.

They tell us to be grateful.