Literary and Poetic Devices

Diction

the poet’s precise choice of words

Imagery

descriptive, sensory words that create a mental picture

Paradox

A paradox is a figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself yet is true

Metaphor

comparison between two unlike things without using like or as

Alliteration

words begin with the same letter

Allusion

reference to something else outside of the subject of the poem

Rhyme

same syllable or word sounds, often occurring at the end of lines of poetry

The metrical rhythm

Is the repetition of certain sounds in a line

STANZA

lines of poetry that are grouped as a unit and offset from other lines with a space

Pentameter

can be described as a line that consists of ten syllables, where the first syllable is stressed, the second is unstressed, the third is stressed, and so on until it reaches the 10th line syllable.

Personification

attributing human qualities to animals or inanimate objects

Simile

comparison between two objects using like, as, or than

Symbolism

using one object to suggest another meaning

Theme

the dominant unifying idea in a poem

Oxymoron

an oxymoron is a contradiction merely between words

Onomatopoeia

the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named 

Assonance

The resemblance in the sounds of words or syllables in their vowels

Consonance

Consonance generally occurs when consonant sounds are repeated in the middle or end of a word

Irony

Could be the difference between what might be expected to happen to what actually happens.

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

Couplet

a pair of consecutive lines that typically rhyme though they do not have to

Tercet

a three line stanza or poem

Quatrain

a four line stanza or poem

Cinquain/quintain

a five-line stanza

Sestet

a six-line stanza

Line Break

Where the author chooses to end one line and start another

WHITE SPACE

The areas of a page without print or pictures

enjambment

the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line

end-stopped lineation

A metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break