elements of effective poetry

hn creative writing i

rhyme/rhyme scheme

sound device; endings sound alike; pattern established by the arrangement of words/lines in a stanza or poem (e.g. AABB, ABAB)

meter

sound device; the arrangement of words according to stressed and unstressed syllables so they make a pattern or beat; distinguishes poetyr from prose

onomatopoeia

sound device; words that imitate the natural sound of the thing they describe

alliteration

sound device; repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words

assonance

sound device; repeated vowel sounds in words placed near each other

repetition

sound device; purposeful re-use of words/phrases to create emphasis

similie

figurative language; creating a comparison between two things using “like” or “as”

metaphor

figurative language; creates comparison by stating that one thing IS another (despite it not actually being the other)

personification

figurative language; attributing human characteristics to an inanimate object/abstract idea

symbolism

figurative language; when a simple/ordinary object/animal/event/person represents deeper meaning or significance

diction (word choice & connotation)

figurative language; the ideas or feelings evoked by a word in contrast/rather than a word’s literal meaning

idiom

figurative language; group of words established by usage i nsociety as having a meaning not deducible from the individual words themselves

metonym

figurative language; figure of speech where a noun is referred to by something closely associated with it

allusion

figurative language; a brief reference to a person/historical event/biblical/mythological situation/character

verses & stanzas

structure; single lines or groups of lines of poem arranged in a metrical pattern

enjambment

structure; when lines/verses have incomplete syntax and the meaning runs over from one line to the next without puncuation; for effect, changes the pacing/momentum of the reader’s processing of the poem

turns

a shift in direction within a poem; may be regarding tones, perspectives, voice, form, structure, audience, etc.

visual

concrete imagery; calls upon sight

aural

concrete imagery; calls upon sound

olfactory

concrete imagery; calls upon smell

tactile

concrete imagery; calls upon touch

gustatory

concrete imagery; calls upon taste