Poetic Devices

Alliteration

Repeating letters at the start of words, next to or near to each other.

Assonance

Repeating vowel sounds in words.

Consonance

repeating consonant sounds at the end of words.

Onomatopoeia

Words which sound like the noise they describe.

Sibilance

Repeating ‘s’ and ‘sh’ sounds – can be at the start, and or middle of words.

Plosives

Sounds made by cutting off airflow - ‘p’ ‘b’ ‘t’ ‘k’ ‘d’ ‘g’

Fricatives

Sounds made through continuous airflow - ‘s’ ‘f’ ‘u’ ‘z’

Repetition

Re-using the same words and sounds for effect.

Rhyme

Words whose endings sound alike. The way they are organised is called the rhyme scheme.

Meter

The way in which syllables in words are emphasised (or stressed). Sonnets, for example, use 10 syllables in an unstressed/stressed pattern.

Lambic Pentameter

10 syllables in a line, unstressed/stressed (5 feet).

Trochaic Tetrameter

8 syllables in a line, stressed/unstressed (4 feet).

Allusion

A brief, often subtle, reference to a person, event, character from a book or work of art.

Ambiguity

When the meaning is not clear – there is more than one interpretation.

Cliche

Obvious, over-used phrases.

Connotation

The meanings associated with a word.

Juxtaposition

Placing two different ideas next to each other, to highlight their differences.

Anthesis

Opposite words used in proximity of each other.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two things, stating that one is the other.

Oxymoron

Two words which seem to contradict each other.

Paradox

A statement which seems to be a contradiction.

Pun

A play on words which sound like the same but have different meanings/spellings.

Personification

Giving human characteristics to an inanimate object.

Simile

Comparing two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Symbol

Something which represents ideas or values.

Semantic field

Words linked by meaning.

Sensory imagery

Imagery which uses more than one sense.

Bathos

When the subject matter changes from something important to something common/mundane.

Colloquial

Chatty, informal language.

Concrete noun

A physical, visible thing like table or bus.

Abstract noun

A thing that is a concept, idea, emotional and therefore not physical. Like love or power or weakness.

Verb

An action or word which describes a state of being.

Dynamic verb

Physical actions.

Adverb

A word which describes a verb or an adjective, often ends in ‘ly’.

Adjective

A describing word.

Stanza

A unit in poetry, separated by a blank line.

Asyndetic list

A list without conjunctions.

Anaphora

The repetition of a phrase at the start of a number of sentences.

Enjambment

When a sentence is not end-stopped but flows from one line to the next.

Caesura

Punctuation placed in the middle of a line of poetry, creating a pause.

Free verse

A poem which follows no particular structure or rhyme scheme.

Monologue

When the poem is spoken by a single character.

Sonnet

A poem with 14 lines, an ABAB rhyme scheme, iambic pentameter, three quatrains and a concluding rhyming couplet.

Ballad

A long poem which tells a story, often tragic, with a simple rhythm and rhyme scheme – sometimes includes a refrain or chorus.

Fragment

An incomplete sentence – often one word.

End-stopped

When punctuation is used at the end of a line of poetry; therefore the sentence ends where the line ends.

Rhyming couplet

Two lines with rhyming words at the end.

Quatrain

Four lines of poetry.

Volta

When the rhyme scheme or tone changes, signalling a ‘turn’ in ideas or focus.