Poetic Devices for 9th graders

Blank verse – verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Each line usually contains ten syllables and every other syllable is stressed.

Couplet – two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Free verse – poetry that has no fixed meter or pattern and that depends on natural speech rhythm

Haiku – a Japanese poem style that

describes a single image in three lines and 17 syllables (5, 7, 5)

Limerick – a humorous five-line poem ( “There once was a man from Nantucket…”)

Sonnet – a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter.

Shakespearean sonnet rhyme scheme: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. \n Petrarchan sonnet rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA, CDCDCD. \n Miltonic sonnet rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA, CDECDE.

Stanza – a group of lines forming a unit in a poem

Tercet – a three-line stanza

Quatrain - a four-line stanza.

Cinquain - a five-line stanza.

Sestet - a six-line stanza.

Verse – writing arranged with a metrical rhythm, typically having a rhyme

Alliteration – the repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters, in a group of words

Meter – a generally regular pattern of stressed or unstressed syllables in poetry

Onomatopoeia – the use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning

Rhyme – a repetition of sound in two or more words or phrases that usually appear close to each other in a poem

Rhyme scheme is the pattern that the rhymes at the end of the lines create for a poem.

Rhythm – the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables into a pattern

Allusion – a reference in one work of literature to a person, place, or event in another work of literature or in history, art or music

Figure of speech – a term applied to a specific kind of figurative language, such as metaphor, simile, or personification

Hyperbole – an obvious exaggeration not meant to be taken literally; exaggeration for effect

Imagery – language that appeals to any combination of senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch)

Irony – a difference or inconsistency between what is stated and what is really meant (verbal), or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen (situational), or when the audience knows something the characters do not (dramatic)

Metaphor – a direct comparison between two unlike things with the intent of giving added meaning to one of them

Oxymoron – figure of speech in which opposite ideas are combined e.g.: thunderous silence, jumbo shrimp

Paradox – a statement that seems untrue but may be true

Personification – a figure of speech in which an animal, an object, a natural force, or an idea is given personality, or described as if it were human

Simile – a comparison between two dissimilar things through the use of a specific word of comparison such as like, as, that, or resembles

Symbol – any object, person, place, or action that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something larger than itself, such as quality, an attitude, a belief, or a value

Other important poetry words to know

Connotation – the emotion or association that a word or phrase may arouse; the implied meaning of a word

Denotation – the literal or “dictionary” meaning of a word

Diction – the specific choice of words for a poet/writer, often to create a certain tone or writing style

Reader – who the poem is meant for

Speaker – the narrating voice in a poem; often referred to as the “persona” when “I”/first-person point-of-view is used

Theme – the poet’s message

Tone – the attitude that a writer takes towards his or her subject, characters, and readers

Voice – how a speaker/persona presents themself within a text