Comprehensive Guide to Literary Devices and Poetic Forms

Figurative Language and Literary Devices

• Apostrophe (not punctuation)

  • Definition: Directly addressing someone or something that is absent or cannot respond.
  • Example: "Oh, summer, please never end."

• Conceit (lit device; not personality trait)

  • Definition: An extended comparison between two very different things.
  • Example: Comparing a relationship to a roller coaster and continuing to compare the ups and downs of the relationship to the ride.

• Hyperbole

  • Definition: Extreme exaggeration used for emphasis.
  • Example: "I have a million things to do tonight."

• Imagery

  • Definition: Descriptive language that appeals to the senses.
  • Example: "The warm cookies smelled like chocolate and melted in my mouth."

• Metonymy

  • Definition: Replacing the name of something with something closely associated with it.
  • Example: "The classroom was waiting for the bell." — "The classroom" means the students in it.

• Symbol

  • Definition: Something that represents a deeper meaning or idea.
  • Example: A heart can symbolize love.

• Synecdoche

  • Definition: Using a part to represent the whole.
  • Example: "We need more hands to help clean up." — "hands" means people.

• Synesthesia (lit device)

  • Definition: Describing one sense using another sense.
  • Example: "She had a sweet voice." — "sweet" is normally related to taste but describes sound.

Sound Devices and Rhyme Concepts

• Assonance

  • Definition: Repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.
  • Example: "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain." — repeated long A sound. Miss Kitty sipped her tea.

• Consonance (different from alliteration)

  • Definition: Repetition of consonant sounds inside and at the end of words.
  • Example: "The black rock was on the track." — repeated k sound.

• Slant Rhyme / Forced Rhyme

  • Definition: Words have similar but imperfect sounds; an unnatural rhyme used just to make the poem rhyme.
  • Example: home / gone; changing how you pronounce a word just to make it rhyme.

Poetic Meter, Rhythm, and Structure

• Iamb

  • Definition: Two syllables with the pattern unstressed-STRESSED.
  • Example: be-LOW, a-WAY, to-DAY.

• Iambic Pentameter

  • Definition: A line containing five iambs (sounds like a heart beat).
  • Example: "I WALK / to SCHOOL / each DAY / to SEE / my FRIENDS."

• Blank Verse

  • Definition: Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter.
  • Example: "The sun begins to rise above the hills." — follows a regular rhythm but doesn't rhyme.

• Heroic Rhyming Couplet

  • Definition: Two consecutive rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter.
  • Example: "The test was hard, but I did my best / Now I can finally get some rest."

• Enjambment

  • Definition: When a sentence continues from one line of poetry into the next without punctuation.
  • Example: "I walked outside / and saw the stars." — the thought continues onto the next line.

Poetic Forms and Genres

• Ballad

  • Definition: A poem that tells a story, often with rhyme and repetition.
  • Example: A poem about two people falling in love, breaking up, and meeting again that tells the whole story. (Ballad of Curtis Loew?)

• Elegy

  • Definition: A poem expressing sadness or mourning, especially after someone's death.
  • Example: A poem written in memory of a loved one who has died.

• Epic Poetry

  • Definition: A long narrative poem about a heroic figure and important adventures.
  • Example: A long poem about a hero who fights monsters, travels to different lands, and faces major challenges.

• Free Verse

  • Definition: Poetry without a regular rhyme scheme or meter.
  • Example: "I woke up / looked outside / the rain was falling / and I decided / to stay home."

• Lyric Poetry

  • Definition: Poetry that expresses the speaker's personal thoughts or emotions.
  • Example: A poem about feeling lonely after a friendship ends.

• Ode

  • Definition: A poem that praises or celebrates something.
  • Example: "Ode to My Dog" — a poem describing how wonderful and loyal your dog is.

• Terza Rima

  • Definition: A three-line stanza with an interlocking rhyme scheme: ABA BCB CDC.
  • Example: The cat sat on a mat (A) / It looked at the moon (B) / Then chased a rat (A). The next stanza would rhyme with B.
  • Notable Work: Dante Alighieri The Divine Comedy

• Villanelle

  • Definition: A 19-line poem with a strict rhyme scheme and repeated lines.
  • Example: A poem about missing someone where the same two important lines keep returning throughout the poem.