Download Poetry Terminology

Poetry Terminology
Presented by: Mrs. Tenney
TERMS
 Alliteration
 Personification
 Assonance
 Onomatopoeia
 Hyperbole
 Oxymoron
 Imagery
 Repetition
 Irony
 Rhyme
 Metaphor
 Simile
RESOURCES
MORE
INFO
Meet the Presenter

Mrs. Tenney

6th year at KAHS

Enjoys reading and
writing poetry!
RESOURCES

Academy of American Poets Website
 http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/17105

Multimedia Resources
 http://magnussonllc.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/pimp-mypresentation-alliterations/
 Microsoft Office Clipart Galley
ALLITERATION

Repetition of the same, initial consonant sounds

EXAMPLES: Soft Sighing of
the Sea
ASSONANCE

The repetition of the vowel sounds followed by
different consonants in two or more stressed
syllables.

EXAMPLE: As high as a kite in a bright sky
HYPERBOLE

A bold, deliberate overstatement not intended to
be taken seriously. The purpose is to emphasize
the truth of the statement.

EXAMPLES: He weighs a ton, I could eat a horse
IMAGERY


Usually these words or phrases create a picture
in the reader’s mind. Some imagery appeals to
the other four senses (hearing, touch, taste,
smell).
EXAMPLES:
 Sight – smoke mysteriously puffed our from his ears
 Sound – he could hear a faint but distant thump
 Touch – the burlap wall covering scraped his skin
 Taste – a salty tear ran down his cheek
 Smell – the scent of cinnamon floated into his nostrils
IRONY


The general name given to the literary
techniques that involve differences between
appearance and reality, expectations and result,
or meaning and intention.
EXAMPLE:
 It was ironic that the police station was robbed.
 It was ironic that the Olympic swimmer drowned in the
bathtub.
 It was ironic that the soldier survived the war and then was
shot on his own front porch after returning home safely.
METAPHOR

A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken
as though it were something else, a direct
comparison of two unlike things.

EXAMPLE: It is raining cats and dogs
PERSONIFICATION

Figurative language in which a nonhuman
subject is given human characteristics

EXAMPLE: The wind spoke her name
ONOMATOPOEIA

The use of words that imitate sounds.

Buzz, Thud, Hiss, Woof, Quack
OXYMORON

The junction of words which, at first view, seem
to be contradictory, but surprisingly this
contradictions expresses a truth or dramatic
effect.

EXAMPLES: Pretty ugly, Icy hot
REPETITION

The use, more than once, of any element of
language – a sound, a word, a phrase, a clause,
or a sentence.

EXAMPLE: By Edgar Allan Poe
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells
Of the bells
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells
RHYME

Word endings that sounds alike

Internal Rhyme – rhyme within a line

EXAMPLES: Time, Slime, Mime

Internal Rhyme – Scornfully scaly snake which held
his very fate
SIMILE

A comparison using like or as.

EXAMPLES: As brave as a lion, As dumb as an ox
MORE INFORMTAION
If you’d like to learn more about poetry
terms, please refer to Mrs. Tenney’s
Moodle page. The website is:
http://ecougar.kasd.org/