1. Literary Devices
"ENGLISH? WHO NEEDS THAT? I'M NEVER
GOING TO ENGLAND!"
-HOMER SIMPSON

2. Poems are about . . .
Feelings

3. Tone
 The writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and
subject
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the
autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively
low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on
horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country,
and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening
drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher”
(Poe).
The tone of this piece is sad and depressing

4. Mood
 The feeling created in the reader by a literary work
or passage
While reading Eclipse, Kevin chewed his fingernails as
he waited nervously for Bella’s decision between
Edward and Jacob.
Kevin’s mood is nervous and apprehensive.

5. Poems are about . . .
Sound

6. Cacophony (caco = bad; phon = sound)
 An arrangement of words (esp. in poetry) that
produce sharp, jarring, disagreeable sounds
From “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll: “'Twasbrillig,
and the slithytoves/Did gyre and gimble in the
wabe;/All mimsy were the borogoves,/And the
momerathsoutgrabe”
From "Player Piano" by John Updike: "never my numb
plunker fumbles."

7. Assonance
 Repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words
that do not end the same, often used to emphasize
important words in a line
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak
and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten
lore
-Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”

8. Consonance (con = together; son = sound)
 Repetition of consonant sounds anywhere in line
(remember alliteration is at the beginning of words!)
 While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there
came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my
chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my
chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.’ “The Raven”

9. Onomatopoeia
 Use of words that imitate sounds
Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.
Jack Prelutsky “Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face”

10. Alliteration
 Repetition of initial consonant sounds
“And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple
curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never
felt before”
From “The Raven”

11. Poems are about . . .
Thought

12. Figurative language
 Writing or speech not meant to be interpreted
literally; often used to created vivid impressions by
setting up comparisons between dissimilar things

13. Metaphor
 A comparison between two unlike things
“Hold fast to dreams/for if dreams die/life is a broken-
winged bird/That cannot fly”
From “Dreams” by Langston Hughes

14. Simile
 A comparison between two unlike things using like or as
“It was Easter Sunday in Chicago, and my sister Amy and I
were attending an afternoon dinner at the home of our
friend John. The weather was nice, and he'd set up a
table in the backyard so that we might sit in the sun.
Everyone had taken their places, when I excused myself
to visit the bathroom, and there, in the toilet, was the
absolute biggest turd I have ever seen in my life - no
toilet paper or anything, just this long and coiled
specimen, as thick as a burrito.”
From “Big Boy” by David Sedaris

15. Personification
 Giving human characteristics to nonhuman
items/subjects
The door groaned as she opened it.
The book hid behind the pile of dead insects.
Its secrets whispered to her.

16. Oxymoron
 Two contradictory words are used together for effect
From Romeo and Juliet
“Good night, good night! parting is such
sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

17. Poems are about . . .
Ebb
and
Flow

18. Punctuate Your Poems
 When reading poetry, you should NEVER pause at
the end of a line UNLESS punctuation is present. No
punctuation? Don’t stop!
 Punctuation controls the flow of the poem.

19. Enjambment
 When the end of a line of poetry has no punctuation,
the poet is using enjambment. The flow of the line
runs right into the next line.
"What had summer
to do with sorrow in full spate?"

20. End-Stopped Lines
 When the end of a line of poetry has punctuation, the
poet is using end-stopped lines. The line is not
allowed to flow freely into the next line.
"What had summer
to do with sorrow in full spate?"

21. Caesura
 When punctuation is present in the middle of the
line, the poet has used caesura. This technique can
really chop up a poem or slow it down for dramatic
affect.
Know then thyself II, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of Mankind II is Man.
Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:

22. Poems are about . . .
Structure

23. Stanza
 A stanza is a group of lines within a poem. Poems may be one
stanza long or many stanzas long. The following example has
2 stanzas
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves 1
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too, 2
For his civility.

24. Line
 Poems are divided into lines, which make up stanzas.
The following example has 8 lines.
Because I could not stop for Death, 1
He kindly stopped for me; 2
The carriage held but just ourselves 3
And Immortality. 4
We slowly drove, he knew no haste, 5
And I had put away 6
My labor, and my leisure too, 7
For his civility. 8

25. Poems are about . . .
Fun

26. The End