Poetic Devices

Front 1

alliteration

Back 1

practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound

the twisted trout twinkled

Front 2

allusion

Back 2

reference to mythological, literary, or hjistorical person, place or thing

Front 3

antithesis

Back 3

direct contrast of structurally parallel word groupings, generallu for the purpose of contrast

sink or swim

Front 4

apostrophe

Back 4

form of personification with the absent or dead are spoken to as if present and the inanimate, as in animate.

Milton! Thou shoulds't be living at this hour.

Front 5

assonance

Back 5

reptition of vowel sounds in a series of words

cry and side have same vowel sound and are in assonance

Front 6

consonance

Back 6

repition of a consonant sound within a series of words to produce harmonious effect

and each slow dusk a drawing dow of blinds
(d sound)

Front 7

hyperbole

Back 7

deliberate, extravagant and often outrageous exaggeration
(used for serious or comic effect)

the shot heard round the world

Front 8

what are 3 types of irony

Back 8

verbal, situational, dramatic

Front 9

verbal irony

Back 9

result of statement saying one thing while measuring the opposite
(purpose to criticize)

It's simple to stop smoking. I've done it many times.

Front 10

situational irong

Back 10

when a situation turns out differently from what one would normally expect (twist is oddly appropriate)

a deep sea diver drowning in a bathtub is ironic.

Front 11

dramatic irong

Back 11

when a character says or does something that has more or different meaning from what he thinks it means, though the audience and or other characters do understand the full ramifications of the speech or action

Oedipus curses the murderer of Laius, not realizing that he is himself the murderer and so is cursing himself

Front 12

metaphor

Back 12

comparison without the use of like or as. the poet states that one things is another. it is usually a comparison between something that is concrete and something that is abstract

life is but a dream

Front 13

onomatopoeia

Back 13

use of words in which the sounds seem to resemble the sounds the describe

hiss, buzz, bang

Front 14

imitative harmony

Back 14

onomatopoeia is used on an extended scale in a poem

Front 15

oxymoron

Back 15

form of paradox that combines pair of contrary terms into a signle expression
(serves the purpose of shocking)

sweet sorrow
wooden nickel

Front 16

paradox

Back 16

statement that contradicts itself. it may seem absurd. it usually turns out to have a coherent meaning and reveals a truth that is normally hidden.

the more you know, the more you know you dont know

Front 17

personification

Back 17

metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characterisitcs.

the wind cried in the dark

Front 18

pun

Back 18

play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings.

ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man

Front 19

sarcasm

Back 19

type of irony when a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it. the purpose is to injure or hurt

as i fell down the stairs head first, i heard her say "Look aat that coordination."

Front 20

simile

Back 20

comparison of 2 different things or ideas through the use of words like or as

the warrior fought like a lion

Front 21

synecdoche

Back 21

part of something is used to signify the whole
=all hands on deck=

the whole can represent a part
=canada played the us in the olympic hockey finals

container representing the thing being contained
=the pot is boiling

the material from which an object is made stands for the object itself
=the quarterback tossed the pigskin

Front 22

metonymy

Back 22

name of something is applied to another thing with which it is closely associated

i love shakespeare

Front 23

understatement

Back 23

opposite of hyperbole. kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less that it really is

i could probably manage to survive on a salary of 2 million dollars per year.