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Poetic Devices

Changing the world one metaphor at a time . . .

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Alliteration

  • The repetition of words with the same initial (that means beginning) sound:
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    • WriteGirl Writing Workshop
    • Poetry Palooza

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Hyperbole

  • A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis:

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    • It took forever for me to get the letter in the mail.

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Imagery

  • Painting a picture with words; descriptions that appeal to the senses:

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    • The pink blossoms on the plum tree drifted to the ground.

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Simile

  • A comparison between two unlike things using the words like or as:
    • As open as a 24-hour Denny’s!

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Metaphor

  • A comparison between two unlike things saying one thing is the other:

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    • My sister is a rock
    • The pillow is a soft cloud

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Onomatopoeia

  • A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds:
    • Buzz, hiss, zing, clippety-clop, cock-a-doodle-do, pop, splat, thump, tick-tock

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Personification

  • A figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract ideas are given human attributes:

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    • The poppies danced in the field

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    • Love is blind

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Symbolism

  • An object or idea that has a deeper meaning than its actual self:
    • A tree has roots, growth, etc.
    • Yellow can symbolize freshness, daylight.

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Cliché

  • A phrase that has lost all originality because of its overuse:
    • busy as a bee
    • light as a feather
    • better safe than sorry