Poetic Devices

metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things where one represents the other - something is something else.

simile

A comparison between two unlike things where one thing is similar to another - something is like something else. (Will always use like or as)

personification

When something inhuman (inanimate, animal, or even an idea) is given human-like qualities.

hyperbole

Exaggeration. When something is made out to be a lot greater than it is.

allusion

Making a reference to something else. The reader should get the reference without it being explained.

alliteration

When words share the same BEGINNING CONSONANTsound.

assonance

Words with the same internal VOWEL sound.

consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds at the ENDS of words or WITHIN words

onomatopoeia

When a word is defined by its sound.

internal rhyme

rhyme that occurs WITHIN a single line of poetry

imagery

the descriptive words and phrases that a writer uses to re-create sensory experiences

repetition

the recurrence of words, phrases, or lines

metonymy

substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

Euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

pathetic fallacy

The attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature; for example angry clouds; a cruel wind.