poetry unit: figurative language and poetic devices
Figurative Language: a tool that an author uses to help the reader see what is happening in a story or poem.
Types of Figurative Language:
*Simile: Comparing two unlike things using the words like or as.
Example: Her hair is like a river.
*Metaphor: Comparing two unlike things (does not use like or as) saying that one thing IS another
Example: Her hair is a river. OR Her hair was a river.
*Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human things (inanimate objects/animals).
Example: The heater hummed and groaned in the office. (The object = the heater; human qualities=hummed and groaned)
*Alliteration: the repetition of the initial (first) consonant sound in a line or sentence. There should be at least two repetitions.
Example: He sang a song and sighed. (repetition of the "s" sound).
*Onomatopoeia: a word that sounds like its meaning
Example: Bang, buzz, hiss
*Hyperbole: Extreme exaggeration
Example: I told you a million times!
She's as tall as a skyscraper.
*Idiom: a common phrase that means something other than its literal meaning.
Example: He has a chip on his shoulder = He has an attitude.
That was a piece of cake = That was easy.
Break a leg = Good luck.
*Imagery: Involves one or more of the five senses (see, touch, hear, feel, taste). The use of words/descriptions that makes a reader get a mental image or experience what the author is describing.
Example: The long, green branches of the weeping willow tree swayed gently in the warm summer breeze.
The smell of freshly cut grass filled the air as the high-noon sun warmed my skin.
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Rhyme: (sound device) the repetition of similar sounds in two or more words
Example: cat, bat OR laying, swaying
Types of rhyme:
-Internal rhyme: rhymes within the same line
Example: The cat wore a strange hat.
-External (End) rhyme: rhymes at the ends of two different lines.
Example:
Shadows on the wall.
Noises down the hall.
OR
Thy heart--thy heart!--I wake and sigh,
And sleep to dream till day
Of the truth that gold can never buy--
Of the baubles that it may.
Rhyme Scheme: the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem.
Example:
Shadows on the wall. (A)
Noises down the hall. (A)
OR
Thy heart--thy heart!--I wake and sigh, (A)
And sleep to dream till day (B)
Of the truth that gold can never buy-- (A)
Of the baubles that it may. (B)
OR
Mr. Brown, the circus clown (A)
puts his clothes on upside down (A)
He wears his hat upon his toes (B)
and socks and shoes upon his nose. (B)
Denotation: The dictionary definition/literal meaning of a word/phrase
Connotation: The way a word/phrase makes you feel.
Three types of connotation:
-Positive connotation: We went to my home.
-Neutral connotation: We went to my house.
-Negative connotation: We went to my shack.
Types of Figurative Language:
*Simile: Comparing two unlike things using the words like or as.
Example: Her hair is like a river.
*Metaphor: Comparing two unlike things (does not use like or as) saying that one thing IS another
Example: Her hair is a river. OR Her hair was a river.
*Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human things (inanimate objects/animals).
Example: The heater hummed and groaned in the office. (The object = the heater; human qualities=hummed and groaned)
*Alliteration: the repetition of the initial (first) consonant sound in a line or sentence. There should be at least two repetitions.
Example: He sang a song and sighed. (repetition of the "s" sound).
*Onomatopoeia: a word that sounds like its meaning
Example: Bang, buzz, hiss
*Hyperbole: Extreme exaggeration
Example: I told you a million times!
She's as tall as a skyscraper.
*Idiom: a common phrase that means something other than its literal meaning.
Example: He has a chip on his shoulder = He has an attitude.
That was a piece of cake = That was easy.
Break a leg = Good luck.
*Imagery: Involves one or more of the five senses (see, touch, hear, feel, taste). The use of words/descriptions that makes a reader get a mental image or experience what the author is describing.
Example: The long, green branches of the weeping willow tree swayed gently in the warm summer breeze.
The smell of freshly cut grass filled the air as the high-noon sun warmed my skin.
-----------------------------
Rhyme: (sound device) the repetition of similar sounds in two or more words
Example: cat, bat OR laying, swaying
Types of rhyme:
-Internal rhyme: rhymes within the same line
Example: The cat wore a strange hat.
-External (End) rhyme: rhymes at the ends of two different lines.
Example:
Shadows on the wall.
Noises down the hall.
OR
Thy heart--thy heart!--I wake and sigh,
And sleep to dream till day
Of the truth that gold can never buy--
Of the baubles that it may.
Rhyme Scheme: the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem.
Example:
Shadows on the wall. (A)
Noises down the hall. (A)
OR
Thy heart--thy heart!--I wake and sigh, (A)
And sleep to dream till day (B)
Of the truth that gold can never buy-- (A)
Of the baubles that it may. (B)
OR
Mr. Brown, the circus clown (A)
puts his clothes on upside down (A)
He wears his hat upon his toes (B)
and socks and shoes upon his nose. (B)
Denotation: The dictionary definition/literal meaning of a word/phrase
Connotation: The way a word/phrase makes you feel.
Three types of connotation:
-Positive connotation: We went to my home.
-Neutral connotation: We went to my house.
-Negative connotation: We went to my shack.