Literary Devices Used in Poetry

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What is a simile?

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A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things using the words 'like' or 'as'. For example, 'The engine purred like a contented cat.'

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What is an allusion?

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An allusion is a reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance, often made indirectly. For example, calling someone 'Scrooge' refers to the character from Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'.

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What is hyperbole?

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Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claim that is not meant to be taken literally. For example, 'I ate a million hot dogs at the picnic.'

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What is personification?

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Personification is a literary device where human qualities are attributed to non-human things. For example, 'The wind whispered through the trees.'

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What is alliteration?

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Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial consonant sound in a series of words. For example, 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore.'

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What is assonance?

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Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words. For example, 'The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.'

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What is internal rhyme?

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Internal rhyme is a rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry, rather than at the end of lines. For example, 'I went to town to buy a gown.'

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What is an acrostic?

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An acrostic is a poem or a word puzzle in which certain letters in each line form a word or message when read vertically. For example, 'SLEEP' could be an acrostic where each line starts with S, L, E, E, P.

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What is a metaphor?

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A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'. For example, 'Time is a thief.'

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What is imagery?

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Imagery is the use of descriptive language that appeals to the senses, creating a mental picture for the reader. For example, 'The golden sun set over the calm, blue ocean.'