Poetic Devices

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What is a poetic device?

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Anything used by a poet—including sounds, shapes, rhythms, phrases, and words—to enhance the literal meaning of their poem.

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What does poetic form refer to?

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How the poem is structured using stanzas, line length, rhyme, and rhythm.

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What are the types of fixed verse?

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Limerick, haiku, ballad, villanelle, sestina, rondeau, odes, and sonnets.

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What is an ode?

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A short, lyrical poem used to express emotions and praise, originating in ancient Greece.

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What is a sonnet?

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A fourteen-line poem using iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg.

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What is blank verse?

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Unrhymed lines that use a regular meter, typically non-rhyming iambic pentameter.

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What is free verse?

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Poems that remove the need for formal rhyme and metric rhythm schemes.

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What is poetic diction?

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The sounds, meanings, and rhythms that make up the language of poetry.

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What is alliteration?

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A sound device where two or more words start with the same consonant sound.

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What is assonance?

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Repetition of vowel sounds within the same or following lines of a poem.