Poetic Terms and Devices

Front

Vivid language that engages any of the five senses

Back

imagery

Front

Language that combines contradictory words or ideas (such as “sick health” or “jumbo shrimp”).

Back

oxymoron

Front

the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words ("Peter picked peppers.")

Back

alliteration

Front

a figure of speech in which inanimate objects or ideas are described as if they are living by giving them human or animal qualities

Back

personification

Front

A reference to a well-known literary work, person, or event (such as a reference to a religious text like the Bible or a mythological figure like the Greek god Apollo)

Back

allusion

Front

A figure of speech in which unlike things are compared to each other ("They are vipers.")

Back

metaphor

Front

a figure of speech in which unlike things are compared to each other using the words “like” or “as” (“He was sick as a dog.”)

Back

simile

Front

When a writer repeats a sound, word, phrase, or line for effect or emphasis.

Back

repetition

Front

A word, such as “bang” or "snap," whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning.

Back

onomatopoeia

Front

an extreme exaggeration ("I told you a million times…")

Back

hyperbole