Figurative Language and Literary Techniques

What figurative language can be seen in the poem below?

“don’t be shy of unkindness, either

it’s cleansing and allows you to be direct

like an arrow that feels something”

- from Frank O’Hara, “Poem (Hate is only one…)”

• Metaphor

• Apostophre

• Simile

• Symbol

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5A

CCSS.L.5.5A

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

Why is the author comparing unkindness to an arrow? Is this positive or negative?

“don’t be shy of unkindness, either

it’s cleansing and allows you to be direct

like an arrow that feels something”

- from Frank O’Hara, “Poem (Hate is only one…)”

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5A

CCSS.L.5.5A

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

Which words or phrase in the poem is an example of imagery?

“I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold”

-William Carlos Williams, "This is Just to Say"

• "so sweet and so cold"

• "I have eaten the plums"

• "Forgive me"

• "saving for breakfast"

Why does the author choose to describe the plums as "sweet and cold"?

“I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold”

-William Carlos Williams, "This is Just to Say"

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.11

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Which phrase is an example of an apostrophe?

“O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!

Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!

Thy mists, that roll and rise!

Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag

And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag

To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!

World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!”

-Edna St. Vincent Millay, "God's World"

• "all but cry with color"

• "the gaunt crag"

• "the lean of the black bluff"

• "O world"

What does the speaker feel about the world?

“O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!

Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!

Thy mists, that roll and rise!

Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag

And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag

To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!

World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!”

-Edna St. Vincent Millay, "God's World"

Tags

CCSS.L.1.6

CCSS.L.3.6

CCSS.L.4.6

CCSS.RL.1.4

Why is the following an example of a catalogue?

“who wept at the romance of the streets with their pushcarts full of onions and bad music,

who sat in boxes breathing in the darkness under the bridge, and rose up to build harpsichords in their lofts,

who coughed on the sixth floor of Harlem crowned with flame under the tubercular sky surrounded by orange crates of theology,

who scribbled all night rocking and rolling over lofty incantations which in the yellow morning were stanzas of gibberish,

who cooked rotten animals lung heart feet tail borsht & tortillas dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom,

who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg,

who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade”

- Ginsberg, “Howl”

• The poem creates a a strong voice.

• The poem uses a lot of metaphor.

• The poem creates a list of types of people.

• The poem uses a strong imagery.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

What type of people is the speaker identifying in the list?

“who wept at the romance of the streets with their pushcarts full of onions and bad music,

who sat in boxes breathing in the darkness under the bridge, and rose up to build harpsichords in their lofts,

who coughed on the sixth floor of Harlem crowned with flame under the tubercular sky surrounded by orange crates of theology,

who scribbled all night rocking and rolling over lofty incantations which in the yellow morning were stanzas of gibberish,

who cooked rotten animals lung heart feet tail borsht & tortillas dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom,

who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg,

who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade”

- Ginsberg, “Howl”

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.11

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Which of the following is NOT an example of alliteration?

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping”

- Poe, “The Raven”

• "nearly napping"

• "a midnight dreary"

• "weak and weary"

• "quaint and curious"

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

What figurative language is being used in the following excerpt?

“Love rose in me, a storm of mosquitoes

hovering over La Brea.”

- Sharon Olds, “Love Fossil”

• Simile

• Symbol

• Metaphor

• Allusion

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5A

CCSS.L.5.5A

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.W.11-12.2D