Poetry Elements Definitions

Compare two things together. Usually formed in a sentence with "like" and "as".

Example: "Life is like a box of chocolates."

• Simile

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

• Personification

The word is also the sound.

Example: Boom, pow, hiss, pop.

• Simile

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

• Personification

Exaggerated claims.

Example: So hungry I could eat a horse!

• Simile

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

• Personification

Putting human characteristics to something not human.

Example: Lightning danced across the sky.

• Simile

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

• Personification

Same letter or sound at beginning of closely connected words.

Example: Money matters, picture perfect, rocky road.

• Alliteration

• Repetition

• Rhyme

• Imagery

The act of repeating something.

Example: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

• Alliteration

• Repetition

• Rhyme

• Imagery

Close similarity in the final sounds of two or more words or lines of writing.

Example: Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

• Alliteration

• Repetition

• Rhyme

• Imagery

Visual descriptive or figurative language.

Example: The autumn leaves are a blanket on the ground.

• Alliteration

• Repetition

• Rhyme

• Imagery

Represents or stands for something else.

Example: Cross is used for a symbol of Christianity. The peace sign is a symbol for peace.

• Symbol

• Metaphor

• Oxymoron

• Rhyme

Comparing something without using like or as.

Example: Superman is the man of steel.

• Symbol

• Metaphor

• Oxymoron

• Rhyme