Poetry Techniques and Effects

Identify the technique and effect: From Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade":

Cannon to the right of them,

Cannon to the left of them,

• repetition: the poet emphasises that there is no escape. The canons are everywhere.

• repetition: the poet emphasises that they should look left and right.

• onomatopoeia: the sound of canons are copied to show how loud it is

• onomatopoeia: the sound of canons are copied to show that they cannot escape.

Identify the technique and effect from Langston Hughes's "Harlem":

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

• repetition: Hughes repeats the questions to suggest a loss of potential.

• metaphor: Hughes suggests that dreams shrivel up and lose their impact if not acted upon. He emphasises loss of potential.

• simile: Hughes suggests that unfulfilled dreams shrivel and lose their vitality if not acted upon. He emphasizes loss of potential.

• oxymoron: Hughes contrasts dreams and raisins that dry up and lose their vitality. He emphasises loss of hope.

Identify the technique and effect from Sylvia Plath's "Daddy":

You do not do, you do not do

Any more, black shoe

• enjambment: The writer creates a sense of urgency, reflecting on the poet's continuous inner turmoil.

• simile: The writer compares her father to a black shoe with no use.

• Repetition of 'you do not do, you do not do' emphasises that her father is a black shoe.

• Personification: She is giving her inner feelings of an object.

Identify the technique and effect from Robert Frost's "The Road not Taken":

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

• repetition: The repetition of the personal pronoun 'I' shows his sense of immediacy.

• juxtaposition: The speak juxtaposes the road less travelled with the idea of making a significant difference, exploring the theme of individuality.

• Personification: The road is made human and emphasises the importance of making good decisions.

• Metaphor: The speaker is comparing himself to an individual who has made difficult decisions based on a sense of individuality.

Identify the technique and effect from Emily Dickinson's "Hope is the Thing with Feathers":

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

• metaphor: Dickinson compares hope to a bird with feathers, suggesting that hope is delicate and can lift one's spirit.

• personification: Dickinson compares hope to a bird with feathers, suggesting that hope is personal.

• simile: Dickinson compares hope to a bird with feathers, suggesting that hope is light and free.

• religious imagery: Dickinson uses religious imagery as suggested by the word 'soul', suggesting that hope can be a spiritual experience.

Identify the technique and effect from a poem by Emily Dickinson:

Because I could not stop for Death -

He kindly stopped for me -

• the use of pronouns: Dickinson uses 'I' and 'he' to show the confrontation between Death and herself.

• juxtaposition: Dickinson juxtaposes life and death to create an ominous feeling.

• metaphor: Death is compared to a person who will never stop following you.

• personification: By personifying Death, Dickinson humanizes the concept of death to make it seem less fearful.

Identify the technique and effect from T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land":

Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop

• onomatopoeia: Eliot creates a sense of desolation and decay as he mimics the sound of water dripping.

• repetition: Eliot creates a sense of waste as he repeats the sound of water dropping.

• alliteration: Eliot repeats the 'd' sound to echo the idea of waste and irritation.

• simile: Eliot compares the idea of water dripping and dropping to a waste land.

Identify the technique and effect from Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism":

A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste the Pierian spring.

• rhyme scheme: Pope rhymes 'thing' and 'spring' to show that a little learning is important.

• slogan: Pope uses a slogan to highlight the importance of learning.

• contrast: Pope contrasts things and springs to show the importance of learning.

• rhyming couplet: "thing" and "spring" rhyme to emphasise the importance of learning.

Identify the technique and effect from T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock":

Let us go then, you and I,

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherized upon a table;

• simile: Eliot compares the evening sky to a patient etherized on a table, creating a sense of numbness and paralysis.

• allusion: Eliot alludes to a medical procedure involving anesthesia, specifically etherization to create a feeling of numbness and paralysis.

• Metaphor: Eliot compares the sky to a person who has been etherized.

• contrast: Eliot contrasts the lazy evening with a pation who has been etherized on a table, emphasising a feeling of numbness.