Literary Devices Identification

Simile:

• An extreme exaggeration

• When one thing stands for something else

• Comparison of two things using like or as

• Comparison of two things without using like or as

Metaphor:

• Comparison of two things using like or as

• A word imitating its sound

• A smooth pattern of beats

• Comparison of two things without using like or as

Hyperbole:

• Using descriptive words to make pictures in the reader’s mind; appeals to the five senses

• Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things

• An extreme exaggeration

• A smooth pattern of beats

Personification:

• An extreme exaggeration

• Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things

• Repeating consonant sounds at the beginning of a word

• When one thing stands for something else

Symbol:

• Using descriptive words to make pictures in the reader’s mind; appeals to the five senses

• When one thing stands for something else

• A songlike poem that tells a story

Imagery

• Using descriptive words to make pictures in the reader’s mind; appeals to the five senses

• Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things

• An extreme exaggeration

Alliteration

• A word imitating its sound

• A smooth pattern of beats

• ONE line of poetry, like a sentence

• Repeating consonant sounds at the beginning of a word

Rhyme

• 2. A smooth pattern of beats

• Sounds repeated at the end of the word

• The author’s voice or feeling in a poem

• The imaginary person or character who is telling the poem

Tone

• The meaning associated with a word (positive or negative)

• The author's voice, or feeling, in a poem. (ex: frustrated, nervous, hopeful)

• Emotion the reader (you) feels when he or she reads a poem. (ex: sympathetic, excited)

Mood

• The meaning associated with a word (positive or negative)

• The author's voice, or feeling, in a poem. (ex: frustrated, nervous, hopeful)

• Emotion the reader (you) feels when he or she reads a poem. (ex: sympathetic, excited)