Poetic Devices & Literary Terms

EX:  She was a protective lioness when it came to her children.

words whose sounds suggest their meaning

A direct comparison between two unlike things using "like" or "as"

EX: It's a slippery slope.

A direct comparison between two unlike things.

EX:  Her eyes were as cold as the eyes of a lioness.

when what happens or is said is directly contrary to what is expected

the central idea or take away from a poem

the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines of a poem or verse.

_______ are to poetry as paragraphs are to prose

the poet's attitude about the subject of the poem

close deliberate repetition of consonant sounds

using words to create mental pictures

EX: The clouds waved to the children playing at recess.

poetry free of regular rhyme or rhythm patterns

giving inanimate objects human or living characteristics

EX: "zipper," "crackle," "slice"

rhyming in which the words sound nearly the same but do not rhyme perfectly.