Poetic DevicesLI: To identify and create a range of figurative

language devices in poetry.

Warm Up -

Imagery and Sound

� Imagery is a technique the poet can use to ‘capture an image in time’.

� Sound is often the first thing we notice about a poem, for example the repetition of a certain sound, or a sound that reminds us of something (like ssss for the hiss of a snake).

Imagery

Definition: a way of describing one thing as like or similar to another, using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’

Examples:

- as wild as a clawing cat

- he ate like a front-end loader

- the sun is like a flame thrower

Simile

Activity:Identify the similes in each of the poems below:

Umbrella – by Carol Stuart

Wet black umbrella

Spines drawn up like a spider’s knees

Sulks in a corner

This poem is a simile that compares an ______________

to ______________________________________________.

Refrigerator – by Rebecca Gollan

Standing on its own

Like a soldier in the rain

Silent and cold

This poem is a simile that compares an ______________

to ______________________________________________.

Creating SimilesTo make your own simile, follow these steps –

NounWhat is the thing you’re creating your simile for?

Cat

CharacteristicsWhat are the characteristics of that thing?

Sneaky

Furry

Lazy

Playful

Ginger/Orange

SimilarityWhat is something else with the same characteristic?

Spy

Cushion

Couch potato

Toddler

The sun

The cat is as sneaky as a spy.

Write your own Similes about the following things:

A Dog

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

The Beach

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

Definition: another powerful way of creating an image. Whereas the simile says one thing is like another, the

metaphor says one thing is another.

Examples:

- The sun is a flame thrower

- The wind is the howling of the dying wolf.

Metaphor

Creating MetaphorsTo make your own metaphor, follow these steps –

NounWhat is the thing you’re creating your simile for?

Baby

CharacteristicsWhat are the characteristics of that thing?

Smelly

Loud

Soft

Chubby

SimilarityWhat is something else with the same characteristic?

Stink bomb

Siren

Marshmallow

Marshmallow

The baby is a soft, chubby marshmallow.

Activity:Read the following poem and answer the questions on the next page:

What is the Sun – by Wes Magee

The sun is an orange dingy sailing across the sea.

It is a gold coin dropped down a drain in heaven.

It is a yellow beach ball kicked into the summer sky.

It is a red thumb-print on a sheet of pale blue paper.

It is the gold top from a milk bottle floating on a puddle.

1 - Pick one of the metaphors Wes Magee uses to describe the sun. Why do you think he used this metaphor?

What is the purpose or effect of using this metaphor?

Wes Magee uses the metaphor of the sun as a _________

_______________________ to ________________________

__________________________________________________.

2 - Create your own metaphor for the sun.

__________________________________________________

Definition: a special kind of metaphor which gives human qualities to non-human things

Examples: - The stars watched over the sleeping child- The trees waved their arms in the storm- Stare stern mountain stare, upon our fragile camp- The sun creeps over the hill every morning and knocks

on my window

Personification

Activity:In a sentence describe the image that you get in your mind when you read these personifications:

a) The stars watched over the sleeping child.

b) The trees waved their arms in the storm.

Use the sentences starters to help you:

This sentence makes me think… I see…

This means… The use of personification helps me see…

The image I see is… In my mind I can see…

The 5 SensesWriters often describe the senses to create an image.

Poetic DevicesLI: To identify and create a range of figurative

language devices in poetry.

Warm Up -

Sound

Definition: repeating the same sound at the beginning of the words. The effect can add humour or power.

Examples:

- Sunset’s slowly spreading shade

- Rapid rifle’s stuttering fire

Alliteration

Activity:Read the alliteration out loud:

Sunset’s slowly spreading shade.

Notice how it makes you speak slowly, just like the image it’s describing. How does it make you feel?

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

Compare this with:

rapid rifle’s stuttering fire

The repeated ‘r’ and the short crisp vowels speed up the sentence, while the consonants ‘p’ ‘d’ ‘t’ make you almost hear the gunfire.

Describe the difference you notice between the two examples of alliteration. ________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Definition: the repetition of similar vowels to create sound effects. It is different from rhyme as it does not need to be

at the end of each line of poetry:

Example: - How now brown cow. - The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains.- The man with the tan was the meanest in the land.- Saving the whales is a crucial detail.

Assonance

Activity:

Identify the vowel which is being repeated in the following examples of assonance:

a) How now brown cow.

b) The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains.

c) The man with the tan was the meanest in the land.

Write three words that could be used in a poem using the technique of assonance for the following:

a) splat (attack)

_______________________________________________________________

b) weary (eerie)

_______________________________________________________________

c) oozing (loosing)

_______________________________________________________________

d) snow (go)

_______________________________________________________________

CHALLENGE: Come up with your own example of assonance using ‘igh’

Definition: The sound of the word is similar to its meaning. Onomatopoeia works best when the words are read aloud.

Examples:

- There was a big thud when the brick hit the floor.

- Little Janey bounced around on the pogo stick - boing, boing, boing.

- James whacked the cricket ball.

- The engine of the plane moaned as it executed a huge arc in the sky.

- The tyres screeched as they hit the tarmac.

Onomatopoeia

Activity:Write examples of onomatopoeia for:

a) A window breaking

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

b) A car speeding around a corner

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

c) A bat hitting a ball

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

When describing a rhyming pattern refer to the words at the end of

each line

Rhyming

Rhyme – by David AlexanderRhyme can make your poem dance ARhyme can make it race and prance ARhyme can give it quite a bite BRhyme can make it cute and tight BRhyme can make your poem a hit CRhyme can help you remember it C

But –Just remember by and large ANot to let the rhyme take charge. AForcing words that won’t quite fit BAnd lose your meaning just a bit BMaking feelings seem untrue CBy using words that just aren’t you. C

When describing a rhyming pattern, identify the words that rhyme by lettering them A, B, C, etc.

The rhyming pattern will then look something like, AABBCC.

The flow and beat of a poem. Rhythm is created by the stress we place on certain words or parts of words

when we read. We identify the rhythm (or meter) of a poem by marking the stressed (heavy) sounds with /,

and the unstressed (soft) sounds with X.

Rhythm

Read this out loud to yourself.

The wind and rain, the sleet and hail

Lashed the boat and ripped the sail.

In this example each line has four strong beats –this creates the rhythm. Da dum, Da dum, Da dum.