Elements of Poetry
8th Grade Language ArtsMrs. Uglialoro
Alliteration
The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginnings of several words of a line of poetry or a sentence.
Example of Alliteration
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows calling with their shimmering sound.
Allusion
Direct or implied references to people, places, events, literary works, or artwork.
Example of an Allusion
In desperate times be brave and bold
Your Cinderella story is not yet told.
Analogy
A figurative description that compares two or more things that are similar in some ways, but otherwise unalike.
Example of an Analogy
Dog is to puppy as cat is to kitten
dog: puppy :: cat:kitten
Assonance
Deliberate repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.
Example of Assonance
“Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came.”
Connotation
Ideas associated with a word beyond its definition.
Example of a Connotation
The actress is a diva.
Connotation of diva:
Power, confidence, talent, arrogance, bossiness
Consonance
Repetition of consonant sounds in stressed syllables with different vowel sounds.
Example of Consonance
Gulls gracefully pass across the sky.
Denotation
Literal definition
Example of Denotation
The actress is a diva.
Connotation of diva:
Power, confidence, talent, arrogance, bossiness
Denotation of diva:
Successful female performer
Figurative Language
Made up of all the tools that a poet uses to create a special effect or feeling. It includes metaphors, similes, alliteration, personification, and onomatopoeia.
Free Verse
Poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme, meter, or form.
Hyperbole
A bold, deliberate overstatement or exaggeration.
Example of a Hyperbole
It is going to take a bazillion years to get through Medical School!
Idiom
A common phrase made up of words that can’t be understood by their literal, or ordinary meanings.
Example of an Idiom
It’s raining cats and dogs!
Imagery
Language that appeals to the five senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight.
Example of Imagery
Literal Meaning
Actual, everyday meaning of words
Metaphor
A direct comparison between two unlike things. It does not use the words like or as.
Example of a Metaphor
Life is a journey.
Onomatopoeia
The use of words that sound like the noises they describe.
Example of Onomatopoeia
Zing
Ping
Poof
Clank
Thud
Whack
Pow
Oxymoron
A seeming contradiction in two words put together.
Example of Oxymoron
Hot ice
Personification
Giving human characteristics or abilities, such as the ability to hear, talk, feel and make decisions, to something that is not human.
Example of Personification
The stars danced playfully in the moonlight.
Prose
Common form of written language. It includes both fiction and nonfiction. Stories, articles, and novels are all prose.
Repetition
“To repeat” something
Simile
A comparison between two unlike things, using the words like or as.
Example of a Simile
The wind is like a child playing on a brisk fall day.
Stanza
A group of lines in a poem set off by blank lines. It usually develops one idea.
Tone
The attitude the writer takes towards the audience, the subject, or the character.
