Poetic Devices

Mrs. Williams5th Grade ELA

2014-2015

Personification Personification- giving human

qualities to nonliving objects-i.e.-The trees reached out to me as I walked through the woods.

Imagery Imagery- a vivid description using

words that appeal to the reader’s sense of sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch

i. e.- The aroma of the sizzling, hot pizza filled my nostrils as I entered the room.

Onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia- sound words- i.e.-

Pow! Bang! Shhhh

Couplet Couplet- two line poem that rhymes

at the end of each line, has same amount of syllables in each line and is usually about something silly: i.e.

I saw a brown dog, Standing on a hog.

Line Line- the way poetry is written,

several lines make a stanza; like sentences make a paragraph- i.e.

What would my heart do? But cry, sigh and be blue.

Stanza Stanza- lines of verse forming a separate

unit within a poem; like a paragraph-i.e.

I love to write, day and night.

What would my heart do, but cry, sigh and be blue

if I could not write?

Writing feels good, and I know it should. Who could have knew

that what I do, is write, write, write!

Haiku Haiku- a traditional Japanese, three-

line, unrhymed poem with seventeen syllables--written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature-i.e.

The last winter leavesClinging to the black branches

Explode into birds.

Simile Simile- a vivid comparison of two

unlike objects, using the words like, as, than or resembles- i.e.-

The snow is as white as sheep’s wool.

Metaphor Metaphor- a vivid comparison of

two unlike objects, not using the words like, as, than or resembles- i.e.-

The snow is sheep’s wool.  

Narrative Poem Narrative poem- poetry that tells a

story or gives an account of events, long poem with many stanzas, tells story from beginning to end

Meter Meter- the regular arrangement of

accented and unaccented syllables in a line of poetry- i.e.

U U S U S U U S U S

On a win-dy night when the moon is bright.

U- unstressed S- stressed

Alliteration Alliteration- the repetition on the

same sound or letter in a series of words, usually at the beginning of the word and is a consonant letter i.e.- She sells seashells down at the seashore.