Literary Devices and Poetic Forms

Figures of Speech

Sound Devices:

• Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables.
• Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds within words.
• Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words.
• Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds.

Figurative Language:

• Anaphora: Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
• Anadiplosis: Repetition of the last word of one clause or verse at the beginning of the next.
• Antithesis: Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas.
• Apostrophe: Addressing an absent person, abstract idea, or inanimate object.
• Asyndeton: Omission of conjunctions between words or phrases.
• Chiasmus: Repetition of words in reverse order.
• Ellipsis: Omission of words that are implied by the context.
• Epiphora: Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or verses.
• Epizeuxis: Repetition of a word or phrase immediately for emphasis.
• Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emphasis.
• Hyperbaton: Unusual word order for emphasis.
• Irony: Saying the opposite of what is meant.
• Metaphor: Comparison of two unlike things without using "like" or "as."
• Metonymy: Substitution of a related term for the word itself.
• Oxymoron: Combination of contradictory terms.
• Paradox: A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true.
• Parallelism: Repetition of similar grammatical structures.
• Personification: Giving human qualities to inanimate objects.
• Pleonasm: Use of redundant words for emphasis.
• Polysyndeton: Use of multiple conjunctions.
• Paronomasia: Use of words that are similar in sound but different in meaning (pun).
• Rhetorical Question: A question asked for effect, not requiring an answer.
• Simile: Comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as."
• Synecdoche: Using a part to represent the whole or vice versa.

Poetic Forms and Structures

Stanzas and Verse Forms:

• Couplet: Two lines of verse, usually rhyming.
• Tercet: Three lines of verse.
• Quatrain: Four lines of verse.
• Quintet: Five lines of verse.
• Sestet: Six lines of verse.
• Octave: Eight lines of verse.

Specific Poetic Forms:

• Ballad: Narrative poem, often with a repeating refrain.
• Elegy: Poem of mourning.
• Epigram: Short, witty poem.
• Haiku: Japanese poem with three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.
• Limerick: Humorous five-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme.
• Ode: Lyrical poem, often addressed to a particular subject.
• Sonnet: Fourteen-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme.

Literary Analysis

When analyzing poetry, consider the following:

• Theme: The central idea or message.
• Structure: The organization of the poem.
• Literary Devices: The use of figures of speech and other techniques.
• Verse: The rhythmic pattern of lines.
• Meter: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.