Poetic Devices

Poetic Device

Definition
Examples

Personification 

Personification is when an author gives an idea, object, or animal qualities or traits of a person.

a smiling moon
CD player sang a tune
car ran

Alliteration 

Alliteration is the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables. When writers want to emphasize certain words, they may use alliteration

down in the dumps do or die right as rain
sink or swim pay the price Coca-Cola
back to the basics green as grass live the life

Simile 

A simile is a comparison between two unlike things that have something in common. A simile always uses the words like or as to make a comparison.
  • It's been a hard day's night and I've been working like a dog - The Beatles
  • My heart is like an open highway - Jon Bon Jovi
like two peas in a pod
like Christmas in summer

snow was like a blanket
my love is like a red, red rose
deer ran like the wind

as hungry as a bear
as nutty as a fruitcake
as quick as lightning
as slippery as an eel
as solid as a rock
as stubborn as a mule
as sturdy as an oak

Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that have something in common. The comparison is made without the use of like or as.

Patty was a raging tiger when she lost her lunch money.

During the night the forest was a dark, frightening battlefield.

Activity 1 - Oral Practice with SmartBoard

  1. page 72 The other bodies in the room were little more than bags of flesh and bones, dumped across broken chairs and couches.

  2. Camp Green Lake once denced in the heart of Texas.

  3. Trout's feet smelled like dead fish.

  4. The dark and dreary days were depressing.

  5. Elya fought his way to America after forgetting to fulfill a promise.

  6. Mr. Yelnats thought old smelly sneakers were his ticket to success.

  7. The rain stopped and the lake said good bye.

  8. The trees beckoned the campers to its shade.

  9. Clyde Livingston's shoes were as smelly as blue cheese.

  10. Katherine kept cold memories in her heart.

  11. The hundred year curse was dynamite to Stanley's family.

  12. Stanley seldom seemed satisfied.

  13. The wind sang its sad tune.

  14. Derrick Dunne did dirty deeds.

  15. Magnet claimed, "My fingers are like little magnets."

  16. Sam ran like the devil with Charles Walker chasing after him.

  17. The cameras were windows for the Warden to see into the boys' lives.

  18. The nail polish with rattlesnake venom was as lethal as nuclear waste.

  19. The onions were miracle drugs.

  20. The camp sang when Stanley and Zero were set free.

Activity 2 - Oral Practice with SmartBoard

  1. Highlight personification in blue, metaphors in red, and alliterations in green from "I Am A Rock" by Paul Simon

A winter's day-
in a deep and dark December
I am alone-
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock, I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
friendship causes pain
It's laughter and loving I disdain
I am a rock, I am an island.

Don't talk of love
but I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of the feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock, I am an island.

I have my books
and my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me.

I am a rock, I am an island.
And a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries.

Complete Song I Am A Rock http://play.rhapsody.com/simonandgarfunkel/theessentialsimongarfunkel/iamarock

Written Practice

Write personification or alliteration to show which poetic device is being used in each item.

  1. _____________________ Mr. Sir's truck coughed and sputtered as it flew over the hard desert.

  2. _____________________ Clyde couldn't keep calling Stanley a coward.

  3. _____________________ The heat ripped the breath from Stanley's lungs.

  4. _____________________ A deadly yellow-spotted lizard laid lazily in the sun.

  5. _____________________ Stanley's heart cried when Zero ran away.

  6. _____________________ The big full moon guided Stanley to Zero.

  7. _____________________ Mr. Pendanski put plenty of people in their places.

  8. _____________________ The bite of the yellow spotted lizard spoke of death.

  9. _____________________ Eating several sacks of sunflower seeds sent Mr. Sir scurrying to the toilet.

  10. _____________________ Charles Walker was dim, dense, and dim-witted.

Write simile, metaphor, personification or alliteration to show which poetic device is being used in each item.

  1. _____________________ Mr. Sir's truck runs away with Stanley.

  2. _____________________ Zero digs like a gopher.

  3. _____________________ Lively leaping lizards live in the hole.

  4. _____________________ Rain is heaven to the boys of Camp Green Lake.

  5. _____________________  The teachers never believed that Derrick who was as small as a peanut could bully Stanley who was as big as a bus.

  6. _____________________ Mr. Sir tells Stanley's lawyer to lie low.

  7. _____________________ Zero's stomachache ate at his insides.

  8. _____________________ Harsh conditions eat at the people of Camp Green Lake.

  9. _____________________ Almost a million dollars might make many men monumental.

  10. _____________________ Zero becomes as weak as a newborn babe.

  11. _____________________ The Mary Lou was a shelter saving Zero from the deadly heat.

  12. _____________________ Zero and Stanley's new friendship lifts Stanley's moral.

  13. _____________________ Stanley was a light in the dark.

  14. _____________________ Sploosh tasted like sweet nectar from an orchard.

  15. _____________________ Hector's mom sang with an angel's voice.

  16. _____________________ Drinking dirty water doesn't get Zero down.

  17. _____________________ Twitch fidgets like a deer during hunting season.

  18. _____________________ Kate Barlow's treasure hides beneath the desert floor.

  19. _____________________ Sploosh splatters splendidly down Stanley's throat.

  20. _____________________ Stanley's history speaks of broken promises and curses.

_____________________

Answer Key

Activity 1 - Oral Practice

  1. metaphor

  2. personification

  3. simile

  4. alliteration

  5. alliteration

  6. metaphor

  7. personification

  8. personification

  9. simile

  10. alliteration

  11. metaphor

  12. alliteration

  13. personification

  14. alliteration

  15. simile

  16. simile

  17. metaphor

  18. simile

  19. metaphor

  20. personification

Activity 2

A winter's day-
in a
deep and dark December
I am alone-
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a
freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock, I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
friendship causes pain
It's l
aughter and loving I disdain
I am a rock, I am an island.

Don't talk of love
but I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of the feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock, I am an island.

I have my books
and my
poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me.

I am a rock, I am an island.
And a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries.

Written Practice

  1. personification

  2. alliteration

  3. personification

  4. alliteration

  5. personification

  6. personification

  7. alliteration

  8. personification

  9. alliteration

  10. alliteration

  1. personification

  2. simile

  3. alliteration

  4. metaphor

  5. simile

  6. alliteration

  7. personification

  8. personification

  9. alliteration

  10. simile

  11. metaphor

  12. personification

  13. metaphor

  14. simile

  15. metaphor

  16. alliteration

  17. simile

  18. personification

  19. alliteration

  20. personification