Poetic Devices

Poetic Device

Definition

Examples

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is the imitation of natural sounds in word form. These words help us form mental pictures about the things, people, or places that are described.

buzz, hiss, roar, woof, bang, pop, hiss, and sizzle

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect. It may be confused with a simile because it often compares two items. The difference is that with a hyperbole the comparison is an exaggeration.

I could sleep for a year.
This box weighs a ton.
His eyes were as round as saucers.
I nearly died laughing.
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.
I've told you a million times not to exaggerate.

Repetition

Repetition is when one or more words are repeated to show urgency or importance.

Dig it oh oh oh, dig it
Dig it oh oh oh (oh)
Dig it oh oh oh, dig it
Dig it oh oh oh (oh)
Dig it oh oh oh, dig it
Dig it oh oh oh (oh)
Dig it oh oh oh, dig it
Dig it oh oh oh (yeah)

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

Highlight similes in blue, metaphors in red, alliterations in green, hyperboles in yellow from "If Only" by Fiction Plane

The old man’s been stealin’
She’s holding her grievance for a hundred-odd years
We all keep believin’
That history repeats itself year after year

All I fear's that the future is worse
We have to give in to the hundred-year curse
Sweat in the sun like we’re digging a grave
Dig deep enough and our fortune we'll save

If only, if only
The woodpecker sighs
The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies
As the wolf waits below hungry and lonely
He cries to the mo-oo-n
If only, if only

Chasing the sky
A beautiful wife
You'll make mistakes and it’s my back that breaks
And forever my past steals my life
To submission I’m beat
But there’s hope beneath these feet

Blisters and blood
And the sun makes you blind
Don’t let it eat
Till it can’t help but be kind
Cause you know what’s important
With your back to the wall

You can break metal chains
And you’re friends don’t let you fall
I’m a soul
But I find myself lent
That is no use
When I’m finding my history, finding my history
I am no plane, I’m more like a feather
That is no use
When I’m finding my history, finding my history
I am no plane, I’m more like a feather
But I can’t fly away without finding myself

Activity 2 - Oral Practice with Repetition

Create a class poem by doing one of the following:

Have each student write one line that tells what one of the boys in Tent D might be thinking as he is digging his 5 foot hole. Make a class poem by adding the line Dig it oh oh oh, dig it between each student's line.
Have each student write one line that tells about one of the characters. Between each line add Set him free. Set him free.

Examples:

Dig it oh oh oh, dig it
I don't have to dig tomorrow because I have the gold tube.
Dig it oh oh oh, dig it
I wish I could talk to my mom and tell her I'm sorry.
Dig it oh oh oh, dig it
Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds were easy to snatch.
Dig it oh oh oh, dig it
That Stanley thinks he's tough, but I'm tougher.
Dig it oh oh oh, dig it

Stanley Yelnats didn't steal Clyde Livingston's shoes.
Set him free. Set him free.
Zero can't find his mother.
Set him free. Set him free.
X-Ray is the leader of the group of boys at Camp Green Lake.
Set him free. Set him free.
Squid often taunts Stanley about receiving letters from, and writing to, his mother.
Set him free. Set him free.

.Activity 3

Play the “Onomatopoeia” song by Todd Rundgren from the album Hermit of Mink Hollow http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,157435,00.html or http://www.rhapsody.com/-search?query=Onomatopoeia&searchtype=RhapKeyword and discuss.

Onomatopoeia every time I see ya
My senses tell me hubba
And I just can’t disagree
I get a feeling in my heart that I can’t describe
It’s sort of lub, dub, lub, dub
A sound in my head that I can’t describe
It’s sort of zoom, zip, hiccup, drip
Ding, dong, crunch, crack, bark, meow, whinnie, quack

Onomatopoeia in proximity ya
Rearrange my brain in a strange cacophony
I get a feeling somewhere that I can’t describe
It’s sort of uh, uh, uh, uh
A sound in my head that I can’t describe
It’s sort of whack, whir, wheeze, whine
Sputter, splat, squirt, scrape
Clink, clank, clunk, clatter
Crash, bang, beep, buzz
Ring, rip, roar, retch
Twang, toot, tinkle, thud
Pop, plop, plunk, pow
Snort, snuk, sniff, smack
Screech, splash, squish, squeak
Jingle, rattle, squeal, bong
Honk, hoot, hack, belch

Activity 4 ReadWriteThink Online Onomatopoeia http://interactives.mped.org/preview_mg.aspx?id=736&title=

Activity 5 Oral Practice with SmartBoard

Read the following poem by Danielle Caryl. Then highlight the words that illustrate onomatopoeia.

Noises
By Danielle Caryl

The click of the clock, the creak of the stair,
The squeak of a mouse and the swoosh of the air.
The groan of the house as it settles below,
And outside the window, the patter of snow.
The scruff of the dog’s paws below where I rest,
The rattle of the window that seems to face West.
The jingle of bells from a wind chime next door
The unearthly sounds of a truly loud snore.
The crunching of snow under an animal’s feet,
The honk of a horn from right down the street.
So many noises I just want to weep,
Is it too much to ask for some sleep?

Activity 6 - Practice

Write onomatopoeia, hyperbole, or repetition to show which poetic device is being used in each item.

1.	_____________________	I'm gonna be a wheel someday. I'm gonna be somebody.
2.	_____________________	The boys in Tent D thought Zero had a brain the size of a pea, but they were mistaken.
3.	_____________________	O Sinners, Let's go down Let's go down, let's go down O Sinners, Let's go down Down in the valley to pray
4.	_____________________	Think I'd rather hear my heart not tick.
5.	_____________________	Stanley carried Zero a thousand miles to the top of God's Thumb.
6.	_____________________	A lizard crawled up on top of the suitcase, opened its mouth, stuck out its white tongue, and hissed.
7.	_____________________	Stanley told the judge a million times he was innocent, but he was found guilty anyway.
8.	_____________________	The shovels clanked, tinkled, and clinked together as the boys stored them away.
9.	_____________________	'Cause I feel just like you And I cry just like you But I heal just like you And under my skin I'm just like you
10.	_____________________	The buzzing overhead made Stanley wary that he would not find Zero alive.
11.	_____________________	Stanley was so thirsty by the time he reached Camp Green Lake that he could drink all 22,333 acres of Lake Buchanan.
12.	_____________________	Don't give up Never give up We won't stop givin' all we got Don't give up Never give up We won't stop givin' all we got

http://www.starbrightbooks.org/pdfs/you_are_happy_guide.pdf

A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)