Poets use certain techniques and devices when writing poems. Some of these techniques are also used in other forms of writing, such as fi ction and drama. Refer back to this list when writing about and discussing the poems you study throughout Second and Third Year.
Alliteration: when words that begin with the same sound are placed beside or close to one another.
Allusion: an indirect or subtle reference to something. Assonance: repetition of broad vowel sounds. Enjambment: run-on lines. Hyperbole: exaggeration for emphasis. Imagery: descriptive language that appeals to the senses. Mood: the main feeling or atmosphere in the poem. Metaphor: when one thing is described as being something else. Onomatopoeia: when words sound like their meaning. Personifi cation: when something non-human is given human qualities. Repetition: when a word or phrase appears more than once. Rhyme: similar-sounding words. – End rhyme occurs when words at the end of lines rhyme. – Internal rhyme occurs when words within the lines rhyme. – Rhyming couplets are pairs of lines that rhyme.
Rhythm: the beat of a poem. Sibilance: the repetition of ‘s’ sounds. Simile: a comparison that uses the words ‘like’, ‘as’ or ‘than’. Subject: the focus of the poem, what it is about. Symbols: images that represent something else. Theme: the central issue or concern explored in a poem. Title: what the poem is called. Tone: the attitude in a poem.
Understand
1. Work in groups to come up with examples of each of the above techniques and devices.
2. Return to the poem ‘Home is where there is one to love us’ on page 5. (a) Pick out three poetic techniques used by the poet. (b) What is the effect of each technique?
