Poetry Language Techniques
Language
Alliteration - The repetition of identical consonant sounds, most often the sounds beginning words,
in close proximity.
Allusion - Unacknowledged reference and quotations that authors assume their readers will
recognize.
Anaphora - Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line throughout a work or
the section of a work.
Apostrophe - Speaker in a poem addresses a person not present or an animal, inanimate object, or
concept as though it is a person.
Assonance - The repetition of identical vowel sounds in different words in close proximity.
Diction - Diction is usually used to describe the level of formality that a speaker uses.
Dramatic monologue - A type of poem, derived from the theater, in which a speaker addresses an
internal listener or the reader. In some dramatic monologues, especially those by Robert Browning,
the speaker may reveal his personality in unexpected and unflattering ways.
Hyperbole (overstatement) - and litotes (understatement): Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect;
litotes is understatement for effect, often used for irony.
Internal rhyme - An exact rhyme (rather than rhyming vowel sounds, as with assonance) within a
line of poetry:
Metaphor - A comparison between two unlike things, this describes one thing as if it were
something else
Metaphysical conceit - An elaborate and extended metaphor or simile that links two apparently
unrelated fields or subjects in an unusual and surprising conjunction of ideas.
Onomatopoeia - A blending of consonant and vowel sounds designed to imitate or suggest the
activity being described.
Paradox - A rhetorical figure embodying a seeming contradiction that is nonetheless true.
Personification - Attributing human characteristics to nonhuman things or abstractions.
Rhyme - The repetition of identical concluding syllables in different words, most often at the ends of
lines.
Simile - A direct comparison between two dissimilar things; uses "like" or "as" to state the terms of
the comparison.
Auditory Imagery – Imagery through the use of sounds
Language
Alliteration - The repetition of identical consonant sounds, most often the sounds beginning words,
in close proximity.
Allusion - Unacknowledged reference and quotations that authors assume their readers will
recognize.
Anaphora - Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line throughout a work or
the section of a work.
Apostrophe - Speaker in a poem addresses a person not present or an animal, inanimate object, or
concept as though it is a person.
Assonance - The repetition of identical vowel sounds in different words in close proximity.
Diction - Diction is usually used to describe the level of formality that a speaker uses.
Dramatic monologue - A type of poem, derived from the theater, in which a speaker addresses an
internal listener or the reader. In some dramatic monologues, especially those by Robert Browning,
the speaker may reveal his personality in unexpected and unflattering ways.
Hyperbole (overstatement) - and litotes (understatement): Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect;
litotes is understatement for effect, often used for irony.
Internal rhyme - An exact rhyme (rather than rhyming vowel sounds, as with assonance) within a
line of poetry:
Metaphor - A comparison between two unlike things, this describes one thing as if it were
something else
Metaphysical conceit - An elaborate and extended metaphor or simile that links two apparently
unrelated fields or subjects in an unusual and surprising conjunction of ideas.
Onomatopoeia - A blending of consonant and vowel sounds designed to imitate or suggest the
activity being described.
Paradox - A rhetorical figure embodying a seeming contradiction that is nonetheless true.
Personification - Attributing human characteristics to nonhuman things or abstractions.
Rhyme - The repetition of identical concluding syllables in different words, most often at the ends of
lines.
Simile - A direct comparison between two dissimilar things; uses "like" or "as" to state the terms of
the comparison.
Auditory Imagery – Imagery through the use of sounds
