Poetry Terms and Techniques

This is when a word sounds like the noise it makes. Snap! Crackle! Pop! Using this device really brings your writing to life.

• Onomatopoeia
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Symbolism

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.L.7.5

CCSS.L.8.5

This is a figure of speech in which a writer describes something by comparing it to something else.  The words ‘as’ or ‘like’ will be a big clue.  

• Alliteration
• Metaphor
• Simile
• Symbolism

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.5.5

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

This word describes groups of lines in a poem.  Sometimes, it’s called a verse.

• Chapter
• Verse
• Stanza
• Page

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.5

This word describes the beat of a poem.  

• Rhythm
• Rhyme
• Music

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

This is when an inanimate object is given human qualities

• Symbolism
• Personification
• Metaphor

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

This is when words begin with the same sound or letters. 

• Metaphor
• Alliteration
• Stanza
• Adjective

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.

• simile
• metaphor
• personification
• hyperbole

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5A

CCSS.L.5.5A

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

What poetry technique do the following lines have in common?
The teapot sang as the water boiled/
The ice cubes cackled in their glass/
the teacups chattered to one another./
While the chairs were passing gas

• rhyme
• repetition
• alliteration
• personification

Tags

CCSS.RI.5.10

CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

The smoke was cotton balls billowing from the chimney. 
This is an example of a/an: 

• alliteration
• metaphor
• simile

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5A

CCSS.L.5.5A

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

My neighbours are not normally noisy. 
This is an example of a/an: 

• metaphor 
• simile
• alliteration
• repetition

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4