Poetry Terms and Devices

A comparison that shows similarities between two things that are otherwise dissimilar

• assonance
• onomatopoeia
• analogy
• personification

A figure of speech that uses like or as to compare two unlike things

• simile
• personification
• consonance
• metaphor

A figure of speech that does not use like or as to compare two unlike things

• personification
• hyperbole
• metaphor
• assonance

The repetition of consonant sounds, generally at the beginnings of words

• assonance
• consonance
• onomatopoeia
• alliteration

The repetition of same or similar vowel sounds within nonrhyming words

• assonance
• consonance
• alliteration
• onomatopoeia

The repetition of consonant sounds, typically within or at the end of words that do not rhyme and precede by different vowel sounds

• onomatopoeia
• alliteration
• assonance
• consonance

A figure of speech in which an animal, an object, a force of nature, or an idea is given human characteristics

• hyperbole
• analogy
• imagery
• personification

A figure of speech that uses exaggeration

• hyperbole
• personification
• imagery
• metaphor

Descriptive language that appeals to one of the five senses

• onomatopoeia
• imagery
• hyperbole
• personification

The use of a word or phrase that imitates or suggests the sound of what it describes

• onomatopoeia
• assonance
• consonance
• alliteration