Literary devices for writing (English Majors)

For English Majors

1. Literary Devices

2. 2 Sound Devices Sound devices are resources used by poets to convey and reinforce the meaning or experience of poetry through the skillful use of sound. The words and their order should evoke images, and the words themselves have sounds, which can reinforce or otherwise clarify those images.

3. 3 3 Sound Devices Alliteration Assonance Consonance Onomatopoeia Repetition

4. 4 Alliteration This device involves the repetition of the initial consonant sound of a series of words, often consecutively.

5. 5 Alliteration B etty B otter b ought a b it of b utter B ut, the b it of b utter B etty B otter b ought was b itter So B etty B otter b ought a b etter b it of b utter

6. 6 Assonance Similarly to alliteration, assonance involves the repetition of sounds in a series of words, often consecutive words. Focuses on the internal vowel sounds that are repeated.

7. 7 Assonance H o w is the br o wn c o w b o wing d o wn? The r ai n in Sp ai n falls m ai nly on the pl ai n. Hear the m e llow w e dding b e lls.

8. 8 Consonance Consonance is the consonant-focused counterpart to assonance. It involves the repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of words, as distinguished from alliteration where the initial sound is repeated.

9. 9 Consonance The crow stru ck through the thi ck cloud like a rocket. A ll ta ll mamma l s ha v e fi v e ways to li v e or survi v e.

10. 10 Onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia refers to the process of creating words that sound like the very thing they refer to.

11. 11 Onomatopoeia Bang! Thud! Crash! My teeth chattered as I stood in the snow. The leaves crunched under my feet as I walked through the woods.

12. 12 Repetition The repetition of words or phrases to create rhythm or to emphasize an idea. Example: In every cry of every man, In every Infant’s cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind- forg’d manacles I hear. (Excerpt from “London” by William Blake)

13. Rhyme in Poetry (Sound Patterns)

14. Rhyme 14 Rhyme is a popular literary device in which the repetition of the same or similar sounds occurs in two or more words, usually at the end of lines in poems or songs.

15. Two Types of Rhyme 15 1. End rhyme – rhyming the final words of lines in a poem. Example: Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into gravely ground 2. Internal rhyme – rhyming of two words within the same line of poetry. Example : Once upon a midnight dreary , while I pondered, weak and weary , Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

16. 16 16 Alternate rhyme Ballade Coupled rhyme Monorhyme Enclosed rhyme Simple four-line rhyme Triplet Terza rima Types of Rhyme Scheme

17. Types of Rhyme Scheme 17 Alternate rhyme (ABAB) Ballade (ABABBCBC) Coupled rhyme (AA BB CC) Monorhyme (same rhyme in a stanza or entire poem) Enclosed rhyme (ABBA) Simple four-line rhyme (ABCD) Triplet (tercet that share the same end rhyme) Terza rima (ABA BCB CDC DED EE)

18. Conventional Forms of Poetry

19. What is Conventional Poetry? This type of poetry adheres to a definite verse structure or set of characteristics that belongs to the conventional form of poetry. Fixed rhyme and metrical patterns all throughout the poem are strictly observed.

20. Conventional Forms of Poetry 20 Sonnet Villanelle Sestina Blank Verse Heroic Couplet Haiku Free Verse

21. Conventional Forms of Poetry 21 Sonnet A sonnet is a one-stanza, 14-line poem, written in iambic pentameter. The sonnet, which derived from the Italian word sonetto , meaning “a little sound or song,” Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet contains an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE contains a three quatrains (4 lines) and a couplet (2 lines) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

22. Sonnet 22

23. Conventional Forms of Poetry 23 2. Villanelle has an Italian origins but it was popularized by the French consists 19 lines spread across 6 stanzas has 5 tercets (a stanza w/ 3 lines) and a final stanza w/ 4 lines (also known as quatrain) follows a rhyme scheme, which is ABA, and these rhymes are repeated according to the refrain

24. Conventional Forms of Poetry 24

25. Conventional Forms of Poetry 25 3. Sestina A sestina is a fixed form in poetry that has six stanzas of six lines each followed by a three-line stanza ; each line ends with one of six words in a standard repetition. These six words are chosen by the poet, but must be repeated in a certain order for the poem to qualify as a sestina.

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27. Conventional Forms of Poetry 27 4. Blank Verse Blank verse is a literary device defined as un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter. In poetry and prose, it has a consistent meter with 10 syllables in each line (pentameter); where, unstressed syllables are followed by stressed ones, five of which are stressed but do not rhyme. It is also known as “un-rhymed iambic pentameter.”

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29. Conventional Forms of Poetry 29 5. Heroic Couplet A heroic couplet is a specific type of couplet that discusses heroic themes and that usually uses iambic pentameter. An ordinary couplet, on the other hand, is simply two successive lines of poetry—often two lines that rhyme and that employ the same meter.

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31. Conventional Forms of Poetry 31 6. Haiku A haiku is a specific type of Japanese poem which has 17 syllables divided into three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Haikus or haiku are typically written on the subject of nature. The word haiku (pronounced hahy-koo ) is derived from the Japanese word hokku meaning “starting verse.”

32. Conventional Forms of Poetry 32

33. Conventional Forms of Poetry 33 7. Free Verse Free verse poetry is poetry that lacks a consistent rhyme scheme, metrical pattern, or musical form. While free verse poems are not devoid of structure, they allow enormous leeway for poets, particularly when compared to more metrically strict forms like blank verse.

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35. “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing now.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11