What the Heck Does this Mean?

How to find the Literary Devices that create that thing that speaks to you (meaning)
in poetry.

Step 1: General Style Devices

Device:

Example:

Does it RHYME?

Does it NOT rhyme?

We call this FREE VERSE
(Rhymes need not apply.)

Does it come with

music?
We call this LYRICAL
POETRY
(Yeah. Theres a name for
that.)

Step 2: Does my poem have this going on?

Things to look for in poetry. Not every poem will have everything! Identify what devices YOUR
poem has so you can start to talk about why the write put them in there for you to find in the
first place.
Level 1 - Let the Beat Drop (Sound Devices in Poetry)
Rhythm: The beat (Clap it out, show where the claps land on your lyric sheet)

Alliteration: The beat with letters - think Alphabet Aerobics:

Artificial amateurs aren't at all amazing?
Analytically, I assault, animate things
Broken barriers bounded by the bomb beat
Buildings are broken, basically I'm bombarding
Casually create catastrophes, casualties
Canceling cats got their canopies collapsing
-Blackalicious
Circle the first letters of these words in a row on your lyric sheet.

Onomatopoeia: Makes the sound when you say it like SNAP, CRACKLE, POP! Highlight these
words on your lyric sheet.
Level 2 I think Ive heard this before (The devices you already know about)
Repetition: is there a word or line repeated more than once in your poem? Over and over
again? Write it here, highlight it on your lyric sheet.

Juxtaposition: is anything in your poem being compared or contrasted with something else?
What is it? Write it here, circle and note J on your lyric sheet.

Level 3 Hey! That reminds me of that one time (The devices you already
know about, but never think to look for. Also new names to remember! Build
that vocabulary muscle!)
Hyperbole: HUGE exaggeration! Write it here, then underline with two lines on your lyric sheet.

Understatement: For the minimalists, and popular with sarcastic folks the world over the
opposite of hyperbole. Write it here, then underline with a squiggly line on your lyric sheet.

Imagery: Makes a picture in your head (an image). Write down the line, and draw the picture it
creates:

Oxymoron: Two contradictory words that still somehow make sense Think JUMBO SHRIMP
(whaaat!). Write it!

Simile: Finding a similarity between two different things, makes new meaning Look for LIKE or
AS. Write it!

Level 4 Powerful you have become (These are the tough ones, and the
hardest to find and make sense of like Yoda)
Metaphor: To understand, you must first learn the difference between literal and figurative
comparison.
Literal comparison this thing is ACTUALLY like this other thing.
Ex. Watching paint dry is ACTUALLY as boring as watching paint dry. Its very boring. Actually.
(Literally.)
Figurative comparison this thing is FIGURATIVELY like this other thing.
Ex. Ive been driving in Saskatchewan for eternity. Youre comparing these things to explain how
long (and boring and possibly awful) this is, but that is not the ACTUAL activity that is happening.
(If you say this is LITERALLY that boring, you are lying. What you actually mean is that this is
FIGURATIVELY that boring.)
A metaphor shows or expresses something about a person, place, thing, or idea (nouns). Its
used to show an IDEA rather than make a LITERAL comparison.
Does your poem use metaphors? Write the line/ stanza below, and then EXPLAIN what is being
compared in this metaphor, and what IDEA this comparison is showing the reader. (Do this for
EACH metaphor you find in your poem).

Personification: Making things that are NOT alive sound like they are alive and thinking/ feeling
beings.
Is this used in your poem? What is being personified? What is it showing the reader?

Irony: An unexpected twist. Sarcasm is the most common type of irony, you are twisting words
to have an unexpected meaning.