Definitions and examples of 10 poetic elements.

1. What are the
Slide Show Created By:
Paula Trapani
LRMS Librarian

3. Imagery
The mental
pictures created
by a piece of
writing

4. Imagery example:
Folks sway in the
Palace aisles
grinning and stomping and
out of breath,
From Out of the Dust p. 13-14, “On
Stage”

6. Simile
A phrase that
compares two
things using
“like” or “as”

7. Simile example:
Right hand
playing notes sharp as
tongues,
From Out of the Dust p. 13-14, “On
Stage”

9. Metaphor
A phrase that
compares two
things without
using “like” or
“as”

10. Metaphor
example
That is
heaven.
How supremely
heaven
playing piano
can be.
From Out of the Dust p. 13-14, “On
Stage”

12. Personification
When human traits
or characteristics
are given to
inanimate objects
or abstract notions

13. Personification
example
When I point my fingers at the keys,
the music
springs straight out of me.
From Out of the Dust p. 13-14, “On Stage”

15. Rhyme
Words at the end
of lines of poetry
that sound the
same.

16. Rhyme example
A Student's Prayer
by Anonymous
Now I lay me down to rest.
I pray I pass tomorrow's test.
If I should die before I wake,
that's one less test I'll have to take.

18. Alliteration
The repetition of
the first
consonant sound
in a group of
words

19. Alliteration
If Ma could put her arm across my shoulder
sometime,
or stroke back my hair
or sing me to sleep, making the soft sounds,
the reassuring noises,
that no matter how brittle and sharp life
seemed,
no matter how brittle and sharp she seemed,
she was still my ma who loved me…
From Out of the Dust (p. 148, “Motherless”)
(

21. Assonance
The repetition of
vowel sounds in a
group of words.

22. Assonance
example
“…the rare and radiant
maiden whom the angels
named Lenore…”
From “The Raven”
by Edgar Allen Poe

24. Hyperbole
A figure of
speech involving
exaggeration to
help create a
desired image.

25. Hyperbole
example
Why does a boy who’s fast as
a jet
Take all day—and sometimes
two—
To get to school?
By: John Ciardi (from “Speed
Adjustments”)

27. Idiom
A phrase or expression that means
something different from what the words
actually say. (Usually only understandable to a
particular group of people.)
Examples:
•Raining cats and dogs
•Teach an old dog new tricks
•Skating on thin ice
•A day late and a dollar short
•Air your dirty laundry in public

28. Idiom
A phrase or expression that means
something different from what the words
actually say. (Usually only understandable to a
particular group of people.)
Examples:
•Raining cats and dogs
•Teach an old dog new tricks
•Skating on thin ice
•A day late and a dollar short
•Air your dirty laundry in public

30. Onomatopoeia
Use of a word
that is an actual
imitation of the
sound it is
referring to

31. Onomatopoeia
example
Swoosh, swish
paddling down a creek
splish, splash, whump
a fish jumps on me
By: Lacey
(a student at Langley Meadows school
in Canada)

32. Credits:
Slide Show by:
Paula Trapani-Wiener
LRMS Librarian
Images Created at:
www.imagechef.com