metaphor

Poetic Devices

Posted on March 2, 2023 by L. M. Montes

Below is a table of various poetic devices and their meanings. Over the past year I’ve done articles on individual ones, but here are I am putting them all together in one post. These are just some of them.

Poetic Devices	Meaning	Example
Assonance	Rhyming of the same vowel sounds	Leaves blew in the breeze
Alliteration	The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.	Sweet singing doves
Metaphor	This is where an object in, or the subject of, a poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object.	The sand is a warm blanket
Simile	A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind. It’s used to make a description more vivid.	As fast as a cheetah.
Personification	Giving an inanimate object human characteristics.	The moon smiled back.
Imagery	Used in poetry, novels, or other writing that uses vivid description that appeals to the readers’ senses. This creates an image or idea in their head.	The leaves sounded like clapping hands.
Allusion	An expression intended to call something to mind without mentioning it specifically. It’s a hint towards something.	Chocolate is his kryptonite. Superman is alluded to but not mentioned.
Hyperbole	Exaggerated statements or not meant to be taken literally	I am so hungry I could eat a whole side of beef.
Allegory	A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, like a moral or political moral.	Animal Farm by George Orwell is an example of an allegory.
Consonance	The repetition of consonant sounds within a line of text.	The boss had a loss. Molly remained jolly.
Repetition	The act of repeating something that has already been said. Used to create effect.	Time after time. Over and over.
Enjambment	The continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next.	Birds fly above a dew covered grassy meadow.
Meter	In poetry, meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse	iambic pentameter trochaic foot anapestic foot (More on these in another post)

Writing

Posted on July 8, 2021 by L. M. Montes

Definition: (from Dictionary.com) “A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance”.

Examples:

His hand on my shoulder is a frigid icicle.
The house was hot furnace.
The sand is a blanket underneath me.
The wildflowers are a color wheel.
The stain was an annoying fly; always around and refusing to go away.

As you can tell by these examples, pictures are created within the readers mind that heightens their reading experience. They pull the reader into the story.

Writing

Metaphor and Simile

Posted on June 28, 2021June 27, 2021 by L. M. Montes

Comparisons, we all make them whether we are aware of it or not. We do this for emphasis in making clear a point we’re trying to make. In writing we use comparisons for the same reason, but add to that, visuals. If we want our readers to know just how big something is, we need to go beyond using the word big or huge or even gargantuan. Readers want to SEE the hugeness. Two forms of comparison writers use to accomplish this is:

Simile–Comparing using the words like or as.

His mouth was thick like paste.
The cat’s eyes glowed in the dark like twin moons.
He smile was as bright as the sun.

Metaphor–A direct comparison.

The warm sand is a blanket.
The sound of his laughter was a dogs bark.
The moon is a lightbulb.

Writing

Words As Clay

Posted on June 22, 2021 by L. M. Montes

You’re in the middle of writing a story. You are at a point in your creation where you need to add some friction or a tense moment. You know what needs to go into the scene. You can see it in front of you (so to speak). But, what can you do to intensify the suspense? Yes, you know what will cause it, but how can you bring it more to life and jump off the page? Word choice. Not just any choice of words either. You need words with certain sounds that, when put together, bring about a certain feeling or whatever feeling you’re trying to convey.

What sounds in the following sentences add to the intended feeling?

Tension–The stranger’s body thunked to the ground, when the knife pierced his chest.
Eerie–The air’s cold finger touched the back of my neck in spite of the warm breeze coming in off the lake. The shadow wafted over the sand, paused, then glided onward.
Joy–The shiny bells glistened in the candlelight, as the children opened their presents.
Sadness–Tears formed in the corner of her eyes then trickled down her cheeks as she gazed into the casket that contained the mother she never got to know.

Whichever sounds you use in your writing is up to you, but using various literary devices can certainly help with this. Some of them are listed below.

Assonance
Alliteration
Personification
Metaphor
Simile
Allusion
Onomatopoeia
Imagery
Foreshadowing

In future posts I will cover each of these more in depth. In this post I just wanted to bring them to the surface. I know though that we use these devices regularly in our writing without thinking about them. But, when you are writing a particular scene and need to create a certain feeling and nothing is coming to you, then the above devices are a great arsenal to draw from.

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