Today is...



Ah, no longer a school kid, you say? You used to hate English class? Well, guess what?

I don't care.



On today's agenda is... poetic devices! One of my favourite subjects. What I'll be doing is posting some common or uncommon poetic devices and explaining them, with example.

First off, what is a poetic device?

In all forms of poetic or melodic writing, writers use certain tools or phrasings to enhance aspects of their poetry. Basically, they're like frosting. They make it sound pretty!

The exact definition, from Deal a Poem, reads:

Poetic devices, techniques, gimmicks - whatever you want to call them, there are "tricks" that make poems "work."

Simple enough, eh? So, here we go.

1. An onomatopoeia: Basically, it's the written form of a sound. You find a lot of these in descriptive writings or poems depicting nature.

For example: The whoosh of the wind, the clank of the chains.


2. A personification: This means that you've given a human behaviour to an inanimate object.

For example: The waves greeted us gently.


3. An alliteration: The deliberate repetition of a consonant sound (any letter except a, e, i, o and u) for a strong effect.

For example: The caw of the crow collapsed all constraints.


That's just a small sample of the numerous poetic devices. Have fun flourishing your writing!

Alan