Simile - Compares Two Things, Using the Words Like, As, As If, As Though, As

Poetry

Teacher Copy

What is poetry?

Poetry is a combination of creativity and craftsmanship. A poem represents an experience a poet wishes to capture and share. It is a representation of his/her impressions, thoughts, and emotions at a certain moment in time. The poet’s fusion of rhyme, rhythm, idea, imagery, and language enhances these individual elements and molds them into a form that we call a poem.

Figures of Speech

Is your writing dull and boring? It doesn't take much to make it more interesting. A simple figure of speech can add originality and keep the reader's attention. Consider the following sentence:

She was very pretty.

It's okay, but consider this one:

She was as pretty as an orchard full of cherry blossoms.

Sound better? Try using some of these common figures of speech to spice up your writing.

Simile - compares two things, using the words like, as, as if, as though, as ... as.

Examples:

The old man's face was as wrinkled as an elephant's hide.
Her eyes were like emeralds.

Metaphor - compares two things by saying one thing is another thing. It does not use the words like or as.
Examples:

My teacher is a drill sergeant.
The snow was a soft blanket completely covering the brown earth.

Hyperbole - a description that is greatly exaggerated.

Examples:
That music is so loud it can be heard across the sea.
His shirt was so big his brother could wear it at the same time.

Alliteration - repetition of a letter or sounds, usually at the beginning of words. This is how tongue twisters are formed.

Examples:
She wore sixty shimmering shells under her shawl.
The majestic moonlight made Maria melancholy.

Onomatopoeia - words which suggest the sound of what they are describing.

Examples:
The ducks were quacking and the bees were buzzing.
The silence was broken by the sound of the cuckoo clock.

Oxymoron - a contradictory phrase.

Examples:

Your answers are perfectly wrong.
The jacket was made with genuine imitation leather.

Personification – a figure of speech in which human form or characteristics are given to animals, objects, or ideas

Example:

“Slowly, slilently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon…”

- Walter de la Mare

Things you also need to consider when writing

Image – any word, or group of words, that appeals to the senses and creates pictures in the mind.

Mood – the state of feeling created by a poem, story, or play, such as sentimental mood or a bitter mood.

Theme – the central thought or idea in a poem

Tone – the feeling conveyed by a writer’s attitude toward his subject and revealed though the poets style and choice of work. For example: an energetic tone, a whimsical tone

Satire - a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony (expressing opposite of what is meant), derision (ridicule), or wit.