Symbolism:
A symbol is used to represent an idea or an emotion. Example: A red rose represents
romance
Motif:
A motif is an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a poem. A motif can help
identify the poem’s major theme. Example: Fire in the Hunger Games
Allusion:
Where the writer makes reference to ‘well-known’ figures or events from literature,
history or mythology. Example: name dropping the names of 1916 rebels in W.B.
Yeats’ poem “Easter 1916”
Pun:
A play on words. Words with double meaning. (word play)
Example: “A Messi Tackle” (Lionel Messi – footballer surname)
Idiom: A group of words established as
A turn of phrase or as a fixed expression.
Ex: She spilled the beans on her ex.
Or Has the cat got your tongue?
Oxymoron:
A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory
(opposite) terms appear in conjunction with each other. “A dark light shone in
through the church alter windows”
Hyperbole: (Hy-per-blé) *French word
Extravagant over the top exaggeration used for effect. “I had a ton of homework of
do”
Paradox:
A statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true.
Example: "I can resist anything but temptation."- Oscar Wilde
Poetic Style Language Techniques
Alliteration:
Two or more words in close succession, beginning with the same letter. It generally
adds a musical effect to the poem e.g. “Lake water lapping with low sounds by the
shore”.
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”
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