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- PART 2
- #Th!nkPi: let's start Part 2, hopefully hellolife will make it back in time
- #Th!nkPi: Part 2: Poetic Devices
- #Th!nkPi: In Part 2 of our workshop, we’re going to introduce a few basic poetic devices that are commonly found in poetry. Poetic devices help alter rhythm and enhance a poem’s mood and tone. It’s the poet’s secret ingredient to hiding meaning in plain sight.
- #Th!nkPi: A poet has full creative freedom to use poetic devices as they please. As with any trade, the more devices you have in your arsenal, the more flexible you can be with your work.
- #Th!nkPi: So we're going to introduce 9 terms here in three different subsets. I'll try to speed through these one subset at a time and answer questions in between them. We have a total of 3 subsets.
- #Th!nkPi: Subset 1
- #Th!nkPi: Simile: a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid. It uses the words “like” or “as” to make the comparison.
- #Th!nkPi: Here's a couplet I wrote showing a simile:
- http://i.imgur.com/ZAKvDZs.png
- #Th!nkPi: You may notice that the "like" is at the beginning of the line, which is just a matter of sentence structure. You can put it in between the subjects or phrase it how I did as long as you use "like" or "as"
- #Th!nkPi: Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. It does not use the words “like” or “as” in its comparison.
- #Th!nkPi: Here's an example written by me:
- http://i.imgur.com/yVKuzFk.png
- #Th!nkPi: What's significant about this example and in the difference between simile/metaphor is that I compared a window, a tangible, physical object, to "hope", which is an idea or feeling and not something you can touch
- #Th!nkPi: A window in a room or building gives you an outlook, the same way hope would give you a different outlook in a situation of despair
- #Th!nkPi: Metaphors often compare something tangible and physical to something that is not literally applicable
- #Th!nkPi: and our third term
- #Th!nkPi: Hyperbole: exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
- #Th!nkPi: My last example written for this workshop:
- http://i.imgur.com/8bpgpCR.png
- #Th!nkPi: Subset 2
- #Th!nkPi: Assonance: This poetic device uses similar sounding or identical vowel sounds in words that “live” next to each other, such as meet and greedy or sauna and dawn. Assonance changes the rhythm of vowels.
- #Th!nkPi: However, do not confuse assonance with general rhyme; rhyme is an umbrella term that refers to any correspondence of sounds between words (especially at the ends of lines of poetry).
- #Th!nkPi: Here's an example written by Drop the Based to make it less confusing. The rhyming vowels are highlighted.
- http://i.imgur.com/FJCHm3l.png
- #Th!nkPi: Consonance: A poetic device that utilizes rapid repetition of the same consonant sound twice or more, such as talking koalas baking cookies. Consonance alters the rhythm of consonants (hence the name).
- #Th!nkPi: Not to be confused with alliteration, which occurs at the beginning of each word, consonance focuses on internal or ending consonant sounds.
- #Th!nkPi: The example will make consonance clearer. Here's an example written by Drop the Based
- http://i.imgur.com/g38ilkF.png
- #Th!nkPi: It's a bit condensed and exaggerated, but it gets the point across. You don't need to have this many sounds to execute consonance of course.
- #Th!nkPi: Another easy example would be a stuck lock
- #Th!nkPi: It doesn't rhyme but there is repetition of the ck sound
- #Th!nkPi: Alliteration: A stylish poetic device that utilizes words with the same initial sound close together in a series; it also tends to cause tongue tying. Alliteration can make use of both consonant and vowel sounds as long as it’s the same sound being repeated.
- #Th!nkPi: Our next example, brought to you by your neighborhood Drop the Based
- http://i.imgur.com/IXrE7gV.png
- #Th!nkPi: Subset 3
- #Th!nkPi: Onomatopoeia: a word that sounds like the sound it makes, ex: “sizzle”, “buzz”, “whirr”, “moo”, “meow”. Onomatopoeia is used for rhetorical effect and is especially useful for spoken word.
- #Th!nkPi: Here's an example written by Megacrazy himself :D
- http://i.imgur.com/2VOTQPH.png
- #Th!nkPi: Both the words "crack" and "burst" are onomatopoetic
- #Th!nkPi: Our next term...
- #Th!nkPi: Pun: a joke made as a result of the double meanings of words, ex: “A horse is a very stable animal.” Writing room members often come up with puns for fun when they’re bored.
- #Th!nkPi: Here's your example:
- http://i.imgur.com/iIaktbx.png
- #Th!nkPi: And our very last term, one of my favorite devices to use
- #Th!nkPi: Personification: giving an object, animal, or concept human-like characteristics, ex: “The wind whispered through the dry grasslands.”
- #Th!nkPi: Giving animals or inanimate objects human-like characteristics allows poets to write from unique perspectives and can also be used to emphasize an attachment to these objects or animals.
- #Th!nkPi: Here's an example written by Megacrazy:
- http://i.imgur.com/fgzG9MS.png
- #Th!nkPi: He gave the fire a human-like but dark demeanor, which helped emphasize the ominous tone in the stanza.
- #Th!nkPi: Personification gave life to something that had none, which really helped to darken the tone and evoke a tense mood in the reader
- #Th!nkPi: ...and that about wraps up Part 2! Any devices you liked that you'd like to try out? Anything new you hadn't known before?
- #Th!nkPi: I often use assonance and consonance in my raps to give them an edgy, lyrical feel
- #Th!nkPi: Alliteration as well
- #Th!nkPi: I like devices that alter rhythm in that sense
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