Poetry Reference Sheet

Alliteration: repetition of a sound or “Basketballs are bouncing in letter at the beginning of words in a line Big Blue Nation on this beautiful day…” of poetry

Onomatopoeia: use of words whose Bees buzz A faucet drips sounds suggest their meaning

Personification: giving human qualities to The fall leaves danced in the wind. an animal, object, or idea

Simile: a comparison using the words “like” He is quick as lightning! or “as”

Metaphor: a comparison without using the Her hair is a rainbow of colors. words “like” or “as”

I have a ton of homework tonight! Hyperbole: use of exaggeration or overstatement for emphasis

Jumbo Shrimp Oxymoron: a figure of speech that links Cold Sweat two opposite or contradictory words Idiom: an expression that has a meaning apart from the meanings of its individual Wrap up or you’ll catch a cold! words (not literal)

Love Freedom Symbol: a person, place, an object or action that stands for something beyond itself 5 Snowflakes gently fall 7 The earth is covered with white Haiku: a traditional form of Japenese 5 Winter wonderland poetry consisting of three lines; the first on has 5 syllables, the second has 7, and the third one has 5 syllables

1 Cats 2 Independent, affectionate Cinquain: another type of Japenese poem, 3 Chasing toy mice 4 Glad when you’re home containing 5 lines and set number of 1 Pets words in each line (1,2,3,4,1)

A There was an old man with a beard A Who said, “It is just as I feared!” Limerick: a humorous 5-line poem; lines B Two owls and a hen, B Four larks and a wren, 1,2, and 5 rhyme, while lines 3 and 4 share A Have all built their nests in my beard! a different rhyme

Hold your horses!