Poetry Terms: Key Literary Devices Explained
1. Basic Poetry Terms
Speaker: Voice telling the poem (not always the poet).
Stanza: Group of lines, like a paragraph.
Theme: Main message or lesson.
Tone: Speaker’s attitude (angry, happy, sad).
Mood: Feeling created in the reader.
Imagery: Description using the five senses.
Diction: Word choice.
Symbolism: Something that represents a bigger idea (dove = peace).
Allusion: Reference to something famous (Romeo = romantic).
2. Sound Devices
Alliteration: Repeated beginning consonant sounds (Silly snakes slither)
Imagist Poetry and Modernist Works: Analysis of Key Poems
In a Station of the Metro – Ezra Pound
In this ultra-brief two-line poem, Ezra Pound captures a fleeting moment of urban beauty through Imagism, valuing visual precision and economical language. The primary technique is juxtaposition: human faces in the crowded metro are implicitly compared to “Petals on a wet, black bough”, suggesting delicacy and creating a contrasting atmospheric backdrop with the dark urban environment.
Words like “apparition” give a sense of sudden revelation, while
Read MorePower, Control and Suffering in Poetry and Literature
Comparing Power and Control in Ozymandias and London
Both Shelley and Blake present power as destructive when it is abused. In Ozymandias, Shelley describes the ruler’s “sneer of cold command”. The alliteration emphasises Ozymandias’s arrogance and cruelty, suggesting that he believes he has complete control over others. However, the statement “Nothing beside remains” reveals that his power is temporary because time has destroyed his kingdom. Similarly, in London, Blake uses the metaphor “mind-forg’
Read MoreEnglish Exam Strategies: Discourse Links, Signalling Words and Hedging
1. Required Answer Structure
Memorise these phrases:
To define: “X refers to…” / “X means that…”
To exemplify: “For example,…” / “For instance,…”
Mandatory formula: Name the concept + define it in English + give the example (Definition → Explanation → Example).
2. The 5 Features of Academic Language
- Complexity: Complex grammar and lexical density. (E.g.: union reaction instead of how the unions will react).
- Formality: No colloquial language or contractions. (E.g.: cannot instead of can’t).
- Objectivity:
Literary Analysis of 19th-Century Classics and Themes
Pride and Prejudice: Character Flaws and Plot
The title Pride and Prejudice is perfectly chosen because it highlights the core flaws of the main characters and drives the entire plot of Jane Austen’s novel. For a standard 5-mark examination answer, you can structure your response into five clear, concise points (1 mark each):
1. Reflection of Main Characters
The title directly points to the two primary protagonists: Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
- Mr. Darcy embodies pride due to his high social standing
Literary Movements: From Renaissance Humanism to Satire
The English Renaissance and the Power of Poetry
The English Renaissance was a period characterized by humanism, artistic experimentation, and a renewed interest in human experience and individual expression. Renaissance poets frequently explored love, beauty, time, and mortality, especially through the sonnet. In William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, the speaker compares the beauty of his beloved with the temporary beauty of nature. The poem communicates that although physical beauty is temporary, poetry
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