The Building Blocks of Poetic Voice

Diction refers to the particular words an author chooses to use. Poets use diction to convey tone and meaning.

"The things he did were bad" vs. "His crimes were heinous."​

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Imagery refers to any language that an author uses to appeal to one of the five senses (not just sight!).

Sight = Visual imagery ("Her eyes bulged out of her face")

Sound = Auditory imagery ("The icicles clinked together like a strange choir")

​Touch = Tactile imagery ("She rubbed her dry, callused hands together")

Taste = Gustatory imagery ("​The tart apricots made her wince")

Smell = Olfactory imagery ("Thick and heavy, the smell of the cows permeated everything") ​

​Authors use figurative language to convey meaning using comparison between abstract and concrete ideas.

metaphor — a comparison between two things that don't have a direct, literal relationship. ("he was a tornado on the football pitch")

simile — a comparison between two things using "like" or "as". ("the assignment was like a boulder, weighing on her conscience")

personification — imbuing a non-human object with human traits or actions. ("the amulet stared at her malevolently from the shelf.")

hyperbole — extreme exaggeration. ("Mr. Dahl assigned 1,000 hours of home learning.")

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​Echo refers to an author's repetition of sounds or syllables.​

Rhyme = ​repetition of the same sound at the end of words, usually at the end of poetic lines.

Internal rhyme = rhyming that occurs within a verse line rather than with ending words.​

​Alliteration = repetition of sounds at the beginning of words. ("tried and true tricks")

Assonance = repetition of vowel sounds ("long, drawn out pauses")

Consonance = repetition of consonant sounds ("bubbling cool and calmly")

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