Rhythm creates a flow by stressing a certain pattern of syllables

 A rhyme is when the end part of two or more words sounds the same.

 A repetition uses words or phrases over again to create emphasis or a mood

This is a rhythm pattern where there is an accent on the second syllable. Here is an example of iambic foot. Among the pines a maple stood The only bare tree in the wood.

 Alliteration is a poem where all, or some of the words start with the same sound.

This is an example of alliteration.

Toby teaches tiny tots in Toledo.  Another example is Crazy cat climbed up the crooked cable.

      Personification

A personification is a figure of speech.  This strategy is used to give objects, things or animals human characteristics that we recognize in ourselves.

                     An example of Personification is

“My air conditioner is wheezing in pain.” 

Another example is

“The camera loves you.”

         Simile

A simile is a figure of speech which resembles a metaphor but uses the comparative words like, as, than, similar to.

                     This is an example of a simile.

“The lie formed like a blister on his lips.”

                     Another example is

“Her brains remind me of a marshmallow.”

 Metaphor

      Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is when a word is used that demonstrates a sound. 

                     An example of this is

“The water gurgled down the drain.” 

Another example is

“The noisy chicken clucked her head off.” 

          Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure of speech.  It uses exaggeration to give a statement impact.  This is an example of a hyperbole

 “I am so hungry I could eat a horse.” 

Another example is

“His face got beet red and I thought he would explode.”

        Acrostic

In an acrostic poem the letters of the subject are written vertically.  Next to each letter a poetic statement or a word is written horizontally to express the subject in innovative ways.

                              Say, kid,

                              Please come down to Earth

                              All of us are waiting!

                              Could you please try?

                                                Enough of all your weird behaviour.

          Cinquain

This is an unrhymed form of poetry.  The cinquain (sin-cane) has a set of five lines and a syllabic pattern of two, four, six eight, two.

                     For example:

Giant (1 noun, 2 syllables)

marine mamal (2 describing words, 4 syllables)

hopelessly caught in a black spill (4 words that express feeling or mood, 8 syllables)

Humpback (1 noun, 2 syllables)

          Diamante

This is the Italian word for diamond.  This poem takes the form of a diamond when it is completed.  The pattern starts out with one theme and in the middle begins to move toward an opposite theme.

                     For example:

Loser (noun)

Careless, wimpy (2 describing words)

Whining, complaining, stumbling (3 action words)

Shy, timid, confident, courageous (4 opposite words)

Stretching, achieving, succeeding (3 opposite action words)

Hardworking, determined (2 opposite describing words)

Winner (opposite noun)

         Couplet

A couplet is made up of two lines that rhyme and have the same number of syllables.

                     An example of a couplet is:

                           Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

                           How I wonder what you are,

Up above the world so high,

                           Like a diamond in the sky

                           Then the traveler in the dark

                           Thanks you for your tiny spark;

How could he see where to go,

                           If you did not twinkle so?

                              Haiku

The haiku is a Japanese verse in three lines.  Line one has 5 syllables, line two has 7 syllables, and line three has 5 syllables.  The 17 syllables are usually in praise of nature.

                     For example:

                              Old crow in command (5)

                              Always foraging for food (7)

                              On his daily route (5)

                              A colour riot (5)

                              Lilac bush bursts into bloom (7)

                                                A splash of flowers (5)

         Quatrain

A quatrain is written in four lines with a rhyming scheme.

                     For example:

                              Evening red and morning gray (a)

                              Are the signs of a sunny day, (a)

                              Evening gray and morning red (b)

                                   Bring rain on the farmer’s head. (b)

          Ballad

A ballad is a poem that tells a story, which is historical, or a social comment.  It often has a rhythm and a rhyming pattern so it could be made into a song.  It was passed from generation to generation.  An example of this is:

                           There was a young and handsome man

                           Lived by the Berlin wall,

                           And on a cool and starry night

       Free Verse

A free verse does not follow a regular pattern of rhyme or rhythm.  Sometimes there is punctuation, sometimes there is not. This poetic form expresses feeling.  An example of a free verse is:

                           The young girl (who)

                           Stands alone (what)

                           On a windy corner (where)

                           On Christmas day (when)