A repetition of hissing sounds in two (or more) words.

e.g. Sing a song of sixpence.

Conspiring cells of summer shells.

When a comparison is made between two things.

e.g. It was as cold as a snowy winter’s eve.

She ran, like a bullet from a gun, towards the finish line.

A poem that is free from limitations of regular meter or rhythm, and does not have a regular rhyme scheme.

e.g. Like a skein of loose silk blown against a wall,

she walks

by the railing of a path in Kensington Gardens,

dying.

And round about there is a rabble

Of the filthy, sturdy, unkillable infants of the very poor.

They shall inherit the earth.

In her is the end of breeding. Her boredom is exquisite and excessive

and there will be no end for the children of the universe.

When two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound.

e.g. Go and mow the lawn.

The engineer held the steering to steer the vehicle.

Using the 5 senses to create an image in the reader’s mind.

e.g. The carpet of bright flowers had a heady aroma. As I walked, I could feel their perfume choking my nostrils. (sight, smell, touch)

Making a reference to a person, place, thing, or an idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.

e.g. Stop trying to be a Romeo! (Reference to ‘Romeo and Juliet’)

I’ve got the speed and power of a young Mike Tyson. (Reference to good boxing skills)

When something non-human (e.g. an object, an animal, a concept) is given human qualities.

e.g. The fire swallowed the entire forest.

Time had crushed me in the palm of his hand.

A repetition of similar sounding words, occurring at the end of lines in poems or songs.

e.g. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the King’s horses, And all the King’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again!”

A word that sounds like the noise it is describing.

e.g. He heard the clack on stone and the leaping, dropping clicks of a small rock falling.

A regular use of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.

e.g. DOU-ble, / DOU-ble / TOIL and / TROU-ble;

FI-re / BURN, and / CAL-dron / BUB-ble.”

Repetition of a word, phrase, or image that has been mentioned previously in a poem.

e.g. The wrong person was selected for the wrong job, at the wrong time, for the wrong purpose

When ideas, places, characters, or their actions are placed side by side for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.

e.g. The character of Tybalt in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ looks more aggressive by comparison to the peaceful characters in the play.