Literary Elements in Poetry
Define each of the following terms.
VERBAL IRONY
Example: As you stand at the edge of a polluted river,
you say, “Nice, clean water you’ve got here.”
SITUATIONAL IRONY
Example: The police chief’s on ends up being a thief.
DRAMATIC IRONY
Example: You’re watching a comedy, and you know
(but the leading man doesn’t know) that the young
woman he’s flirting with is really his male roommate
in disguise.
FORESHADOWING
Example: At the start of a story, you see that it’s
Friday, June 13th. By the end of the story, the main
character has had lots of bad luck.
SYMBOL
Example: heart = love; dove = peace; black = death
IMAGERY
Example: “Cloud tufts sliding across the soft, blue
sky…the winding sound of crickets rubbing dampness
from their wings.”
POINT OF VIEW
Example: first person, third person omniscient, third
person limited
THEME
Example: After reading a poem, the reader feels that
he’s learned this lesson/received this message: All
man possesses, he gains through work and not by
lying in bed and being idle.
TONE
Example: The following poem sounds lonely to the
reader. That feeling of loneliness is the tone.
“Pete at the Zoo”
I wonder if the elephant/Is lonely in his stall
When all the boys & girls are gone/And there’s not
shout at all;
And there’s no one to stamp before,/No one to note
his might.
Does he hunch up, as I do,/Against the dark of night?