TES Global
Tes: Onomatopoeia: Poetic Devices Activity
[Free Registration/Login Required] This Power Point presentation provides thorough definitions and examples of onomatopoeia.
University of Victoria (Canada)
The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Free Verse
A concise and thorough explanation of the term "free verse" in poetry. Provides a definition, differentiation from "blank verse," and an example from Walt Whitman.
University of Victoria (Canada)
The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Epics
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "epic" poetic form. Short examples included.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The Heroic Couplet: Its Rhyme and Reason
Lengthy academic essay that argues that traditional poetry, including the heroic couplet, is still relevant in the modern world. While this is discussed, the history of the heroic couplet is provided. A good definition of the term with...
University of Victoria (Canada)
The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Elegy
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "elegy" poetic form. Example included.
University of Victoria (Canada)
The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Ballad
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "ballad" poetic form. Short examples included.
University of Victoria (Canada)
The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Ode
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "ode" poetic form. Short examples included.
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Epithet
This is a glossary entry for the term "Epithet" including definitions and examples from a number of poets.
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Inversion
This is a glossary entry for the term "Inversion" including definition and literary examples.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Poetic Devices [Pdf]
This is a nine-page PDF on poetic devices; it includes four sections: The Sounds of Words, The Meanings of Words, Arranging the Words, and The Images of Words. Each section includes the poetic devices that fit the topic complete with...
University of Victoria (Canada)
The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Heroic Couplet
This site provides a short definition of the term Heroic Couplet along with a short example from a piece of poetry by Pope.
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Negative Capability
This is a glossary entry for the term "Negative Capability" including the definition and a link to an example.
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Rhyme Scheme
This is a glossary entry for the term "Rhyme Scheme" including a definition and an example.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Seasonal Haiku
This site is a three-part lesson that teaches young scholars how to write and depict seasonal imagery through haiku. Students study, listen to, and create original haiku on colored backgrounds.
University of Victoria (Canada)
The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Paradox
Definition of paradox with example from the poetry of John Donne and links to related terms such as oxymoron and metaphysical conceit.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Selecting Topics for Literary Analysis
A series of three PDF documents providing definitions of commonly used terms when preparing to write a literary analysis, explaining how to comment on a literary text, and demonstrating the process of analyzing the literary text "Hills...
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: The American Dream
With the help of digitized primary documents -- pictures, photograph, recordings, and written accounts -- students will explore and define what the "American Dream" meant for people over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth...
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Caesura
This is a glossary entry for the term "Caesura" including a definition and an example.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Homonyms
This homonym tutorial begins with the poem "My Spell Checker" to show the importance of learning the difference between words. This is followed by a slide show of commonly misused homonyms, including definitions and examples. It offers...
Emory University
Emory University Writing Center: Personification
A definition of personification. Includes two examples- one from the poetry of Sylvia Plath, the other from John Keats' poem "To Autumn."