Poetry in the Everyday
Sometimes the facts alone leave a news story devoid of power. What would a sportswriter do if he or she were unable to use poetry in describing Vince Carter's latest dunk? Good writing, be it essay or media writing, often uses literary forms usually associated with poetry. Well-written stories are fraught with colorful descriptions that sound like poetry. Along with the "hard facts," you will incorporate literary forms (or devices) to make the information come alive for the reader.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Go to one of the news sites below and find a story that interests you.
New York Times online2. Write your own version of the news story using at least one each of the following seven literary devices. Word process this, and be sure that you underline the poetic devices you have incorporated!
Fox News online
CNNInteractivePOETIC DEVICES to be incorporated into your poem:
| ALLITERATION: Repeated sounds in the initial position ("smoke smeared," "canned corn") |
| ASSONANCE: Words having the same vowel sounds but not the same consonant sounds ("flat hat," "wade ... date") |
| CONSONANCE: Words having the same end consonant sounds - but not the same vowel sounds ("cool...soul," "midnight wait") |
| ONOMATOPOEIA: Words that imitate the sound to which they refer ("crash," "shriek," "ping" and "quack") |
| IMAGERY: Lively descriptions that impress the images of things on the mind of the reader or the listener ("She has a smile that lights up a room") |
| METAPHOR: A figure of speech or implied comparison in which a word or phrase, ordinarily used for one thing, is applied to another ("runaway grass," "foot of the mountain") |
| SIMILE: A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, dissimilar thing using "like" or "as" ("as fresh as a daisy," "as pretty as a picture," "my love is like a red, red rose") |