A study of onomatopoeia and metaphor as poetic devices (The Highwayman and The Sea)

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ONOMATOPOEIA

In literature, “onomatopoeia” is a word that’s used to mimic any audible sound not pertaining to any spoken language.  Examples include buzz, crack, pop, whoosh, etc.  Inserting these “meaningless” words into a piece of poetry, however, does have the effect of capturing a convincing snapshot of reality. 

In Resources you will see three poems  :

1. The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes (a ballad)

2. The Sea by James Reeves

3. A funny poem using onomatopoeia entirely - just for you to read! 

Read the first 2 poems and underline the use of onomatopoeia where you can identify it.

ACTIVITY 3

Using the examples of onomatopoeia you have found, discuss how they affect the reader or add to the image created by the poets.

ACTIVITY 4

Write a simple poem of your own using onomatopoeia. 

ACTIVITY 5

Comment on the use of metaphor in The Sea by James Reeves. 

 

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Metaphors

In the poem The Sea by James Reeves, the poet uses a metaphor throughout the poem.

'The sea is a hungry dog..' 

A metaphor is different to a simile - in similes the words 'like' or 'as' are used, for example,

'the sea is like a hungry dog'

A metaphor is stronger, 'the sea IS a hungry dog'.

ACTIVITY 1

Go to resources and open the poem; answer the questions at the beginning.

ACTIVITY 2

Create a short metaphor poem of your own. 

 

Edit   Delete - Last Modified By: JCA at 28/09/2014 9:20:31 PM

Some of you would have read :

Alliteration in Tongue Twisters in the previous learning bite.

Activity 1 

Now test yourself and see which students can say the following without faltering! 

Alliteration also makes tongue twisters even more difficult to say:

  • Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
  • How much wood would a woodchuck chuck If a woodchuck would chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck If a woodchuck would chuck wood.
  • Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed shilly-shallied south. These sheep shouldn’t sleep in a shack; Sheep should sleep in a shed.

ACTIVITY 2 

Onomatopoeia

In literature, “onomatopoeia” is a word that’s used to mimic any audible sound not pertaining to any spoken language.  Examples include buzz, crack, pop, whoosh, etc.  Inserting these “meaningless” words into a piece of poetry, however, does have the effect of capturing a convincing snapshot of reality. 

In Resources you will see three poems  :

1. The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes (a ballad)

2. The Sea by James Reeves

3. A funny poem using onomatopoeia entirely - just for you to read! 

Read the first 2 poems and underline the use of onomatopoeia where you can identify it.

ACTIVITY 3

Using the examples of onomatopoeia you have underlined, discuss how they affect the reader or add to the image created.

ACTIVITY 4

Write a simple poem of your own using onomatopoeia. 

ACTIVITY 5 (if you have time)

Comment on the use of metaphor in The Sea by James Reeves. 

 

 

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