Literary Elements in "Your World" by Georgia Douglas Johnson

Activity Overview

When teaching poetry, it is often helpful to refresh or introduce students with technical words. Terms like metaphor, simile, stanza, alliteration, personification, rhyme scheme, and onomatopoeia are a few important terms.

In this activity, students can create a storyboard that depicts and explains the use of each literary element that they can find in the poem. You may chose to focus on one element at a time, or if the students are advanced, you can focus on many.

Here is an example of six literary elements found in “Your World”:

Alliteration

• Repetition of a sound
• Example: “narrowest nest”

Assonance

• The repetition of a vowel sound
• Example: Open "O" words ("corner", "horizon", "cordons", "soared")
  These sounds create a soaring, flying effect for the reader.

Metaphor

• A comparison, or association, without using 'like' or ‘as’
• Example: Bird = Person
  "My wings pressing close to my side."
  "And cradled my wings on the breeze”

Simile

• A comparison using 'like' or 'as'
• Example: “Your world is as big as you make it”

Imagery

• Visually descriptive or figurative language
• Example: “I throbbed with a burning desire”

Apostrophe

• Poet addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing
• Example: “Your world is as big as you make it”
  
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Template and Class Instructions

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