4.9 Special Effects and Patterns for Poems

Special Effects

The Forest“hot metal language”

“planes overhead roar an orchestra of rolling drums”

“lips were as red as a wailing firetruck"

“the road was a ribbon of moonlight”

“the clutter clustered clingingly”

Literary devices are the tools writers use to create special effects in their writing.

They are the sunbeams through the forest that make readers go, “Oooooh! Aaaaaah!”

Do you like crafts or building with Lego? Have you ever used a pattern? A pattern usually shows you the steps you need to follow.

Today, you will write a free verse poem using a special five-line pattern and our three special effects:

  • similes
  • metaphors
  • alliteration

You can be a "special effects" writer when you use literary devices, just like the sunbeams add a special effect to the image on this page.