Welcome to TeachersFirst's "Interactive Raven," a look at the vocabulary and literary devices in Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, The Raven. This unit lets users view each stanza of the poem, pointing out Poe's use of some common literary devices. By moving the mouse over the highlighted words, users can learn more about Poe's use of these devices. They include:
Alliteration - the repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words. Alliteration is marked in blue.
Assonance - the repetition of vowel sounds, usually within words. Assonance is marked in purple.
Internal rhyme - the rhyming of words within a line of poetry, not just at the end of the lines. Internal rhymes are marked in red.
Vocabulary words - This unit provides definitions for many words that may not be familiar to you. These words are marked in yellow.
We have marked alliteration, assonance, and internal rhyme in the first half of the poem. See if you can spot these devices in the later verses.
Enjoy the Raven!