Spot the Literary Devices: How Many Can You Find in This Haiku?

Think literary devices are hard to spot? Not sure why you need to find them? Try this challenge: How many can you identify in just 17 syllables? Here's a haiku I wrote about Perth's recent fog...

fog drifts unearthly,
slicks swings and slides at the park,
shapes loom in white dark

Before scrolling down, take a moment to identify the literary devices. How many can you spot? Write them down, then check your answers below...

Ready to see how you did? Here's what I found...

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Pretty impressive for just 17 syllables, right? But here's what I see in my classroom all the time - students can spot devices like you just did, but then they write 'the author uses good description' in their essays. Sometimes they even name the device, but that's identification, not analysis.

The real skill ATAR markers want? Knowing what questions to ask about each device and how to build that into sophisticated analysis. That's exactly what my Literary Analysis Framework teaches.

Keep reading to see how each device actually works - and grab the framework below to master this process for any text! Want to know the difference?

DEVICE-BY-DEVICE BREAKDOWN:

Learn 50 essential literary devices, how to spot them and how to use them. Practical exercises, explicit examples, templates. Everything you need to master literary devices for academic English analysis.

Sibilance & Alliteration: The repeated 's' sounds in 'slicks swings and slides' (and elsewhere) create sibilance - that hissing sound that actually mimics the fog moving and moisture dripping. When the 's' sounds appear at the beginning of words, it becomes alliteration too.

Rule of Three: 'Slicks swings and slides' - three parallel actions that create rhythm and completeness. This rhetorical device makes the line memorable and satisfying to read.

Rhyme: 'Park' and 'dark' create an end rhyme that gives the haiku musical closure. This wasn't accidental - I deliberately chose 'white dark' partly for this sonic connection that ties the whole poem together.

Juxtaposition: 'White dark' - these opposite ideas create a contradiction that perfectly captures the surreal feeling of thick fog. It's not just dark, and it's not just white - it's this strange, otherworldly in-between state.

Imagery: Sensory elements like 'slick' (tactile) and 'shapes loom' (visual) help readers experience the fog rather than just read about it. The playground setting makes it relatable and concrete.

Assonance: The repeated internal 'i' sounds in 'slicks swings and slides' (and throughout) creates flow and unity, making it roll off the tongue smoothly.

Emotive Language: Words like 'unearthly,' 'slicks,' and 'loom' create an atmosphere of mystery and slight unease. These aren't neutral descriptive words - they're chosen to make readers feel the otherworldly, almost supernatural quality of that thick foggy morning.

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR YOUR ESSAYS:

Spotting literary devices isn't just an academic exercise - it's a crucial skill for ATAR and Academic English success. When you can identify these techniques in your set texts, you can:

Analyse with confidence: Instead of writing 'the author uses good description,' you can specifically identify imagery, emotive language, and sound devices, then explain their effect. (This also means you’ll be using metalanguage in your analysis)

Write sophisticated responses: Recognising how and why authors layer multiple devices (like this haiku's combination of sibilance, juxtaposition, and emotive language) helps you write more nuanced analysis.

Understand author intention: Each device serves a purpose. The sibilance mimics the fog's movement, the juxtaposition captures its surreal quality - this is deliberate craft, not accident, all intended to create an experience for the reader and thus produce an effect on the audience as individuals and sometimes as a whole society.

Build your literary vocabulary: The more devices you can identify and name, the more precise and impressive your essay writing becomes because you are using metalanguage and your work is more detailed.

Finding devices is the easy part. The hard part is knowing what questions to ask and how to build that into analysis. That's exactly what my 3-step framework solves.Ready to turn device spotting into A-grade analysis? Download the framework now and start practicing with your next text!

My FREE Literary Analysis Framework gives you a systematic approach to analysing any text with confidence.

Download it FREE and start building the skills that will transform your essay writing.