WORD PLAY

If you are unsure what word play is, look at the TEACHERS PAGE, FIGURATIVE WRITING, WORD PLAY for details, and have some fun with the WORD PLAY JOKES GAME, and the NEWSPAPER WORD PLAY GAME. A very basic definition is that word play is a play on words which can be used to infer two different meanings, often with a funny effect. Therefore, it is often used in jokes and in newspaper headlines etc.
Some of my poems include word play, and these are therefore listed together below, although they may only have a small amount of word play along with using other figurative writing techniques. As far as possible, I have provided a description with each poem to give an indication as to how much word play features within it, as they will vary in usefulness when teaching (or learning) word play specifically as a figurative writing skill.

Striving for Success

8 February 2012

    This free verse poem is full of word play, metaphors and strong verbs.  I usually prefer to write with rhyme and rhythm but this is one of those occasions when I felt that free verse would be better as it gave so much freedom to play with words that have two different meanings.

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Highlighted Seaside Senses Poem

30 January 2012

This highlighted version of my Seaside Senses poem shows the examples of metaphors, personification, alliteration , assonance, consonance and word play which can all be found within this simple 8 line list/ senses poem.

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Seaside Senses

30 January 2012

This seaside senses poem includes examples of metaphors, personification, alliteration , assonance, consonance and word play all within an 8 line poem, using the simple format of a list poem.

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My Mum’s Menagerie

29 January 2012

This silly word play poem is full of lots of animal sayings that have double meanings.

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Laughter and Progress : Best Friends Forever

28 January 2012

This story poem uses word play to make the case  that it’s good for education to be fun and that laughter helps us to make progress, whilst remembering that we must get the balance right too.  Read it, first of all as a story about Laughter and Progress as two living beings.  Then read it […]

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Horse: A Champion in His Field

28 January 2012

This descriptive ‘story’ poem uses rhythm to give emphasis to the subject, and is FULL of figurative language.  It includes an enormous amount of alliteration, imagery and metaphors, with a small amount of personification and word play.

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Healthy Food

28 January 2012

The humour in this silly healthy food poem is in the use of lots of word play and hyperbole (exaggeration for effect), with the occasional metaphor, and a tiny amount of alliteration.

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Good Morning Little Snowdrop

27 January 2012

This beautiful snowdrop poem is a great example of personification poetry, whilst including some alliteration in the refrains, and one example of word play (leaves)

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Evacuee’s Postcard Home

27 January 2012

    This creative shape poem hints at the stiff upper lip attitude, as well as the boy’s eagerness to reassure Mum.  It includes lots of emotion, plus creative word play in the address.

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Beautiful Butterfly

24 January 2012

  This very tiny and simple butterfly poem uses word play (flutter by, butterfly), alliteration (repeating the ‘b’s and the ‘p’s), and is written in the style of a list poem (the repetition of beautiful butterfly).  It has a delicacy and gentility like the butterfly it talks about.  This is a favourite with very young […]

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