Literary Devices Literary Devices    

Lesson 30: Hyperbole: A Red, Red Rose

by Robert Burns

Performer: Librivox - Robert Garrison

Directions

Study the poem for one week.

Over the week:

• Read or listen to the poem.
• Review the synopsis.
• Read about the poet.
• Complete the enrichment activities.

Synopsis

'A Red, Red Rose' by Robert Burns incorporates hyperbole to express the narrator's love for his 'bonnie lass.' He will love her until the seas go dry and the rocks melt in the sun. The end of the poem reveals the narrator must part from his love, but assures the reader that he'd travel ten thousand miles for their reunion.

Concepts

Poets often use literary devices, defined as 'rules of thumb, convention, or structure that are employed in literature and storytelling.'

The nine literary devices we'll study include:

1. Rhyming
2. Alliteration
3. Similes
4. Metaphors
5. Personification
6. Foreshadowing
7. Allusion
8. Hyperbole
9. Onomatopoeia

Hyperbole is a literary device whereby an author makes a deliberate or unintentional overstatement.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite Poem Information

Recite the title of the poem and the name of the poet.

Activity 2: Study the Poem Picture

Study the poem picture and describe how it relates to the poem. How does the image differ from the poem?

Activity 3: Recite the Poem

Practice reciting the poem aloud.

Activity 4: Identify Hyperbole in the Examples

Read aloud the examples below and identify the hyperboles.

• I'm stuffed! I probably ate a million pancakes.
• Hurry up! I don't have until the end of eternity.
• I'm so hungry I could eat a whole cow.
• I love you so much, I'd travel to Jupiter for you.

Activity 5: Identify the Rhyme Scheme

Review the poem and identify the pattern of its rhyming scheme. (e.g. ABBACDCD, etc.)

Activity 6: Identify Similes

• Review the poem excerpts and identify any similes.
• Name the pairs of elements that the similes compare.

Activity 7: Identify Hyperbole

Review the poem excerpts and identify the instances of hyperbole.

• And I will love thee still, my dear, - Till a' the seas gang dry.
• And the rocks melt wi' the sun; - I will love thee still, my dear,
• And I will come again, my love, - Though it were ten thousand mile.

Activity 8: Complete Book Activities   

• Click the crayon above, and complete pages 91-93 of 'Elementary Poetry 5: Literary Devices.'

References

'Hyperbole.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.