What literary devices are found in " It Was a Dream" by Lucille Clifton?

In this
poem, Clifton pits a powerful (greater) dream self against her everyday self. She emphasizes the
weakness and smallness of the this everyday self by using a lower-case "i" to describe
it. This literary device of having a word function visually in a poem is called a
calligram.

Clifton uses , or
description using the five senses (i.e., sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch) to describe her
greater self. This self has an "extra" finger that "whirls" in a
"gyre"or circle of rage. We can visualize that finger: a shaking finger is what we
associate with a parent or a teacher, adding a sense of authority to the greater self. Clifton
continues to employ imagery to describe the intimidating presence of this greater self: she
twists "wild" hair, has "wild" eyes that spark, and she screams.

, or using the first word repeatedly at the beginning of
successive lines, comes into play with the "and"s that repeat three times in a row
near the end of the poem.

Clifton uses in the
repeated "w" sounds throughout the poem that replicate the blowing sound of wind and,
hence, the sound of the greater self. Finally, by using the title as both title and first line,
the body of the poem appears to begin "in
media res," or in the middle of the action.