Question

Identify the main poetic techniques used in this poem. Refer to specific lines in the poem to illustrate the technique for the poem

“Happiness Epidemic”
by David Hernandez

Without any warning, the disease
sweeps across the country
like a traveling circus.

People who were once blue,
who slouched from carrying
a bag of misery over one shoulder

are now clinically cheerful.
Symptoms include kind gestures,
a bouncy stride, a smile

bigger than a slice of cantaloupe.
You pray that you will be infected,
hope a happy germ invades your body

and multiplies, spreading merriment
to all your major organs
like door-to-door Christmas carolers

until the virus finally reaches your heart:
that red house at the end of the block
where your deepest wishes reside,

where a dog howls behind a gate
every time that sorrow
pulls his hearse up the driveway.

Answer 1

Cause and affect and also problem and solution.

Answer 2

• Allusion

Step-by-step explanation:

The allusion is a brief and backhanded reference to a place, individual, thing, or idea of historical, culture, political significance.

Moreover, allusion doesn't portray in detail the individual or thing it alludes to.