All Poetry Flashcards
Narrative Poetry
a poem with a plot; It tells a story.
Epic
A type of narrative poetry. Really long. Usually about events that are significant to a group of people. Examples: The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aenid
Ballad
A type of narrative poetry. Has a repeated chorus/ refrain Examples: “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Hurricane”
Lyric Poetry
subject oriented exploration of something Not plot based Most poetry is this kind of poetry
Epigram
A type of Lyric Poetry Brief: 2-4 lines Satiric
Elegy
A type of Lyric Poetry Poem for the dead Example: “O Captain, My Captain!”
Ode
A type of Lyric Poetry Seems to be about an object, but really has a more significant subject and message
Aubade
A type of Lyric Poetry post-sex poetry
Sonnet
A type of Lyric Poetry always 14 lines and in iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line)
Petrarchan Sonnet
Italian style sonnet 2 Quatrains with 2 tercets OR 3 couplets ABBA ABBA with CED CED or CD CD CD
Shakespearean Sonnet
English style sonnet 3 Quatrains and one couplet ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Villanelle
poem with 6 stanzas: 5 tercets and 1 quatrain
Sestina
poem that has 6 sestets and 1 tercet
Voice
Persona that an author creates within a poem
Speaker
Narrator of a poem
Tone
Poet’s attitude toward his or her subject
Diction
Author’s word choice
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word; literal meaning
Connotation
the emotional attachment of a word
Elision
Contracting of words, usually to help fit a rhyme. Example: Over becomes o’er; Never becomes Ne’er
Imagery
Effect an image has
Figurative Language
Language that must be interpreted
Hyperbole
Overexaggeration
Synechdoche
Literal part of something stands in for the whole. Example: “All hands on deck” the hands stand in for the whole sailor
Metonymy
A symbol stands in for the whole Example: a crown represents a king
Personification
human qualities given to nonhuman objects or ideas
Metaphor
A direct comparison X is Y
Simile
Comparison using like, as, or than
Symbol
element that represents something literal in the story but also stands in for something figurative
Allegory
Systemic metaphor Example: Animal Farm
Rhyme
Repeated sounds at the ends of words
End Rhyme
rhyming ends of lines
Internal Rhyme
rhyme within a line
Exact/ Perfect Rhyme
the rhyming sounds are the same
Imperfect/ Slant Rhyme
looks like a rhyme but isn’t Example: tomb and bomb OR it’s not exactly a rhyme Example: orange and door hinge
Feminine
softer than masculine final syllables of rhyming words don’t carry stress Example: Dangerous & mysterious
Masculine
stressed syllables at the ends of rhyming words
Alliteration
repeated beginning sounds in words
Assonance
repeated vowel sounds
Rhythm
patterns of repeated stress
Foot
A single unit of a rhythm pattern
Iamb
Unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (x /) Example: Prevent
Trochee
Stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (/ x) Example: Football
Anapest
2 unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable (x x /) Example: Intervene
Dactyl
Stressed syllable followed by 2 unstressed syllables (/ x x) Example: Dangerous
Rising
Movement from unstressed to stressed
Falling
Movement from stressed to unstressed
Spondee
Only stressed (/ /)
Pyrrhic
Only unstressed (x x)
