Common Metrical Structures

Question 1

Iambic Pentameter

Answer 1

• 5 measures and 10 syllables
• Pentameter: Greek for five measures

Question 2

Iambic Tetrameter

Answer 2

• 4 measures and 8 syllables
• Tetrameter: Greek for four measures

Question 3

Iambic Trimeter

Answer 3

• 3 measures and 6 syllables
• Trimeter: Greek for three measures

Question 4

Verse Form

Answer 4

• The technical and structural elements of a poem
• Three Commons Verse Forms: Formal Verse, Blank Verse, Free Verse

Question 5

Formal Verse

Answer 5

• Poetry with a strict meter and rhyme scheme

Question 6

Blank Verse

Answer 6

• Poetry with a strict meter but no rhyme scheme

Question 7

Free Verse

Answer 7

• Poetry without a strict meter of rhyme scheme

Question 8

Poetic Form

Answer 8

• The category of a poem’s structure, which includes verse form but also patterns of stanza and stylistic choices
• Main Poetic Forms: Ballad, Dramatic Monologue, Sonnet

Question 9

Ballad

Answer 9

• A short narrative poem usually arranged in quatrains with a distinctive meter
• Common Meter:
  
  • Iambic tetrameter in 1st and 3rd lines
  • Iambic Trimeter in 2nd and 4th lines
• Rhyme Scheme: ABAB or ABCB
  -Common subject matter: lost love, supernatural happenings, or recent events
• Often uses popular and local speech and dialogue to convey the story

Question 10

Dramatic Monologue

Answer 10

• A lyric poem where a character speaks at length, revealing their thoughts and feelings, often while addressing a silent listener

Question 11

Different kinds of Sonnets

Answer 11

• Petrarchan/Italian
• Shakespeare/English
• Villanelle

Question 12

Petrarchan/Italian Sonnets

Answer 12

• Composed of two sections: octave and sestet
  
  • The Octave presents the initial idea, emotion, or argument of the poem
    
    • Composed of two quatrains
    • Rhyme scheme: ABBA ABBA
  • The sestet responds to the octave by shifting focus in perspective or argument or answering any questions or problems previously presented
• Less formal in structure - varies rhyme scheme (variation with C, D, E)
• Meter: iambic Pentameter
• Volta occurs between the octave and sestet

Question 13

Shakespearean/English Sonnet

Answer 13

• Composed of four sections: three quatrains and a couplet
  
  • The quatrains present the problem and buildup of the poem
    
    • The additional lines in this section allow for more buildup
  • The couplet resolves and concludes the poem
• Meter: Iambic pentameter
• Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
• Volta occurs between the final quatrain and couplet

Question 14

Villanelle Sonnet

Answer 14

• 19 lines
• 5 stanzas: Each stanza has 3 lines (tercet) except the final stanza, which has 4 lines (quatrain)
  
  • The first line of the first stanza is repeated as the last time of the second and fourth stanzas
  • The third line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of the third and fifth stanza
  • The two refrain lines follow each other to become the second-to-last and last lines of the poem
• Rhyme scheme: ABA
  
  • Rhymes are repeated according to the refrains

Question 15

Literary Movements

Answer 15

• Grouping of writers who share similar aims, years of publication, and bases of operation
• Types of Literary Movements: Renaissance, Metaphysical Poetry, The Augustans, Romanticism, Modernism, Harlem Renaissance, Postmodernism

Question 16

Renaissance (literary movements)

Answer 16

• 14th-mid 17th centuries throughout Western Europe
• Followed a humanist philosophy that placed humanity and human nature at the center of all things
• Common Themes: romantic love human nature, pleasure
• Notable Poets: Petrarch, William Shakespeare

Question 17

Metaphysical Poetry (Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 17

• 17th century English poetic movement
• Mode for discussing philosophical issues, such as the passage of time, uncertainty, human relationships, God and spirituality, the fear of and obsession with death
• Common themes: introspection, love, death, God, human frailty/vulnerability
• Notable poets: John Donne, Andrew Marvell

Question 18

The Augustans (Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 18

• 18th century British literary movement grounded in classical ideals and characterized by Satire and comedy
• Common themes: human fragility, satire
• Notable Writers: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift

Question 19

Romanticism (Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 19

• Early 19th-century Western artistic and intellectual movement
• Focus on advocacy for the importance of subjectivity and interpretation
• Rejection of social conventions and norms for individuality
• Appreciation of nature on a social and cultural level in response to the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment
• Key Themes: Focus on emotional motivation in art; reverence for nature and supernaturally idealization of the past, especially the Middle Ages (focus on nature vs. industry); fascination with the foreign and mysterious; celebration of the sublime (quality of greatness, often beyond comprehension
• Notable poets: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsmith

Question 20

Modernism (Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 20

• Early 20th-century artistic movement characterized by the Industrial Revolution and urbanization, growth of capitalism, rapid social change, and scientific advancement
• Authentic response to a post-WWI world
• Focus on the individual and their perception of the world or psychological impressions (often seen in streams of consciousness writing style)
• Texts with multiple narrators with ambiguous and individual moralities
• Aesthetic of fragmentation and alienation as a means of finding order within the chaos-similar to post-war life
• Emphasis on feelings of alienation, frustration, spiritual emptiness, etc.
• Gave birth to certain literary techniques
  
  • Ex. Stream-of-Consciousness, Interior Monologue, Multiple points of view in a single work
• Notable Poetic Styles
  
  • Imagist Poetry: modern style that prioritized the poetic image over abstract and Romantic language
• Notable Writers: T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams

Question 21

Harlem Renaissance (Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 21

• Early-mid 20th-century movement associated with the Great Migration, the movement of many African Americans of northern industrial cities
• Often directly related to issues and concerns of African Americans
• Poetry often worked to mimic lyrics and jazz in its fragments and/or repetitive structure
• Notable Writers: Langston Hughes, Calude McKay

Question 22

Postmodernism (Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 22

• Contemporary movement that began in the 1960’s and is characterized by skepticism of absolute and binaries and a lack of a formal center
• Some notable Postmodern Groups: Beat Poetry, COnfessional Poetry, Black Arts Movement

Question 23

Beat Poetry (Postmodernism: Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 23

• 1950s-60s American poetic movement focused on counterculture and youthful alienation
• Notable Writers: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac

Question 24

Confessional Poetry (Postmodernism: Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 24

• Postern style characterized by focus on personal experience and consciousness through intimate and emotional verse
• Notable Writers: Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath

Question 25

Black Arts Movements (Postmodernism: Types of Literary Movements)

Answer 25

- Poetic movement associated with the frustration of the pacing of changes that arose from the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s-60s - Often politically charged and directed at white establishment - Notable Writers: Gwendolyn Brooks, Ntozake Shange