Eng.10 Poetry Terms Flashcards
What is Alliteration?
The close repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words.
Ex. “To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock”
What is Cinquain?
A stanza of five lines; a quintet
What is Consonance?
It’s the repetition, at close intervals, of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words
Ex. blaNK, thiNK
STrong, STring
What is Connotation
What a word suggests beyond its basic definition. The words childlike and childish both mean ‘characteristic of a child, ‘but childlike suggests meekness and innocence
What is a Couplet?
Two successful lines of verse, usually rhymed and of the same meter
What is a Dramatic Monologue?
The poet speaks in the voice of an imaginary character
What is Euphemism?
Extremely elaborate high flown language
What is a Figure of speech?
A verbal expression in which words or sounds are arranged in a particular way to achieve a particular effect such as alliteration, antithesis, hyperbole, metaphor, onomatopoeia and simile
What is Assonance?
The resemblance or similarity in sounds between vowels in two or more syllables. Related to rhyme, it’s only an approximate resemblance of sounds whereas rhyme is exact.
NOT A PERFECT RHYME
What is Hyperbole?
A figure of speech in which emphasis is achieved by deliberate exaggeration
Ex. “Packed in the bus like sardines”
What is Imagery?
It draws the reader into poetic experiences by touching on the images and senses which the reader already knows
What is Irony?
Is a situation, or use of language, involving some kind of discrepancy.
Ex. “Water, water everywhere but ne’er a drop to drink”
What is a Lyric?
A type of poetry marked by emotion, melody and imagination. In formal English, lyrics are words to songs
What is a Metaphor?
A figure of speech in which two unlike objects are compared without using like or as.
What is a Meter?
In verse, a rhyme established by a pattern of similar stressed and unstressed syllables. Most usual metric foot is iambic pentameter
What is Onomatoporia?
The formation and use of words that suggest by their sounds the objects being named
Ex. “Bang, bow wow, crash, hiss”
What is Personification?
A figure of speech in which abstractions, animals, ideas and inanimate objects are endowed with human form, character, traits, or sensibilities. Giving ‘things’ human qualities
What is a Simile?
A figure of speech in which two things, essentially different but thought to be alike in one or more respects are compared.
Comparing two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
What is Soliloquy?
A monologue (usually in a play) in which the character speaks aloud his true thoughts or feelings.
What is a Stanza?
A group of lines forming the divisions of the poem
What is a Quatrain?
A stanza consisting of four lines which may follow a variety of rhyme schemes. Most common form of verse
What is Repetition?
Using rhythmical patterns over and over for emphasis
What is Rhyme?
Similarity or identity of sound in words
What is Rhyme scheme?
The pattern of rhymes used in a poem, usually indicated by letters (ababbcc)
