English Lit/Poetry Flashcards
Simile
A comparison of one thing to another using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Metaphor
One thing being described to actually be something else. eg ‘time is a thief’.
Personification
Describing an object or something that is not human as if it has human qualities. Eg ‘the sun kissed my skin as i danced in its rays’
Assonance
The repetition of identical vowel sounds in words nect to or near each other. Eg ‘The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plains’ or ‘Go slow over the road.’
Sibilance
The repition of the ‘s’ sound to creat a ‘hissing’ or ‘hushing’ effect.
Emjambment
The running over of one line to the next in a peotic structure because the line does not have punctuation at the end.
Quatrain
A stanza of four lines
Ballad
A narrative poem that tells a story. Usually used for love or tragic poems.
Sonnet
A poem with 14 lines, usually about love.
Onomatopoeia
Words which echo their ,eaning in sound. Ehg ‘crash’ or ‘bang’
Verb
Doing word. Eg ‘run’, ‘walk’, ‘teahc’, ‘study’, ‘believe’ or ‘pray’
Adverb
W rod that describes a verb. Eg ‘quickly’, ‘slowly’ or ‘loudly’
Noun
A name of something such as a place, person, animal, object etc. Eg ‘venice’ or ‘book’.
Abstract Noun
The name of an idea or quaity rather than a phyical object. EG ‘justice’ or ‘compassion’.
Adjective
A word that describes a noun. Eg ‘pretty’ or ‘strange’.
Asyndetic List
A list of things seperated by a comma. Eg ‘on his return he received medals, honors ,treasures, titles, fame.’
Syndetic List
A list of things seperated by ‘and’. Eg ‘We were warm and sheltered and protected.’
Imagery
Language that appeals to the sense by using pictures and description. Eg ‘The sky was a clear azure, dotted with fluffy, white clouds.’
Couplet
A two line stanza.
Sestet
A six line stanza.
Rhyming Couplet
A pair of successive lines that rhyme. Eg ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow.’
Anaphora
The repeition of words or expressions at the beginning of sentences, of successive lines. Eg,
‘we cannot dedicate
we cannot consecrate
we cannot hallow this ground’
Consonance
The repetition of consonance sounds next to or near each other. Eg ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’
Paradox
Acrostic
A poem in which the beginning, middle or last letters of each line form a word when read vertically.
Caesura
A stop or a pause in a line of poetry – usually caused by punctuation. Eg ‘In fair Verona, where we lay our scene’
Elegy
A slow, thoughtful peom written for someone who has died.
Refrain
A recurring line or phrase, especially at the
beginning or end of a verse to build up drama or emphasis.
Volta
A turning point in the line of thought or argument in poem.
Eg ‘One of my mates goes by
and tosses his guts back into his body.
Then he’s carted off in the back of a lorry.
End of story, except not really.
His blood-shadow stays on the street, and out on patrol
I walk right over it week after week.’
