English Lit/Poetry

Question 1

Simile

Answer 1

A comparison of one thing to another using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Question 2

Metaphor

Answer 2

One thing being described to actually be something else. eg ‘time is a thief’.

Question 3

Personification

Answer 3

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’

Question 4

Assonance

Answer 4

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.’

Question 5

Sibilance

Answer 5

The repition of the ‘s’ sound to creat a ‘hissing’ or ‘hushing’ effect.

Question 6

Emjambment

Answer 6

The running over of one line to the next in a peotic structure because the line does not have punctuation at the end.

Question 7

Quatrain

Answer 7

A stanza of four lines

Question 8

Ballad

Answer 8

A narrative poem that tells a story. Usually used for love or tragic poems.

Question 9

Sonnet

Answer 9

A poem with 14 lines, usually about love.

Question 10

Onomatopoeia

Answer 10

Words which echo their ,eaning in sound. Ehg ‘crash’ or ‘bang’

Question 11

Verb

Answer 11

Doing word. Eg ‘run’, ‘walk’, ‘teahc’, ‘study’, ‘believe’ or ‘pray’

Question 12

Adverb

Answer 12

W rod that describes a verb. Eg ‘quickly’, ‘slowly’ or ‘loudly’

Question 13

Noun

Answer 13

A name of something such as a place, person, animal, object etc. Eg ‘venice’ or ‘book’.

Question 14

Abstract Noun

Answer 14

The name of an idea or quaity rather than a phyical object. EG ‘justice’ or ‘compassion’.

Question 15

Adjective

Answer 15

A word that describes a noun. Eg ‘pretty’ or ‘strange’.

Question 16

Asyndetic List

Answer 16

A list of things seperated by a comma. Eg ‘on his return he received medals, honors ,treasures, titles, fame.’

Question 17

Syndetic List

Answer 17

A list of things seperated by ‘and’. Eg ‘We were warm and sheltered and protected.’

Question 18

Imagery

Answer 18

Language that appeals to the sense by using pictures and description. Eg ‘The sky was a clear azure, dotted with fluffy, white clouds.’

Question 19

Couplet

Answer 19

A two line stanza.

Question 20

Sestet

Answer 20

A six line stanza.

Question 21

Rhyming Couplet

Answer 21

A pair of successive lines that rhyme. Eg ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow.’

Question 22

Anaphora

Answer 22

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’

Question 23

Consonance

Answer 23

The repetition of consonance sounds next to or near each other. Eg ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’

Question 24

Paradox

Question 25

Acrostic

Answer 25

A poem in which the beginning, middle or last letters of each line form a word when read vertically.

Question 26

Caesura

Answer 26

A stop or a pause in a line of poetry – usually caused by punctuation. Eg ‘In fair Verona, where we lay our scene’

Question 27

Elegy

Answer 27

A slow, thoughtful peom written for someone who has died.

Question 28

Refrain

Answer 28

A recurring line or phrase, especially at the
beginning or end of a verse to build up drama or emphasis.

Question 29

Volta

Answer 29

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.’