Figurative Language/Poetry

Question 1

alliteration

Answer 1

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or accented syllables.

Question 2

ballad

Answer 2

Any light, simple song, especially one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody. A simple narrative poem of folk origin, composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing.

Question 3

analogy

Answer 3

A comparison between two unlike things; the narrator provides an example of something unknown by describing a known thing, situation, or example.

Question 4

aside

Answer 4

In a play, a character’s comment that is directed to the audience or another character, but is not heard by any other characters on stage. It reveals what the character is thinking or feeling.

Question 5

allusion

Answer 5

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.

Question 6

diction

Answer 6

A writer’s choice of words to convey a particular tone or meaning.

Question 7

comic relief

Answer 7

A humorous scene, event, or speech in a serious drama. It usually provides relief from emotional intensity, while at the same time highlighting the seriousness of the story.

Question 8

dramatic personae

Answer 8

The characters in a drama, novel, or a poem.

Question 9

dramatic monologue

Answer 9

A form of dramatic poetry in which one speaker addresses a silent listener in an intense or emotional situation

Question 10

dramatic structure

Answer 10

The parts that make a drama, each representing a phase of the dramatic conflict: introduction, rising action, climax or crisis (turning point), falling action, and resolution.

Question 11

euphemism

Answer 11

The use of an indirect, mild, delicate, inoffensive, or vague word or expression for one that is thought to be coarse, sordid, or otherwise unpleasant, offensive, or blunt.

Question 12

spiphany

Answer 12

A moment of sudden realization of the true meaning of a situation, person, or object; a spiritual flash that changes the way one views himself and the world around him.

Question 13

figurative language

Answer 13

Language used for descriptive effect, often to imply ideas indirectly.

Question 14

free verse

Answer 14

Poetry that has no fixed pattern of meter, rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement.

Question 15

foot

Answer 15

The basic unit in the measurement of rhythm in poetry

Question 16

hyperbole

Answer 16

A figure of speech using exaggeration or overstatement for special effect.

Question 17

idiom

Answer 17

A word or phrase that has a special meaning different from its standard or dictionary meaning.

Question 18

imagery

Answer 18

Words or phrases that, because of their sensory details, appeal to the readers’ five senses, helping them imagine how things look, feel, smell, sound, and taste.

Question 19

meter

Answer 19

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that gives a line of poetry a predictable rhythm.

Question 20

lyric poetry

Answer 20

Poems that express a speaker’s personal thoughts and feelings. They are ususally short and musical.

Question 21

oxymoron

Answer 21

A figure of speech that is a combination of seemingly contradictory words.

Question 22

narrative poetry

Answer 22

A poem that tells a story (such as epics and ballads).

Question 23

onomatopoeia

Answer 23

The use of a word shound that, in some degree, imitates or suggests its meaning.

Question 24

paradox

Answer 24

A statement that seems contradictory or absurd but that expresses the truth.

Question 25

repitition

Answer 25

A literary device in which sounds, words, phrases, lines, or stanzas are repeated for emphasis in a poem, a speech, or another piece of writing.

Question 26

personification

Answer 26

A figure of speech in which something non-human is given human qualities.

Question 27

rhetorical question

Answer 27

A question asked soley to produce an effect or to make a statement, but not expected to receive an answer.

Question 28

rhyme scheme

Answer 28

The pattern that the end rhymes form in a stanza or in a poem. It is designated by the assignment of a different letter of the alphabet to each new rhyme.

Question 29

rhyme

Answer 29

The repetition of the same stressed vouwel sounds and any succeeding sounds in two or more words.

Question 30

rhythm

Answer 30

The patter of sound (beats) created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables, especially in poetry.

Question 31

simile

Answer 31

A figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things using like, as, or seems

Question 32

shift

Answer 32

A change or movement in a piece resulting from an epiphany, realization, or insight gained by the speaker, a character, or the reader.

Question 33

soliloquy

Answer 33

A long speech spoken by a character in a dramatic work, who is tipically alone on stage. The speach reveals the private thoughts and emotions of the character.

Question 34

sonnet

Answer 34

A lyric poem of fourteen lines, almost always written in iambic pentameter

Question 35

stanza

Answer 35

A group of lines forming a unit in a poem.

Question 36

vignette

Answer 36

A short graceful literary essay or sketch.