Final Exam Prep - Poetic and Literary Terms Flashcards
Stanza
A stanza is a poem or portion of a poem. Each stanza is a certain number of lines. Stanzas are set apart from each other by spaces above and below. They fill the same purpose as paragraphs in prose.
Quatrain
A quatrain is a stanza of four lines.
Couplet
A couplet is two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, which form a unit.
Rhyme
A rhyme is two or more words which contain matching sounds: for example, “ball” and “fall.” Typically the sounds that match are at the end of the word.
“She became irate
When he wanted to celebrate.”
Like the example above, rhymes usually occur at the ends of the lines. However, poems also include internal rhymes from time to time. An internal rhyme consists of words that rhyme within the same line (“I found the ground at last”) or in the middle of different lines (“The tree that held me / So free and high”).
Rhyme Scheme
This is the pattern in which words in a poem rhyme. Rhyme schemes are distinguished by letters, like ABAB, AABB, or AAAC. Each letter is associated with a word’s sound. When that sound is repeated, that same letter represents the same sound.
Rhythm
This is the cadence, or beat, of poetry. Rhythm is created by putting stress on some syllables but not others in a line (da-DA da-DA da-DA). Formal poems have a rhythmic pattern, called meter. There are many metrical patterns a poet can use.
Alliteration
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words
Allusion
A reference to something the poet is sure the audience will know
Analogy
A comparison between two things
Apostrophe
An address (direct speech) to a thing or person
Assonance
Two or more words in the same line or sentence that have the same or similar vowel sounds:
“I tried to light the fire.”
Consonance
Two or more words in the same line or sentence that start with the same consonant sound:
“Slithery snakes steal sleep from the students.”
Imagery
The words the poet uses to create pictures in the reader’s mind
Metaphor
A comparison between two objects without using the words “like” or “as”:
“The defensive line was a brick wall”
Onomatopoeia
The sound of a word imitates or resembles the meaning of the word; for example, “hiss,” “moo,” “plop”
