Literary Terms Flashcards
Allusion
A reference to past literature to history
Meter
The rhythm of a poem
Aside
A short speech delivered so that other characters can’t hear
Metaphor
A direct comparison of two unlike things
Couplet
A two-line stanza
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds
Free verse
Poetry without regular rhythm or regular rhyme
Simile
A comparison of unlike things using like or as
Octave
An eight-line stanza
Blank verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter
Narrative poem
Tells a story
Personification
Giving human qualities to non-human things
Hyperbole
Exaggeration
Verbal Irony
Saying one thing and meaning another
Onomatopoeia
Use of words that mimic their meaning in their sound
Consonance
Repetition of consonant sounds
Quatrain
A four-line stanza
Symbolism
Using a concrete object to represent an abstract idea
Dramatic Irony
When the reader knows what the character doesn’t know
Foreshadowing
Clues that suggest events to come
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds
Soliloquy
A speech delivered by an actor alone on stage
Diction
Word choice
Sestet
A six-line stanza
