Poetic Devises

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

A reference to a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art outside the text, either directly or by implication.

Question 2

Aside

Answer 2

Words spoken aside or in an undertone, so as to be inaudible to some person present; words spoken by an actor, which the other performers, on the stage are supposed to not hear.

Question 3

Assonance

Answer 3

The repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words.

Question 4

Aliteration

Answer 4

The repetition of consonants at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals.

Question 5

Blank Verse

Answer 5

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Question 6

Conflict

Answer 6

A struggle between two or more forces that creates tension that must be resolved.

Question 7

Couplet

Answer 7

Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, forming a unit.

Question 8

Enjambment

Answer 8

The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

Question 9

Foreshadowing

Answer 9

Suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in the narrative. Foreshadowing often provides hints about what will happen next.

Question 10

Free Verse

Answer 10

Poetry that does not rhyme or or have regular meter.

Question 11

Free Verse

Answer 11

Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter

Question 12

Hyperbole

Answer 12

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Question 13

Iambic Pentameter

Answer 13

The metrical pattern Shakespeare employs: 5 iambs per line

Question 14

Imagery

Answer 14

A series of words that evokes a sense impression
Visual imagery - sight, auditory imagery - sound, tactile imagery - touch, gustatory imagery - taste, olfactory imagery - smell

Question 15

Irony

Answer 15

The contrast between the apparent situation and the real situation
Verbal: a contrast between what someone says and what they mean, situational: a contrast between what it seems like will happen and what really does happen, dramatic: a contrast between what the audience or characters know and what another character doesn’t know

Question 16

Metaphor

Answer 16

A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared to suggest similarity

Question 17

Mood

Answer 17

General atmosphere created by a piece of writing

Question 18

Onomatopoeia

Answer 18

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what it is named

Question 19

Oxymoron

Answer 19

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Question 20

Personification

Answer 20

The attribution of human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality In human form

Question 21

Plot Structure

Answer 21

Rising action: a series of events that lead to the climax, climax: turning point of a narrative work; its point of highest tension or drama or when the action starts in which the solution is given, Falling action: events that occur after the climax but before the resolution, resolution: the end piece of writing that usually resolves the conflict

Question 22

Prologue

Answer 22

An introductory section to a piece of work

Question 23

Pun

Answer 23

The use of a word in such a way to suggest two or more meanings or different associations, or two or more words of the same or nearly the same sound with different meanings, so as to produce a humorous affect

Question 24

Setting

Answer 24

Where and when something takes place

Question 25

Simile

Answer 25

A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared using like or as to suggest similarity

Question 26

Soliloquy

Answer 26

A monologue spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character believes himself to be alone. The technique frequently reveals a characters innermost thoughts, including his feelings, state of mind, motives or intentions. The soliloquy often provides necessary but otherwise inaccessible information to the audience. This is always believed to be true by the character.

Question 27

Sonnet

Answer 27

A lyric poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to certain definite patterns.

Question 28

Speaker

Answer 28

The specific voice of the poem

Question 29

Subtext

Answer 29

The underlying or implicit meaning that is communicated indirectly

Question 30

Symbolism

Answer 30

Using symbols to represent ideas or qualities

Question 31

Theme

Answer 31

A central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work; the insight gained by the reader into some nuance of the human personality or general condition

Question 32

Tone

Answer 32

General character or altitude of a piece