Poetic Terminology

Question 1

anaphora

Answer 1

the repetition of a word or phrase. usually at the beginning of a line

Question 2

alliteration

Answer 2

repetition of sounds in a sequence of words

Question 3

allegory

Answer 3

narrative with 2 levels of meaning, one stated and one unstated

Question 4

apostrophe

Answer 4

direct address to an absent or unresponsive entity (someone or something dead, imaginary, abstract, or inanimate)

Question 5

assonance

Answer 5

repetition of vowel sounds

Question 6

beat

Answer 6

a stressed syllable

Question 7

caesura

Answer 7

an audible pause in a line

Question 8

consonance

Answer 8

repetition of consonant sounds

Question 9

couplet

Answer 9

2 lines of a verse

Question 10

diction

Answer 10

word choice

Question 11

elegy

Answer 11

poem that laments the loss of something/someone

Question 12

end-stopped line

Answer 12

a line ending with a punctuation mark

Question 13

enjambed line

Answer 13

a run-on line

Question 14

free verse

Answer 14

poetry in which the rhythm doesn’t repeat regularly

Question 15

metonymy

Answer 15

figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is commonly associated with it

Question 16

simile

Answer 16

comparison of 2 distinct things using connective words such as “like” or “as”

Question 17

speaker

Answer 17

equivalent to the “narrator”

Question 18

stanza

Answer 18

a “paragraph”

Question 19

symbol

Answer 19

an image that stands for something more complex

Question 20

synecdoche

Answer 20

a figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole, e.g. “wheels” for “car

Question 21

tone

Answer 21

speaker’s attitude toward the addressee or subject manner

Question 22

topos

Answer 22

a traditional theme or motif

Question 23

trope

Answer 23

a figure of speech, such as a metaphor (often confused for topos)

Question 24

valediction

Answer 24

an act of farewell