Poetic Terminology

Question 1

Denotation

Answer 1

The exact, dictionary definition of a particular word

Question 2

Connotation

Answer 2

Emotional word associations usually based on individual experience, regional experience, or universal implications

Question 3

Imagery

Answer 3

Words that arouse a sense of sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch

Question 4

Simile

Answer 4

Generally introduced by like or as, a comparison of two dissimilar objects

Question 5

Metaphor

Answer 5

A comparison of two dissimilar objects, without using like or as, endowing the first object with the qualities of the second object

Question 6

Personification

Answer 6

The application of human characteristic to animals, inanimate objects, or ideas

Question 7

Rhythm/Meter

Answer 7

The regularity of recurrence, which establishes a repetitive pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Question 8

Rime

Answer 8

The repetition of all sounds, beginning with the accented vowel, in two or more words

Question 9

Alliteration

Answer 9

The repetition of initial consonant sounds

Question 10

Consonance

Answer 10

The repetition of vowel sounds within a line of poetry

Question 11

Consonance

Answer 11

The repetition of consonant sounds within a line of poetry

Question 12

Allusion

Answer 12

Reference to a well known historical or literary figure or event

Question 13

Paradox

Answer 13

An apparent contradiction that actually may contain a universal truth

Question 14

Form

Answer 14

The structure or organization of the work that gives it unity, through arrangement, rime scheme, number of lines, etc. Different forms of poetry include haiku, sonnet, ode, elegy, lyric, epic, and many others.

Question 15

Thesis Statement

Answer 15

A general statement of a major aspect of the literary work that can be substantiated through analysis of elements

Question 16

Symbol

Answer 16

A tangible object that represents an emotion or abstract idea

Question 17

Antithesis

Answer 17

A contrast of ideas in a grammatically balanced statement, “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”

Question 18

Apostrophe

Answer 18

A figure of speech in which the poet addresses an absent, imaginary, or dead person, or a place, thing, or personified abstraction as if it were capable of responding

Question 19

Onomatopoeia

Answer 19

A word that sounds like its meaning

Question 20

Hyperbole

Answer 20

A figure of speech that uses obvious exaggeration or overstatement to express strong emotion or comic effect

Question 21

Litotes

Answer 21

A form or ironic understatement that affirms something by stating the negative of its opposite, “she is no fool”

Question 22

Cacophony

Answer 22

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

Question 23

Euphony

Answer 23

The quality of being pleasant to the ear through a harmonious combination of words

Question 24

Iambic

Answer 24

Two syllables, unstressed/stressed

Question 25

Trochaic

Answer 25

Two syllables, stressed/unstressed

Question 26

Anapestic

Answer 26

Three syllables, first two unaccented/last one accented

Question 27

Dactylic

Answer 27

Three syllables, first one accented/last two unaccented