Poetic Terms Flashcards
Apostrophe
A poem addressed to an absent or dead person/thing
Ekphrasis
A vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole
Metonymy
Figure of speech in which a related term is substituted for the word itself. Often the substitution is based on a material, casual, or conceptual relationship between things
Allegory
An extended metaphor in which the characters, places, and objects in a narrative carry figurative meaning. Often religious, moral, or historical in nature
Paradox
Related to oxymoron, creates a new phrase or concept out of a contradiction
Hyperbole
A figure of speech composed of a striking exaggeration
Litote
A deliberate understatement for effect; the opposite of hyperbole
Conceit
An often unconventional, logically complex, or surprising metaphor whose delights are more intellectual than sensual
Irony
Implies a distance between what is said and what is meant
Verbal Irony
A comment differs from what is meant to be said; sarcasm
Dramatic Irony
When the audience knows a key piece of information that a character in a play, movie or novel does not; scary movies
Situational Irony
When the actual result of a situation is contradicts what you’d expect the result to be
Satire
Use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues
Parody
Comic imitation of another author’s work or characteristic style
Pun
Wordplay that uses homonyms (different words that are spelled identically) to deliver two or more meanings at the same time
Meter
Rhythmical pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse
Foot
Basic unit of measurement of accentual-syllabic meter; stressed and unstressed syllables
Iamb
Unstressed / Stressed
Trochee
Stressed / Unstressed
Anapest
Unstressed / Unstressed / Stressed
Dactyl
Stressed / Unstressed / Unstressed
Spondee
Stressed / Stressed
Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech in which the sound of a word imitates its sense