Poetic Terms

Question 1

Assonance

Answer 1

The repetition of vowel sounds without the repetition of consonants. Example: ‘My words like silent raindrops fell.”

Question 2

Ballad

Answer 2

A poem in verse that tells a story

Question 3

Blank Verse

Answer 3

An unrhymed form of poetry that normally consists of ten syllables in which every other syllable, beginning with the second, is stressed. Since blank verse is often used in very long poems, it may depart from the strict pattern from time to time.

Question 4

Caesura

Answer 4

A pause or sudden break in a line of poetry.

Question 5

Canto

Answer 5

A main division of a long poem.

Question 6

Consonance

Answer 6

The repetition of consonant sounds. Although it is similar to alliteration, consonance is not limited to the first letters of words. Example: “… and high school girls with clear skin smiles.”

Question 7

Couplet

Answer 7

Two lines of verse the same length that usually rhyme

Question 8

End rhyme

Answer 8

The rhyming of words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of poetry.

Question 9

Enjambment

Answer 9

The running over of a sentence or thought from one line of poetry to another.

Question 10

Foot

Answer 10

The smallest repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poetic line.

Question 11

Iambic

Answer 11

An unstressed followed by a stressed syllable. Example: repeat Trochaic: A stressed followed by and unstressed syllable. Example: older Spondaic: Two stressed syllables. Example: heartbreak

Question 12

Free Verse

Answer 12

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Question 13

Haiku

Answer 13

A form of Japanese poetry that has three lines; the first line has five syllables, the second has seven syllables, and the third has five syllables. The subject of the Haiku has traditionally been nature. Example: Behind me the moon
Brushes shadows of pine trees Lightly on the floor.

Question 14

Heroic Couplet (Closed Couplet):

Answer 14

Two successive rhyming lines that contain a complete thought. Internal Rhyme: When the rhyming words occur in the same line of poetry. Example: “You break my eyes with a look that buys sweet cake.”

Question 15

Lyric:

Answer 15

A short verse that is intended to express the emotions of the author; quite often these lyrics are set to music.

Question 16

Meter

Answer 16

The pattern of repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

Question 17

Onomatopoeia:

Answer 17

The use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning. Examples: clang, buzz, twang.

Question 18

Refrain:

Answer 18

The repetition of a line or phrase of a poem at regular intervals, especially at the end of each stanza. A song’s refrain may be called the chorus.

Question 19

Repetition:

Answer 19

the repeating of a word or phrase within a poem or a prose piece to create a sense of rhythm. Example: “His laugh, his dare, his shrug/ sag ghostlike…”

Question 20

Symbol:

Answer 20

A person, a place, a thing, or an event used to represent something else. Example: A dove is a symbol of peace

Question 21

Imagery

Answer 21

The words or phrases a writer selects to create a certain picture in the reader’s mind. Imagery is usually based on sensory details. Example: “The sky was dark and gloomy, the air was damp and raw, the streets were wet and sloppy.”


Question 22

Hyperbole

Answer 22

An exaggeration or overstatement. Example: “I have seen this river so wide it only had one bank.

Question 23

Antithesis:

Answer 23

An opposition, or contrast, of ideas. Example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

Question 24

Metaphor:

Answer 24

A comparison of two unlike things in which no word of comparison (like or as) is used. Example: “ A green plant is a machine that runs on solar energy.”

Question 25

Simile:

Answer 25

A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as) is used. Example: “She stood in front of the altar, shaking like a freshly caught trought.”

Question 26

Personification:

Answer 26

A literary device in which the author speaks of or describes an animal, object, or idea, as if it were a person. Example: “The rock stubbornly refused to move!”

Question 27

Verse

Answer 27

A metric line of poetry. It is named according to the kind and number of feet composing it. Example: Iambic (an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable) Pentameter (five feet).
1.Monometer: one foot 2. Dimeter: two feet 3. Trimeter: three feet 4. Tetrameter: four feet
5. Pentameter: five feet 6. Hexameter: six feet 7.Heptameter: seven feet 8. Octometer: eight feet

Question 28

Stanza

Answer 28

A division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains.
1.Couplet: two line stanza 2. Triplet: three line stanza 3. Quatrain: four line stanza 4. Quintet: five line stanza 5. Sestet: six line stanza 6. Septet: seven line stanza 7. Octave: eight line stanza

Question 29

Shakespearean (English or Elizabethan) Sonnet:

Answer 29

Consists of three quatrains (four lines) and a final rhyming couplet (two lines). The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Usually the question or theme is set forth in the quatrains while the answer or resolution appears in the final couplet.

Question 30

Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet:

Answer 30

Has two parts; an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines) usually rhyming abbaabba, cdecde. Often a question is raised in the octave that is answered in the sestet. 


Question 31

Sonnet:

Answer 31

A poem consisting of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. There are two popular forms of sonnets:

Question 32

Rhythm:

Answer 32

The ordered, or free occurrences of sound in poetry. Ordered or regular rhythm is called meter. Free occurrence of sound is called free verse.

Question 33

Rhymed Verse:

Answer 33

Verse with end rhyme that usually has regular meter.


Question 34

Rhyme:

Answer 34

The similarity or likeness of sound existing between two words. Example: “sat” and “cat” are perfect rhymes because the vowel and final consonant sounds are exactly the same.

Question 35

Alliteration

Answer 35

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words such as “rough and ready.” Example: “Our gang paces the pier like an old myth.”