Poetic Terms

Question 1

Couplet

Answer 1

2 lines (Quatrain-4 lines)

Question 2

Repetition

Answer 2

Repeating words, lines, or ideas to make a point

Question 3

Stanza

Answer 3

Section of poem/ like a paragraph in prose

Question 4

Verse

Answer 4

Term used to describe poetic lines composed in a measured rhythmical pattern, that are often, but not necessarily, rhymed

Question 5

Refrain

Answer 5

A line or group of lines repeated regularly or irregularly

Question 6

Blank verse

Answer 6

Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter (10 syllables, every other syllable is stressed; the way Shakespeare writes his plays)

Question 7

Rhyme

Answer 7

Repetition of identical or similar concluding syllables in different words, most often at the end of lines

Question 8

Meter

Answer 8

When a rhythmic pattern of stresses recurs In a poem, it is called a meter

Question 9

Rhythm

Answer 9

Term used to refer to the recurrence of stressed and unstressed sounds in poetry

Question 10

Prose

Answer 10

The way we usually write and speak, no rhyme or economy of words

Question 11

Metaphor

Answer 11

Comparing two things (not using ‘like’ or ‘as’)

Question 12

Extended metaphor

Answer 12

An entire poem or page of text making one comparison

Question 13

Simile

Answer 13

Comparing two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’

Question 14

Personification

Answer 14

Giving non human things human characteristics

Question 15

Hyperbole

Answer 15

An enormous exaggeration

Question 16

Symbol

Answer 16

Something small representing something larger

Question 17

Alliteration

Answer 17

Repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable

Question 18

Consonance

Answer 18

Common type of near rhyme that consists of identical consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds (worth, breath)

Question 19

Assonance

Answer 19

Repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same (asleep under a tree)

Question 20

Imagery

Answer 20

Word use that paints pictures in readers’ mind

Question 21

Mood

Answer 21

The way the setting affects the readers and characters

Question 22

Tone

Answer 22

How the author feels about his characters and subject

Question 23

Allusion

Answer 23

Reference to another literary work, person, place, or time

Question 24

Onomatopoeia

Answer 24

A word or combination of words that resemble specific sounds (buzz, rattle, bang)

Question 25

Archetype

Answer 25

Term used to describe universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious responses in a reader. Common literary archetypes include stories of quests, initiations, descents to the underworld, and ascents to heaven

Question 26

Speaker

Answer 26

The voice used by an author to tell a story or speak a poem. The speaker is often a created identity and should not be automatically equated with the authors self.