Poetic Terms

Question 1

Cyclical Structure

Answer 1

1) Cyclical or circular structure. This ends where it begins or begins at the end
2) This structure hooks the reader and makes us curious about how the characters ended up where they are

Question 2

Voice Speaker

Answer 2

1) The voice, or speaker, is the person behind the words of the poem
2) The distinctive tone and style of the voice enables the reader to get to know the speaker
3) The speaker is not the same as the poet

Question 3

Perspective

Answer 3

Perspective is the point of view from which the poem is written and is usually the third person or first person, past or present

Question 4

What is the effect of first person present tense?

Answer 4

The first person present tense creates a sense of closeness as if the speaker is nearby

Question 5

Persona

Answer 5

If the voice in the poem is a specific person or character, rather like an actor playing a role, we refer to it as a persona

Question 6

What is the effect of Persona?

Answer 6

The effect is to create a dramatic voice, as though the character is center stage, addressing an audience

Question 7

Mood

Answer 7

The mood is the tone or atmosphere created by the poet

Voice, vocabulary, rhythm and other techniques all combine to create the mood of the poem. Mood affects the reader’s feelings

Question 8

Colloquialism

Answer 8

Everyday language, which may include regional expressions or slang, is described as colloquial

Question 9

What is the effect of colloquialism?

Answer 9

The effect is to help create a sense of the commonplace so that the reader feels that the events and feelings in the poem, however important, are also part of an ordinary life

Question 10

Structure

Answer 10

Structure is the pattern, order or organization of language and ideas and how they develop and change throughout the poem

Question 11

Enjambment

Answer 11

Enjambment occurs when a line runs on into the next line without pause, carrying the thought, image, pace and sometimes the sound with it

Question 12

Caesura

Answer 12

Caesura is a pause in a line of poetry that effects the pace and rhythm

Question 13

Stanza

Answer 13

A stanza is a specific group of lines forming a unit, such as a quatrain

A verse can be any number of lines that are grouped together and does not necessarily follow any specific pattern

Question 14

Metre

Answer 14

Metre is the pattern of stressed abd unstressed syllables in a line of verse

The most common metre in English is iambic pentameter

Question 15

Half-Rhyme

Answer 15

A rhyme is a half-rhyme if it has the same consonants but not the same vowel sound

Question 16

Imagery

Answer 16

An image is a picture in words that makes objects, living things or actions feel more vivid in the reader’s mind

It often appeals to the sense of slight, but may appeal to the other senses too

Question 17

Metaphor

Answer 17

A metaphor is a particular kind of image. It occurs when one thing is used to describe another, creating a striking impression

Question 18

Extended Metaphor

Answer 18

An extended metaphor continues some aspect of the image. It may continue into the next line or thoughout the poem

Question 19

Simile

Answer 19

A simile occurs when one thing is compared to another using ‘like’ or ‘as’

Question 20

Connotation

Answer 20

Connotations are ideas that spring to mind or are suggested by a word or phrase

Question 21

Personification

Answer 21

Personifcation occurs when ideas or things are given human feelings and characterisitics

Question 22

Alliteration

Answer 22

Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound (not necessarily the same letter) in a stretch of language, often at the beginning of words

Question 23

Assonance

Answer 23

Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound in a stretch of lnaguage

Question 24

Consonance

Answer 24

Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant sound in a stretch of language.

It is different from alliteration because, unlike alliteration, it concerns consonant sounds only

Question 25

Ambiguity

Answer 25

Ambiguity occurs when writers, perhaps deliberately, use words or images with more than one meaning or interpretation

Question 26

Sibilant

Answer 26

The sibilant is a hissing sound made by using ‘s’, ‘ss’, ‘sh, ‘z’