Poetry

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

The repetition of the same consonant sounds at any place, but often at the beginning of words. Some famous examples of alliteration are tongue twisters.

Question 2

Ambiguity/ ambiguous

Answer 2

Something that has more than one possible meaning and therefore possibly causing confusion. Poets deliberately use ambiguity to challenge an argument or present two possibly conflicting ideas.

Question 3

Assonance

Answer 3

The repetition or a pattern of (the same) vowel sounds, as in the tongue twister “ Moses supposes his toeses are roses”

Question 4

Colloquial

Answer 4

Language that is used in speech with an informal meeting; “chill”, “out of this world”

Question 5

Connotation

Answer 5

This is an association attached to a word or phrase in addition to its dictionary definition

Question 6

Enjambment

Answer 6

A line ending in which the sense continues, with no punctuation, into the following line or stanza

Question 7

Hyperbole

Answer 7

A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis.

Question 8

Imagery

Answer 8

The use of pictures, figures of speech and description to evoke ideas, feelings, objects, actions, states of mind etc.

Question 9

Irony

Answer 9

The humorous or sarcastic use of words or ideas, implying the opposite of what they mean.

Question 10

Litotes

Answer 10

A figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite. Some examples of Litoses: no small victory, not a bad idea, not unhappy

Question 11

Metaphor

Answer 11

A figure of speech in which two thins are compared, usually by saying one thing is another, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be expected.

Question 12

Onomatopoeia

Answer 12

A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds

Question 13

Oxymoron

Answer 13

Where two words normally not associated are brought together: ‘cold heat’ ‘bitter sweat’

Question 14

Pathos

Answer 14

Language that evokes feelings of pity or sorrow

Question 15

Personification

Answer 15

A figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract ideas are given human attributes: the sky is crying

Question 16

Refrain

Answer 16

A phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout the poem, usually after every stanza

Question 17

Rhyme

Answer 17

The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words. The pattern of rhyme in a stanza or poem is shown usually by using a different letter for each final sound. In a poem with an aabba rhyme scheme, the first, second, and fifth lines end in one sound, and the third and fourth lines end in another.

Question 18

Simile

Answer 18

A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word “like” or “as”.

Question 19

Stanza

Answer 19

Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem. The stanzas of a poem are usually of the same length and follow the same pattern of meter and rhyme.

Question 20

Stress

Answer 20

The prominence or emphasis given to particular syllables. Stressed syllables usually stand out because they have long, rather than short, vowels, or because they have different pitch or are louder than other syllables.

Question 21

Symbol/Symbolism

Answer 21

When a word, phrase or image ‘stands for’ and idea or theme. The sun could symbolise life and energy.

Question 22

Voice

Answer 22

The speaker of the poem or prose, either the poet or author’s own voice or that of an invented character.

Question 23

Caesura

Answer 23

A pause near the middle of a line.