Poetry Flashcards
Define: ALLEGORY
Allegory is a story, poem or picture than can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning.
Define: ALLITERATION
Alliteration is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of closely connected words.
Define: APOSTROPHE
Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which some absent or nonexistent person or thing is addressed as if present and capable of understanding.
Define: BALLAD
Ballad is a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next as part of the folk culture.
Define: BLANK VERSE
Blank verse is verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter.
Define: CACOPHONY
Cacophony is a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
Define: CONNOTATION
Connotation is an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.
Define: COUPLET
Couplet is two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme.
Define: EUPHONY
Euphony is a pleasant sound word.
Define: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Figurative language is language with meaning that is different from the literal interpretation.
Define: FREE VERSE
Free verse is poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter.
Define: HYPERBOLE
Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claims not meant to be taken literally.
Define: IMAGERY
Imagery is words that create sensory impressions.
Define: JUXTAPOSITION
Juxtaposition is two things being seen or placed closed together with contrasting effects.
Define: LITERAL
Literal is taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory.
Define: LYRICAL
Lyrical is expressing the writer’s emotions in an imaginative and beautiful way.
Define: METAPHOR
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable; saying something is something else.
Define: METONYMY
Metonymy is the substitution of a related idea. For example, a suit for a business executive or the track for horse racing.
Define: MOOD
Mood is a temporary state of mind or feeling.
Define: NARRATIVE
Narrative is telling a story.
Define: ONOMATOPOEIA
Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (eg. cuckoo, sizzle).
Define: OXYMORON
Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (eg. faith unfaithful kept him falsely true).
Define: PARADOX
Paradox is a self-contradictory statement that has truth.
Define: PARAPHRASE
Paraphrase is to express the meaning of something written or spoken using your own words.