Poetry Academic Vocab List

Question 1

Poetry

Answer 1

A genre of literature where a special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas through specific rhyme or repetition

Ex: Haiku, Sonnet, Limerick

Question 2

Line

Answer 2

One row or verse in a poem

Ex:
Did you hear about the rose that grew

Question 3

Stanza

Answer 3

A group of lines in a poem like a paragraph

Ex: The termite doesn’t eat the way it should.
It’s not his fault, his food all tastes like wood.

Question 4

Rhyme

Answer 4

The repetition of syllables, typically at the end of a line

Ex: Mike, Bike

Question 5

Rhyme Scheme

Answer 5

The pattern of end rhymes in a stanza, with each rhyme labeled a letter of the alphabet, from “A” onward (ABBA BCCB) as an example

Question 6

Meter

Answer 6

The beat or pattern of a poem due to the amount of syllables present

Ex. Ten syllables

Question 7

Repetition

Answer 7

The act of returning again and again to key words, phrases, or lines in a poem to create meaning

Ex: Fair from Fair

Question 8

Literal

Answer 8

When an author’s words are meant to be interpreted exactly as they are in the text in the most basic sense

Ex: A person who is deaf can say “I am literally deaf”

Question 9

Figurative

Answer 9

Language that is not meant to be interpreted literally and conveys a deeper meaning

Examples: metaphor, simile, hyperbole, symbol, personification

Question 10

Simile

Answer 10

A direct comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as”

Example: She is fast as a tiger.

Question 11

Metaphor

Answer 11

A direct comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as”
Example: He is a computer in class.

Question 12

Hyperbole

Answer 12

An outrageous exaggeration used for effect.

Ex: He weighs a ton.

Question 13

Personification

Answer 13

Giving human characteristics to an inanimate object, animal, or idea
Example: The wind whispered as it blew.

Question 14

Alliteration

Answer 14

Repeated consonant or vowel sounds at the beginning of words

Example: My mom mashed my m and ms on a Monday morning.

Question 15

Onomatopoeia

Answer 15

Words that sound like their meanings
Example: boom, buzz, crackle, gurgle, hiss

Question 16

Sensory Details

Answer 16

Writing with language that captures sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and sensations of touch.

Question 17

Idiom

Answer 17

An expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but must be learned as a whole
Example: This is the last straw!

Question 18

Pun

Answer 18

A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
Example: The baker had to go to the bank because he really kneaded a loan.

Question 19

Allusion

Answer 19

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect reference to another well-known concept, topic, or idea
Examples: Chocolate is my kryptonite OR Stop acting like a Scrooge!

Question 20

Irony

Answer 20

A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.
Example: A fire truck catches on fire OR a swim coach doesn’t know how to swim.

Question 21

Oxymoron

Answer 21

A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.
Examples: same difference, bittersweet, original copy, jumbo shrimp

Question 22

Speaker

Answer 22

The person speaking in a piece of writing.

Question 23

Author

Answer 23

The person who wrote the piece of writing. NOT NECESSARILY THE SPEAKER.

Question 24

Tone

Answer 24

A writer’s attitude toward the subject or topic they are writing about.

Question 25

Mood

Answer 25

The feeling created in the reader by a literary work.