Poetry Techniques Flashcards
What is a rhyming scheme?
The lines of a poem that rhyme with each other. E.g. ABBA
What is half rhyme?
Words that almost rhyme.
What is a metaphor?
A metaphor is when one thing is compared to something else literally. E.g. she was a pig.
What is a simile?
A simile is when one thing is compared to something else figuratively, using the words like or as. E.g. She was like a pig.
What is personification?
Giving inanimate objects the characteristics of living things. E.g. the table flew across the room.
What is hyperbole?
Deliberately exaggerating to make a point. E.g. The class went on forever.
What is metonymy?
Describing something without mentioning the thing itself. E.g. The White House.
What is synecdoche?
Identifying something by a small part of the thing. E.g. “All hands on deck.”
What is alliteration?
Occurs when a number of words in close proximity start with the same sound or letter.
What is assonance?
Occurs when a number of words in close proximity contain similar vowel sounds.
What is onomatopoeia?
A word that sounds like the noise it describes. E.g. drip
What is euphony?
Euphony can be defined as any pleasing or agreeable combination of sounds.
What is cacophony?
Cacophony can be defined as any harsh, jarring or discordant combination of sounds.
What is allegory?
A story in which characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life.
What is allusion?
Where a poem makes reference to another poem or text.
What is anaphora?
The repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of lines.
What is antithesis?
A figure of speech in which words with opposite meanings are balanced against each other.
What is a ballad?
A poem that tells a story. Ballads are traditionally rhymed ABAB.
What is a beat?
The rhythmic or musical quality of a poem.
What is a couplet?
A unit comprising of two lines.
What is elegy?
Poem written to lament the dead.
What is an ellipsis?
The omission of words whose absence does not impede the reader’s ability to understand expression.
What is enjambment?
When a single sentence is spread across two or more lines of verse.
What is form?
The structural components of a poem. E.g. stanza pattern, metre, syllable count etc. - as opposed to the content.
What is free verse?
Verse without formal metre or rhyming patterns.
What is imagery?
The mental pictures created by a piece of writing.
What is internal rhyme?
Rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse.
What is irony?
Something contrary or opposite to what is expected.
What is neologism?
The coining of new words.
What is an oxymoron?
Figure of speech containing two seemingly contradictory expressions, e.g. a happy funeral.
What is a paradox?
Seemingly absurd or contradictory statement which on closer examination, reveals an important truth.
What is a pathetic fallacy?
Occurs when human emotions or behaviours are attribute to the natural world.
What is a pun?
A humorous way of using a word or phrase so that more than one meaning is suggested. For example: ‘She’s a skilful pilot whose career has really taken off.’
What is quatrain?
A stanza comprising of four lines.
What is a refrain?
A line or phrase that recurs throughout a poem - especially at the end of stanzas.
What is a sonnet?
A fourteen line poem usually in iambic pentameters. Typically consists of an octet (eight lines) and sestet (six lines).
