Poetry techniques Flashcards
Anaphora
The repetition of a word/phrase at the beginning of several lines/clauses to create rhythm and emphasis
Synecdoche
A figure of speech when a part of something highlights the importance of one thing as a whole
Assonance
When words share the same vowel sounds but their consonants are different
Autobiographical
Describing something that occurred in the poet’s life
Caesura
A pause in poetry
Consonance
Repetition of a consonant sound in nearby words
Dialect
A variation of a language spoken by oeople in a particular place/backround
End-stopping
Finishing a line of poetry with the end of a phrase or sentence
Euphemism
Indirect word/phrase instead of something offensive
Free verse
Poetry that doesn’t rhyme,with no regular rhythm or line length
Homonyms
Words spelt and pronounced the same, but with different meanings
Iambic pentameter
Poetry with a metre of ten syllables
Iambic tetrameter
Poetry with a meter of eight syllables
Dactylic metre
Stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable
In medias res
When a narrative starts in the middle of the action
Layout
How a piece of poetry is visually presented to the reader e.g. line length, which lines create pattern, stanzas a poem breaks up into
Oral poetry
Poetry intended to be spoken aloud, rather than read
Petrarchan sonnet
A form of sonnet where the first eight lines have a regular ABBA rhyme scheme and introduce a problem, with the final six lines having a different rhyme scheme to solve a problem
Phonetic spelling
Words spelt as they sound rather than with their usual spelling e.g “dem” instead of “them”
Plosive
A short burst of sound when you say a word containing the letters b, d, g, k, p or t
Rhetoric
Persuasive language used by the port
Syntax
Arrangement of words in a sentence/phrase to make sense
Volta
A turning point in a poem
