Poetry Terms Flashcards
What is a speaker? (2 points)
The voice behind the poem. (Not always the poet’s voice)
What is structure? (1 point)
The way a poem is organised.
What is a rhyme scheme? (1 point)
The rhyming pattern of the poem, e.g. AA, BB, etc.
What is a stanza? (1 point)
A separate group of lines in a poem.
What is rhythm? (1 point)
The pattern of stressed and unstressed “beats” in a poem.
What is repetition? (2 points)
When a word, phrase or line is deliberately repeated to have an effect.
What is a meter? (2 points)
The basic rhythmic structure of a line or stanza (worked out by looking at the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables)
What is a free verse? (2 points)
Poetry that doesn’t follow a fixed rhythmical pattern; a bit like prose (“ordinary” writing) but on shorter lines.
What is enjambment? (2 points)
When one line of a poem flows onto the next line with no punctuation at the end to break that flow.
What is a sonnet? (4 points)
14 line poem; iambic pentameter; 3 quatrains; 1 couplet at the end; ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG rhyme scheme.
What is an end-stopped line? (2 points)
A line of poetry with some form of punctuation at the end of it which “breaks the flow”.
What is juxtaposition? (2 points)
The deliberate placing of two very different things next to each other in a poem, e.g. something living and something dead.
What is an iambic pentameter? (3 points)
A 10 syllable line of verse with 5 pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables:
De dum de dum de dum de dum de dum.
What is an anaphora? (2 points)
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of neighbouring clauses or sentences, e.g.All went lame; All went blind…
What is meant by tone? (2 points)
The speaker’s attitude towards the subject of the poem, e.g. humorous, hostile, sarcastic, angry, etc.
What is meant by mood? (2 points)
The “atmosphere” or feeling created by some writing: sad, lively, dreamy, etc.
What is meant by a message? (2 points)
The main idea that the poet wants to communicate to the reader, e.g. that war is terrible, that the sea is changeable etc.
What is meant by a theme? (2 points)
An idea that runs through the poem, e.g. love, death, childhood, friendship, etc.
What is semantic field? (2 points)
A collection of words used in a poem which are all related to each other, e.g. all related to love, or sport, or violence, etc.
What is alliteration? (2 points)
When words near to each other repeat the same sound, e.g. beams beneath, sighed softly…
What is imagery? (1 point)
When the poet deliberately creates a clear/interesting picture in the reader’s mind.
What is onomatopoeia? (1 point)
Words that create the sound they are describing, e.g. plop, bang, gurgle…
What is a simile? (1 point)
Comparing something to something else: “My love is like a red, red rose…”
What is a metaphor? (2 points)
A form of imagery when the writer says something IS something else, e.g Juliet is the sun, his words were daggers, etc.
What is meant by contrast? (2 points)
Where the poet deliberately places two very different or opposite things together in the same poem, e.g. a raging sea and a calm, smooth pond, etc.
What is personification? (2 points)
Giving “things” human or animal qualities/behaviours, e.g. The wind whispers, the engine snarled, etc.
What is diction? (2 points)
A poet’s specific choice/use of words, e.g. Shakespeare’s diction contains many words that are unfamiliar to modern readers
What is sibilance? (2 points)
The use of “s” sounds close together to create a range of effects (depending on context), e.g. sleepy/soft or eerie/sinister
What is denotation? (1 point)
The actual definition of a word - what it actually means (i.e. the denotation of the noun “rose” is “a flower”)
What is connotation? (1 points)
An idea or feeling created by a word, e.g. the noun “rose” has romantic connotations, or “connotes to romance”.
What is hyperbole?
Exaggerated language used to emphasise a point, e.g. the bag weighed a ton, I love you with every fibre of my being.
What is emotive language? (2 points)
Words deliberately used in order to have a strong impact on the feelings of the reader, e.g. they were mercilessly slaughtered.
What is pathos? (2 points)
A feeling of pity, sympathy or sorrow that a reader might be made to feel by the content and language of a poem.
What is symbolism? (2 points)
When something/an action deliberately represents something else, e.g. the cutting of crops in a field may symbolise the killing of young men in battle.
