Poetry Terms

Question 0

Verse

Answer 0

Term used to describe poetic lines composed in a measured rhythmical pattern that are often; but not necessarily, rhymed

Question 1

Prose

Answer 1

The way we usually write and speak, no rhyme or economy of words

Question 2

Stanza

Answer 2

Section of poem/ like a paragraph in prose

Question 3

Couplet

Answer 3

2 lines

Question 4

Repetition

Answer 4

Repeating words, lines, or ideas to make a point

Question 5

Refrain

Answer 5

A line or group of lines repeated regularly or irregularly

Question 6

Blank verse

Answer 6

Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter (10 syllables, every other syllable is stressed; the way Shakespeare writes his plays)

Question 7

Rhyme

Answer 7

Repetition of identical or similar concluding syllables in different words, most often at the ends of lines

Question 8

Meter

Answer 8

When a rhythmic pattern of stresses recurs in a poem, it is called meter.

Question 9

Rhythm

Answer 9

Term used to refer to the recurrence of stressed and unstressed sounds in poetry

Question 10

Metaphor

Answer 10

Comparing two thing NOT using like or as

Question 11

Simile

Answer 11

Comparing two things USING like or as

Question 12

Personification

Answer 12

Giving non human things human characteristics

Question 13

Hyperbole

Answer 13

And enormous exaggeration

Question 14

Symbol

Answer 14

Something small representing something larger

Question 15

Alliteration

Answer 15

Repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable (descending dew drops)

Question 16

Consonance

Answer 16

Common type of near rhyme that consists of identical consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds: home, same (worth, breath)

Question 17

Assonance

Answer 17

Repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same (asleep under a tree)

Question 18

Imagery

Answer 18

Word used that paints pictures in readers’ minds

Question 19

Mood

Answer 19

The way the setting affects the readers and characters

Question 20

Tone

Answer 20

How the AUTHOR feels about his characters and subject

Question 21

Onomatopoeia

Answer 21

A word or combination of words that resemble specific sounds (buzz, rattle, bang)

Question 22

Archetype

Answer 22

Term used to describe universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious responses in a reader. Common literary archetypes include stories of quests, initiations, descents to the underworld, and ascents to heaven

Question 23

Speaker

Answer 23

The voice used by an author to tell a story or speak a poem. The speaker is often a created identity and should not automatically be equated with the author’s self

Question 24

Allusion

Answer 24

Reference to another literary work, person, place, or time

Question 25

Quatrain

Answer 25

4 lines

Question 26

Extended metaphor

Answer 26

An entire poem or page of text making one comparison