Poetry Terms Flashcards
Blank verse
unrhymed verse, but with a fixed metrical pattern
Free Verse
variable, usually unrhymed lines, having no fixed, consistent metrical pattern.
Stanza
A group of lines whose metrical pattern (and usually rhyme) is repeated in a poem
Tercet
a three-line stanza
Couplet
two successive rhyming lines, usually in the same meter.
Quatrain
a four-line stanza, usually with a consistent meter and rhyme scheme.
Juxtaposition
A structural move to place two concepts, characters, ideas, or places near or next to each other so that the reader will compare and contrast them.
Metaphor
A comparison of two unlike things without using the words “like” or “as.”
Extended Metaphor
a metaphor in a literary work, such as a novel or poem, that isn’t just used in one line but is extended over multiple lines or throughout the work.
Simile
The comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of the words “like” or “as.”
Personification
The giving of human qualities to an animal or an inanimate object.
Metonmy
The use of something commonly associated with an object to represent the object.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole.
Hyperbole
A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration (or overstatement): e.g., “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
Understatement
The opposite of hyperbole. It is a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is: e.g., “I could probably manage to survive on a salary of two million dollars per year.”
Apostrophe
The act of directly addressing a personified thing or someone not physically present.
Verbal Irony
The use of tone to convey the opposite of what is said (i.e., sarcasm).
Situational Irony
When a situation turns out differently from what one would normally expect—though often the twist is oddly appropriate (i.e., a deep sea diver drowning in a bathtub).
Dramatic Irony
When the audience knows information that the character does not.
Paradox
A situation or statement that seems to be impossible or contradictory but is actually true.
Symbol
Any object, person, place or action that has both a meaning in itself and that stands for something larger than itself, such as a quality, attitude, belief, or value: e.g., the moors in Wuthering Heights symbolize both freedom the wildness of nature (ie. the love between Heathcliff and Catherine.)
Alliteration
The practice of beginning several consecutive words with the same sound: e.g., “The twisting trout twinkled below.”
Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds within words, such as “mad as a hatter.”
Consonance
The repetition of a consonant sound within a series of words to produce a harmonious effect: e.g., “And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds” (the “d” sound and the “s” sound are both examples of consonance).
Cacophony
A sound device that is harsh and sharp, done mostly through use of consonance.
Euphony
A sound device that is usually smooth and pleasant sounding, done mostly through the use of vowels.
Onomatopoeia
The naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (e.g., buzz, hiss)
Caesura
A pause within a line, either rhetorical or grammatical, usually done for emphasis
Run-on line
A line which moves without a pause into the next, which creates a faster rhythm
Enjambment
Similar to a run-on line, but the line break interrupts a grammatical chunk that should normally not be separated (like a preposition and the object of the preposition).
End-stop line
the opposite of run-on or enjambment line, where the line ends in a natural speech pause, usually with punctuation
Approcximate rhyme
A rhyme created by using words such as “yellow and willow.”
Exact rhyme
self-explanatory. Can be single syllable (masculine rhyme) or double syllable (feminine rhyme).
Allusion
: A reference to a historical or literary figure or event that the reader is expected to understand.
Oxymoron
The use of two juxtaposed words which, on the surface, seem contradictory
Imagery
using one or more of the five senses to convey an idea
