Poetry Terms 2024 Flashcards
A comparison using “like” or “as”
(Example: She remembered how one teacher, Mrs. Horn, had “a nose like a hook…” (Viramontes, “Under the Feet of Jesus”).)
Simile (Mr. Karsten)
Repeating similar words or parts of a sentence throughout a poem.
ex) It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
(Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities)
Parallelism (Emma B)
a
A “Double” Rhyme, or a rhyme between stressed syllables and then another rhyme between the unstressed syllable(s)
ex) I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.
By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.
(Alfred Lord Tennyson, ‘The Brook,’ 1886)
Feminine Rhyme (Emma B)
Stating that one thing is another to compare two unrelated things
ex)It is the east, and Juliet is the sun! (William Shakespeare – Romeo & Juliet)
Metaphor (Emma B)
This foot is two beats of word, the first weak and the second strong, for example “duh-DUH” or “belong”
ex)”Whan that aprill with his shoures soote / The droghte of march hath perced to the roote, / And bathed every veyne in swich licour / Of which vertu engendred is the flour” (The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer)
Iambic Feet (Emma B)
The process of using visual cues to show which syllables in a line of poetry are stressed or weak.
Example:
/ u l u / I u / l u
Hope is the thing with feathers
Scansion (Brooke L.)
A figure of speech in which a related term is substituted for the word itself.
Example: The British monarchy is often referred to as the Crown.
Metonymy (Brooke L.)
The arrangement of words and punctuation; sentence structure and grammar.
Example: “The boy ran hurriedly.” Versus “Hurriedly, the boy ran.” (The syntax changes how the sentence is read.)
Syntax (Charlie R.)
Substituting the name of an attribute or a companion for that of a thing meant.
(Example: “the pen is mightier than the sword.” – Here, “the pen” is used to refer to writing, while “the sword” is used to refer to warfare and violence.)
Metonymy (Henry S.)
Descriptions so the reader can visualize the subject/object/location in the text.
Example: “The deep yellow hues of the sunset drowned in and mixed with the blues of the sea.” (Medium.com)
Visual Imagery (Charlie R.)
A rhythm of short and long syllables with rhyming lines; often used in poetry.
Example: “‘Intrench’d before the town both armies lie, While Night with sable wings involves the sky.” (Virgil’s The Aeneid)
Heroic Couplet (Charlie R.)
The description of one kind of sense by using words that normally describe another
(Example: The dazzling, deafening debauch of bugles)
Synesthesia (Sophie S.)
A rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another word either at the end of the line or the middle of the line.
(Example: “I went to town to buy a gown. / I took the car, and it wasn’t far.”)
Internal Rhyme (Henry S.)
The use of a word to suggest a different association than the literal meaning.
Example: “this feels like home”
Connotation (Hannah C.)
Imagery that evokes the sense of taste
(Example: The grape burst in my mouth, the sweet juices running across my hands)
Gustatory Imagery (Sophia S.)
a figure of speech in which a part is used to signify the whole. Example: Cleveland won by a field goal, meaning the Cleveland Browns
Synecdoche (Jordyn J.)
Imagery that evokes the sense of touch
(Example: The “cold sweat melted from their limbs,”
Nor rot nor reek did they…)
Tactile Imagery (Sophia S.)
a metrical foot consisting of syllables. a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. Example: life is but an EMPTY DREAM
Trochaic Feet (Jordyn J.)
An intentional arrangement or selection of words in order to create humor.
Example: broken pencils are pointless
Pun (Hannah C.)
A written work that both tells a story and connects the reader to an audience through emotions or behavior.
Example: Romeo and Juliet
Dramatic Poem (Jacob Voetberg)
A figure of speech that involves exaggerating certain aspects of something to create a more noticeable effect or to emphasize a point.
Example: “They stretched in never-ending line…”
Overstatement (Jacob Voetberg)
The attitude that a character, narrator, or author takes towards a given subject.
(Example ) “ Excited, Depressed, Hopeful”
Tone (Tomiya D.)
A form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both the narrator and characters.
Ex. “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe
Narrative Poem (Morgan C.)
The repetition of words or phrases in a group of sentences, clauses, or poetic lines.
( Example ) “ So many Places So Little Time”
Anaphora (Tomiya D.)
A verse form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter.
Ex. “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe
Octave/Octet (Morgan C.)
A complete thought or phrase appears on a single-line followed by punctuation.
(Example ) “ I drew thee to my Valentine” (Victor Hugo)
End-stopped (Tomiya D.)
A version of a metaphor that extends over multiple lines, paragraphs, or stanzas.
( Example: “No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
from Meditation XVII, John Donne)
Extended Metaphor (Maeve)
Implied meanings and emotions that a word carries beyond its literal definition.
Ex. “He performed poorly at his job and informed us he had been ‘let go’”. It’s implied the man was fired.
Connotation (Morgan C.)
a break between words within a metrical foot.
(example: “but how of Cawdor? / The Thane of Cawdor lives.” from Macbeth)
Caesura (Maeve)
A set of two lines that rhyme and that is written in iambic pentameter
( Example ) “Goodnight Goodnight, parting is such sweet sorrow/ That I shall say goodnight Until it be Morrow”. (Romeo and Juliet)
Heroic couplet (Tomiya D.)
Descriptive language that describes smells and can often stimulate the readers nose and sense of smell.
Example- The sickly sweet smell of honeysuckle blossom hung heavy in the air
Olfactory Imagery (Gracie)
A six-line stanza (Usually at the end of a sonnet)
Example:
That murmur, soon replies: “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Sestet (Jacob Voetberg)
A phonetic change for pleasant sound or ease of pronunciation
(Example: “mists and mellow” vs “mis’s and mellow”)
Euphony (Grace B.)
Recurrence of similar sounds, (especially consonants), near each other
(Example: “I will crawl away with the ball” repeats “L”)
Consonance (Grace B.)
A rhyme where two words are spelled similarly but pronounced differently.
Example- Laughter and Daughter
Eye/sight Rhyme (Gracie)
Imagery related to the sense of taste
Example: The juicy apple tasted tangy and sweet.
Gustatory Imagery (Brooke L.)
Words within the line rhyme with another word within the same line.
Example: Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing.
Internal Rhyme (Brooke L.)
the repetition of words or phrases in a group of sentences, or lines
(Example: “GO BACK to Mississippi, GO BACK to Alabama, GO BACK to South Carolina, GO BACK to Georgia, GO BACK to Louisiana, GO BACK to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities,”)
Anaphora (Grace B.)
Compares things without using like or as, refers to one thing by mentioning another
Example- He’s a couch potato
Metaphor (Gracie)
Two words that sound similar but do not rhyme
Example- Close and clothes
Inexact/slant Rhyme (Gracie)
A type of language that consists of words and phrases that are very informal
(Example: In the UK, “chuffed” can mean delight)
Slang (Grace B.)
An address to a dead or absent person, or personification as if he or she were present.
Example: “Death be not proud”
Apostrophe (Jacob Voetberg)
The use of informal, local expressions or slang.
Example: “yall” or phrases like “theres more than one way to skin a cat”
Colloquial Diction (Gabe Ebels)
When Two or more words ryhme perfectly
Example verse/hearse/worse
Exact Rhyme(Gabe Ebels)
Drawing attention to a situation/emotion/characteristic/character by downplaying the magnitude of what is being described. The opposite of a hyperbole.
Example: “I think so,” said Professor McGonagall dryly, “we teachers are rather good at magic, you know.”
Understatement (Hannah C.)
Attributing a human characteristic to something nonhuman.
Example: The fire burned with fury.
Personification (Hannah C.)
Words or phrases that are pleasing to the ear
Example: mists, mellow, close, sun
Euphony (Gabe Ebels)
the literal or primary meaning of a work,in contrast to the feeling or ideas that the word suggests. ( examples: Trevor is a bull. There is a bull named Trevor not that the person Trevor pushes people around)
Denotation ( Maeve)
the use of language to exaggerate your intended meaning ( example: they stretched in a never ending line from I wandered lonely as a cloud.)
Overstatement ( Maeve)
A metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables (Example: “poetry” and “basketball” are both dactylic)
Dactylic foot (Kate V.)
a group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem; a verse (a chunk of rhyming or non-rhyming lines that form a verse together)
Stanza (Kate V.)
a stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes (Example: “Baseball Game”- I was so small //
But I got a treat // I caught a ball // In my seat)
Quatrain (Kate V.)
a stanza (verse) form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter (the rhythm the words create in a line)
Octave (Kate V.)
A contrast or opposition between two things
ex: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
Antithesis (Ana H)
Involves two or more words that appear close together and have the same initial stressed consonant syllable
ex: The wild winds whisk to the west.
Alliteration (Ana H)
The presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.
ex: a person who is bleeding heavily might say, “It’s just a scratch”
Understatement (Ana H)
Words or expressions used by a specific group of people that may be hard for others to understand.
(Ex: “Listen to the motor. Don’t gun it when you’re driving. Sometimes she won’t idle down, but don’t race her.” (“The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck))
Jargon (Hardy M.)
A harsh or discordant or jarring mixture of sounds.
(Ex: “The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!/ He left it dead, and with its head/ He went galumphing back” (from “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll))
Cacophony (Hardy M.)
The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse.
(Ex: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds/ Admit impediments. Love is not love/ Which alters when it alteration finds/ Or bends with the remover to remove…” (Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare))
Rhyme Scheme (Hardy M.)
The same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
(Ex: “Torn turned and tattered/ Bowed burned and battered” (“The Labrynth” by Robert Baird”))
Alliteration (Hardy M.)
the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.
(Ex: fungus in the dictionary means ‘any of various types of organisms that get their food from decaying material or other living things’)
Denotation (Boris L.)
the use of informal, local expressions or slang.
(Ex: “soccer” is a colloquial term in the United States for “football,” a colloquial term in the UK.)
Colloquial Diction (Boris L.)
a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.
(Ex: The beginning of the end.)
Paradox (Boris L.)
The continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next without punctuation.
(Example: “So much depends/ upon/ a red wheel/ barrow/ glazed with rain/ water” (William Carlos Williams “The Red Wheelbarrow”))
Enjambment (Cali M.)
Repetition of similar consonant sounds of words near each other
Ex.
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”
Consonance (Kaylee Y.)
Repetition of similar vowel sounds of words near each other
Ex.
John Agard’s poem “Hopaloo Kangaroo”
“If you can boogaloo
boogaloo
I can do
the boogaloo too
for I’m the boogiest
hopaloo kangaroo”
Assonance (Kaylee Y.)
A foot consisting of three syllables with the first two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one.
Ex. The Destruction of Sennacherib By Lord Byron (George Gordon)
“The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold”
Anapestic feet (Kaylee Y.)
The order of words used to convey the meaning or the grammatical structure of the sentence.
Ex– The boy kicked the ball.
Syntax – Ava J –
Describing inanimate objects by blending human senses.
Ex– The stars sounded like piles of diamonds.
Synesthesia – Ava J –
Formal or sophisticated diction.
Ex– It would be a privilege to contribute to the betterment of this institution.
High Diction – Ava J –
Two consecutive line of a poem that rhyme and have the same length and meter.
Ex– To His Coy Highness by Andrew Marvell
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
Couplet – Ava J –
A line that ends with a natural pause, usually marked by punctuation. The pause signals end of complete thought or sentence.
Ex: Whose woods these are I think to know.
His house is in the village though;
End-Stopped (Alayna M)
A type of metric used in poetry. Has the pattern of 3 syllables: first one is stressed, the second and third are unstressed.
Ex: Half a league: HALF a league, the word beautiful: BEAU-ti-ful
Dactylic Feet (Alayna M)
Language that refers to the sense of touch.
Ex: coldness of icecream, scratchiness of hay
Tactile Imagery (Alayna M)
Figure of speech using two contradictory or opposing terms in the same phrase or sentence.
Ex: Deafening silence, jumbo shrimp
Oxymoron (Alayna M)
The rhythm or pattern of beats in a line of poetry, a combination of number of beats and stressed/non-stressed syllables in each line.
Types: Iamb (unstressed, stressed), Trochee (stressed, unstressed), Dactyl (stressed, unstressed, unstressed), Anapest (unstressed, unstressed, stressed).
(Example: (Iamb) “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks!” (Romeo & Juliet 2:2))
Meter (Cali M.)
The sounds in the words are similar but not identical, imperfect rhyme, because words have different vowels or consonants.
(Example: “Hope is a thing with feathers/ That perches in the soul/ And sings the tune without/ The words/ And never stops at all…” (Emily Dickinson, “Hope is a thing with feathers”))
Inexact/slant rhyme (Cali M.)
Giving inanimate/nonhuman objects human characteristics.
(Ex. “I’ve not been in this house—it’s more than a year…it never seemed a very cheerful place.”)
Personification (Jerry B)
The pattern or arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.
Consists of several basic types: iambs (U S), trochees (S U), spondees (S S), anapests (U U S), and dactyls (S U U).
(Ex. “Though wise men at their end know dark is right…” - iambic pentameter)
Meter (Jerry B)
Repeated vowel (and related) sounds close together in a line.
(Ex. “I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”)
Assonance (Jerry B)
Use of speech where referring to a “part” is really referring to a whole.
(Ex. Hired hands referring to workers)
Synecdoche (Jerry B)
A rhyme involving a stressed syllable followed by one or more unstressed syllables
(Ex. Keeping/weeping, smarter/barter)
Feminine Rhyme (Kiera B)
A self-contradicting word or phrase.
(Ex: “Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!”)
(Ex: jumbo shrimp, humblebrag)
Oxymoron (Ms. Zwart)
A rhyme in which the stressed syllables of the rhyming words match, and any following syllables also match exactly
(Ex: The bold knight fought with all his might.)
Masculine Rhyme (David L)
A grouped set of lines in a poem, separated from other groups by a space
(Ex: Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you.)
Stanza (David L)
A group or stanza of three lines, often rhyming together or with other tercets
(Ex: The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.)
Tercet (David L)
A poem or song composed in honor of someone who has died, often expressing sorrow or reflection
(Ex: O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done.)
Elegy (David L)
An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable the entire poem. Like duh-DUH, It can be the same word or two different words.
(Ex. Your BEATing HEART reMINDS me OF a DRUM)
Iambic Feet (Kiera B)
Two lines of verse joined by a rhyme
(Ex.
I do not like green eggs and ham
I do not like them Sam I am)
Couplet (Kiera B)
The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named
(Ex. Slam, splash, babble)
Onomatopoeia (Zoe M)
A stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes.
(Ex. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea, The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me.)
Quatrain (Zoe M)
The repetition of the same stressed vowel sound as well as any consonant sounds that follow the vowel
(Ex. happy/snappy, kit/bit, ect)
Exact Rhyme (Zoe M)
A type of metrical foot consisting of two syllables—the first is stressed and the second is an unstressed syllable
(Ex. Garden, highway, poet)
Trochaic Feet (Zoe M)
A stanza consisting of only three lines, which may or may not rhyme.
Ex.
“In a solitude of the sea
Deep from human vanity,
And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she.
Steel chambers, late the pyres
Of her salamandrine fires,
Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.”
Thomas Hardy’s “The Convergence Of The Twain”
Tercet (Cora)
Harsh and discordant sounds or words in a stanza, used to create a noisy and jarring effect.
Ex.
“’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.”
–Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”
Cacophony (Cora)
When there is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (like the word “indeed”). The symbol for an iamb looks like this: ◡ –
These make up iambic meters.
Ex.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” –Shakespeare, sonnet 18
(This is a pentameter, with five iambic feet inside)
Iambic Feet (Cora)
A poem of mourning, meant to express lament for some kind of loss– usually that of a person, but it could be written on the passing of anything (such as a breakup.)
Ex.
“ …I might not have the chance I missed in life
Through some delay, and call you to your face
First soldier, and then poet, and then both,
Who died a soldier-poet of your race.”
–Robert Frost’s “To E. T.”
Elegy (Cora)
A word that imitates the sound it makes.
Ex. “Anything like the sound of a rat / makes my heart go pit-a-pat!” (The Pied Piper of Hamelin)
or “crash, bang boom!”
Onomatopoeia (Malia)
The repetition of grammatical elements.
Ex. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” (A Tale of Two Cities)
Parallelism (Malia)
A rhyme where the stressed syllables that rhyme are the final syllables of the word.
Ex. mend, bend, end, defend
Masculine Rhyme (Malia)
Words/phrases used in a specific group or setting.
Ex. “Corroborating evidence” used in the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird (legal language, not everyday speak)
Jargon (Malia)
