Poetry Terms

Question 1

Meter

Answer 1

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllable in a poem that creates a rhythm

Question 2

Foot

Answer 2

A unit of meter, 2 or 3 syllables in length

Question 3

Iamb

Answer 3

An unstressed, stressed syllable pattern

˘ /

Question 4

Free Verse

Answer 4

A poem without a specific rhyme scheme or meter

Question 5

Blank Verse

Answer 5

Consists of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter (5 iambs per line, so 10 syllables)

Question 6

Sonnet

Answer 6

A 14 line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and meter

Question 7

English/Elizabethan/Shakespearean Sonnet

Answer 7

Written in iambic pentameter, consists of 3 quatrains and a couplet with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, a theme in the quatrain would be resolved in the couplet

Question 8

Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet

Answer 8

Written in iambic pentameter, consists of an octave and a sestet with rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA CDE CDE, issue is set up in octave and resolved in sestet

Question 9

Haiku

Answer 9

a three line poem that is unrhymed, consisting of 17 syllables, about a specific instance of time, traditionally goes 5 7 5 syllables per line

Question 10

Lymerick

Answer 10

A five line nonsense poem, rhyme scheme of AABBA (B lines are usually shorter than A lines)

Question 11

Ballad

Answer 11

A longer, narrative poem with a high musical quality, rhymes but has no specific rhyme scheme

Question 12

Ode

Answer 12

A lyrical poem dedicated to elevating a single topic

Question 13

Epic

Answer 13

A long narrative poem written in an elevated language and style

Question 14

Narrative

Answer 14

A poem that tells a story

Question 15

Lyric

Answer 15

A short, rhymed poem that expresses intense emotion

Question 16

Concrete

Answer 16

A poem that visually looks like what it’s about

Question 17

Personification

Answer 17

Giving human attributes/characteristics to an object, animal or a concept

Question 18

Image

Answer 18

A word “picture” of any sense impression, not necessarily the visual

Question 19

Abstract

Answer 19

Refers to ideas and concepts

Question 20

Literal Image

Answer 20

Aims to replicate in words the object or experience

Question 21

Figurative Image

Answer 21

Likens an object or experience to something else

Question 22

Paradox

Answer 22

An apparent contradiction that is nevertheless true

Question 23

Oxymoron

Answer 23

Combines contradictory things

Question 24

Metaphor

Answer 24

A means of comparing two items with implied comparison

Question 25

Simile

Answer 25

A means of comparing two items with comparison expressed by a word or phrase (like, as, than, similar to, resembles, seems)

Question 26

Metonymy

Answer 26

The use of something closely related for the actual thing

Question 27

Synecdoche

Answer 27

The use of a part for the whole

Question 28

Synesthesia

Answer 28

One sensory perception is expressed in terms of a different sense

Question 29

Ambiguity

Answer 29

A property of symbols and metaphors that allow them to have multiple interpretations

Question 30

Symbol

Answer 30

Something used to represent something else

Question 31

Hyperbole

Answer 31

An overstated exaggeration

Question 32

Parallelism

Answer 32

When lines in a poem are similar in terms of wording or sentence structure

Question 33

Elison

Answer 33

getting rid of syllables in a word and replacing them with an apostrophe in order to keep the meter

Question 34

Enjambment

Answer 34

The continuation of a sentence over a line break

Question 35

Tenor

Answer 35

The object of comparison (If one is missing, metaphor is implied/submerged)

Question 36

Vehicle

Answer 36

The thing the tenor is being turned into (If one is missing, metaphor is implied/submerged)

Question 37

Alliteration

Answer 37

The repetition of initial consonant sounds

Question 38

Assonance

Answer 38

The repetition of vowel sounds

Question 39

Consonance

Answer 39

The repetition of identical, internal consonant sounds

Question 40

Exact/Perfect Rhyme

Answer 40

The words rhyme perfectly

Question 41

Eye/Historical Rhyme

Answer 41

Words that look like they should rhyme but don't

Question 42

Near/Approximate/Slant Rhyme

Answer 42

Words that almost rhyme

Question 43

End Rhyme

Answer 43

When rhyme occurs at the end of the line

Question 44

Internal Rhyme

Answer 44

When rhyme occurs between the last word in the line and a word within that line