Poetry Terms Flashcards
The repetition of constant sounds, but not vowels, in a chunk of text. Ex. A worm named Maurice took the garden by storm.
Consonance
An object of action that means something more than it’s literal meaning.
Symbol
The measured arrangement of sounds/beats in a poem, including the poet’s placement of emphasis and the number of syllables per line.
Meter
A unified group of lines in poetry. This is often marked by spacing between sections of the poem.
Stanza
A story/narrative in poetic form.
Ballad
The recurrence of stressed and unstressed sounds in poetry. Depending on how sounds are arranged, the ______ of a poem may be fast or slow, choppy or smooth.
Rhythm
The repetition of vowel sounds in a chunk of text. Ex. “Ivan will try to light the fire.”
Assonance
The central meaning or dominant message the poet is trying to deliver to the reader.
Theme
The author’s specific word choice.
Diction
The attitude the poem’s narrator (this may or may not be the actual poet) takes towards a subject or character: serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, concerned, tongue-in-cheek,solemn,objective. etc…
Tone
Poetry that does not rhyme or have a measurable meter.
Free Verse
A word that sounds like what it means Ex: buzz, click, bang, sizzle.
Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things without using connecting words, such as “like” or “as.”
Ex. Love is a battlefield.
Simile
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things using connecting words, such as “like” or “as.”
Ex. Love is like a battlefield
Metaphor
A brief reference to a real or fictional person, event, place, or work of art.
Allusion
