Poetry Terms

Question 1

alliteration

Answer 1

a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, that occur close together

Question 2

allusion

Answer 2

a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance

Question 3

apostrophe

Answer 3

a figure of speech in which an absent person, an abstract idea, or an object is being addressed by the poet

Question 4

aside

Answer 4

a character’s comment or line which is addressed and heard by the audience but not those who are on stage (can also be interpreted as a thought of the character that was not vocalized)

Question 5

connotation

Answer 5

what a word suggests in addition to what it means literally

Question 6

denotation

Answer 6

the literal meaning of a word

Question 7

hyperbole

Answer 7

a rhetorical device or figure of speech that is used to deliberately over-exaggerate something and is not meant to be taken literally

Question 8

understatement

Answer 8

a rhetorical device that purposely downplays the significance of something for an ironic or humorous effect (opposite of a hyperbole)

Question 9

personification

Answer 9

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form

Question 10

image/imagery

Answer 10

visually descriptive or figurative language in literary work, usually with the use of language appealing to one or more of the 5 senses

Question 11

situational irony

Answer 11

irony in which the outcome of a situation is opposite to what the audience expected

Question 12

verbal irony

Answer 12

irony in which a person says or writes one thing, but means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is opposite of the literal meaning

Question 13

dramatic irony

Answer 13

irony in which the reader knows something that the characters don’t

Question 14

mood

Answer 14

the feeling or atmosphere in a piece of writing

Question 15

tone

Answer 15

the attitude of the writer

Question 16

refrain

Answer 16

the repetition of a line, phrase, two or three lines, or even words throughout a poem, generally at the end of a stanza

Question 17

rhyme/rhyme scheme

Answer 17

the pattern of rhyme that comes at the end of each verse or line in poetry

Question 18

rhythm

Answer 18

demonstrates the long and short patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables

Question 19

stanza

Answer 19

poetry that consists of two or more lines that together form one of the divisions of the poem

Question 20

couplet

Answer 20

a stanza or poem that consists of two or more lines of verse, usually rhyming and in the same meter that form a unit

Question 21

quatrain

Answer 21

a stanza or poem with 4 lines that may or may not rhyme

Question 22

sestet

Answer 22

a stanza or poem of 6 lines

Question 23

octave

Answer 23

poetry in another type of stanza but consisting of 8 lines that can rhyme or not rhyme and at any length

Question 24

free verse

Answer 24

a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter

Question 25

blank verse

Answer 25

a type of poetry written in regular meter and does not have rhythm

Question 26

ballad

Answer 26

poetry that tells a story often using four short stanzas (a quatrain) and has an ABAB rhyme scheme

Question 27

lyric poem

Answer 27

poetry that expresses one’s feelings and emotions , especially romantically, using first person POV

Question 28

English sonnet

Answer 28

poem of 14 lines with four sections (quatrain) that is usually about love, written in iambic pentameter, and with a strict rhyme scheme (ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG)

Question 29

oxymoron

Answer 29

a combination of contradictory or incongruous words

Question 30

paradox

Answer 30

a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true

Question 31

cacophony

Answer 31

the use of words with sharp, harsh, unmelodic sounds

Question 32

euphony

Answer 32

the use of words and phrases that are distinguished as having a wide range of melodic sounds

Question 33

assonance

Answer 33

takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but usually start with different consonant sounds

Question 34

consonance

Answer 34

the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning, middle, or end of at least 2 lines of poetry

Question 35

dissonance

Answer 35

the use of harsh-sounding, unusual or impolite words in poetry

Question 36

onomatopoeia

Answer 36

the formation of a word by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent

Question 37

simile

Answer 37

a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid

Question 38

metaphor

Answer 38

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable

Question 39

extended simile

Answer 39

the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid that continues throughout a series

Question 40

extended metaphor

Answer 40

a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem

Question 41

speaker

Answer 41

the narrative voice in a poem

Question 42

pun

Answer 42

a play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings or by exploiting similar sounding words having different meanings