Poetry Terms Flashcards
Alliteration
a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series
Allusion
a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.
Aside
A character’s comment or line which is addressed and heard by the audience, but not those who are also on stage
Connotation
the implied meaning of a word
Denotation
literal definition of a word
Hyperbole
Rhetorical device or figure of speech used to deliberately over exaggerate something
Understatement
Rhetorical device or figure of speech that purposely downplays the significance of an event
Image/Imagery
visually descriptive or figurative language in a literary work
Sit. irony
the outcome of a situation is opposite to what the audience expected
Verbal irony
A person says one thing but means the opposite
Dramatic irony
the reader knows something that the characters don’t
Refrain
Repetition of a line, a phrase, two or three lines or even words throughout a poem, generally at the end of a stanza
Rhyme/Rhyme scheme
a pattern of rhyme that comes at the end of each verse or line in poetry
ex. AAAA or AA BB CC DD
Stanza
two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem
aka paragraph or chunk
Couplet
A type of stanza or poem that is two lines of verse, usually rhyming and in the same meter that forms a unit
Quatrain
A stanza or poem with four lines that may or may not rhyme
Sestet
A stanza or poem or poem of six lines
Octave
poetry in another type of stanza but consisting of eight lines. It can be rhymed or not rhymed and any length
Rhythm
long and short patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables
Free verse
a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter (open form of poetry)
Blank verse
written in regular meter and does not have rhythm
Usually iambic pentameter (deDUH, deDUH, deDUH, deDUH, deDUH)
Ballads
Tells a story, often using four short stanzas
- originally anonymous and passed down orally rather than written
- A-B-A-B or A-B-C-B rhyme scheme
Lyric poem
expresses one’s feelings and emotions, especially romantically using first person POV
English sonnet
a poem of 14 lines with four sections called quatrains
- strict rhyme scheme in iambic pentameter
- ABAB/CDCD/EFEFGG
Apostrophe
a figure of speech in which an absent person, idea or object is being addressed by the poet
- “O” is often used in a poem with apostrophe
Assonance
two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds
Consonance
repetition of consonant sounds at the begin inning, middle, or end of at least two lines of poetry
Dissonance
The use of harsh-sounding, unusual, or impolite words in poetry, common sounds include: gr, gut, str, ck
Cacophony
The use of words with sharp, harsh, unmelodic sounds, starts with consonants that require an explosive delivery such as p, d, b, g, k, ch, sh
Euphony
- The use of words or phrases that are distinguished as having a wide range of melodic sounds
- Uses m, n, l, r, and soft f, v
Paradox
A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet may be true
Oxymoron
A combination of contradictory or incongruous words
Personification
the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
“The road was a ribbon of moonlight”
Simile
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 (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox ).
Onomatopoeia
the formation of a word by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent
Speaker
The speaker is the voice behind the poem – the person we imagine to be speaking. It’s important to note that the speaker is not the poet
Mood
As a literary device, mood is the emotional feeling or atmosphere that a work of literature produces in a reader
Tone
an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Tone is generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer on a particular subject.
Pun
A pun is a play on words. Puns show us the multiple meanings of a word by replacing that word with another that is similar in sound but has a very different meaning.
Symbolism
using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea
