Poetry Terms

Question 1

Stanza

Answer 1

A section of poem demarcated by extra line spacing

Question 2

Speaker

Answer 2

The person, not necessarily the author, who is the voice of the poem

Question 3

Tone

Answer 3

The attitude a literary work takes toward its subject and theme

Question 4

Diction

Answer 4

Word choice; note whether it is formal or colloquial, among other things

Question 5

Syntax

Answer 5

The way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences

Question 6

Imagery

Answer 6

Any sensory detail in a work

Question 7

Allusion

Answer 7

A reference, whether explicit or implicit, to history, the Bible, myth, literature, paintings, etc. that adds to the meaning in a work

Question 8

Alliteration

Answer 8

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a sequence of words

Question 9

Meter

Answer 9

The more or less regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

Question 10

Iambic Pentameter

Answer 10

A metrical form consisting of five stresses in a line of poetry, following the pattern of unstressed then stressed syllables

Question 11

Blank Verse

Answer 11

Unrhymed iambic pentameter

Question 12

Free Verse

Answer 12

Poetry characterized by irregular line lengths, and the absences of regular meter and rhyme

Question 13

Anaphora

Answer 13

The repetition of the initial word or phrase in successive lines of poetry

Question 14

Enjambment

Answer 14

Running over from one line to the next without puncuation

Question 15

Caesura

Answer 15

A short pause within a line of poetry, often with punctuation

Question 16

Lyric Poetry

Answer 16

Poetry in which the speaker expresses intense personal emotion

Question 17

Narrative Poetry

Answer 17

Poetry that tells a story

Question 18

Metaphor

Answer 18

A figure of speech that makes an implicit comparison between two unlike things

Question 19

Similie

Answer 19

A figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things using like or as

Question 20

Metonymy

Answer 20

A figure of speech that substitutes a word with a different but closely associated word

Question 21

Personification

Answer 21

A figure of speech in which an abstraction or something that isn’t human is given human qualities

Question 22

Paradox

Answer 22

A figure of speech in which there is a seeming contradiction that somehow reveals a truth

Question 23

Verbal Irony

Answer 23

A figure of speech in which the speaker says the opposite of what he/she means

Question 24

Dramatic Irony

Answer 24

When the speaker says one thing but the author implies another

Question 25

Overstatement (Hyperbole)

Answer 25

A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to emphasize a truth

Question 26

Understatement

Answer 26

A figure of speech in which the speaker uses less emotional force than the situation warrants

Question 27

Symbol

Answer 27

An image that is both literal and metaphorical in the poem

Question 28

Apostrophe

Answer 28

When the speaker addresses something that is either inanimate or dead as if it could respond