Poetry Terms

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

Heads Up: Ms Beaucock never told us this

Alliteration is a literary device that repeats a speech sound in a sequence of words that are close to each other.
Ex. Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Question 2

Allusion

Answer 2

A reference to a person, event, fact, or place that appears in history or literature.

Question 3

Ballad

Answer 3

A poem that is typically arranged in quatrains with rhyme scheme ABAB. It’s usually narrative.

Question 4

Blank Verse

Answer 4

A poem with rhythm but no rhyme

Question 5

Free Verse

Answer 5

A poem with no limits and restrictions. No rules.

Question 6

Hyperbole

Answer 6

An overstatement or extreme exaggeration.

Ex. I’ve waited a thousand years for you.

Question 7

Image/Imagery

Answer 7

The name given to the elements in a poem that spark of senses.

Question 8

Irony (Dramatic)

Answer 8

When a character’s word or actions are known to the audience, but unknown to the character.

Question 9

Irony (Situational)

Answer 9

When actions have effect that is opposite from what was intended.

Question 10

Irony (Verbal)

Answer 10

When a person says or writes one thing, but means another.

Ex. Sarcasm

Question 11

Metaphor

Answer 11

A comparison between two unlike things.

Ex. Life is a roller coaster.

Question 12

Extended Metaphor

Answer 12

A comparison between two unlike things that continue throughout a series of sentences or lines in a poem.

Question 13

Mood

Answer 13

The feeling of atmosphere that evokes a certain emotion from the reader. How the reader feels.

Question 14

Onomatopoeia

Answer 14

(Ms. Beaucock didn’t teach us this either)

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.

Ex. “giggle”

Question 15

Oxymoron

Answer 15

(Ms. Beaucock’s definition didn’t make sense so I made up my own.)

2 words side by side that are the opposite of each other.

Ex. Pretty Ugly
Ex. Living dead

Question 16

Paradox

Answer 16

Refers to the use of concepts or ideas that are contradictory to one another but as a whole have meaning.

Question 17

Personification

Answer 17

When you give human traits to animals or objects.

Ex. The rain danced on the window panels.

Question 18

Rhyme

Answer 18

The identity of sound between syllables or paired groups of syllables, usually at the end of the verse lines.

Question 19

Internal Rhyme

Answer 19

Occurs when two or more words rhyme within a line of poetry.

Ex. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew.

Question 20

Ending Rhyme

Answer 20

Occurs when two or more words rhyme in 2 or more lines of poetry. (Basically if they rhyme at the end.)

Ex. The furrow followed free
Into that silent sea

Question 21

Rhyme Scheme

Answer 21

The rhyming pattern of a poem.

Ex. ABAB
AABB

Question 22

Rhyming Couplet/Rhyming Triplet

Answer 22

A pair of rhyming verse lines that form a unit. A rhyming triplet is the same, but with 3 rhyming verse lines instead of 2.

Ex for Rhyming Couplet: AA BB CC DD……
Ex for Rhyming Triplet: AAA BBB CCC DDD…

Question 23

Rhythm

Answer 23

A pattern of sounds made by varying the stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.

Question 24

Simile

Answer 24

A figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.

Question 25

Sonnet (English/Shakespearean)

Answer 25

• 14 lines
• 1st 12 lines are divided into 3 quatrains (4 lines each)
• in the 3 quatrains, there’s a theme that resolves in the last two lines
• last 2 lines of the 3 quatrains is called couplet
• rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
• iambic pentameter

Question 26

Symbolism

Answer 26

The practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea.

Question 27

Tone

Answer 27

The attitude of an author towards their subject matter and/or audience. (Look at word choice and bolds to find tone)

Question 28

Speaker

Answer 28

A narrative voice in a poem that speaks of their situation or feelings. Could be anything.

Question 29

Stanza

Answer 29

Consists of 2 or more lines of poetry =. “Paragraphs” of a poem.

Question 30

Theme

Answer 30

The central idea in a story or poem.

Question 31

Connotation

Answer 31

What the word infers or suggests.

Ex. The snake is evil.

Question 32

Denotation.

Answer 32

Literal meaning or definition of the word.

Ex. Snakes are reptiles