Poetry Terms Flashcards
Abstract Idea
A general idea; that which exists in the mind rather than in the external world.
Allegory
A complete work in which the elements and ideas of the work represent abstractions.
Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in quick succession.
Allusion
Reference to something form literature, history, or pop culture that the author believes a majority of the audience will know about.
Anaphora
Repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines.
Antithesis
Two opposing ideas.
Apostrophe
A specialized type of personification in which
the persona addressing someone or
something that is not present and can’t speak
back
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds throughout words.
Connotation
The implied or associated meaning of a chosen word.
Consonance
Repetition of consonant sounds at the middle or end of words.
Couplet
2 lines.
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word.
Diction
Word choice.
Dramatic Irony
The audience knows something the characters don’t.
End Rhyme
Words that rhyme at the end of lines.
Enjambment
The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
Extended Metaphor
A metaphor which runs through the entirety of a stanza or poem.
Imagery
Language that appeals to the senses (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory).
Internal Rhyme
Words that rhyme anywhere within a line or series of lines but do not both occur at the end of lines.
Irony
A contrast between expectation and reality.
Juxtaposition
Placing two varying ideas, concepts, or structural choices next to each other.
Metaphor
Comparing or contrasting two unlike things.
Meter
The rhythm of the poem.
Mood
The feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader.
Onomatopoeia
Words that sound like sounds.
Oxymoron
Two words together that contradict.
Paradox
An apparent contradiction that reveals a truth.
Paralellism
Repetition of grammatical structure.
Personification
Giving human qualities to something that is not human.
Quatrain
A four line stanza.
Refrain
A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.
Repetition
Repeating the same word or phrase most often for emphasis.
Rhyme
Repetition of the same or similar sounds occurring in two or more words, usually at the end of lines in a poem.
Rhyme Scheme
The structure of end words in poetry.
Shift
Change
Simile
Comparing or contrasting two unlike things using a comparison word.
Speaker
The voice of the poem.
Stanza
A group fo lines in a poem.
Symbol
When one idea or image is used to represent something larger and more complex.
Theme
The central idea of a work of literature.
Title
The name of an artistic work.
Tone
The attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character.
Triplet
A three line stanza.
Trope
The generic name for a figure of speech such as image, symbol, simile, and metaphor.
