poetry terms and definitions

Question 1

Key Conventions

Answer 1

• The setting/location is a key starting point for all films.

Question 2

Line Break

Answer 2

• a point at which text is split into two lines; the end of a line.
• control the manner in which readers come upon the ideas by creating breaks in their flow of reading.
• used to give poems its structure.

Question 3

Poet

Answer 3

• a person who writes poems.

Question 4

Refrain

Answer 4

• means using repetition to place emphasis on a set of words or an idea within a poem.

Question 5

Rhyme

Answer 5

• is the repetition of syllables, typically at the end of a verse line. Rhymed words conventionally share all sounds following the word’s last stressed syllable.

Question 6

Speaker/ Persona

Answer 6

• speaker is the voice behind the poem—the person we imagine to be saying the thing out loud (can be a non-living thing too).

Question 7

Stanza

Answer 7

• is a group of lines arranged together as a unit. It does not have to consist of only two lines.
• a division of four or more lines having a fixed length, meter, or rhyming scheme.

Question 8

Title

Answer 8

• the name of the poem.

Question 9

Verse

Answer 9

• a single line of poetry.

Question 10

White Space

Answer 10

• for the parts of a page left free of text and illustrations (very long spaces in b/w words).
• Line breaks and white space help readers know how to read a poem out loud and inside their heads.

Question 11

Epic Poems

Answer 11

• long narrative poems that are centred around a hero on an important journey.

Question 12

Enjambment

Answer 12

• Continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line to the next, typically without punctuation at the line break.
• the phrase or sentence do not stop at the end of the line.
• is not marked by punctuation.
• ensures that enjambed lines do not have individual meaning.
Effects of using it
• Speed up the pace of poem
• Create sense of urgency, tension, or rising emotion
• Pique reader’s interest
• Create a sense of surprise
• Introduce humour

Question 13

End-stopped lines

Answer 13

• A line where the end of the line completes a sentence or phrase; often but not always stopped by a punctuation mark.
• is the occurrence of a pause at the end of a line.
• the phrase or sentence stops at the end of the line.
• is marked by punctuation
• ensures that each line has their individual meaning.
Effects of using it
• Create a sense of finality
• Introduce a longer pause
• Emphasise an idea

Question 14

Metaphor

Answer 14

• A direct comparison between two unlike things.

e.g. She is a bird, there is a garden in her face

Question 15

Personification

Answer 15

• Attributing human qualities to objects, animals (non-living thing)
• is a device where non-human things are described as though they were human
• Answer personification questions: to create a visual image for what purpose
e.g. the popcorn leapt out of the bowl; lightning danced across the sky, the sun smiled

Question 16

Simile

Answer 16

• A direct comparison of 2 unlike things using ‘like’ and ‘as’.
e.g. she ate like a bird; she is as free as a bird

Question 17

Symbol

Answer 17

• anything that hints at something else, usually something abstract, such as an idea or belief.
• is an object, a person, a situation, or an action that has a literal meaning in a story but suggests or represents other meanings.
• is a device where an object, character, animal, place or colour is used to represent a deeper idea or concept
e.g. black is often used to represent death or evil
white as a symbol of purity in western culture but a symbol of death and mourning in Asian culture.

Question 18

Hyperbole

Answer 18

• exaggerated statements or claims used for effects and are not meant to be taken literally.
e.g. I slept like a rock last night, there are a million other things to do.

Question 19

Connotation

Answer 19

• an idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.
e.g. the woman is a dove at heart (dove = peace or gentility)

Question 20

Auditory imagery

Answer 20

• appeals to the reader’s sense of hearing or sound.

* may include music and other pleasant sounds, harsh noises, or silence.

Question 21

Gustatory imagery

Answer 21

• the poet appeals to the reader’s sense of taste by describing something the speaker or narrator of the poem tastes.
• It may include sweetness, sourness, saltiness, savouriness, or spiciness.

Question 22

Image/ Visual imagery

Answer 22

• mental imagery that involves the sense of having “pictures” in the mind.

Question 23

Kinesthetic imagery

Answer 23

• gives a feeling of natural, or physical bodily movement or action (like a heartbeat, a pulse, and breathing).

Question 24

Olfactory imagery

Answer 24

• the poet appeals to the reader’s sense of smell by describing something the speaker of the poem inhales.
• may include pleasant fragrances or off-putting odours.

Question 25

Tactile imagery

Answer 25

• create the sensory experience of touch through text

* This type of imagery can be used to describe how something feels such as texture, temperature, wetness, dryness, etc.

Question 26

Organic Imagery

Answer 26

• in this form of imagery, the poet communicates internal sensations such as fatigue, hunger, and thirst as well as internal emotions such as fear, love, and despair.

Question 27

Alliteration

Answer 27

• the repetition of the initial consonants in words next to or close to each other.
• is a literary device where two or more words in a sequence begin with the same consonant(s).

e.g. fell in fat drops (‘f’ is repeated)
drops that drummed (‘d’ is repeated)

Question 28

Assonance

Answer 28

• the repetition of vowel sounds in words next to or close to each other.
e.g. Peter Piper bought a pack of pickled peppers (repetition of the short e and long i sounds).
Go slow over the road (repetition of the long o sound).

Question 29

Consonance

Answer 29

• the repetition of the same consonant sounds in a line of text.
• These alike sounds can appear anywhere in the word, but will usually be found at its end or middle, or at the end of the stressed syllable.
e.g. Mike likes his new bike.
I will crawl away with the ball.

Question 30

Onomatopoeia

Answer 30

(something like sound sensory verbs)
• the use of words which resemble or suggest the sounds they are referring to.
• refers to a word that imitates the sound an object or action makes
e.g. burp, bang, crash, ring

Question 31

Sibilance

Answer 31

• the repetition of letter sounds that have a hushing or hissing quality.
• In English, s, z, x, f, soft c, sh, ch, th and zh (the sound of the s in “pleasure”) are sibilants.
e.g. sing a song of sixpence

Question 32

Eye Rhyme

Answer 32

• a poetic device where two words are spelled similarly but pronounced differently.
e.g. alone – gone, come – home, love – remove

Question 33

End Rhyme

Answer 33

• a rhyme that occurs in the last syllables of verses

e.g. the deepest night burning bright (night – bright), a time to feel and a time to heal (feel – heal)