Poetry Vocabulary Words Flashcards
What terms fall under INTERNAL FORM?
Parallelism Juxtaposition Narrative Logical Pattern Question-Answer Meditative Moments Lists and Litanies
What is PARALLELISM?
when phrases, sentences, or paragraphs are expressed in a similar grammatical order and structure. It can appear within a line or several lines.
Example of PARALLELISM
In “A Litany for Survival”, by Audre Lorde, more than one line began with “For those of us who”
What is JUXTAPOSITION?
the placement of things (often very different things) side by side or close together for comparison or contrast to create something new from the union, without necessarily making them grammatically parallel
Example of JUXTAPOSITION
In “Dinosaurs in the Hood”, by Danez Smith, the phrase ‘royal folk’ was juxtaposed to ‘children of slaves & immigrants & addicts & exiles’. He is trying to get the reader to understand that those terms should not go to a negative connotation.
What is a NARRATIVE?
a structure that recounts an event as a sequence of actions and details
Example of NARRATIVE
The poem, “Blink Your Eyes” by Sekou Sundiata, is a narrative poem because it recounts the things that happened when the speaker was pulled over by the police officer.
What is LOGICAL PATTERN?
when the material of the poem is arranged in a logical pattern of development for persuasion or explanation
Example of LOGICAL PATTERN
“Dinosaurs in the Hood” by Danez Smith is an example of logical pattern because the speaker is explaining to the reader ways a movie can be a black movie without being a ‘black movie’.
When does QUESTION-ANSWER occur?
when a poem raises a question (either implicitly or explicitly) and works toward the answer (which may be stated or implied)
Example of QUESTION-ANSWER
“A Litany for Survival” by Audre Lorde because the reader wonders the what to do in the scenarios the speaker states after saying “For those of us who” and by the end of the poem, there is an answer to the reader.
When do MEDITATIVE MOMENTS happen?
when a poem moves from a reflection on a physical place or object or scene to personal or spiritual perceptions
Example of a MEDITATIVE MOMENT
In “Blink Your Eyes” by Sekou Sundiata. He is reflecting on the incident that happened when he was on his way to go see his woman; getting pulled over. However, in every other stanza, he reminds the reader that it all depends on the color of your skin.
What do LISTS and LITANIES use?
a series of invocations and repeated responses
Example of LISTS and LITANIES
“A Litany for Survival” by Audre Lorde because it is like a prayer, it is wishing for something.
What terms fall under EXTERNAL FORM?
Form (External & Internal) Lines Stanza Invented Inherited English or Shakespearean Sonnet Quatrains Couplet Italian or Petrachan Sonnet Octave Sestet Sestina Villianelle Tercets Blank Verse Free Verse/Open Form
What two ways does FORM refer to?
External Structure
Internal Structure
What is EXTERNAL STRUCTURE?
the way the poem looks on a page
What is INTERNAL STRUCTURE?
the way the work arranges, organizes, or connects the various elements
What are LINES?
poems that have a beginning and end controlled by the poet
What does each LINE tend to have?
a rhythm
What is a STANZA?
a grouping of poetic lines into a section, each section having the same number of lines and a similar arrangement
What are the two ways STANZA SHAPES are formed?
Invented
Inherited
What does it mean when a stanza shape is INVENTED?
it is individually created and thus unique to a particular poem
What does it mean when a stanza shape is INHERITED?
is has a long standing tradition of the form so they may have the same number of lines, a specific rhyme scheme, perhaps even particular meter
Example of INVENTED stanza shape
“Home” by Warsan Shire
Example of INHERITED stanza shape
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
What is the ENGLISH or SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET?
A sonnet with three quatrains and a couplet
What is a QUATRAIN?
a four line stanzas, typically rhyming abab cdcd efef
Example of QUATRAIN
“One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII” by Pablo Neruda
What is a COUPLET?
two rhyming lines
Example of COUPLET
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
What is the ITALIAN or PETRACHAN SONNET?
A sonnet that has an octave and a sestet
What is an OCTAVE?
an eight line stanza, typically rhyming abbaabba
What is a SESTET?
a six line stanza, typically rhyming cdecde or cdcdcd
What is a SESTINA?
a lyric poem consisting of six six line stanzas and a three line concluding stanza. The six end words of the first stanza must be used as the end words of the other five stanzas
What is a VILLIANELLE?
a nineteen line lyric poem divided into five tercets and a final quatrain, with specific rhyme scheme and with certain lines repeated in a set pattern
What is a TERCET?
three line stanza
What is a BLANK VERSE?
a unrhymed iambic pentameter
What is FREE VERSE/OPEN FORM?
free of predetermined metrical and stanzaic patterns
does not rely on organized structural repetition to achieve form and coherence
relies on connected images and sounds, and parallelism in phrasing and in the handling of lines, spaces, rhythms, indentations, gaps, and timing
What poems have form?
EVERY POEM
What terms fall under RHYTHM and METER?
Enjambed End-stopped Caesura The Flow of a Line Stressed or Accented Unstressed or Unaccented Iambic Meter Iambs Tetrameter Pentameter
What is RHYTHM?
the patterned “movement” created by words and their arrangement
How is RHYTHM determined?
by the poet’s choices in line length, phrases, line endings, pauses, spaces, and word combinations
What are the two types of LINE ENDINGS?
Enjambed
End-Stopped
What is ENJAMBED?
a line that runs into the line that follows it
What is END-STOPPED?
a line that ends with punctuation to slow the reader down
What is CAESURA?
punctuation used to break up the flow of a line to slow down a poem or make stops more jarring or halting
What is STRESSED or ACCENTED?
emphasized syllables that cause a beat in poetry
What is UNSTRESSED or UNACCENTED?
muted syllables that cause a beat in poetry
How does a beat in poetry arise?
stressed or accented
unstressed or unaccented
What is a METER?
a regularized beat created by a repeating pattern of accents, syllables, or both
What is the basis of METER?
a foot
What is a FOOT?
a two or three syllable unit made up of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables
What is IAMBIC METER?
a result of da DA feet, called iambs
How are LINE LENGTHS measured?
the number of feet in each line
What is a MONOMETER?
a line with one foot
What is a DIMETER?
a line with two feet
What is a TRIMETER?
a line with three feet
What is a TETRAMETER?
a line with four feet
What is a PENTAMETER?
a line with five feet
What is a HEXAMETER?
a line with six feet
What terms fall under FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE?
Nonfigurative Comparison Simile Metaphor Personification Metonymy Synecdoche Hyperbole Understatement
What is FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE or FIGURES OF SPEECH?
the use of language that departs from the expected construction or significance to achieve a special effect or meaning
it tends to depart from logical sense and relies instead on the imaginative sense
What is a NONFIGURATIVE COMPARISON?
when the two things joined by “like” or “as” are not dissimilar
What is a SIMILE?
a figure of speech that is an expression of a direct similarity between things ordinarily regarded as dissimilar; uses the words “like” or “as” or “than”
What is a METAPHOR?
a figure of speech in which two things usually considered dissimilar are treated as if they were alike and have characteristics in common; does not use the words “like,” “as,” or “than”
What is PERSONIFICATION?
a figure of speech in which something nonhuman (an abstraction or a natural object) is presented as if it had HUMAN (not just living) characteristics or actions
What is METONYMY?
a figure of speech in which the name of one thing is substituted for that of something closely associated with it
Example of METONYMY
White House representing the president and his staff
What is SYNECDOCHE?
a kind of metonymy in which a part substitutes the whole to which it belongs
Example of SYNECDOCHE
“give me a hand,” a person is asking for help from a whole person
What is a HYPERBOLE?
an exaggeration or overstatement that is illogical though used to make a point
Example of HYPERBOLE
if one of you were to say, “Ms. Rezende, why did you assign us a 1000 pages of writing today?” when, in fact, I might have only assigned two pages, that statement would be hyperbole.
What is an UNDERSTATEMENT?
an unexpectedly restrained way of expressing something to de-emphasize it in order to emphasize it
Example of UNDERSTATEMENT
when Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet has been stabbed with a sword by Tibalt, he calls it “a scratch, a scratch”
What terms fall under SOUND?
Alliteration Consonance Assonance Repetition Exact Rhyme Approximate Rhyme/Slant End Rhyme Internal Rhyme
What is ALLITERATION?
the repetition of identical consonant sound in words relatively near one another (in the same line or adjacent lines)
Why is ALLITERATION used?
to call attention to words fro greater emphasis for to make them memorable
What is CONSONANCE?
the use of words whose consonant sounds are the same but whose vowels are different
Example of CONSONANCE
live : love
chitter : chatter
reader : rider
ALLITERATION vs CONSONANCE
Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds; consonance is the repetition of final consonant sounds
Example of ALLITERATION
green as grass
golden baggage
What is ASSONANCE?
the repetition of identical vowel sounds in words whose consonants differ
Examples of ASSONANCE
under the umbrella
tree by leaf, tree and treat
What is REPETITION?
the reuse of a word, group of words, line or lines later in the same poem, but close enough so you remember the earlier use
What is EXACT RHYME?
the repetition of the final vowel sound and all following consonant sounds in two or more words that have differing consonant sounds preceding the vowel
Example of EXACT RHYME
air and care
What is APPROXIMATE RHYME/SLANT RHYME?
rhyme in which words have similar sounds but do not rhyme perfectly
Example of APPROXIMATE RHYME/SLANT RHYME
deep, feet
rhyme, writhe
gate, mat
What is END RHYME?
rhyming words that occur at the end of lines
What is INTERNAL RHYME?
refers to two or more words within a line, or within nearby lines, that rhyme with each other or the words at the end of the line
When is rhyme used?
1) to emphasize important words
2) to create connections between words
3) to tighten organization
4) to contain meaning
5) to create a sense of completion
6) to please the ear through musicality and expectation
What terms fall under VOICE and TONE?
Narrative Poetry
First or Third Person Narrator
Non Narrative Poetry
What is NARRATIVE POETRY?
when you listen with your mind’s ear to a storyteller, a first or third person narrator
What is NON NARRATIVE POETRY?
when you hear the imagined voice of a speaker, of someone “speaking” the poem, either the poet directly or a character the poet has created to speak the poem
What is VOICE?
the sense of an intelligence and sensibility that has invented, arranged, and expressed the elements and ideas in a particular manner.
Voice may be conveyed directly or indirectly as the voice of the speaker is often complex and layered
How do you find DIRECT CLUES on voice?
the literal
How do you find INDIRECT CLUES on voice?
the tone projected by diction and by images
What is TONE?
the attitude toward the subject implied in a work.
Tone amplifies the mood of a poem, and in fact, a poem may contain more than one tone
What is IRONY?
an expression involving a discrepancy between appearance and reality, between what is said and what is intended
What is VERBAL IRONY?
saying what is nearly opposite of what is meant
What is SITUATIONAL IRONY?
things not turning out as hoped or expected
What is meant when something is said to be it’s LITERAL SELF?
the straight-forward telling or showing
What is meant when something is said to be it’s FIGURATIVE SELF?
the metaphorical implications
What are the three major classifications of poetry?
Narrative Poems
Dramatic Poems
Lyric Poems
What are NARRATIVE POEMS?
tell stories and follow a sequence of events
What are DRAMATIC POEMS?
plays or play-like that use techniques of theater drama (such as rising action, climax, and dialogue)
What are LYRIC POEMS?
shorter and focus on a specific subject and are characterized by melody and intensity of feeling
What is DICTION?
the choice and arrangement of words.
What are the two dimensions of words?
Denotation
Connotation
What is DENOTATION?
refers to what words mean, their dictionary definitions, what they mean objectively and intellectually; denotation involves not just the meaning of individual words but the meaning of words combined with other words; readers must always look up the definition of words they are not familiar or comfortable with to decipher how the word is working in the poem
What is CONNOTATION?
refers to the shared or communal implications and associations words carry subjectively, the feeling the words evoke
What is IMAGE?
a word or group of words that evokes in our imagination a representation f an object or action that can be known by one or more of the senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. Images help readers experience what is going on in poems. These concrete details are vital to poems.
What are the two reasons that poets use IMAGES?
1) to create a picture, and thus, to share an experience with the reader
2) to infuse a poem with further meaning beyond the picture and experience
