poetry terminology chart - purpose and intent.docx

Simile

A comparison of two things essentially unlike but similar in one respect, introduced by the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. (to clarify)

Metaphor

A comparison of two things essentially unlike but similar in one respect, where the comparison is implied. (build complexity)

Personification

A kind of metaphor where inanimate objects or animals are given human characteristics or feelings. (to add beauty)

Apostrophe

A specific type of personification where an absent or dead person is addressed as if present. (emotional intensity/impact)

Paradox

A combination of contradictory ideas or terms that reveals a truth upon further examination. (huge range of extended meaning)

Allusion

A brief and casual reference to a person, place, event, or work that the author expects the reader to recognize. (to do so much with so little)

Metonymy

Substitution of a characteristic associated with an object to refer to the object itself. (to add interest + range of meaning)

Synecdoche

Using a part to represent the whole.

Hyperbole

A deliberate overstatement used for effect. (emotional intensity + humour)

Oxymoron

A statement where contradictory ideas are placed side-by-side to create a special effect.

Verbal Irony

A statement in which the intended meaning is opposite to the literal meaning.

Understatement

A figure of speech where a claim is deliberately played down.

Euphemism

An inoffensive expression used in place of one that is harsh or unpleasant.

Alliteration

Repetition of the first letter or sound in a series of words.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds in a series of words.

Cacophony

A series of unpleasant, discordant sounds in a passage.

Euphony

The quality of sounds in a passage that are pleasant or musical to the ear.

Imitative Harmony

Words whose sounds imitate the thing they describe.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Rhyme

A correspondence in sound between words or syllables, often at the end of lines.

Rhythm

A regular pattern of accented and weak sounds that gives a musical quality.

Rhyme scheme

The pattern in which rhyming sounds occur in a stanza.

Foreshadowing

A hint of what is to come in a literary work.

Couplet

A pair of rhymed lines.

Denotation

The precise, literal meaning of a word.

Connotation

The emotional associations or implied meanings of a word.

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses in a literary work.

Pun

A play on words that uses double meanings for humor.

Refrain

Lines that are repeated throughout a poem, often at the end of each stanza.

Repetition

The act of repeating words or phrases for emphasis.

Ellipsis

The use of three dots to indicate omitted words.

Speaker

The character who speaks in a poem, distinct from the author.

Stanza

A repeated group of lines in a poem.

Symbol

A concrete object that represents something else.

Diction

The choice of words used by the poet.

Elegy

A dignified poem expressing sorrow or praise for someone deceased.

Narrative poem

A poem that tells a story with a focus on plot.

Epic

A long narrative poem recounting the deeds of heroic figures.

Analogy

A comparison highlighting similarities between two unlike things.

Anecdote

A short personal story.

Open

A poetic form free from regularity and consistency.

Closed

A poetic form subject to fixed structures and patterns.

Blank verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Free verse

Lines of poetry without a prescribed pattern or structure.

Heroic couplet

A pair of rhymed lines in iambic pentameter.

Quatrain

A stanza or grouping of four lines of verse.

Sonnet

A fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme.

Stress

The emphasis placed on a syllable.

Pause (caesura)

A break or pause in the rhythm of the verse.

Rising meter

Meter where the rhythm flows from unstressed to stressed syllables.

Iambic

A metrical foot with two syllables, first unstressed and second stressed.

Anapestic

A metrical foot with three syllables, first two unstressed and last stressed.

Falling meter

Meter where rhythm flows from stressed to unstressed syllables.

Trochaic

A metrical foot with two syllables, first stressed and second unstressed.

Dactylic

A metrical foot with three syllables, first stressed and last two unstressed.

Spondee

A metrical foot consisting of two consecutive stressed syllables.

Iambic pentameter

A traditional poetic form consisting of lines with five iambic feet.

Syntax

The grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence.

Literal meaning

The most direct and obvious meaning of a word.

Figurative meaning

Meaning that is associative or connotative, beyond the literal.