english 1a poetry unit terms

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

anachronism

something out of the proper time

Antithesis

placing opposite major concepts parallel to each other

connotations

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

epiphany

A moment of sudden revelation or insight

exaggeration

a statement that represents something as better or worse than it really is.

figurative language

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

figure of speech

a device used to produce figurative language

hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

imagery

Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)

inversion

inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order)

metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

Metonyny

substitution of one word for another it suggests, e.g. "deep" to mean "ocean"

mood

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

narration

the telling of a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama; one of the four modes of discourse

oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Parallelism

similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

Personification

the giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea

simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

understatement

the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity

Consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.

pun

A play on words

rhyme

Repetition of sounds at the end of words

end rhyme

Rhyme that occurs at the end of two or more lines of poetry

internal rhyme

rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end

slant rhyme

A rhyming sound that is not exact.

onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

rhythm

A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.

caesura

A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.

meter

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

metrical foot

a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm

anapest

unstressed, unstressed, stressed

dactyl

stressed, unstressed, unstressed

iamb

unstressed, stressed

pyrrhic

unstressed, unstressed

spondee

stressed, stressed

trochee

stressed, unstressed

monometer

one foot

dimeter

two feet

trimeter

three feet

Tetrameter

four feet

pentameter

five feet

hexameter

six feet

blank verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

free verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme

stanza

a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem

couplet

two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.

quatrain

a stanza of four lines

sestet

6 line stanza

Octave

eight line stanza

ballad

A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas

haiku

A japanese form of poetry, consisting of three unrhymed lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables

sonnet

a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line.

Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet

poetic form with an octave ABBAABBA/ABBACDDC and then a sestet CDECDE/CDCCDC

Shakespearean (English) Sonnet

Three quatrains followed by a couplet. The quatrains express related ideas or examples while the couplet sums up the poet's conclusion or message. The turn occurs during the transition from the third quatrain to a couplet
abab cdcd efef gg.

Enjambment

the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

poetry

A type of literature that expresses ideas, feelings, or tells a story in a specific form (usually using lines and stanzas)

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

theme

Central idea of a work of literature

tone

A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter

total effect

the final, overall impression that a story, novel, poem, or play leaves on the reader.

verse

A single line of poetry