honors english exam terms

Sonnet

lyric poem of fourteen lines

Verse

line of poetry

Meter

when the rhythm is regular, eeach verse is made up of a number of metrical feet

Foot

basis of meter, the regular unit of rhythm which makes up a verse

Blank Verse

technical name for unrhymed iambic petameter

Free Verse

fixed metrical foot, often no fixed number of feet per verse

Stanza

unified group of lines in poetry

Octave

unit or group of eight lines of verse

Volta

the shift in thought, or the turn of events in a sonnet, often occurring on the 9th line of the sonnet

Sestet

unit or group of six lines of verse

Quatrain

unit or group of four lines of verse

Couplet

verse form, rhyming aa bb cc dd.

Enjambment

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

Alliteration

repetition of initial sounds in the neighboring words, or repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of words following each other immediately or at short intervals.

Assonance

repetition of vowel sounds but not consonant sounds as in consonance

Consonance

repetition of consonant sounds, but not vowels

Internal Rhyme

rhyming within a line

Onomatopoeia

word that imitates the sound that it represents, also called imitative harmony

Anaphora

deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs

Epistrophe

repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences

Repetition

the recurrence of the same words or phrases to make an idea clearer and more memorable

Homonym

refers to two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings

Imagery

language that evokes one of or all the five senses

Symbolism

using an object or action to represent or mean something other than its literal meaning

Motif

recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work

Apostrophe

when an absent person, an abstract concept, or an important object is directly addressed

Hyperbole

exaggeration or overstatement for emphasis of a point

Understatement

presentation of something as being smaller or less good or important than it really is

Synesthesia

figure of speech in which one sense is described using terms from another

Juxtaposition

presentation of two things with contrasting effect

Similie

comparison of two unlike things using like or as

Metaphor

figure of speech in which a word or phrase for one thing, is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar. Comparison without using like or as.

Personification

occurs when human qualities are given to animals or objects

Allusion

brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, r to a work of art, a famous historical or literary figure or event.

Paradox

reveals a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory

Oxymoron

phrase in which two contradictory words are put together

Irony

implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant

Mood

emotional atmosphere the author creates in his subject

Tone

the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character

Diction

verbal description; choice of words especially with regard to correctness, clearness, or effectiveness