English mid term

free verse

A form of poetry that does not follow a set rhythm, scheme, or pattern.

lyric poem

A poem that expresses intense emotional thoughts and moods.

ballads

Narrative poems with a song-like form, usually based on folk legend, love stories, or legends.

sonnet

A fourteen line poem that follows a set rhyme scheme.

haiku

A seventeen syllable poem with a 5-7-5 syllable structure.

ode

A lyric poem full of noble feeling.

blank verse

Consists of unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter, best for dramatic verse in English and commonly used for long poems.

mood

The reader's attitude towards the events of a poem.

atmosphere

The feeling surrounding a poem.

diction

A poet's word choice.

irony

A condition that is the opposite of what the reader is led to expect.

symbol

A concrete symbol that stands for an abstract concept.

theme

The main message of a poem.

tone

The author's attitude towards a subject.

assonance

The repetition of the same vowel sounds.

consonance

The close repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowels.

imagery

Descriptive language that creates visual representations.

sensory details

Specific words used to create images for the senses.

cacophony

The use of hard, discordant sounds.

euphony

The use of soft, harmonious sounds.

stanza

The divisions of a poem.

apostrophe

A type of poem that addresses a thing or person that is dead or incapable of understanding.

denotation

The dictionary meaning of a word.

connotation

The informal or implied meanings of a word.

couplet

A pair of rhyming lines.

thesis

The main idea or point of an essay.

method of development

The approach used to develop and support the thesis.

example and illustration

Using facts and statistics to prove a point.

definition

A very specific, dictionary meaning.

contrast

The use of differences between ideas to prove a point.

compare

To analyze the similarities and/or differences between ideas.

cause/effect

Explains a cause and discusses its effects.

classification

Using categories to classify things.

description

Using detail to make a point clearer.

narration

The use of stories to contribute to the essay's point.

process analysis

Used to explain a point step by step.

pronoun reference

Using pronouns instead of restating people or things.

parallel structure

Using the same grammatical tense to clarify a point.

punctuation

Marks that allow for extra thoughts like dashes, parentheses, semicolon, colon.

sequence of ideas

The order of ideas based on temporal, spatial, logical, or chronological references.

appositive

A phrase that adds extra information.

repetition of key words and synonyms

Using the same word, phrase, or idea multiple times.

transitions

Using connecting words to join ideas and concepts.

unity

The quality that makes a piece of writing seem cohesive and flow together.