Poetry Quiz English Honors

Tone

The implied attitude of the poet toward the subject and the material of the poem. It can be playful, humorous, regretful, anything and it can change as the poem goes on

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel (a,e, i,o,u) sounds in a sentence or line of poetry. (ex: zAch's hAt hAs a flAp)

Simile

the comparison of two dissimilar using like or as (ex: fast like a cheetah on the serengeti, as tall as a sky scraper)

Personification

giving non-human things human characteristics. (ex:the sea lashes out in anger)

Metaphor

the comparison of two dissimilar things using the verb to be (ex:she is drowning in a sea of grief)

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a sentence or line of poetry. (ex: Sally Sells Seashells)

Rhyme Scheme

The process of labeling the end rhyme of a poem. A poet's deliberate pattern of lines that tie with other lines in a poem or a stanza. The rhyme scheme, or pattern, can be identified by giving end words that rhyme with each other the same letter.

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration. (ex:her head was spinning from al the new information)

Couplet

a pair of rhythm lines, normally with similar rhythm and meter. A couplet is two lines of poetry that usually rhyme, for ex: "good night! Good night! Parting is such a sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow."

Speaker

the voice of a poem, to be distinguished from the actual living author. (ex, the speaker is the voice behind the poem, the person we imagine to be saying the thing out loud. This could be described in general terms such as "sad teenager," "new parent," or "_______"'s significant other"

Allusion

A reference to a person, event, or literary work outside the poem. (ex, the leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, so down goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.) makes an illusion to the Biblical garden of dean to strength this idea that nothing can not even paradise can last forever

Stanza

a division or unit of a poem. (ex, groups of lines, separated by white space.) the poetrys version of paragraphs

Figurative language

A form of language in which writers and their speakers intend something other than the literal meaning of their words. (ex: shes drowning in a sea of grief, the sea lashes out in anger)

Onomatopeia

The use of words to imitate the sounds they describe (ex, buzz, crack)

symbol

An object or action in a literary work that means more than itself; it stands for something beyond itself. (ex, she knew the worst was over)