English Q1 Vocab

personification

giving human traits to non-living things

metonymy

when something is used to represent something related to it

hyperbole

extreme exaggeration

cacaphony

harsh, discordant sounds (k, t, g, b, d, p, ch, sh, s) in words

apostrophe

a direct address to something that can't respond

tone

the attitude of the speaker toward the subjects of the poem

litote

ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary

slant rhyme

neat, close not exact rhyme

assonance

repetition of vowel sounds in non rhyming words

simile

compare two unlike objects using "like" or "as"

juxtaposition

the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect

caesura

a pause in the middle of a line of poetry

allusion

a reference to something famous

verbal irony

use of words to mean something different from what a person actually says

situational irony

a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens

stanza

a "paragraph" in poetry

euphemism

a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing

synecdoche

substitution of a part for a whole

metaphor

compare two unlike objects WITHOUT "like" or "as"

internal rhyme

rhyme within one line of poetry

consonance

repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or end of words

euphony

pleasant, harmonious sounds (m, n, l, r, f, v, s, w) in words

antithesis

fancy word for contrast; place 2 unlike objects close to each other

Petrarchan

sonnet that has octave/ABBA ABBA, and sestet/CDE CDE

Shakespearian

sonnet that has 14 lines/ABABCDCDEFEFGG

paradox

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true

onomatopoeia

creation of words to mimic a sound

anaphora

repetition at the beginning of sentences

enjambment

when a line of poetry wraps around to another line

syntax

the arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences in a language.

oxymoron

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

couplet

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

iamb

a metrical foot consisting of 1 SHORT (or unstressed) syllable followed by 1 LONG (or stressed) syllable

anapest

a metrical foot consisting of 2 SHORT or unstressed syllables followed by 1 LONG or stressed syllable.

trochee

a foot consisting of 1 LONG or stressed syllable followed by 1 SHORT or unstressed syllable.

spondee

a foot consisting of 2 LONG (or stressed) syllables.

dactyl

a metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables

ode

a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, often elevated in style or manner

elegy

a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.

pastoral

a poem that portrays or evokes country life, typically in a romanticized or idealized form

sestina

a poem with six stanzas and six lines, and let's just say has a lot of magical sixes in it

ballad

a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas

conceit

a fanciful expression in writing or speech; an elaborate metaphor

chiasmus

a rhetorical device that shows a reversal: "Love makes time pass, time makes love pass"

zeugma

a figure of speech where one word modifies two other words, in two different ways: "She broke his car and his heart."

doggerel

comic verse written in irregular rhythm

bathos

amusing anticlimax created when a feat of greatness fails miserably.

connotation

the implied or associative meaning of a word

colloquialism

informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing

diction

A writer's or speaker's choice of words