Literary and Poetic Devices

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering literary and poetic terms and their definitions as outlined in the lecture notes.

Apostrophe

A direct address to someone who is not present, to a deity or muse, or to some other power.

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound within a group of words or lines. Ex: "thou still unravish'd bride of quietness."

Blanke verse

Lines of iambic pentameter, which of all verse forms is closest to the natural rhythms of English speech.

Caesura

A pause within a line of poetry in order to make the meaning clear or follow the natural rhythms of speech.

Carpe diem

Latin for "seize the day"

Connotation

Associations or mood attached to a word. Words generally are negative, positive, or neutral.

Consonance

The repetition of a sequence of two or more consonants, but with a change in the intervening vowel. Ex: "live-love", "lean-alone", "pitter-patter"

Couplet

A pair of rhymed lines

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Dialect

A regional speech pattern. When using dialect, a writer is relying on language to make a passage feel personal and authentic.

Diction

Word choice; specific words an author uses in his or her writing

Elegy

A formal meditative poem or lament for the dead.

Ellipses

Three dots that indicate words have been left out of a quotation.

Enjambment

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

Epistrophe

The ending of a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words, used to emphasize the word or group of words for emotional impact.

Euphemism

To use an inoffensive or more socially acceptable word for something that could be inappropriate.

Foil

A minor character whose situation or actions parallel those of a major character and thus by contrast set off or illuminate the major character.

Foot

The combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up the metric unit of a line.

Free verse

Poetry that doesn't follow a prescribed form but is characterized by irregularity in the length of the lines and a lack of a regular metrical pattern and rhyme.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration of an event or feeling

Imagery

Language that appeals to one or another of the five senses.

Irony

The use of words to express something other than--and often the opposite of--the literal meaning.

Jargon

A pattern of speech and vocabulary associated with a particular group of people.

Juxtaposition

Placement of one idea next to its opposite.

Lyric

Any poem in which a speaker expresses intensely personal emotion or thoughts.

Malapropism

A wonderful form of comic wordplay in which one word is mistakenly substituted for another that sounds familiar.

Metaphor

Comparing things without like or as

Meter

Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which the name of one thing is substituted for another with which it is closely associated.

Metric line

A line named according to the number of feet composing it, starting with monometer, a line of one foot, followed by dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter….

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech that seeks to create mental ambiguity, which then forces the reader to pause and seek clarity.

Parallelism

A pattern of language that creates a rhythm of repetition, often combined with some other language of repetition.

Panegyric

A literary expression of active praise

Passive voice

The opposite of active voice. The passive voice is used when something happens to someone.

Pastoral

A reference to or a description of simple country life. Older pastoral poems usually include shepherds who live in an idyllic setting.

Personification

Personifying an object

Point of view

Who's perspective the story is from

Pun

A play on words used to create humor

Refrain

A line, part of a line, or group of lines repeated in the course of a poem

Repetition

Reapeating of a word or phrase for emphasis

Rhyme

The echo or imitation of a sound

Rythm

The sense of movement attributable to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Satire

A form of writing in which a subject is made fun of or scorned.

Shift

A change in setting (place or time), tone, or speakers.

Similie

A figure of speech using like or as

Soliloquy

A speech in which a character on stage expresses their thoughts.

Sonnet

A fixed form of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme conforming to one or two main types.

Stanza

A group of lines that forms to one division of a poem

Symbol

An object that signifies something greater than itself.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole. Ex: "all hands on deck"

Theme

Overall meaning of text

Verse

Lines of poetry or metrical language in general in contrast to prose.