analyzing poetry terms

alliteration

words that begin with the same sound are placed close together. Although alliteration involves repetition of letters, most importantly, it is a repetition of sounds

allusion

A writer’s reference to another work. In literature, it’s frequently used to reference cultural works.

assonance

The repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds within words, phrases, or sentences

caesura

A break or pause in the middle of a line of verse

consonance

When the same consonant sound appears repeatedly in a line or sentence, creating a rhythmic effect. Typically, the letter appears at the beginning of the words, meaning consonance is also an example of alliteration, or a repeated first letter. However, consonance doesn’t have to appear at the beginning of the word or be spelled the same–it just has to be a repeated consonant sound.

diction

word choice

end-stopped line

A metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break—such as a dash or closing parenthesis—or with punctuation such as a colon, a semicolon, or a period. A line is considered end-stopped, too, if it contains a complete phrase

enjambment

Continuing a line after the line breaks. Whereas many poems end lines with the natural pause at the end of a phrase or with punctuation as end-stopped lines, enjambment ends a line in the middle of a phrase, continuing into the next line as an enjambed line.

figurative language

language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words/phrases to convey meaning.Figurative language asks the reader/listener to understand the meaning of none thing in relation to another

imagery

Language that creates images in the mind of the reader. Imagery includes figurative and metaphorical language to impact the reader’s experience through the senses.

metaphor

A comparison by directly relating one thing to another unrelated thing. Unlike similes, metaphors do not use words such as “like” or “as” to make comparisons.

meter

The rhythmical pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse.

onomatopoeia

Refers to words whose pronunciations imitate the sounds they describe.

personification

A kind of metaphor in which you describe an inanimate object, abstract thing, or nonhuman animal in human terms

repetition

The repeating of a word or phrase.

perfect rhyme

sounds match exactly

slant/imperfect rhyme

In a slant-rhyme, the words sound similar, but may not rhyme exactly

simile

A comparison of dissimilar things using “like” or “as”

stanza

A dividing and organizing technique which places a group of lines in a poem together, separated from other groups of lines by line spacing or indentation. Stanzas are to poetry what paragraphs are to prose

theme

The central idea, topic, or point of a story, poem, essay, or narrative

tone

The attitude that an author, character, or narrator takes toward a given subject