English Flashcards - Poetry Unit

Simile

Comparison using like or as. Example: Her smile is like the sun.

Metaphor

Comparison without like or as. Example: Her smile is the sun.

Personification

Giving human traits to objects or animals. Example: The wind whispered.

Imagery

Sensory details (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell). Example: Warm chocolate melted on my tongue.

Symbolism

Object represents a bigger idea. Example: A dove = peace.

Allusion

Reference to history, literature, or mythology. Example: He was a real Romeo.

Irony

Meaning is different than expected. Example: A fire station burns down.

Hyperbole

Big exaggeration. Example: I have a million homework assignments.

Diction

Careful word choice. Example: Using 'furious' instead of 'mad.'

Onomatopoeia

Word sounds like its meaning. Example: Buzz!

Alliteration

Same starting sound. Example: Big blue balloon.

Assonance

Repeated vowel sounds. Example: The rain in Spain.

Consonance

Repeated consonant sounds (not first letter). Example: fun sun.

Caesura

Pause in the middle of a line. Example: I was tired — but kept walking.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyming inside one line. Example: I went to town to buy a gown.

End Rhyme

Rhyming at the ends of lines. Example: The cat wore a hat. It sat on a mat.

Stanza

Poetry paragraph. Example: Any group of lines separated by space.

Couplet

Two-line stanza. Example: The sky is blue, I think of you.

Quatrain

Four-line stanza. Example: A stanza with 4 lines.

Enjambment

Sentence continues to next line. Example: I walked to the store because I was hungry.

Free Verse

No set rhyme or pattern. Example: A poem with random line lengths.

Persona

Speaker of the poem. Example: The 'I' talking.

Character

Someone mentioned in poem. Example: My brother walked away.

Tone

Author's attitude. Example: Funny.

Mood

Feeling for the reader. Example: Sad.