Key Poetry Terms and Techniques

Iambic pentameter

a type of line in poetry that has 10 syllables (5 feet) with alternating stresses (unstressed then stressed) on the syllables

enjambment

Spillover of poetry from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. (speaking next to name, not beginning under)

quatrain

A stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhythms

personification

giving a non-human object human characteristics

Pun

When a word or word sound has multiple meanings and several apply at the same time

rhyme scheme

The ordered pattern of Rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse

compression

The technique of removing a syllable in a word by using an apostrophe. used to make the words fit the meter

rhyming couplet

two lines of poetry that rhyme. they often end scenes

hyperbole

Extravagant exaggeration to create a dramatic result

Simile

A comparison between unlike objects using like or as

ictus

The stressed syllable within each Iamb

Motif

a recurring idea theme or image

sonnet

A poetic form, 14 lines long, written in iambic pentameter with a set rhyme scheme. a Shakespearean sonnet has four Stanzas - three or four lines and one of two a couplet (abab, cdcd, efef, gg)

metaphor

A comparison between unlike objects

alliteration

The repetition of constant sounds

allusion

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly. an indirect or passing reference

oxymoron

when an adjective or noun contradicts another adjective or noun(sadly smiled, happily cried)

endstopped

whenever there is a period or semicolen