AP Literature Vocabulary - Poem

Stanza

A fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem

Foot

The basic unit of rhythmic measurement in a line of poetry

Metaphor

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things without using

like or as

Simile

A figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between

things of different kinds (usually forms with ‘like’ or ‘as’)

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Appositives

a noun phrase that follows another noun phrase and provides additional information about it

Line Break

come at the end of the line of a poem

rhyme

pattern of words that contain similar sounds

meter

the basic rhythmic structure of a line within a work of poetry

Trochee

DUH-duh

Iamb

duh-DUH

Spondee

DUH-DUH

Dactyl

DUH-duh-duh

Anapest

duh-duh-DUH

pentameter

five feet, this applies to other prefixes

scansion

the method of graphically determining the rhyme of a poem

italian sonnet

14 lines, octave and sesten

english sonnet

14 lines, 3 quatrains and 1 couplet