Key Poetry Terms from Chapters 12 and 13

Concrete Diction

Word choice describing conditions that are exact and particular

Abstract Diction

Word choice refers to qualities that are rarefied and theoretical

Slang

Informal and substandard vocabulary and idiom

Parallelism

when the author doesn't repeat an exact phrase but uses the meaning of a phrase multiple times

Repetition

using words/phrases multiple times

Antithesis

contrasting situation or idea that can bring shock/or a climax

Idiom

words that have a non-literal meaning

Dialect

Habits of speech that are characteristic of many groups, regions, and nations

Jargonsyntax

Specialized words and expressions from specific professions

syntax

word order or sentence structure

Setting

Time and place in which the story takes place, major means of measuring characters

Speaker, Persona

The narrator of a story or poem, the point of view, often with an independent character who is completely imagined and consistently maintained by the author.

Listener

An imagined person, not the reader, which the speaker addresses directly and is therefore inside the poem.

Point of View

Speaker may be in or out of the poem. Poets use many sorts of speakers to voice their poems. If the poet uses 1st person, the speaker is in the poem. The point of view has a strong influence on how the poem is interpreted.

Dialogue

Characters are both speakers and listeners, creates drama and tension

Poetic Character

Defined by what they say, what they do, and how they react and also what other characters say about them.

Denotation

standard or common meanings

Connotation

words emotional, social, psychological, or historical meaning

Rhetoric

the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.