AP Literature Poetry Terms

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering literary terms, poetic devices, figures of speech, rhythm, and meter for AP Literature.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row, used deliberately to make the writer's point more coherent.

Anastrophe

The inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence, used for rhythm, emphasis, or euphony.

Antithesis

The balancing of words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure.

Anthropomorphism

Attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object (personification).

Aphorism

A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted general truth (also called a maxim or epigram).

Apostrophe

Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea; called an invocation if asking a god or goddess for inspiration.

Apposition

Placing in immediately succeeding order two or more coordinate elements, the latter of which is an explanation, qualification, or modification of the first (often set off by a colon).

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words that are together.

Caesura

A break or pause in a line of verse (pronounced see-ZOO-ra), categorized into three types based on where it appears in the line.

Initial Caesura

A type of caesura where the pause appears at or near the beginning of the line.

Medial Caesura

The most common type of caesura, consisting of a pause in the middle of the line.

Terminal Caesura

A pause appearing at or near the end of the line.

Cliche

A word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse.

Conceit

An elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different; often an extended metaphor.

Confessional Poetry

A twentieth-century term used to describe poetry that uses intimate material from the poet’s life.

Connotation

The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.

Couplet

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.

Elegy

A poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died.

Eulogy

Great praise or commendation; a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died.

Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break.

Epic

A long narrative poem written in heightened language that recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society.

Epistrophe

A device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences (the opposite of anaphora).

Epithet

An adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality.

Homeric Epithet

A compound adjective used with a person or thing, such as "swift-footed Achilles" or "rosy-fingered dawn."

Figurative Language

Words that are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe; common forms include similes and metaphors.

Free Verse

Poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement for effect.

Imagery

The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.

Inversion

The reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.

Juxtaposition

A poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit.

Litotes

A form of understatement (pronounced li' to' teez) in which the positive form is emphasized through the negation of a negative form.

Lyric Poem

A poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of specific words of comparison such as like, as, than, or resembles.

Implied Metaphor

A metaphor that does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison.

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it (termed a conceit if it is quite elaborate).

Dead Metaphor

A metaphor that has been used so often that the comparison is no longer vivid (such as "the head of the house").

Mixed Metaphor

A metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible.

Mood

An atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words whose sounds echo their sense, such as "Pop" or "Zap."

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase (e.g., "Jumbo shrimp," "Pretty ugly").

Pace

The speed or tempo at which a poem unfolds and is experienced by the reader, dictated by line breaks, caesura, meter, syntax, and sounds.

Paradox

A statement that appears self-contradictory, but reveals a kind of truth.

Parallel Structure (Parallelism)

The repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.

Parody

A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style.

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

Pun

A "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.

Quatrain

A poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.

Refrain

A word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer.

Romance

In general, a story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful.

Satire

A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.

Simile

A figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles.

Soliloquy

A long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage.

Style

The distinctive way in which a writer uses language, marked by distinctive use of diction, tone, and syntax.

Symbol

A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.

Tone

The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.

Rhythm

A rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.

Foot

A rhythmic unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

Meter

A combination of the type of foot and the number of feet in a poetic line.

Monometer

A line of verse consisting of one foot.

Dimeter

A line of verse consisting of two feet.

Trimeter

A line of verse consisting of three feet.

Tetrameter

A line of verse consisting of four feet.

Pentameter

A line of verse consisting of five feet.

Hexameter

A line of verse consisting of six feet.

Heptameter

A line of verse consisting of seven feet.

Octameter

A line of verse consisting of eight feet.

Iambic Foot

A two-syllable foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable ($- /$).

Trochaic Foot

A two-syllable foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable ($/ -$).

Spondaic Foot

A two-syllable foot consisting of two stressed syllables ($/ /$).

Anapestic Foot

A three-syllable foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable ($- - /$).

Dactylic Foot

A three-syllable foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables ($/ - -$).

Cacophony

Harsh, discordinant sounds

Euphony

sweet, pleasant sounds