HL Lit Poetic Devices and Terminology

alliteration

The repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginnings of words.

allusion

A brief, intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or movement.

ambiguity

A word, phrase, or statement containing more than one meaning; openness of language to different interpretations.

antithesis

A figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas.

cacophony

Describes words that are harsh sounding.

caesura

A pause, usually near the middle of a line of verse, often created by punctuation, and often greater than the normal pause.

conceit

An extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem.

connotation

The cultural or emotional meaning of a word; suggesting a meaning apart from its explicit definition.

denotation

The dictionary definition of a word.

diction

The use of specific word choice in a literary work, can be formal, informal, colloquial, or slang.

didactic poem

A poem intended primarily to teach a lesson.

ekphrasis

A poem based on a picture or work of art.

elegy

A sustained and formal poem that meditates upon death or another solemn theme.

em dash

A punctuation mark used to replace commas, parentheses, colons, and semicolons.

end-stopped

A line with a pause at the end, marked by punctuation.

enjambment

The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next.

envelope/envelope verse

A structural device in poetry where a line or stanza is repeated to enclose the poem.

epigraph

A quotation on the title page of a book or heading a section of work, encapsulating theme/meaning.

euphony

Describes words that are pleasant sounding and melodious.

extended metaphor

An implied analogy carried throughout a stanza or entire poem.

fixed form poem

A poem categorized by the pattern of its lines, meter, rhythm, or stanzas.

free form/free verse poem

Nonmetrical, non-rhyming lines closely following the natural rhythms of speech.

hyperbole

A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration.

idiom

A short expression peculiar to a language that conveys a figurative meaning.

imagery

Language that appeals to the five senses.

intertextuality

The way that one text influences another, through direct or indirect borrowing.

irony

The contrast between the actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning.

line break

A poetic device used at the end of a line that can create enjambment.

lyric/lyrical poem

A short poem that presents a single speaker expressing thoughts and feelings.

metaphor

A figurative use of language comparing two objects without using comparative terms.

metonymy

A form of metaphor in which a word associated with something is used in place of the actual word.

mixed metaphors

The mingling of one metaphor with another that is incongruous.

mood

The atmosphere or feeling created in a work of literature by the author.

narrative poem

A poem that tells a story or presents a narrative.

onomatopoeia

The use of words whose sound suggests their meaning.

oxymoron

A form of paradox combining a pair of contrary terms into a single expression.

pantoum

A structured poem comprising a series of quatrains with repeated lines.

paradox

A situation or feeling that appears contradictory but turns out to be true.

parallelism

A similar grammatical structure within a line or lines of poetry.

personification

Giving inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics.

pun

A play on words that are identical in sound but have diverse meanings.

refrain

A specific form of repetition where a phrase is repeated at intervals in a poem.

repetition

Repeating a word, phrase, or sentence within a poem for emphasis.

simile

A directly expressed comparison using 'like,' 'as,' or 'than.'

stanza

A division or unit of a poem, similar to a paragraph.

structure

The arrangement of materials within a work; the relationship of parts to the whole.

symbol

Something that is itself and also a sign of something else.

synecdoche

A form of metaphor where mentioning a part signifies the whole.

synesthesia

The blending of the senses in figurative language.

syntax

The ordering of words into patterns or sentences.

tone

The manner in which an author/speaker expresses their attitude.

understatement

Deliberately representing something as much less than it really is.