Poetry Terms for IB SUMMATIVE

Event

event in a poem

speaker

the voice of the poem

message

whatever a speaker communicates to someone else

tone

Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character

poetry shift

Changes in speaker or attitude from the beginning to the end. Look for key words, time change, punctuation.

symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

personification

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

alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds. "Peter Piper picked a pepper"

smell imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of smell

tactile imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of touch

visual imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of sight

sound imagery

Descriptive language that evokes auditory sensations.

consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity. "Mike likes his own bike"

assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds. "He eats the sweet treats"

syntax

Sentence structure

diction

A writer's or speaker's choice of words

Shakespearean sonnet

a sonnet consisting three quatrains and a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern

abab cdcd efef gg

Petrarchan sonnet

a sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd

sound and sense

the use of sound devices to match the meaning of the poem

poem form

The organizing principle or structure of a poem.

rhyme

Repetition of sounds at the end of words

stanza

A group of lines in a poem

free verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

rhythm/meter

the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in spoken or written language

common feet

iamb: U /; trochee: / U; dactyl: / U U; anapest: U U /; pyrrhic: U U; spondee: / /; ex. common metric foot consisting of long/short followed by...

iamb

unstressed, stressed

dactyl

stressed, unstressed, unstressed

trochee

stressed, unstressed

anapest

unstressed, unstressed, stressed

line

line in a poem

enjambment

the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

foot

A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables.

setting

where and when the story takes place

couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

tercet

three line stanza

quatrain

A four line stanza

quintain

5 line stanza

sestet

six line stanza

octave

8 line stanza

pre-life

pre authors life?

post life

post authors life

ambiguity

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. "Little Lamb, where art thee?"

dimeter

two feet per line

trimeter

3 feet per line

tetrameter

4 feet per line

pentameter

five feet

synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa. "Thats a nice set of wheels"

anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

litotes

A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite

metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it. Association vs part-whole

repetition

Repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis