Poetry Terms and Tools

Flashcards of poetry terms and tools

Denotation

the dictionary meaning of a word

Literal meaning

limited to the simplest, ordinary, most obvious meaning

Connotation

the implied or suggested meaning connected with a word

Figurative meaning

associative or connotative meaning; representational

Meter

measured pattern of rhythmic accents in a line of verse

Rhyme

correspondence of terminal sounds of words or of lines of verse

Enjambment

Continuing a line after the line breaks.

Juxtaposition

Placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences.

Apostrophe

a direct address of an inanimate object, abstract qualities, or a person not living or present.

Hyperbole

exaggeration for emphasis (the opposite of understatement)

Understatement/Litotes

deliberately underplaying or deemphasizing

Metaphor

comparison between essentially unlike things without using words OR application of a name or description to something to which it is not literally applicable

Oxymoron

a combination of two words that appear to contradict each other

Paradox

a situation or phrase that appears to be contradictory, but which contains a truth worth considering

Personification

giving inanimate objects or abstract concepts human qualities or characteristics

Pun

play on words OR a humorous use of a single word or sound with two or more implied meanings; quibble

Synecdoche

a part substituted for the whole

Metonymy

a closely related term substituted for an object or idea

Imagery

word or sequence of words representing a sensory experience (using the 5 senses: visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory)

Simile

comparison between two essentially unlike things using words such as "like," as," or "as though"

Symbol

an object or action that stands for something beyond itself

Allusion

a reference to the person, event, or work outside the poem or literary piece

Anaphora

When a word/phrase is repeated at the start of successive clauses.

Dissonance

A disruption of harmonic sounds or rhythms. Depends on the organization of sound for a jarring effect.

Alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds, particularly at the beginning of words in successive clauses.

Assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds

Onomatopoeia

the use of words to imitate the sounds they describe

Repetition

intentionally repeats the same words or phrases or stanzas

Rhyme

same or similar sounds occur in two or more words, usually at the end of lines

Stress

greater amount of force used to pronounce one syllable over another

Pause (caesura)

a pause for a beat in the rhythm of the verse (often indicated by a line break or a mark of punctuation)

Meter

meter containing metrical feet that move from unstressed to stressed syllables

iambic (iamb)

a metrical foot containing two syllables--the first is unstressed, while the second is stressed

anapestic (anapest)

a metrical foot containing three syllables--the first two are unstressed, while the last is stressed

trochaic (trochee)

a metrical foot containing two syllables--the first is stressed, while the second is unstressed

dactylic (dactyl)

a metrical foot containing three syllables--the first is stressed, while the last two are unstressed

Stanza

unit of a poem often repeated in the same form throughout a poem; a unit of poetic lines ("verse paragraph")

Parallelism

Also known as parallel structure, is when phrases in a sentence have similar or the same grammatical structure.

Hypophora

Figure of speech where a writer raises a question and then immediately answers it.

Polysyndeton

Uses multiple repetitions of the same conjunctions (and, but, if, etc.)

Epistrophe

When a certain phrase or word is repeated at the end of a sentence or clause that follows each other.

Asyndeton

Is skipping one or more conjunction (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet) which are usually used in a series of phrases

Antithesis

Contrasting or combining two terms, phrases or clauses with opposite meanings.

Blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Free verse

lines with no prescribed pattern or structure

Couplet

a pair of lines, usually rhymed

Quatrain

four-line stanza or grouping of four lines of verse

Punctuation

Related to the way a poem is written and how the format can change the poem's meaning.

Sentence structure

Related to the way a poem is written and how the format can change the poem's meaning.