ENGL102 vocab

assonance

repetition of vowel sounds in a sequence of words with different endings

Alliteration

the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds through a sequence of words

Apostrophe

figure of speech in which a speaker or narrator addresses an abstraction, an object, or a dead or absent person

Couplet

two consecutive lines of verse linked by rhyme and meter

Diction

word choice

Dramatic Monologue

a poem in which the speaker speaks for the whole poem and reveals something to the audience

End-stopped

line of verse that contains or concludes a complete clause and usually ends with a punctuation mark

Enjambment

the technique of running over from one line to the next without stop

imagery

the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, to call to mind an idea or to describe an object

metaphor

figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared implicitly (without the use of like or as)

meter

the more or less regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

pentameter

line of poetry with 5 feet

rhyme

repetition or correspondence of the terminal sounds of words

slant rhyme

words at the end of a line of poetry that end in similar but not identical consonant sounds

speaker

the person who is the voice of a poem or anyone who speaks dialogue in a work of fiction, poetry, or drama

Ode

lyric poem characterized by a serious topic and formal tone but without a prescribed formal pattern in which the speaker talks about, and often to, an especially revered person or thing

Symbolism

the use of a person, place, thing, or event that figuratively represents or stands for something else

Personification

figure of speech that involves treating something nonhuman as if it were a person by giving it humanlike qualities

tetrameter

a line of poetry with 4 feet

Sonnet

fixed verse form consisting of 14 lines (usually in iambic pentameter)

foot

the basic unit of poetic meter; consisting of any various fixed patterns of 1-3 stressed and unstressed syllables

Blank verse

unrhymed lines often in iambic pentameter. Has no stanzas and is broken up into uneven units determined by sense rather than form.

Explication

a full analysis of what a poem means, and how it achieves that meaning

Irony

contradictory statements or situations that reveal a reality that is different from what appears to be true

Poetry

one of three major genres of imaginative literature characterized by controlled patterns of rhythm and syntax

Quatrain

4 line stanza of poetry either standalone or part of a larger poem

Romantic

Era in poetry from 1798-1865 and includes poets such as Keats, Wordsworth, and Dickinson. It emphasizes nature self-reliance, intuition, and emotions.

stanza

section of a poem (marked by extra line spacing before and after)

syntax

word order