Poetry/Shakespearean Sonnets

iambic pentameter

Unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Repeated by a process of 5 times with 10 syllables per line.

alliteration

Words that start with the same letter; the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

onomatopoeia

Words that are sounds in a text.

repetition

When a word or phrase is said or written again and again.

rhyme

Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words.

simile

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as.

metaphor

A simile without 'like' or 'as'.

personification

An object that is given human-like qualities.

hyperbole

A word or phrase that is exaggerated.

allusion

When the author refers to something or someone that is not in the story.

syntax

An arrangement of words/phrases to create a well-formed sentence.

quatrain

A stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes.

couplet (rhyming couplet)

The final rhyming pair at the end of a Shakespearean Sonnet.

volta

A twist in the poem's theme, often occurring before the end couplet.