English 3201 Poetry

Poetry

Writing intended to elicit an emotional response from the reader without conventions of prose; syludes alad, sun pet, lin, ric, elp, is verse,

Literal Meaning

What the poem is actually saying

Figurative Meaning

The underlying or deeper meaning

Poetic Device

Terms used to describe features of poetic writing (alliteration, simile, etc)

Prose

Prose-the ordinary form of spoken or written language that has no metrical rhythm; contrasts with poetic writing or verse; uses conventions such as sentences, capitalization, paragraphs, titles, etc.; includes short story, novel, etc

Stanza

Separated from one another by the use of spaces within a poem

Ballad

A narrative poem or song that tells a popular story, often of physical courage or love

Concrete

A poem whose shape or visual appearance contribute to its meaning

Elegy

A type of lyric poem that expressed sadness for someone who had dried; traditionally a solemn meditation on a serious subject

Epic

A long, narrative poem dealing with the actions of legendary men and women or the history of nations, often presented in a good ceremonies style

Free Verse

Poems characterized by their nonconformity to established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza

Haiku

A seventeen syllable poem. It has three lines. The first has 5, the second has 7 and the third has 5. Many are about nature

Sonnet

A 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter

Found

A poem created from clippings of magazines and newspapers

Lyric

A poem that expresses intense personal thoughts, moods and emotion

Legend

A historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief

Alliteration

The repetition of the beginning sounds in groups of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable (descending dew drops)

Assonance

The close repetition of the same vowel sounds between different consonants (brave - vain, feel-sleet)

Couplet

Two lines of verse with similar end-rhymes

Dialect

The way a language is spoken in a particular region or place

Refrain

A phrase, line, or lines repeated in a poem; often called the chorus in song lyrics

Repetition

The deliberate use of the word, words or events to create an effect

Rephrasing

To repeat phrase again in a same or different manner

Rhyme

The same sound occurring in different words

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other

Rhythm

Pattern of accented and unaccented, stressed and unstressed, syllables in written or spoken language

Onomatopoeia

The sound of a word resemble its meaning (hiss, buzz)

Metre

a recurring pattern of stressed (accented, or long) and unstressed (unaccented, or short) syllables in lines of a set length

Apostrophe

Is a poetic device which uses words to address to someone or something absent or silent, as if it were present and alive, or capable to making a reply.

Figurative language

Language that used figure of speech, such as simile, metaphor, personification, and alliteration; used extensively to create imagery

Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement used not to deceive, but for humorous or dramatic effect. “It rained cats and dogs”

Metaphor

A comparison NOT using ‘like’ or ‘as’. “You are a dog”

Oxymoron

When contradictory words are placed together for the purpose of expressing deep feelings, or to emphasize a point. “Cold fire”

Personification

A literary device in which human qualities or actions are attributed to non-human beings or objects

Simile

A comparison of two unlike things using “like” and “as”

Allegory

A story illustrating an idea or moral principle in which objects take on a symbolic meaning

Allusion

A reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work, can also reference something from popular culture, religion or history

Deconstruction

Breaking a text down into its components to see what messages and assumptions it carries

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces