ap lit

memorize terms

alliteration

the repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words

allusion

a reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance.

assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words

ballad meter

a poetic form consisting of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, typically used in narrative poetry. abcb

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter, often used in English dramatic and epic poetry.

caesura

a pause or break within a line of poetry that can create a dramatic effect or emphasize a point.

consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds in close proximity, often used to create rhythm or unify a poem's sound.

couplet

a pair of successive rhyming lines in a poem, often expressing a complete thought or idea.

heroic couplet

two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed, aa, bb, cc

irony

contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning

meter

repetition of regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry

poetic foot

group of syllables in a verse usually consisting of one accented syllable

iambic

u /

trochaic

/ u

anapestic

u u /

dactylic

/ u u

pyrrhic

u u

spondaic

/ /

quatrain

4 line stanza with combination of rhymes

rhythm

recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables

scansion

a system of describing the meter of a poem by identifying the number and types of feet per line

simile

figure of speech comparing two objects

sonnet

14 line iambic pentameter sonnet