Poetry Terms 10HLAC

caesura

pause within a line marked by punctuation

connotation

emotional associations/implied meaning of a word. figurative

denotation

dictionary definition of a word

diction

word choice

enjambment

idea/sentence carries to next line without a pause in punctuation

free verse

poetry w/o meter or rhyme scheme

juxtaposition

placement of two ideas, characters, or themes side by side

mood

atmosphere/emotion that is evoked in readers

shift

change in tone, perspective, subject matter, or structure

syntax

arrangement of words/phrases

tone

attitude the poet expresses

allusion

reference to something outside the text

apostrophe

addressing something not present in the poem

hyperbole

exaggeration

metonymy

replacing a word or idea with something related to it

oxymoron

combining contradictory words

paradox

self-contradictory statement

personification

giving human characteristics to something nonhuman

synecdoche

using a part of something to signify a whole

imagery

visually descriptive or figurative language

metaphor

figurative comparison where something is applied that isn’t literally applicable

simile

comparing two things with like or as

symbol

thing that represents or stands for something else

understatement

making something seem less important than it is

alliteration

occurence of same letter or sound at the beginning of closely connected words

assonance

repetition of a vowel or sound in nonrhyming syllables

blank verse

verse w/o rhyme in iambic pentameter: 10 syllables per line

couplet

consecutive lines with the same meter & rhyme

dissonance

harsh, jarring, inharmonious sounds disrupting a verse

onomatopoeia

written form of a sound

quatrain

stanza or poem consisting of four lines

repetition

repeating stuff

approximate/slant rhyme

sounds match but not exactly the same

end rhyme

last words rhyme

internal rhyme

rhyme occuring within a single line or between internal phrases across multiple lines

meter

regular pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables

antithesis

sentences w/ opposite meaning but same structure

anaphora

repetition at the beginning of sentences

asyndeton

conjunctions are omitted

epistrophe

repetition at the ends of sentences

hypophora

asking and then immediately answering a question

litotes

emphasis using not or negative to prove a point: ex not bad

parallelism

repetition of grammatical elements

polysyndeton

lots of conjunctions

rhetorical question

question posed not meant to be answered