Poetic Devices

Good luck

connotation

The implied meaning of a word (not the dictionary meaning)

allegory

a tale in which characters, actions, or setting represent abstract moral qualities

slant rhyme

words that sound very similar, such as “Bieber” and “fever”

vernacular

the language spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region

dialect

a representation of the speech patterns of a particular country or region

syntax

grammatical sentence structure including: sentence parts, sentence length, word order, and punctuation

protagonist

the main character in a drama or other literary work

personification

when an inanimate object is given human qualities or abilities

end rhyme

when the last word at the end of two or more lines rhyme

antagonist

one who opposed the main character in a drama or other literary work

hyperbole

an extreme exaggeration for literary effect that is not meant to be interpreted literally

alliteration

the repetition of the same initial consonant sounds in consecutive or nearby words

blank verse

poetry that does not rhyme

free verse

poetry that does not have a regular rhythm or rhyme

parable

a short story designed to reveal a moral lesson, religious principle or general truth

meter

a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

denotation

the dictionary or literal meaning of a word

diction

a writer’s choice of words, particularly for clarity and effectiveness

tone

the expression of the author’s attitude toward his/her subject matter and audience; it’s created through diction, detail, figurative language, imagery, and syntax

assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds in consecutive or nearby words

iambic pentameter

the most common verse line in English poetry; it consists of five verse feet, each with an unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable

onomatopoeia

the use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to

internal rhyme

when two words in the same line of verse rhyme

consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the ends of words

allusion

a reference to previous literature, history, pop culture/current events that the author expect the reader to recognize is called a(n):

rhyme scheme

this describes the pattern of end rhymes in a poem; it’s designated by a different letter of the alphabet for each new rhyme

antithesis

“They promised freedom and provided slavery” is an example of the rhetorical device knowns as:

climax

The point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action inof a piece of literature is called the:

Theme

the big ideas or central messages in a story or poem

two consecutive lines of verse that rhyme are called a(n):

couplet

What describes the use of a symbol in a literary piece?

a literary device that uses something to represent something else

in literature, a denouement is:

the final resolution of a plot complication or climax

stanza

a group of lines forming a unit in a poem is called a(n):

details

in writing, the facts, observations, and incidents used to develop a subject are called:

sonnet

a fixed form of lyric poetry that consists of 14 lines, usually written in iambic pentameter, is called a(n):

pupose of an ellipsis

to indicate the omission of material from a quotation

simile

a comparison that uses “like” or “as”

figurative language

Words that are inaccurate if interpreted literally but are used to describe are called this. (Similes and metaphors are common forms)

satire

type of writing that ridicules the shortcoming of people or in situations in an attempt to bring about a change

foreshadowing

the writer’s hints as to what is going to happen

a rehetorical question is a question that:

has an obvious answer, so no response is expected

imagery

creating word pictures that appeal to one or more of the five senses

quatrain

a stanza or poem of four lines unified by a rhyme scheme

literal meaning of a word

most obvious (non-figurative) meaning

parallelism

the repitition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures (such as “I came, I saw, I conquered”)

oxymorons

“bitter sweet,” “jumbo shrimp,” and “living death,” are examples

metaphor

a comparison that does not use “like” or “as"

stereotype

a character that is ordinary or unoriginal that the character seems like an oversimplified representation of a type, gender, class, religious group, or occupation

round character

a complex character that undergoes development, sometimes sufficiently to suprise the reader

flat character

a two-dimensional, relatively uncomplicated character that doesn’t change throughoutroun the course of a story

stock character

a character type that appears repeatedly in a particular literary genre (such as a hard-drinking private investigator in detective novels)

dynamic character

a character that undergoes an important and basic change in personality or outlook

direct characterization

when an author reveals the personality of a fictitious character through the use of descriptive adjectives and phrases

indirect characterization

when an author reveals the personality of a fictitious character throughout the character’s speech, actions, etc.

internal conflict

in a story, when a character struggles with his psychological tendencies (drug addiction, self-destructive behavior, etc.

external conflict

in a story, when there is opposition between two characters, two large groups of people, or between the protagonist and a larger problem such as forces of nature, ideas, public mores etc.

third-person

when the narrator of a story seems to be someone standing outside the story who refers to all the characters by name as he, she, they, and so on

limited

when the narrator of a story is confined to what is experienced, thought, or felt by single character, or at most a few characters

first-person

when the narrator of a story speaks as “I” and is a character in the story who may or may not influence events within it

omnicient

when the narrator of a story knows everything that needs to be known about the events and events in the story, is free to move at will in time and place, and has privileged access to a character’s thoughts, feelings, and motives