Elements of Poetry and Literary Devices

Vocabulary flashcards defining rhetorical, comparative, structural, sound, and point of view elements of poetry and drama.

Irony

Refers to the appearance of things being different from reality.

Verbal irony

Occurs when there is a difference between what is said and what is actually meant. Sarcasm is an unsophisticated form of this.

Dramatic irony

A situation in which the reader or audience knows more about the immediate circumstances or future events of a story than a character within it, seeing a discrepancy between characters' perceptions and the reality they face.

Situational irony

Occurs when the opposite of what can be expected occurs.

Juxtaposition

Placing things side by side, with the outcome being that specific qualities are contrasted.

Litotes

An understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.

Metaphor

An implied comparison, not directly stated, but suggested.

Metonymy

A figure of speech based on association; something concrete that is strongly associated with a bigger idea is used to represent that idea.

Neologism

The process of creating new words and phrases through writing or speaking.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech involving word arrangement where words of opposite meaning are combined for effect.

Comparative Devices

Patterns of imagery and/or symbolism employed in a poem to represent objects, ideas, and experiences, or suggest that one thing stands for another, altering or extending literal meaning to communicate or persuade.

Allegory

A narrative which has both a literal meaning and a representative one.

Allusion

A figure of speech that makes brief reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object.

Analogy

A comparison of two things, alike in certain aspects; particularly a method used in description by which something unfamiliar is explained by comparing it to something more familiar.

Antithesis

A device in which two opposite things or ideas are placed side by side for contrasting effect.

Chiasmus

When words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

Conceit

An extended metaphor.

Paradox

A statement, pair of statements, or even the exploration of an idea that seems contradictory upon first glance.

Personification

A form of metaphor in which ideas or inanimate objects are given human characteristics that are exclusive to human beings as an intentional effect.

Pun

A play on words that exploits the multiple meanings of a word, or else replaces one word with another that is similar in sound but has a very different meaning.

Simile

A directly stated comparison between two different things, usually (but not always) using 'like' or 'as'.

Symbolism

A device in which symbols are used to represent ideas or qualities, beyond an object's literal meaning.

Synecdoche

A device where a part of something is substituted for the whole.

Zeugma

A device where one verb is used to mean two different things for two different objects.

Meter

The basic rhythmic structure of a line within a work of poetry, consisting of the number of syllables and a pattern of emphasis on those syllables.

Foot

An individual unit within a line of poetry that has a specific number of syllables and a specific pattern of emphasis.

lamb

Repetitions of unstressed-stressed syllables (duh-DUH).

lambic Pentameter

The most common form of verse that Shakespeare used to write his plays, where each line is ten syllables long.

Anapest

Repetitions of unstressed-unstressed-stressed syllables (duh-duh-DUH).

Trochee

Repetitions of stressed-unstressed syllables (DUH-duh).

Dactyl

Repetitions of stressed-unstressed-unstressed syllables (DUH-duh-duh).

Rhyme

One of two or more words or phrases that end in the same sounds.

Internal Rhyme

Two rhyming words juxtaposed inside of the line.

End Rhyme

Two rhyming words juxtaposed at the end of the line.

Point of View Devices

Devices referring to the role the speaker plays in a poem, taking into consideration both viewpoint and tone of the persona, the receiver of the message, and vocabulary decorum.

Apostrophe

An instance when the speaker talks to a person or object that is absent from the poem.

Aside

A remark or comment directed to the audience by a character that is not heard by any other character on stage.

Monologue

A long form speech delivered by a single character in a play or a film.

Soliloquy

A speech by a character that is shared only with the audience, and no other character on stage.

Stichomythia

Dialogue in which a single line spoken by one character is answered by another character's line that plays off the language of the first.

Structural Devices

Conventions associated with a poem's type and style that serve to express thoughts and feelings, tell stories, and exemplify character voice.

Anaphora

A structural device where the same phrase repeats at the beginning of each line.

End-Stopped Lines

Lines which end on a period or on a natural break in the sentence.

Enjambment

A line break that interrupts the flow of a sentence.

Repetition

Repeating words or phrases for emphasis.

Sound Devices

The sonic qualities of a poem, referring to how it appeals to the ear or sounds when read aloud, working together with rhythm to reveal theme or message.

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds in words close together, particularly using letters at the beginning of words or stressed syllables.

Assonance

Same or similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables that end with different consonant sounds.

Cacophony

Occurs when the poet uses harsh, staccato sounds repeatedly.

Catalexis

Omission or incompleteness, usually in the last foot of a line in metrical verse.

Consonance

A form of near-rhyme where words end with similar consonant sounds, though the vowels preceding them differ.

Dissonance

An intentional disruption of harmonic sounds or rhythms depending on the organization of sound for a jarring effect rather than the unpleasantness of individual words.

lision

The removal of an unstressed syllable or letter from a word in order to mix words together and decrease overall syllables.

hony

Words or sentences which flow pleasantly and sound sweetly.

matopoeia

Words that suggest their meaning by their sound.