Connotations
Idea or feeling that a word evokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning
Denotation
The literal meaning of a word
Imagery
Elements of a poem that invoke any of the 5 senses to create mental images. Specifically, using vivid or figurative languages to represent ideas, objects, or actions
Stanza
Grouping of lines separated from others in a poem
Paragraph in poetry
Verse
Line of poetry
Enjambment
Running over a sentence/phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation: opposite of end-stopped
Terminal Punctuation : Without punctuation that ends a sentence
Rhyme Scheme
Pattern of rhyming in a poem, identified with letters
End Rhyme
Rhyme that occurs in the last syllables of verses
Ex. A bear, however hard he tries,
grows tubby without exercise
Internal Rhyme
Rhyme between a word within a line and another word either at the end of the same line or another line
Ex. I could spend hours walking in the flowers.
Sight Rhyme
Agreement in spelling, but not in sound
Ex. Listen to the water flow,
from above I don ´ t see how.
Couplet
A pair of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length
Oxymoron
Figure of speech that bring together contradictory words for effect
Ex. Jumbo Shrimp, Pretty Ugly, Bittersweet, Original copy
Paradox
A seemingly self-contradictory phrase or concept
Ex. My weakness is my strength
Repetition
The use of the same word/phrase multiple times
Allusion
Brief intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or movement
Ex. Your backyard is a Garden of Eden.
Chocolate cake is my Achilles heel.
Apostrophe
An address to a dead or absent person
Hyperbole
Figure of speech composed of a striking exaggeration
Ex. My bagpack weighs a ton!
Figurative Language
Way of expressing oneself that does not use a word´s strict or realistic meaning
Metaphor
Comparison that is made directly or less direct
Ex. The snow is a white blanket.
Time is money
Simile
Comparison using like or as
Ex. My cat is as blind as a bat.
The dress fits like a glove.
Personification
Figure of speech in which the poet describes an abstraction, a thing, or a nonhuman form as it was a person.
Ex. The sun smiled down on us.
Justice is blind.
The wind howled in the night.
Portmanteau
Word blending the sounds and combining the meaning of two others
Ex. Spork, Brunch, Skort
Aliteration
Repetition of initial stressed, consonant sounds in a series of words within a phrase or verse line.
Ex. Peter Piper picked a peck a pickled peppers.
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called a vowel rhyme.
Ex. The high tide in the night sky.
Euphony
Pleasing and harmonious (soft pleasing sounds)
Cacophony
Harsh or discordant sounds
Onomatopoeia
Figure of speech in which the sound of a word imitates its meaning
Ex. Boom, Click, Clack
Consonance
Repetition of consonant sounds with different vowel sound
Ex. The happy hippo jumped up and down