Literary Terms, Poetic Devices, and Rhetorical Devices

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds within words that are in close proximity to one another

Cadence

The natural flow or rhythm of human speech

Catalog

A list of people, things, or attributes

Conceit

An elaborate an extended metaphor

Connotation

The emotional response evoked by a word

Denotation

The literal meaning of a word

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within and at the ends of words in close proximity to each other

Diction

A writer's or speaker's choice of words

Enjambment

When a line of poetry has no end punctuation but runs over to the next line or even next stanza

Euphemism

Replaces an offensive term with a less offensive one

Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or for humorous effect

Metaphor

Compares two seemingly unlike things stated as a fact

Extended Metaphor

Compares two unlike things at some length in various ways

Metonymy

A figure of speech that substitutes name of a related object, person, or idea for subject at hand

Mood

The feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

Oxymoron

Combination of contradictory terms

Paradox

A statement that seems to contradict itself but may nevertheless suggest an important or deeper truth

Parallelism

Repetition in grammatical structure, expresses two or more ideas of equal worth using the same grammatical form

Personification

A figurative language in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Simile

Figurative language that directly expresses a comparison between two seemingly unlike things using some such word or phrase as like, as, than, similar to, resembles, or seems

Style

The distinctive way in which a work of literature is written.

Synesthesia

The presentation of one sense experience in terms usually associated with another sensation

Syntax

The grammatical structure of a sentence

Rhetorical Question

Is asked for an effect, used to raise emotion in the reader or listener and encourage them to think

Author's Purpose

A writer usually writes for one or more of these: to inform, to entertain, to express himself or herself, or to persuade the readers to believe or do something

Ballad

A lyric or narrative poem that was originally meant to be sung. Often contain dialogue and repetition and suggest more than they actually state. Traditional ones are written in four line stanzas with regular rhythm and rhyme

Carpe Diem Poetry

Latin for "seize the day"; poetry that encourages us to live each day to the fullest

Epic Poetry

Long narrative poems set in a remote time and place, and dealing with heroic characters and deeds important in the legends and history of a nation or race

Lyric

Short, personal poem expressing the poet's emotions and thoughts rather than telling a story

Metaphysical Poetry

Rebels against the conventional love poetry of the Elizabethans, with its predictable conceits, or comparisons.

Narrative Poem

Poem that tells a story and has all the essential elements of a short story: character, plot, setting, conflict, and theme

Sonnet

Poems written in 14 lines; two most important types are English and Italian

English Sonnet

A sonnet arranged into 3 quatrains, rhyming abab, cdcd, efef, followed by a rhyming couplet gg. The couplet is often an epigram, summing up the problem or concern developed in the quatrains

Italian Sonnet

A sonnet rearranged into two parts--an octave, consisting of the first 8 lines and rhyming abba, abba; and a sestet, the remaining 6 lines, which rhyme cde, cde. There is a turn between the octave and the sestet

Villanelle

A lyric poem made up of 5 stanzas of 3 lines plus a final stanza of four lines. Includes a refrain.

Blank Verse

A poem written in this consists of unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter

Caesura

A pause or break in a line of verse. Divided a foot between two words

Couplet

Two successive lines of poetry, usually in the same meter, that rhyme or the last two lines of an English sonnet

Free Verse

Poetry that does not follow any conventional use of meter

Heroic Couplet

A pair of rhyming iambic pentameter lines

Iambic Pentameter

A poetic line of 5 iambic feet: 10 syllables - unstressed followed by stressed

Pun

Occurs when one word has two different meanings, usually creating humor

Quatrain

A stanza of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed

Rhyme

Internal: rhyming words within a single line, Masculine: rhyme sounds involve only one syllable, Feminine: involves two or more syllables

Slant/Imperfect Rhyme

Words that almost rhyme, usually with different vowel sounds and similar consonant sounds

Terza Rima

An interlocking rhyme scheme: aba bcb cdc

Repetition

A rhetorical device reiterating a word or phrase, or rewording the same idea, to secure emphasis

Tone

The writer's attitude toward his or her subject

Asyndeton

Connects words or phrases in a series without using conjunctions, connectives

Polysyndeton

The repetition of connectives or conjunctions