AP Literature and Composition Poem Vocab Terms Quarter 2

Alliteration

Repetitive use of the same sound near the beginning of several words.

Consonance

The repetition of similar consonant sounds in a sequence of words or syllables (Example: Suzy whispers sweet nothings to her lovers).

Couplet

A two-line, rhyming stanza

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in a sequence of words (Example: I enjoy pie on the 4th of July).

Free Verse

A form of poetry that does not have a regular rhythm or rhyme scheme (no prescribed structure).

Internal Rhyme

A poetic device defined as metrical lines in which middle words and end words rhyme with one another.

Quatrain

A four-line stanza

Epistrophe

Repetition of a word/phrase at the end of successive lines.

Enjambment

A poetic technique in which one line ends without pause and must continue on to the next line to complete its meaning.

Elegy

A contemplative poem, on death and mortality, often written for someone who has died.

Lyric

A short poem expressing the personal feelings of a first-person speaker.

Tone

The author’s attitude towards the poem’s subject, speaker, or audience.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word/phrase at the beginning of successive lines of poetry or prose.

Slant Rhyme

A type of rhyme with words that have similar, but not identical, sounds.

Paradox

A figure of speech in which a word or statement seems contradictory but actually is not.

Extended Metaphor

A comparison that goes on for multiple sentences, stanzas, or paragraphs.