AP Literature Poetry Terms

alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds that occur at the beginning of words or the beginning of syllables that appear close together. (ex. “descending dew drops”)

allusion

an indirect or implied reference to a person, place, or prior text.

topical allusion

a reference to a specific real event.

personal allusion

a reference to circumstances in the author’s life.

metaphorical allusion

a reference to prior works, that inserted into the new work, endow the latter with another layer of significance.

imitative allusion

a reference to another work by imitating its rhetoric, genre, or phrases.

anaphora

the exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences (a type of parallelism)

assonance

a repetition of similar internal vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words that are close together, usually in stressed syllables (ex. “asleep under a tree” or “each evening”)

cacophony

discordant or harsh sounds that are often introduced for poetic effect or mirror the meaning of the object to which it refers.

caesura

the pause that occurs in the middle of a line due to punctuation often used for a rhythmic effect.

connotation

the subjective, cultural, and emotional definition of a word.

consonance

the repetition of internal or final consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds; a type of approximate/slant rhyme (ex. “home” and “same; “worth” & “breath”).

diction

a writer’s or speaker’s choice of words. can be evaluated by its meaning, reference, occasion, rhetorical purpose, and social status.

concrete diction

refers to what we immediately perceive with our senses.

abstract diction

words that express general ideas or concepts.

high diction

latinate, multisyllabic words.

middle diction

the language one hears in casual & polite conversation.

low diction

casual slang/street language.

poetic diction

uses flowery vocabulary that substitutes fanciful epithets and inverted syntax for simple names and direct word order.

end rhyme

rhyme that occurs at the end of lines.

end stopped line

end of the line is marked with punctuation.

enjambment

line runs on to the next line without a mark of punctuation; often tugs at the meaning and creates tension. (ex. “I live in a doorway/between two rooms”).

euphony

language that has both a melodious sound and harmonious relation to meaning, so that the words please and comfort the ears and mind.

extended metaphor

a metaphor that continues for more than one sentence (ex. “all the world’s a stage, and the men and women merely players. they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.”).

hyperbole

an exaggerated statement that adds emphasis.

imagery

the use of words to create sensory impressions including sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch.

internal rhyme

rhyme that occurs within the lines of a poem.

juxtaposition

placement of two opposing ideas, characters, or objects nearly side by side for a heightened effect.

line

a sequence of words printed as a separate entity on a page, in a poem.

metaphor

a compare between two seemingly unlike things without using the connective words “like”, “as”, “than”, or “resembles”; a direct comparison.

parallelism/parallel structure.

the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.

personification

a figure of speech that applies human characteristics to nonhuman objects. allows the author to dramatize the nonhuman world in human terms.

shift/volta/turn

a turn of thought or argument in a poem.

sibilance

repetition of s or sh sounds, as in “sash”.

simile

a comparison between two seemingly unlike things using the words “like”, “as”, “than”, or “resembles”.

speaker

voice used by the poet or author to tell a poem or story; often a created identity that is not automatically equated with the poet or author.

stanza

a section of a poem, marked by extra line spacing before and after, that often has a single pattern of meter and/or rhyme.

couplet

a pair of consecutive rhyming lines.

quatrain

a stanza consisting of four lines.

sestet

a stanza consisting of six lines.

octet

a stanza consisting of eight lines.

tone

the attitude a writer takes toward a subject as expressed by choice of words and details.