IB Lang/Lit HL1 poetry terms

alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds.

anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of the line of poetry

assonance

The repeated use of vowel sounds: "Old king Cole was a merry old soul."

cacophony

In poetry, the use of grating, harsh, inharmonious sounds

caesura

A pause somewhere in the middle of a verse, often (but not always) marked by punctuation

connotation

Everything other than the literal meaning that a word suggests or implies.

consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within words (rather than at their beginnings)

couplet

A two-line stanza of poetry, usually rhymed

denotation

A word's literal meaning.

diction

The words an author chooses to use.

end-stopped

A term that describes a line of poetry that ends with a natural pause often indicated by a mark of punctuation.

enjambment

In poetry, the use of successive lines with no punctuation or pause between them

euphony

Pleasing, harmonious sounds

free verse

A kind of poetry without a regular rhyme scheme, rhythm, or fixed metrical pattern.

irony

Writing or speaking that implies the contrary of what is actually written or spoken. Can be verbal, situational, or dramatic.

juxtaposition

Items placed side by side in a literary text, usually for contrast or comparison

metaphor

A figure of speech that compares unlike objects without the use of "like" or "as"

mood

The emotional tone in a work of literature

parallelism

Repeated syntactical similarities used for effect.

persona

The eyes or voice or speaker of the poem; like a narrator in prose.

personification

A figure of speech in which objects and animals are given human characteristics in order to create imagery

quatrain

A stanza of poetry consisting of four lines

refrain

A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.

rhyme

The repetition of similar sounds at regular intervals, used mostly in poetry.

simile

A figurative comparison using the words like or as

speaker

The narrator or voice of a work; an author may speak as himself/herself or as a fictitious persona

symbolism

A device in literature where an object, place, character, or action represents an idea.

syntax

The ordering and structuring of words.

tone

The author's or speaker's attitude toward the subject being written about.

stanza

A group of lines forming a unit in a poem

figurative language

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

poetry

literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, compressed language, and rhythm

prose

written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.

line

basic unit of measurement in poetry