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Alliteration
Repeating letters at the start of words, next to or near to each other.
Assonance
Repeating vowel sounds in words.
Consonance
repeating consonant sounds at the end of words.
Onomatopoeia
Words which sound like the noise they describe.
Sibilance
Repeating ‘s’ and ‘sh’ sounds – can be at the start, and or middle of words.
Plosives
Sounds made by cutting off airflow - ‘p’ ‘b’ ‘t’ ‘k’ ‘d’ ‘g’
Fricatives
Sounds made through continuous airflow - ‘s’ ‘f’ ‘u’ ‘z’
Repetition
Re-using the same words and sounds for effect.
Rhyme
Words whose endings sound alike. The way they are organised is called the rhyme scheme.
Meter
The way in which syllables in words are emphasised (or stressed). Sonnets, for example, use 10 syllables in an unstressed/stressed pattern.
Lambic Pentameter
10 syllables in a line, unstressed/stressed (5 feet).
Trochaic Tetrameter
8 syllables in a line, stressed/unstressed (4 feet).
Allusion
A brief, often subtle, reference to a person, event, character from a book or work of art.
Ambiguity
When the meaning is not clear – there is more than one interpretation.
Cliche
Obvious, over-used phrases.
Connotation
The meanings associated with a word.
Juxtaposition
Placing two different ideas next to each other, to highlight their differences.
Anthesis
Opposite words used in proximity of each other.
Hyperbole
Exaggeration
Metaphor
A direct comparison between two things, stating that one is the other.
Oxymoron
Two words which seem to contradict each other.
Paradox
A statement which seems to be a contradiction.
Pun
A play on words which sound like the same but have different meanings/spellings.
Personification
Giving human characteristics to an inanimate object.
Simile
Comparing two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Symbol
Something which represents ideas or values.
Semantic field
Words linked by meaning.
Sensory imagery
Imagery which uses more than one sense.
Bathos
When the subject matter changes from something important to something common/mundane.
Colloquial
Chatty, informal language.
Concrete noun
A physical, visible thing like table or bus.
Abstract noun
A thing that is a concept, idea, emotional and therefore not physical. Like love or power or weakness.
Verb
An action or word which describes a state of being.
Dynamic verb
Physical actions.
Adverb
A word which describes a verb or an adjective, often ends in ‘ly’.
Adjective
A describing word.
Stanza
A unit in poetry, separated by a blank line.
Asyndetic list
A list without conjunctions.
Anaphora
The repetition of a phrase at the start of a number of sentences.
Enjambment
When a sentence is not end-stopped but flows from one line to the next.
Caesura
Punctuation placed in the middle of a line of poetry, creating a pause.
Free verse
A poem which follows no particular structure or rhyme scheme.
Monologue
When the poem is spoken by a single character.
Sonnet
A poem with 14 lines, an ABAB rhyme scheme, iambic pentameter, three quatrains and a concluding rhyming couplet.
Ballad
A long poem which tells a story, often tragic, with a simple rhythm and rhyme scheme – sometimes includes a refrain or chorus.
Fragment
An incomplete sentence – often one word.
End-stopped
When punctuation is used at the end of a line of poetry; therefore the sentence ends where the line ends.
Rhyming couplet
Two lines with rhyming words at the end.
Quatrain
Four lines of poetry.
Volta
When the rhyme scheme or tone changes, signalling a ‘turn’ in ideas or focus.
Note
Flashcard