Poetry terms - Sophomore English

Diction

A writer specific word choice used to create tone and meaning

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Connotation

The imaginitive/emotional associations connected to words

Selection of detail

The use of concrete and specific noun choices to create vivid descriptions within a poem.

Imagery

A writer’s use of the senses to create a sensory experience for the reader [sight (visual), sound (auditory), taste (gustatory), touch (tactile), smell (olfactory), organic  (internal)]

Syntax

A writer’s use of sentence structure to convey tone and meaning. Syntax can include capitalization, punctuation, arrangement of independent/dependent clauses and phrases, long or short sentences

Tone

The author or narrator’s attitude toward their subject

Narrative poem

A poem with a clear story that might include narrative elements like dialogue, setting, or characterization

Lyric poem

A poem that expresses an emotional, spiritual, psychological moment

Speaker

The narrator of the poem (not always the poet)

Repetition

Any repetition of words, phrases, lines, or sentences. Repetition always amplifies the emotions of a passage.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a line of poetry

Shifts

Changes in: tone, diction, speaker’s attitude, (realizations, emotions, attempts to resolve or accept ideas of the poem), pace, or structure

Figurative language

imaginative language

Allusion

A reference to a famous person, place, thing, or idea

Metaphor

Comparing two unlike things without using "like" or "as"

Similie

A comparison between two similar things using the words "like" or "as"

Irony

When the opposite of what is expected happens (situational, dramatic, verbal)

Apostrophe

When a narrator speaks directly to a person who is either not present or dead or speaks directly to an inanimate object

Symbol

A concrete object that represents a larger idea

Hyperbole

An exaggerated expression

Understatement

The opposite of hyperbole-presenting something as being smaller or less important than it actually is

Point of view

The writer’s choice of lens through a poem is narrated

First person

When the narrator of a story or oem speaks in the “I” or plural “we”

Second person

When the narrator of the story addresses the “you”

Third person

When the narrator of the story speaks about the characters as “he”, “she” “they” or by name

Structure

The organization of the poem that might include any elements below

Line endings

How the writer ends a line (enjambed or end-stopped)

Enjambed lines

Lines of poetry that end mid sentence or mid thought with no marks of punctuation

End-stopped lines

Lines of poetry that end on any mark of punctuation

Stanza

Organization of poetic lines into groupings - usually organized around similar images or ideas

Couplet

Two line stanza (implies a relationship between 2 things)

Tercet

Three line stanza (implies instability and a relationship between 3 things)

Quatrain

Four line stanzas (imply stability and order)

White space

Stanzas create white space on the page, which creates a pause, silence, or stillness

Prose poem

A poem that looks more like a paragraph on the page but might still pay focused attention to line breaks

Alliteration

Repetition of opening consonant sounds in a poem

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds in a poem

Consonance

Repetition of ending consonant sounds in a poem

Onomatopoeia

A word formed from a sound associated with it

True rhyme

A rhyme created when the final consonant sounds and the final vowel sounds of a word are similar

Slant or near rhyme

A rhyme created when the final consonant sounds are similar but not the final vowel sounds

Meter

The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhyme, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line

Blank verse

Non-rhymed poem but written in iambic pentameter

Free verse

Non-rhymed, non-metered poetry

Iambic pentameter

A ten syllable line with a pattern/pairing of five unaccented and accented syllables: ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM

Rhythm

The repetition of emphasized and non-emphasized lines of poetry that create a set pattern and/or musical quality

Euphony

Harmonious sounds pleasing to the ear, often created by using sound devices

Cacophony

A harsh discordant mixture of sounds