Poetry Terms Review

Flashcards for poetry terms and literary devices.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Allusion

A reference to a person, place, thing, event, or idea in history or literature used to suggest an emotion or idea.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which the poem’s speaker addresses someone absent or dead, or something nonhuman as if it were alive and present and could reply.

Assonance

The repetition, at close intervals, of vowel sounds.

Ballad

A fairly short narrative poem written in a songlike stanza form.

Consonance

The repetition, at close intervals, of consonant sounds found within or at the end of words.

Couplet

A 2-line stanza, which may or may not rhyme.

End rhyme

Rhyme that comes at the end of lines.

Eye rhyme

Words that look alike but do not sound alike.

Figurative language

Words that are literally inaccurate but are used to describe or define something, often using metaphors or similes.

Fixed form

Poetry that is categorized by its patterns of lines, meter, rhymes, and stanzas.

Free verse

Poetry that is not in a fixed form; also called open form.

Imagery

The use of images, often figurative ones, that appeal to one of the 5 senses.

Internal rhyme

Rhyme that comes within one or several lines.

Lyric

A short poem that expresses the personal emotions and thoughts of a first-person narrator and is characterized by its musical qualities.

Metaphor

An implied comparison in which the figurative word is substituted for the original term.

Meter

The recurrence of rhythmic stresses or accents in a regular pattern.

Narrative poem

A poem that tells a story.

Onomatopoeia

Use of a word that resembles the sound it denotes.

Personification

Giving human characteristics to an animal, object, or abstract concept.

Poetry

Literature written in meter or verse, characterized by language chosen for its sound and suggestive power.

Prose poem

A poem which is written in prose format; i.e., it has no fixed lines.

Quatrain

A four-line stanza.

Rhyme

Two or more words that repeat the same end sounds; also called perfect rhyme.

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of end rhymes denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, d…), where each letter represents a new rhyme.

Setting

The place and time in which a poem takes place; not all poems have settings.

Simile

An explicit comparison of one thing to another using the connecting words like, as, than, similar to, resembles, or seems.

Slant rhyme

Words, usually in a set rhyme scheme, which have similar sounds but are not perfect rhymes; also called approximate rhyme, imperfect rhyme, or near rhyme.

Sonnet

A 14-line poem that has traditionally followed specific rules of rhyme and meter.

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem.

Style

The author’s manner of expression, resulting from choices about vocabulary, organization, imagery, pace, and recurring themes.

Symbol

A figure of speech in which a person or thing stands for some other idea/abstract concept.

Theme

The central or unifying idea that is developed in a work.

Tone

The expression of the author’s attitude toward the subject matter.

Verse

Another name for poetry derived from the Latin “vers” meaning “to turn,” referring to the fact that poetry lines “turn” at a specific point versus prose, which has no fixed lines.

Allusion

Brief reference to something that the reader is supposed to be familiar with already.

Analogy

Compares two extremely different things to illustrate a larger point

Dramatic Irony

When the reader knows something the characters do not.

Situational Irony

When there is a huge difference on what is expected to happen vs what actually happens.

Verbal irony

When the intended meaning of a sentence differs from what was literally said.

Motif

An important feature repeated through a work (Ex. image, symbol, metaphor,etc) that impacts the meaning and interpretation of the work.

Oxymoron

Combines two contradictory ideas to create a unique expression

Paradox

Extreme statement that when investigated/explained may be proven to be true

Plagiarism - Direct

Word for word copy of someone else’s work without acknowledging them

Plagiarism - Echo

Reworking someone else’s work to make it look like you made it originally

Plagiarism - Ghost Writing/Editing

When someone writes/creates something but someone else gets the credit for it

Plagiarism - Patchwork

Piecing ideas from multiple different sources together to make something that look original

Plagiarism - Self

Reusing your own previous work without properly acknowledging it

Rhetorical Appeals - Ethos

Establishing credibility and trustworthiness

Rhetorical Appeals - Logos

Persuasion through Logical reasoning and evidence

Rhetorical Appeals - Pathos

Persuades through emotions

Synecdoche

Part of something is used to represent the whole and vise versa

Tragic flaw

A characteristic that leads to the protagonist’s downfall

Tragic Hero

Main character in a tragedy who has noble characteristics but is doomed to fail

Gerunds

-ing from a verb working as a noun

Participles

Verb that can function as an adjective or part of a verb tense (present usually ends in -ing, past usually ends in -ed)

Appositive

renames or provides additional information