IB Eng Poectic Terms

Lyric

A short poem with one speaker expressing personal thoughts or feelings.

Concrete poetry

Poetry arranged spatially to create a visual effect.

Dramatic monologue

A narrative poem spoken by one speaker to a silent audience.

Free verse

Poetry with no regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Stanza

A group of lines divided from other groups in a poem.

Quatrain

A four-line section of a poem.

Refrain

A line or lines repeated at regular intervals often at a stanza's end.

Caesura

A pause within a line it may or may not be punctuated.

Enjambment

A line runs into the next without punctuation at the end.

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.

Figurative language

Language not meant to be taken literally it points to another idea.

Simile

A comparison using 'like' or 'as'.

Metaphor

A comparison without 'like' or 'as'.

Personification

Giving human qualities to something non-human.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration.

Allusion

A reference to a person place or event the reader is expected to know.

Imagery

Sense-based description used to make meaning vivid and evoke emotion.

Visual imagery

Imagery connected to sight.

Aural imagery

Imagery connected to sound.

Olfactory imagery

Imagery connected to smell.

Gustatory imagery

Imagery connected to taste.

Tactile imagery

Imagery connected to touch.

Organic imagery

Imagery connected to internal bodily sensations eg heart/gut/shaking knees.

Symbol

Something concrete that stands for something else often an abstract idea.

Rhythm

The alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables.

End rhyme

Repetition of sounds at the ends of lines.

Half-rhyme

First and last consonants rhyme but the middle vowel differs.

Internal rhyme

Rhyme within the same line.

Slant / off-rhyme

An imperfect rhyme containing echoes of parts of words.

Eye-rhyme

Words look as though they rhyme but do not.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds.

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds.

Alliteration

Repetition of beginning consonant sounds.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate sounds.

Cacophony

A combination of harsh unpleasant sounds or tones.

Euphony

A combination of soothing pleasant soft sounds or tones.

Repetition

Words or groups of words that are repeated.

Anaphora

Repetition of an initial word or phrase.

Ambiguity

More than one meaning or interpretation is possible.

Antithesis

Contrasting or combining terms phrases or clauses with opposite meanings.

Binary opposition

A pair of related concepts that are opposite in meaning.

Cadence

The patterning of rhythm in natural speech or poetry without a distinct meter.

Colloquial

Ordinary everyday language and speech.

Connotation

The implied meaning or feeling attached to a word or phrase.

Denotation

The dictionary/literal meaning of a word or phrase.

Dialect

Language whose grammar pronunciation and vocabulary connect it to a particular group.

Diction

The author's choice of words.

Juxtaposition

Two things placed close together to create a contrasting effect.

Tone

The feeling atmosphere or attitude expressed in the poem.

Mood

The feeling the poem arouses in the reader.

Rhetorical question

A question used for effect with no answer expected.

Oxymoron

Two opposite or incompatible terms combined.

Paradox

An apparent contradiction that reveals an unexpected valid meaning.

Speaker

The voice/persona speaking in the poem - not automatically the poet.

Syntax

The way words and sentences are arranged