Literature - Poetry

What is enjambment?

Where a sentence or phrase ‘runs over’ into the next line

What is a caesura?

A pause in the middle of a line, often created by punctuation

What is a volta?

A rhetorical shift/dramatic change in thought or mood. is often found in sonnets for:

• Petrarchan/Italian Sonnets: Octave and Sestet.

• Shakespearean/English Sonnets: Before the last couplet.

What is a refrain?

A repeated line or phrase within the poem.

What is a ballet?

A type of narrative poem that tells a (often) dramatic story. They often employ repetition and have an alternating rhyme scheme making them song like.

What is a sonnet?

A 14-line poem often written in iambic pentameter. There are two main types: The Shakespearean (English) - ABAB CDCD EFEF GG - and Petrarchan (Italian) - ABBAABBA - sonnets.

What is an ode?

A formal, lyrical poem that has deep feelings of admiration/reverence. They often have a consistent rhyme scheme and celebrate abstract concepts by using rich, elevated language.

What are the three types of meanings?

A literal meaning is where the words are interpreted on their most basic, direct level.

A figurative meaning is not intended to be taken literally and often does not make sense on a literal level.

A symbolic meaning is a deep, emblematic significance of something that also makes sense on a literal level.

What is a simile?

A comparison of two unlike things usually using “like” or “as”

What is a metaphor?

A direct comparison between two unlike things.

What is metonymy?

Substituting the name of something with something closely associated with it.

What is personification?

Where humanlike qualities are given to object or animals.

What is a extended metaphor?

A metaphor that extends over several lines, paragraphs or stanzas of a piece of writing.