AP Lit Poetic Terms

  1. Accent - the emphasis or stress given a syllable in pronunciation

  2. Alliteration - the repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable

  3. Allusion - a brief reference to a person, place, thing, idea, or event in history or literature

  4. Ambiguity - a quality that allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word, phrase, action, or situation all of which can be supported by the context of the work

  5. Apostrophe - an address to someone who is absent and therefore cannot hear the speaker or to something non-human that cannot be comprehended

  6. Assonance - the repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same; strong means of emphasizing words in a line

  7. Ballad - dramatic, condensed, and impersonal narratives

  8. Ballad Stanza - narrative poem written in deliberate imitation of the language form and spirit of these traditional ballads

  9. Blank Verse - unrhymed iambic pentameter lines; every line has 10 syllables but none of them rhyme

  10. Cacophony - language that is discordant and difficult to pronounce such as this line from John Updike: “Never my numb plunker fumbles”.

  11. Caesura - a pause within a line of poetry that contributes to the rhythm of the line

  12. Connotation - associations and implications that go beyond the literal meaning of a word which derived from how the word has been commonly used and the associations people make with it

  13. Consonance - a common type of near rhyme that consists of identical consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds

  14. Couplet/Heroic Couplet - two consecutive lines that often rhyme and usually have the same meter; a couplet that is written in rhymed iambic pentameter

  15. Diction - writers choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language

  16. Elegy - a mournful contemplative lyric poem written to commemorate someone who has died; often ending in a consolation

  17. End-stopped line – A line of poetry that has a natural pause or concludes with punctuation (like a period, comma, semicolon). The thought or sentence is complete at the end of the line.

  18. Enjambment – The continuation of a sentence or thought beyond the end of a line of poetry without a pause or punctuation, carrying the idea over to the next line.

  19. Epic – A long narrative poem, often written in elevated style, that recounts the adventures of a heroic figure or the history of a nation.

  20. Epigram – A brief, witty, and often satirical statement or poem that expresses a single thought in a clever or memorable way.