| Term | Definition |
|---|
| denotation | dictionary meaning of a word |
| connotation | implied meaning of a word |
| literal meaning | most obvious meaning of a word |
| figurative meaning | representational meaning of a word |
| meter | measured pattern on rhyme in a line |
| rhyme | corresponding terminal sounds |
| apostrophe | direct address of an inanimate object |
| hyperbole | exaggeration for emphasis |
| metaphor | comparison without using like or as |
| metonymy | a related term substituted for an idea |
| oxymoron | combination of two contradicting words |
| paradox | seems contradicting but has truth |
| personification | giving inanimate objects life-like qualities |
| pun | a play on words with two or more meanings |
| simile | comparison of two things using like or as |
| synecdoche | a part substituted for a whole (lend me your ears) |
| irony | contradiction of what happens and what you thought would happen |
| imagery | words to create a sensory experience |
| synesthesia | blending of words from different senses |
| symbol | something that stands for something beyond itself |
| alliteration | group of words beginning with the same consonant sound |
| elision | getting rid of an unneeded vowel sound |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words to describe their sound |
| allusion | reference to something beyond the poem |
| open | free-formed |
| closed | structured |
| stanza | a unit of poem |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| free versed | lines with no structure |
| couplet | a pair of lines, usually rhymed |
| heroic couplet | pair of rhymed lines in an iambic pentameter |
| quatrain | four-line stanza |
| sonnet | fourteen lined poem with rhyme scheme |
| stress | greater amount of pressure put on a word |
| caesura | a pause of beat |
| rising meter | unstressed to stressed |
| iambic | two syllables; unstressed, stressed |
| anapestic | three syllables; unstressed, unstressed, stressed |
| falling meter | stressed to unstressed |
| trochaic | two syllables; stressed, unstressed |
| dactylic | three syllables; stressed, unstressed, unstressed |
| spondee | two consecutive stressed syllables |
| iambic pentameter | rising meter with five iambic feet |
| ardent | passionate |
| March 26, 1874 | Robert Frost's birthday |
| 1963 | Robert Frost died |
| 1952 | Rita Dove was born |
| 1987 | Rita Dove won Pulitzer Peace Prize |
| Akron, Ohio | where Rita Dove was born |
| Frost's first 2 collections | A Boy's Will, North Boston |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace