| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Alliteration | Repetition of initial consonant sounds |
| Allusion | A reference to a recognized work, thing, person or place in history, etc. |
| Allegory | A simple story whose main purpose is to teach a lesson |
| Assonance | Repetition of internal vowel sounds |
| Analogy | Where you explain a concept or idea using another concept or idea |
| Ballad | A poem with a specific rhyme scheme (abcb). Narrative, tells the story of a single dramatic event |
| Blank Verse | Unrhymed iambic pentameter. 10 syllables. |
| Cacaphony | harsh, clashing sounds (G,B,D,K,T,P) |
| Carpe Diem | Poetry that tells us to take advantage of the moment |
| Connotation | The implied meaning of a word |
| Couplet | Two lines of poetry in a row that rhyme. |
| Denotation | Actual meaning of a word |
| Euphony | Soft, soothing sounds used for effect (S,SH,L,M,N,H,R,W,V) |
| Free Verse | No constraints |
| Hyperbole | Over exaggeration |
| Imagery | The mental pictures readers receive using all their senses |
| Situational Irony | An outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected. |
| Dramatic Irony | When in a literacy work the reader has more knowledge than the characters |
| Verbal Irony | Sarcasm |
| Lyric | a short poem whose main purpose is to express an emotion |
| Metaphor | Comparison without like, as, or than |
| Meter | The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry |
| Ode | A type of poem meant to praise |
| Onomatopoeia | Words that sound like their meanings ('crash') |
| Parody | A humorous imitation of a serious work |
| Personification | Giving human qualities to non-human things |
| Quatrain | A poem or stanza of four lines, often with a regular rhyme scheme |
| Rhyme Scheme | the pattern of rhyming works in a poem (eg. abab) |
| Refrain | A line or two repeated at intervals throughout a poem |
| Simile | Comparison using like, as, or than |
| Satire | Using humor to provoke political or social change |
| Sonnet | 14 line poem with a regular rhyme scheme written in iambic pentameter |
| Octave | The first 8 lines |
| Sestet | The last 6 lines |
| Stanza | Poetic paragraphs |
| Symbol | Something that stands for itself as well as something greater |
| Tone | The attitude of the author towards the work |
| Theme | The main idea or message in a work. |
| Consonance | The same external consonant sounds with different internal vowel sounds. |
| Mood | a prevailing emotional tone or general attitude |
| Iamb | a pair of syllables, one unstressed, one stressed. |
| Penta | 5 |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace