Ap English Poetry Terms
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Created by:
jmfdougherty on October 9, 2011
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63 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Metaphor | One thing is compared to something very different "Death, that long sleep." |
| Simile | Comparison of two dissimilar things using the words "like", "as", or "than". "The two sisters were like two blossoms." |
| Metonymy | Metaphor in which the figurative is closely related to the literal "For a handful of silver he betrayed me." |
| Synecdoche | Part of a thing used in place of the whole. "O, beautiful for Pilgrim's feet..." "I lover her eyes." |
| Conceit | Surprising and unusual comparison between two very different things Comparing God to a gypsy |
| Pun | Wordplay in which a phrase or word has two very different meanings, or in which two phrases or words have the same sound. "She used to be Snow White but she drifted." |
| Personification | Nonhuman subject is given human characteristics. "Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art." |
| Apostrophe | Addressing an absent person or a personified quality, object, or idea. "Bright star, would I were steadfast..." |
| Symbol | Anything that represents something else, usually an idea, abstraction, or organization. Red rose = Love <3 |
| Onomatopoeia | Use of words that imitate sounds. "My mother set up sounds that slugged and thunked for hours." |
| Irony | A technique that involves interesting contradictions "Yes, curious and quaint war is..." |
| Verbal Irony | The use of words which suggest the opposite of their usual meaning. "Yes, curious and quaint war is..." |
| Oxymoron | Two contradictory terms juxtaposed "Darkness visible" |
| Paradox | Statement that seems to be contradictory but actually presents the truth "Unless you imprison me, I will never be free." |
| Hyperbole | Deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. "I will love thee still, my dear, till all the seas run dry." |
| Litotes | An affirmative is expressed by the negation of its opposite. "This is no small problem." |
| Tone | The writers attitude toward the subject matter |
| Mood | Atmosphere or the feeling created by a literary work |
| Diction | Word choice which creates mood, style, etc. |
| Rhyme | repetition of sounds at the ends of words "Saxon words say what they mean, Latin words perplex the bean. |
| Masculine Rhyme | Rhyme that is single, stressed, and on the ending syllable "The cat in the hat." |
| Feminine Rhyme | Rhyme in which two syllables are involved with the second unstressed. "Pleasure and Treasure." |
| Alliteration | Repetition of initial consonant sounds. "The world is charged with the Grandeur of God." |
| Internal Rhyme | Rhyme within a single line of poetry. "All is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toll." |
| Near/Slant/Approximate rhyme | Rhyme that is similar but not identical. "Prove and Love." |
| Assonance | Repetition of similar vowel sounds with different consonant sounds. "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan..." |
| Consonance | Repetition of consonant sounds with different vowel sounds preceding. Over hill and dale. |
| Sonnet | A 14 line poem, usually composed of a statement (problem) and a resolution |
| English (Shakespearean) Sonnet | A sonnet with 3 quatrains and a couplet ABAB CDCD EFEF GG |
| Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet | A sonnet with an Octave and a sestet. ABBA CDDC (Some combination of CDE) |
| Ballad | Narrative poem intended to be sung and broken into simple stanzas and refrains |
| Folk Epic | Anonymous author and passed down orally. Beowulf |
| Epic | Long narrative about the adventures of gods or a hero who represents the sallent values of the culture. |
| Literary Epic | An epic crafted by one poet. Paradise Lost. |
| Elegy | Solemn and lyric poem about death |
| Lyric | Poem that expresses feelings or a single speaker but does not tell a full story. |
| Allegory | Work with two levels of meaning: One literal and the other symbolic. Characters represent qualities. Lord of the Flies |
| Narrative | Tells a story in verse. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." |
| Didactic | Its purpose is to teach moral lessons |
| Villanelle | 19 line French verse from with lots of refrains and mostly ABA rhyme scheme. "Do Not Go Gentle..." |
| Postoral | Poem that deals with pleasure of simple, rural life of shepherds and goatherds. |
| Ode | Long, formal lyric poem with a serious theme |
| Dramatic Monologue | Poem in which an imaginary character speaks to a silent listener. Mary Robt. Browning poems. |
| Stanza | Group of lines in a poem considered a unit |
| Couplet | 2 lines |
| Tercet | 3 lines |
| Quatrain | 4 lines |
| Sestet | 6 lines |
| Octave | 8 lines |
| Blank verse | Rhymed iambic pentameter |
| Free verse | Poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern or meter. |
| Antithesis | Contrasting or paradoxical ideas presented in parallel form. "To err is human, to forgive, divine." |
| Allusion | Reference to a well-known person, event, or literary work, or work of art. "By Cupid's strongest bow..." |
| Aphorism (Epigram) | A general truth or observation about life, usually stated concisely and pointedly. |
| Denotation | The objective meaning of a word independent of any associations one may make with it. "Politician" |
| Connotation | The associations that a word calls to mind. "Home" can mean warmth security |
| Heroic Couplet (Closed Couplet) | Rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines which form a complete thought. "True ease in writing come from art not chance,/ As those move easiest have learned to dance." |
| Imagery | Descriptive language used to re-create sensory experience. "The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, / The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves." |
| Mock Epic | Poem about a trivial matter written in the style of a serious epic. The Rape of the Lock. |
| Run-On Line | Line of poetry that does not contain a pause or stop at the end of the line. |
| Scansion | Process of analyzing the metrical pattern of a poem. |
| Speaker | The imaginary voice assume by the writer of a poem. |
| Theme | The central idea, concern, or purpose in a literary work. |
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