| Term | Definition |
|---|
| alliteration | the repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters at the beginning of words. |
| allusion | a reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to. |
| apostrophe | a figure of speech in which an absent or a dead person, an abstract quality, or something non-human is addressed directly |
| assonance | repetition of similar vowel sounds |
| blank verse | verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| caesura | a break or pause in a line of poetry |
| conceit | a kind of developed metaphor that makes a comparison between two startlingly different things |
| connotation | all the emotions and associations that a word or phrase may arouse |
| consonance | the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words |
| couplet | any two consecutive lines that rhyme |
| denotation | the literal or dictionary meaning of a word |
| diction | a writers choice of words, particularly for clarity, effectiveness, and precision |
| dramatic irony | the reader or audience perceives something that a character in the story or play does not know |
| irony of situation | a discrepancy between the expected results of some action or situation and its actual results |
| dramatic monologue | kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one listener or more whose replies are not given in the poem |
| elegy | a poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual |
| end rhyme | rhymes that occur at the ends of lines |
| epic | a long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated |
| free verse | verse that has either no metrical pattern or an irregular pattern |
| heroic couplet | two consecutive lines of rhymed iambic pentameter |
| iambic pentameter | a rhythm pattern of five metric feet of light, then heavy beats. |
| imagery | words or phrases that appeal to the senses and create pictures or images in the reader's mind |
| internal rhyme | rhymes that occur within lines of a poem |
| irony | a contrast or an incongruity between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what really happens. |
| lyric poem | a poem, usually short, that expresses a speaker's personal thoughts or feelings (includes elegy, ode and sonnet) |
| metaphor | a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar |
| meter | a generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry, measure of the rhythm of a poetic line |
| metonymy | a figure of speech in which something very closely associated with a thing is used to stand for or suggest the thing itself. |
| mood | feeling created in the reader by the literary work |
| motif | a recurring feature such as a name, an image or a phrase in a work of literature |
| narrative poem | a poem that tells a story |
| ode | a complex and often lengthy lyric poem, written in a dignified formal style on some lofty or serious subject |
| onomatopoeia | the use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning |
| oxymoron | a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory ideas or terms |
| parallelism | the use of phrases, clauses, or sentences that are similar or complementary in structure or meaning |
| pastoral | a type of poem that deals in an idealized way with shepherds and rustic life. |
| personification | a figure of speech in which something nonhuman is given human qualities |
| quatrain | stanza or poem with four lines |
| refrain | a word, phrase, line, or group of lines repeated regularly in a poem, usually at the end of each stanza |
| repetition | repeated words or phrases |
| rhyme scheme | the pattern of rhymes in a poem |
| rhyme | the repetition of sounds in two or more words or phrases that appear close to each other in a poem |
| rhythm | the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in to a pattern |
| scansion | analysis of literature in terms of meter |
| sestet | six line stanza |
| simile | comparison made between two things through the use of a specific word of comparison such as like or as |
| sonnet | fourteen line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter |
| speaker | persona or person speaking in the poem |
| stanza | verse of a poem |
| synecdoche | a figure of speech that substitutes a part for the whole |
| theme | the general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express in a literary work |
| tone | attitude demonstrated by the writer toward his or her subject |
| verbal irony | discrepancy between what is said and what is meant |
Combine with other sets
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