| Apostrophe | a technique by which a writer addresses an inanimate object, an idea, or a person who is either dead or absent. |
| Anaphora | "-repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases clauses or sentences. ""We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France" |
| Alliteration | The repitition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together. |
| Allusion | Something the author or poet writes in their piece of literature that the audience is expected to know |
| Blank Verse | Unrhymed Iambic pentameter |
| Concrete Poem | A poem in which the words are arranged on a page to suggest a visual representation of the subject. |
| Connotation | The contextual meaning of a word; Feelings associated with words |
| Couplet | 2 lines-a concluding comment |
| Dactyl, Dactylic | /, u, u. Stressed, unstressed, unstressed |
| Dark Lady | Sonnets 127-152, addressed to by Shakespeare |
| Denotation | The dictionary definition of a word |
| Diction | A writer's choice or words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning. |
| Dramatic Monologue | A type of poem in which a speaker addresses a silent listener. As readers, we overhear the speaker in a dramatic monologue. |
| Dramatic Poetry | poetry that involves the techniques of drama; one or more characters speak to other characters who may or may not be present in the poem |
| Fair Young Man, Fair Youth | Sonnets 1-126 addressed to by Shakespeare |
| Figurative Language | Words or phrases that mean something other than what they literally say. |
| Figure of Speech | An expression or device that uses non-literal language. (e.g. metaphor, simile, hyperbole, understatement, apostrophe, oxymoron, personification) |
| Foot | a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm |
| Free Verse | No rhyme nor meter |
| Harlem Renaissance | a period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished |
| Hexameter | a verse line having six metrical feet |
| Hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor; excessive and weakens arguments |
| Iamb, Iambic | /, u, Stressed, unstressed |
| Imagery | The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. We refer to visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, or olfactory imagery |
| Lyric Poem | Convey thoughts and feelings of a single speaker with a single theme |
| Metaphor | figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which on thing becomes another without the use of like or as |
| Meter | Regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables |
| Mood | The feeling evoked in the reader by a literary work or passage. Often can be described in one word such as light-hearted, frightening, or despairing |
| Narrative Poem | A poem that tells a story from a point of view |
| Octave | an eight line people, or the first eight lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet |
| Onomatopoeia | Words that express sounds |
| Paraphrase | to put in one's own words |
| Parallelism (parallel structure and construction) | Parts of a sentence expressed using the same syntactical structure to emphasise their equal importance |
| Pentameter | A line of five metrical feet |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes |
| Poetry | one of the 3 major types of literature. These are often divided into lines and stanzas. They often eploy regular rythmical patterns. |
| Prose | Ordinary speech or writing, without metrical structure. |
| Quatrain | A stanza of poetry containing four lines. A Shakespearean sonnet contains three of these followed by a couplet. |
| Rhetoric | The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively. |
| Rhetorical Devices | its how something is said by an author not what is said that will create this literary effect. If a device is used correctly its effect will leave a lasting impression on the reader. |
| Rhetorical Question | a question asked for an effect, not actually requiring an answer |
| Rhyme Scheme | repeated regular pattern of rhymes usually found at the end of lines in a poem |
| Scan | to analyze the rhythm of a poem |
| Sestet | Six lines of poetry, especially the last six lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet. |
| Simile | Makes a comparison between two unlike things using like, as, or than. |
| Slant Rhyme | a rhyme that is close, but somewhat different, such as predicate and ate |
| Sonnet | a fourteen line poem containing a single theme throughout the poem |
| Shakespearean Sonnet | a sonnet with 3 quatrains and 1 couplet at the end. Rhyme scheme-abab,cdcd,efef,gg. 3 quatrains present problem and 1 couplet presents solution |
| Petrarchan Sonnet | a sonnet with 1 octave and 1 sestet. Rhyme scheme- 8=abbaabba or abababab 6=cdecde or cdccdc or cdedce. Octave presents one point of view and sestet presents contrasting point of view |
| Sound Devices | elements such as rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and onomatopoeia - gives poetry a musical quality |
| Speaker | the narrator, point of view, or persona through whom the poet is speaking. a older poet could speak through the view of a teenage girl |
| Spondee | /, /, Stressed, Stressed |
| Stanza | a group of lines of poetry that are usually similar in length and pattern and are separated by spaces |
| Subject | a main premise or topic. |
| Syntax | sequence in which words are put together to form sentences |
| Inverted Syntax | reversing the normal word order of a sentence |
| Tetrameter | a verse in a poem consisting of four metric feet |
| Theme | the underlying of main message that the author wishes to convey |
| Tone | feeling or effect the writer creates toward his character or his subject |
| Trimeter | a line of verse with three metrical feet |
| Voice | character or perspective that is taken on by a writer or poet. |