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Poetry Terms

Terms in this set (30)

Narrator
Person telling a story
Theme
The main topic or the main idea of a poem
Onomatopoeia
A term that describes a word that sounds like the object or thing that it names.
Example: buzz, tick tock, boom
Tanka
A form of Japanese poetry
Sonnet
A poem with 14 lines
Repetition
When words, phrases, lines, or stanzas are repeated
Rhyming poem
Lines that end with words with the same end sounds
Personification
When objects are described as if they were human.
Example: The trees whispered to each other.
Symbolism
A literary technique where a word, object, or event is used to stand for something else (an idea). For example, white snow might symbolize that something is pure.
Rhyme
When two words have the same end sounds
Tone
How the author feels about a subject
Rhyme scheme
The pattern of lines that rhyme in a poem. The rhyme scheme is represented by letters.
Example: aabb or abcb
Acrostic poem
A poem where the first letters of each line form a word. The word might be the subject of the poem, related to the theme of the poem, or the author's name.
Alliteration
A literary technique where the same consonant sounds are repeated in neighboring words.
Example: The sun slowly set.
Character
A person in a poem
Characterization
Describing what a character looks like, what a character feels, or what a character does
Concrete poem
A poem where the lines form a shape
Free verse
A form of poetry where there is no set pattern, no set rhythm or rhyme
Hyperbole
Use of exaggeration to describe something.
Example: She asked John a million questions.
Imagery
Use of details to help the reader imagine something, describe how something looks, sounds, tastes, smells, or feels
Limerick
Poem with 5 lines. Lines 1, 2, & 5 rhyme and Lines 3 & 4 rhyme. Funny poems
Line break
When a line ends and a new line starts
Lyric poem
Short poem. Describes what the speaker thinks or how the speaker feels.
Meter
The regular, or repeating, sound pattern of a poem
Mood
How the poem makes the reader feel, or the feelings created in the reader
Point of view
The position of the speaker of a work. It can be first person, second person, third person limited, or third person omniscient.
Rhythm
The pattern of sounds in a poem
Simile
Comparing two things using the words "like" or "as"
Speaker
The person, character, or object that is the voice of the poem
Stanza
The sections that poems are divided into. They are also known as verses.
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