Poetic Terms

Question	Answer
Allusion	A reference to another literary work. It can also reference a person, place, or event
Contrast/Juxtaposition	Refers to the overlap or mixing of opposite or different situations, characters, settings, moods, or points of view in order to clarify meaning, purpose, or character, or for emphasis
Style	The individual manner in which an author expresses his or her thoughts and feelings - Repetition, descriptive language, exaggeration, syntax, punctuation, etc.
Tone	The authors attitude towards his/her subject or readers. Not the same as mood or atmosphere
Poetic License	Liberty taken by a poet to produce a desired effect by deviating from conventional rules, etc.
Anthem	A hymn of praise, patriotism, or devotion
Metaphor	A comparison between two unlike things -The comparison suggests that one thing IS another -Often the comparisons are implied rather than directly stated
Extended Metaphor	When the metaphor extends through a whole work or a large portion
Simile	A direct comparison between two unlike things that are connected by the word "like" or "as"
Personification	A figure of speech in which an animal, an object, or an idea is given human qualities
Rhyme	Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words
Rhyme Scheme	The ordered pattern of rhymes at the end of the lines of a poem or verse
Iambic pentameter	a line of verse with five metrical feet (10 syllables) -each consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
Stanza	A group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem
Atmosphere	The mood or feeling of a literary work
Imagery	The use of a language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, object, place or experience
Satire	The ridicule of an idea, person, or type sometimes in order to provoke change. Satire often mocks human vices or shortcomings
Parody	A literary work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or work for comic effect or ridicule -A humorous, satirical or off-beat imitation of a person, event, or work of literature
Hyperbole	An exaggeration in the service of truth. Used to add emphasis
Lyric	Any short poem intended mainly to express a state of mind or feeling
Couplet	Two consecutive lines that rhyme
Quatrain	A stanza of four lines
Sestet	A stanza of six lines
Octave	Stanza of eight lines
Dramatic Monologue	A poetic form in which a single character speaks to a silent listener at a critical moment -Reveals a dramatic situation and his/her own character
Unreliable Narrator	The person telling the story who cannot be trusted
Irony	A literary device which reveals concealed or contradictory
Verbal Irony	Contrast is evident between what a character says and what the character actually means
Situational Irony	A set of circumstances turn out differently from what was expected or considered appropriate
Dramatic Irony	The author shares with the reader information not known by a character
Ballad	A narrative poem that is handed down in oral tradition, or a written poem that imitates the traditional ballad. Usually uses repetition and a repeated refrain
Elegy	Mournful, melancholic poem, especially a song of lament for the dead
Epic	A long narrative poem that tells of the adventures of heroic characters, covers a long period of time, or describe a monumental taste
Narrative	This is another word for story. A narrative poem is one that tells a story
Free Verse	Verse that lacks regular meter and line length but relies upon natural rhythms
Ode	A serious, sincere poem written in praise of something or someone. Often parodied
Accent	The emphasis or stress placed on a certain syllable in a foot of poetry
Alliteration	The repetition of initial consonant sounds
Assonance	The repetition of internal vowel sounds in words
Dissonance	A harsh, disagreeable combination of words
Imperfect Rhyme	A resemblance in the sound of words that is not exact as in "move" and "love"
Internal Rhyme	Rhyme which comes within lines
Feminine Rhyme	A rhyme extending over two or more syllables, and in "sister" and "blister"
Masculine Rhyme	A rhyme in which the final syllables rhyme, as in "singing/walking" and "house/mouse"
Onomatopoeia	the use of words which sound like what they mean
Refrain	A line, part of line, or group of lines which is repeated throughout a poem, sometimes with slight changes
Repetition	the repeated use of key words, phrases, stanzas or sounds in a poem
Oxymoron	Two words placed close together that are contradictory yet have truth in them
Versification	Metrical structure that includes accent, foot, meter, rhyme, rhythm, and stanza form
Metonymy	The use of a closely related idea for the idea itself
Synecdoche	The use of the part for the whole idea
Paradox	This is a statement in which there is an apparent contradiction which is actually true

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	Created by Litsa Rethimiotakis about 8 years ago