English 11 Poetry Terms English 11 Allegory A

English 11 Poetry Terms

English 11 Allegory • A group of abstract ideas that can serve as an extended metaphor for a particular object/event, usually political.

English 11 Alliteration • The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. • Eg. : “To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark, dock…”

English 11 Allusion • A reference to another well-known work of literature • Eg. : The Bible, myths, legends, popular culture, etc.

English 11 Apostrophe • Form of poetry addressed to a person absent, or to some inanimate object or entity • Eg. : Twinkle, twinkle, little star/ How I wonder what you are…

English 11 Assonance • The repetition of vowel sounds within words • Eg. : “Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came. ” - “Early Moon”, by Carl Sandburg

English 11 Ballad • Poem Type: Traditional narrative verse form, originally sung, which tells a story. Usually has a refrain or chorus. • Eg. : Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter, etc.

English 11 Blank Verse • Poem Style: Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter (5 -beats-per-line Shakespeare-type verse). – The word trapeze is iambic – two syllables and the stress is on the second syllable. ("tra—PEZE", rather than "TRA—peze")

English 11 Consonance • Close repetition of consonant sounds before and after different vowels • Eg. Flip-flop, hip-hop, etc.

English 11 Couplet • 2 rhyming lines of verse (AA) with the same number of beats (meter)

English 11 Elegy • Poem Type: A formal lament over the death of a particular person • Eg. : Whitman’s O Captain! My Captain!

English 11 Epic • Poem Type: An extended narrative poem, often exalted or heroic in theme • Eg. : Homer’s The Iliad, or The Odyssey

English 11 Epigram • Poem type: A short witty statement • Eg. : “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. ” (Mark Twain)

Epitaph • Poem Type: Poems about the dead that are written to be on a tombstone - usually very short.

English 11 Euphemism • The use of a replacement, usually more delicate, term to describe something in a more roundabout way. • Eg. : “Death” = “to pass away”, or “to kick the bucket”, etc.

English 11 Free Verse • Poem Style: Poetry that has no regular meter or line length

English 11 Hyperbole (Hy-per-bo-lee) • When the poet uses deliberate exaggeration to make his/her point • Eg. : His arms hung a mile out of his sleeves

English 11 Image • A visual picture, described in words

English 11 Imagery • Language used to describe things – most often visual pictures, but can also be actions or ideas. • Figurative language that appeals to the 5 senses. It helps the reader picture what is being described.

English 11 Lyric • A poem that does not tell a story. The purpose is to explore emotions and personal experience. • (Most poetry and songs written today) • Originally, a poem sung to accompany a lyre, or early harp

English 11 Metaphor • A direct comparison of one thing with another • Eg. : “My love is a red, red rose. ”

English 11 Metre/Meter • Refers to the number of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

English 11 Mood • A poem’s “atmosphere”, given through imagery and rhythm. • The “feeling” presented in the story. • Eg. : It was a dark and stormy night…

English 11 Narrative • Poem Type: Poetry that tells a story – Characters, beginning, middle, end…

English 11 Octave • An 8 -line stanza

English 11 Ode • A long, serious and dignified lyric poem, often written “to” someone or something. – Similar to Elegy

English 11 Onomatopoeia • Words which sound like their meanings • Eg. : ! P O M A W H ! W BOOM ! Z ! G IN

English 11 Oxymoron • When 2 ideas/concepts that mean different things are purposely put together • Eg. : “Freezer burn”; “Dodge Ram”, etc.

English 11 Paradox • When something appears to contradict itself, but turns out to be actually true in the end • Be cruel to be kind • Bittersweet

English 11 Parody • To ridicule a specific type of literature, by making it appear less important than it is. • It usually it copies the style and voice, and sometimes language of the original for comedic effect. • Ex: Weird Al

English 11 Pastoral • Poem Type: Type of literature that deals with rural or country life

English 11 Persona • The first-person narrator of a poem • Often a substitute for the author’s “voice”

English 11 Personification • When inanimate objects are given human-like qualities or characteristics • Eg. : The chair groaned when I sat down The leaves danced in the wind

English 11 Quatrain • A 4 -line stanza

English 11 Repetition • The repeating of a particular element in a work for deliberate effect

English 11 Rhyme • The repetition of similar or duplicate sounds at regular intervals, usually at the end of a line of poetry

English 11 Rhyme Scheme • The particular arrangement of rhymes in a poem, stated as an alphabetical sequence where the letters correspond to a particular rhyme • Eg. : A limerick’s rhyme scheme is AABBA

English 11 Rhythm • The sense of movement given by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

English 11 Sestet • A 6 -line stanza

English 11 Simile • A direct comparison using like or as • Eg. : “My love is like a red, red rose. ”

English 11 Sonnet • Poem Style: A poem of 14 lines that fits one of the following types: – Petrarchan (Italian)= octave + sestet (8 + 6) • Abbaabba + cdecde or cdcdcd – Shakespearean = 3 quatrains + couplet 3(4) + 2 • abab+cdcd+efef+gg

English 11 Stanza • A poetic “paragraph”, named after the number of lines it contains: couplet (2), quatrain (4), sestet (6), etc.

English 11 Symbol • Something that represents something else

English 11 Tercet • A 3 -line stanza

English 11 Understatement • Also called meiosis • The deliberate downplaying of something to make it seem less than it is.

English 11 Verse • Lines of words arranged in metered patterns • Also can refer to a single line of a poem