English literature terminology: Structure Types of poems Techniques
Poetry
Alliteration = The repetition of initial stressed, consonant sounds in a series of words
within a phrase or verse line.
Allusion = A brief, indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work.
Ambiguity = A word, statement, or situation with two or more possible meanings is said
to be ambiguous.
Anaphora = Often used in political speeches and occasionally in prose and poetry,
anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases,
clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect.
Anthropomorphism = A form of personification in which human qualities are attributed
to anything inhuman, usually a god, animal, object, or concept.
Archetype = In literary terms, an archetype refers to a recurring symbol, character, or
pattern of events that appears across various stories, cultures, and time periods.
Assonance = involves the repetition of vowel sounds closely spaced together, forming
an identifiable pattern
Cacophony = Cacophony is a literary term that describes a blend of inharmonious
sounds. It's used often in poetry, usually to emphasize disorder, harshness, or violence.
Caesura = a caesura is a pause or break within a line of poetry, usually marked by
punctuation like a comma, a period, or a dash. This pause can be used to create
emphasis, a shift in focus, or to reflect the natural rhythms of speech.
Couplet = A pair of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length.
Dactyl = A dactyl is a three-syllable foot in a line of poetry that always follows the
pattern of one stressed syllable, followed by two unstressed syllables. Examples include
the words 'fabulous,' 'melody,' and 'poetry.
Dramatic Monologue = A poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a silent
listener, usually not the reader.
Eclogue = An eclogue is a short, dramatic poem that's set in the countryside.
Elegy = A mournful, reflective poem lamenting the loss of someone or something.
Enjambment = The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the
next.
End-stopped line = A line that ends with a punctuation mark and whose meaning is
complete.
Euphony = Euphony is the combining of words that sound pleasant together or are easy
to pronounce, usually because they contain lots of consonants with soft or muffled
sounds (like L, M, N, and R)
Free Verse = Non Metrical, non rhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of
speech. A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge in free-verse lines, but the
poet does not adhere to a metrical plan in their composition.
Poetry
Alliteration = The repetition of initial stressed, consonant sounds in a series of words
within a phrase or verse line.
Allusion = A brief, indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work.
Ambiguity = A word, statement, or situation with two or more possible meanings is said
to be ambiguous.
Anaphora = Often used in political speeches and occasionally in prose and poetry,
anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases,
clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect.
Anthropomorphism = A form of personification in which human qualities are attributed
to anything inhuman, usually a god, animal, object, or concept.
Archetype = In literary terms, an archetype refers to a recurring symbol, character, or
pattern of events that appears across various stories, cultures, and time periods.
Assonance = involves the repetition of vowel sounds closely spaced together, forming
an identifiable pattern
Cacophony = Cacophony is a literary term that describes a blend of inharmonious
sounds. It's used often in poetry, usually to emphasize disorder, harshness, or violence.
Caesura = a caesura is a pause or break within a line of poetry, usually marked by
punctuation like a comma, a period, or a dash. This pause can be used to create
emphasis, a shift in focus, or to reflect the natural rhythms of speech.
Couplet = A pair of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length.
Dactyl = A dactyl is a three-syllable foot in a line of poetry that always follows the
pattern of one stressed syllable, followed by two unstressed syllables. Examples include
the words 'fabulous,' 'melody,' and 'poetry.
Dramatic Monologue = A poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a silent
listener, usually not the reader.
Eclogue = An eclogue is a short, dramatic poem that's set in the countryside.
Elegy = A mournful, reflective poem lamenting the loss of someone or something.
Enjambment = The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the
next.
End-stopped line = A line that ends with a punctuation mark and whose meaning is
complete.
Euphony = Euphony is the combining of words that sound pleasant together or are easy
to pronounce, usually because they contain lots of consonants with soft or muffled
sounds (like L, M, N, and R)
Free Verse = Non Metrical, non rhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of
speech. A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge in free-verse lines, but the
poet does not adhere to a metrical plan in their composition.
