AP ENGLISH POETRY TERMS

Alliteration - -Repetition of initial consonant sounds Allusion - -A reference to another work of literature, person, or event Antithesis - -A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses. Apostrophe - -A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. Assonance - -Repetition of vowel sounds Ballad meter - -a four-line stanza rhymed abcd with four feet in lines one and three and three feet in lines two and four. Blank verse - -Unrhymed iambic pentameter Cacaphony - -Harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite o Caesura - -A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line. Conceit - -A fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor Consonance - -Repetition of consonant sounds Couplet - -A pair of lines that end in rhyme Devices of sound - -The techniques of deploying the sound of words, especially in poetry. Diction - -Choice of words Didactic poem - -a poem which is intended primarily to teach a lesson Dramatic poem - -A narrative poem in which one or more characters speak Elegy - -a sorrowful poem or speech End stopped - -A line of poetry that ends with a punctuation mark ENGLISH ENGLISH ENGLISH Enjambment - -A run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next. Extended metaphor - -A metaphor that continues beyond it's initial use, can be developed at great length Euphony - -pleasant, harmonious sound Eye rhyme - -rhyme that appears correct from spelling but does not rhyme because of pronunciation Feminine rhyme - -a rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed, as "waken" and "forsaken" and "audition" and "rendition." Feminine rhyme is sometimes called double rhyme. Figurative language - -words or groups of words that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of the component words Free verse - -Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme Heroic couplet - -A pair of rhymed, iambic pentameter lines. Hyperbole - -purposeful exaggeration for effect Imagery - -Language that appeals to the senses. Irony - -A contrast between expectation and reality Internal rhyme - -A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line Lyric poem - -A short poem of songlike quality Masculine rhyme - -A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable Metaphor - -figure of speech comparing two different things Meter - -A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry Metonymy - -A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it Mixed metaphor - -is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. "The President is a lame duck who is running out of gas." Narrative poem - -A poem that tells a story ENGLISH Octave - -8 line stanza Onomatopoeia - -A word that imitates the sound it represents. Oxymoron - -A figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms Paradox - -a contradiction or dilemma Parallelism - -A literary technique that relies on the use of the same syntactical structures Paraphrase - -(v.) To restate in other words; (n.)A statement that presents a given idea in new language Personification - -A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes Poetic foot - -a group of syllables in verse usually consisting of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables associated with it. Pun - -a play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings Quatrain - -4 line stanza Refrain - -A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem. Rhyme - -Repetition of sounds at the end of words Rhyme royal - -A seven-line stanza of iambic pentameter rhymed ababbcc Rhythmn - -pattern of beats or stresses in spoken or written languages Sarcasm - -harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule Satire - -A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies. Scansion - -Analysis of verse into metrical patterns Sestet - -6 line stanza Simile - -A comparison using like or as Sonnet - -14 line poem ENGLISH ENGLISH Stanza - -A group of lines in a poem Strategy - -management of language for a specific purpose Structure - -arrangement of material within a work Style - -mode of expression in language Symbol - -A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract. Synecdoche - -. A figure of speech that utilizes a part as representative of the whole. "All hands on deck" is an example. Syntax - -Order words occur Tercet - -3 line stanza Terza rima - -a verse form with a rhyme scheme: aba bcb cdc, etc. Theme - -Central idea of a work of literature Tone - -Attitudes and presuppositions of the author that are revealed by their linguistic choices (diction, syntax, rhetorical devices) Understatement - -a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said Villanelle - -A 19 line form using only two rhymes and repeating two of the lines