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Poetry terms
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Prose | Stories and essays organized by sentences and paragraphs. |
Poetry | Typically more expressive, more purposeful word choices related to rhyme and meter, organized by lines and stanzas. |
Stanza | Like a paragraph in prose. The basic "section" of a poem, made up of lines. The Raven is made up of 36 of these. |
Couplet | A poem or stanza of two lines. Often, these lines will rhyme and have a certain rhythm. “A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring" |
Triplet | A 3 line poem or stanza. Often, these lines will rhyme and have a certain rhythm. Upon Julia's Clothes by Robert Herrick (1591-1674) When as in silks my Julia goes, Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows The liquefaction of her clothes. |
Quatrain | A poem or stanza of 4 lines. Often, these lines will rhyme and have a certain rhythm. Who knows how long I’ve loved you You know I love you still Will I wait a lonely lifetime If you want me to, I will |
Meter or Rhythm | Created by patterns of stressed syllables in a stanza. Sometimes multiple stanzas will have exactly the same pattern of syllables. |
Rhyme Scheme | The pattern of similar sounds at the end of lines. Listen my children , and you shall hear (A) Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, (A) On the eighteenth of April, in seventy five (B) Hardly a man is now alive |
Figurative language | When one object represents something else. Metaphor, simile, personification are types of this. |
Alliteration | Repeating the same sounds-sometimes at the beginning of consecutive words. Used to create an effect like fear or suspense. |
Onomatopoeia | Language and/or words that sound like the thing or the action they represent. Bang! Pow! Crunch. Squeak are examples |
Imagery | Language and descriptions that activate the five senses. This language show the reader how things feel, taste, smell or sound like. |
Figurative Language | Details that represent something other than their literal meaning. Metaphore, simile, alliteration, and hyperbole are examples of this. |
Metaphor | When one literal object or detail in a story represent something bigger. A big scary black clock that represents the fact that we are all going to pass on someday is an example |
Simile | When the author tells us that one object or detail is LIKE or AS something that is literally unrelated. The room smelled LIKE a garbage dump is an example |
Personification | When something that is NOT human is described in human terms. The tornado that throws a tantrum though town, screaming and tossing cars... is an example |
Symbol | An object that stands for or represents something else-usually bigger or deeper meaning. For example, the seasons be __________s for the life cycle (spring=birth, winter=death) or a clock can be a ___________ for death. |
Speaker | This is the person or the voice telling a story in a narrative poem. |
Subject | Is what the story is REALLY about. To the Virgins... (Gather ye' Rosebuds) is REALLY about living life. Can usually be summed up in a word or two. |
Theme | This is what we are supposed to learn about the subject. If the subject of a story is love, what does the reader learn ABOUT that subject. |
“Warm winds whipped through the willows” This is an example of: | Alliteration |
“ His heart pounded. It was a drum in his chest.” This is an example of: | Metaphore |
C. “Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold.” This is an example of: | Rhyme |
“My mom will murder me if I use all of her cell phone minutes again!” This is an example of: | Hyperbole |
“The sweet perfume of the rose filled the air.” This is an example of: | Imagery |
“Her book landed in the puddle with a plop.” This is an example of: | Onomatopoeia |
“She ran like the wind.” This is an example of: | Simile |
“Shadows –they hold their breath” This is an example of: | Personification |