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AP English Poetry Terms
Compiled by Dennis Carroll of High Point University
70
English
12th Grade
03/18/2012

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Term
Alliteration
Definition
the repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginnings of words.
Term
Allusion
Definition
a reference in a work of literature to something outside the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work.
Term
Antithesis
Definition
a figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas as in "Man proposes; God disposes."
Term
Apostrophe
Definition
a figure of speech in which someone (usually, but not always absent), some abtract quality, or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present
Term
Assonance
Definition
the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds
Term
Ballad Meter
Definition
a four-line stanza rhymed abcd with four feet lines one and three feet in lines two and four
Term
Blank Verse
Definition
unrhymed iambic pentameter
Term
Cacophony
Definition
a harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones
Term
Caesura
Definition
a pause, usually near the middle of a line of verse, usually indicated by the sense of the line, and often greater than the normal pause
Term
Conceit
Definition
an ingenious and fanciful notion or conception, usually expressed through an elaborate analogy, and pointing to a striking parallel between two dissimilar things
Term
Consonance
Definition
the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words
Term
Couplet
Definition
a two-line stanza, usually with end-ryhmes the same
Term
Devices of Sound
Definition
the techniques of deploying the sound of words, especially in poetry
Term
Diction
Definition
the use of words in a literary work
Term
Didactic Poem
Definition
a poem which is intended primarily to teach a lesson
Term
Dramatic Poem
Definition
a poem which employs a dramatic form of some element or elements of dramatic techniques as a means of achieving poetic ends
Term
Elegy
Definition
a sustained and formal poem setting forth the poet's meditations upon death or another solemn theme
Term
End-Stopped Line
Definition
a line with a pause at the end
Term
Enjambment
Definition
the continuation of the sense and grammatical construction from one line of poetry to the next
Term
Extended Metaphor
Definition
an implied analogy, or comparison, which is carried throughout a stanza or an entire poem
Term
Euphony
Definition
a style in which combinations of words pleasant to the ear predominate
Term
Eye Rhyme
Definition
rhyme that appears correct from spelling, but is half-rhyme or slant rhyme from the pronunciation
Term
Feminine Rhyme
Definition
a rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed, as "waken" and "forsaken" and "audition" and "rendition"
Term
Figurative Language
Definition
writing that uses figures of speech (as opposed to literal language or that which is actual or specifically denoted) such as metaphor, irony, and similie
Term
Free Verse
Definition
poetry which is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical
Term
Heroic Couplet
Definition
two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, cc with the thought usually completed in the two-line unit
Term
Hyperbole
Definition
a deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration
Term
Imagery
Definition
the images of a literary work; the sensory details of a work; the figurative language of a work
Term
Irony
Definition
the contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning
Term
Internal Rhyme
Definition
rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end
Term
Lyric Rhyme
Definition
any short poem that presents a single speaker who expresses thoughts and feelings
Term
Masculine Rhyme
Definition
rhyme that falls on the stressed and concluding syllables of the rhyme-words
Term
Metaphor
Definition
a figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative term like "as," "like," or "than."
Term
Meter
Definition
the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry
Term
Metonymy
Definition
a figure of speech which is characterized by the substitution of a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind for the word itself
Term
Mixed Metaphors
Definition
the mingling of one metaphor with another immediately following with which the first is incongruous
Term
Narrative Poem
Definition
a non-dramatic poem which tells a story or presents a narrative, whether simple or complex, long or short
Term
Octave
Definition
an eight-line stanza
Term
Onomatopoeia
Definition
the use of words whose sounds suggests their meaning
Term
Oxymoron
Definition
a form of pardox that combines a pair of contrary terms into a single expression
Term
Paradox
Definition
a situation or action or feeling that appears to be contradictory but on inspection turns out to be true or at least to make sense
Term
Parallelism
Definition
a similar grammatical structure within a line or lines of poetry
Term
Paraphrase
Definition
a restatement of an ideas in such a way as to retain the meaning while changing the diction and form
Term
Personification
Definition
a kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics
Term
Poetic Foot
Definition
a group of syllables in verse usually consisting of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables associated with it
Term
Pun
Definition
a play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings
Term
Quatrain
Definition
a four-line stanza with any combination of rhymes
Term
Refrain
Definition
a group of words forming a phrase or sentence and consisting of one or more lines repeated at intervals in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza
Term
Rhyme
Definition
close similarity or identity of sound between accented syllables occupying corresponding positions in two or more lines of verse
Term
Rhyme Royal
Definition
a seven-line stanza of iambic pentameter rhymed ababbcc, used by Chaucer and other medieval poets
Term
Rhythm
Definition
the recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables
Term
Sarcasm
Definition
a type of irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it
Term
Satire
Definition
writing that seeks to arouse a reader's disapproval of an object by ridicule
Term
Scansion
Definition
a system for describing the meter of a poem by identifying the number and the type(s) of feet per line
Term
Sestet
Definition
a six-line stanza
Term
Similie
Definition
a directly expressed comparison; a figure of speech comparing two objects, usually with "like," "as," or "than."
Term
Sonnet
Definition
normally a fourteen-line iambic pentameter poem
Term
Stanza
Definition
usually a repeated grouping of three or more lines with the same meter and rhyme scheme
Term
Strategy (or rhetorical strategy)
Definition
the management of language for a specific effect
Term
Structure
Definition
the arrangement of materials within a work; the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole; the logical divisions of a work
Term
Style
Definition
the mode of expression in language; the characteristic manner of expression of an author
Term
Symbol
Definition
something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else
Term
Synecdoche
Definition
a form of metaphor which in mentioning a part signifies the whole
Term
Syntax
Definition
the ordering of words into patterns or sentences
Term
Tercet
Definition
a stanza of three lines in which each line ends with the same rhyme
Term
Terza Rima
Definition
a three-line stanza rhymed aba, bcb, cdc, etc.
Term
Theme
Definition
the main thought expressed by a work
Term
Tone
Definition
the manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude; the intonation of the voice that expresses meaning
Term
Understatement
Definition
the opposite of hyperbole
Term
Villanelle
Definition
a nineteen-line poem divided into five tercets and a final quatrain
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