Poetry Genres

Question 1

Free Verse

Answer 1

• no fixed poem length
• no fixed pattern of rhyme
• no fixed rhythm
• imitates speech
• stanzas vary in length

Question 2

Ballad

Answer 2

• longer poem
• tells a story
• often abcb rhyme scheme
• stanza or rhyme is repeated
• names of characters
• details of setting

Question 3

Imagist

Answer 3

• short poem
• appeals to the senses
• irregular rhyme scheme
• irregular rhythm
• vividly describes experience

Question 4

Narrative

Answer 4

• often longer poem
• tells a story
• details about characters, setting
• may or may not have stanzas

Question 5

Concrete

Answer 5

• a shape poem
• visual arrangement of letters / words

Question 6

Lyric

Answer 6

• shorter poem
• regular rhyme (abab or abba)
• regular rhythm
• often fixed stanza length

Question 7

Italian Sonnet

Answer 7

• 14 lines, 10 syllables each
• octave has abba abba rhyme scheme
• sestet has 3 couplets or 2 triplets
• theme in sestet
• octave describes problem or situation

Question 8

Shakespearean Sonnet

Answer 8

• 14 lines, 10 syllables each
• three quatrains (abab cdcd, efef)
• concluding rhyming couplet (gg)