Poetic Terms

Question 1

Allegory

Answer 1

Story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to have a hidden meaning, usually moral or political

Question 2

Aesthetic

Answer 2

Descriptive, figurative language. How things look

Question 3

Alliteration

Answer 3

Repetition of the same consonant in any part of adjacent words

Question 4

Assonance

Answer 4

Repetition of similar vowel sounds

Question 5

Blank verse

Answer 5

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Question 6

Couplet

Answer 6

Two lines, one after the other, usually rhyming and the same length. Often used to moralise and summarise

Question 7

Colloquial language

Answer 7

Used in informal conversation

Question 8

Dialect

Answer 8

Way a certain group of people speak

Question 9

Diction

Answer 9

Type of words used in a poem

Question 10

Emotive language

Answer 10

Used to show emotional reaction to a poem’s subject. Also the emotional response in the reader

Question 11

Enjambment

Answer 11

The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet or stanza

Question 12

Figurative language

Answer 12

Use of language such as metaphors, similes and allusions to give insight

Question 13

Iambic pentameter

Answer 13

In a line, words are parcelled into a ‘foot’, which is the repetition of a basic unit. The Iamb is one of the feet

Question 14

Image

Answer 14

Picture in the mid formed by words

Question 15

Idiom

Answer 15

Word or phrase not taken literally e.g. ‘over the moon’

Question 16

Irony

Answer 16

The words say one thing, but may also be read to mean the very opposite

Question 17

Lyric

Answer 17

A poem with a single speaker who shares their feelings with the reader

Question 18

Metaphor

Answer 18

A word or phrase that shows a likeness between two things not usually considered similar. It is a comparison that doesn’t use like or as. It enhances our understanding of a person, place or emotion etc

Question 19

Mood

Answer 19

Atmosphere created in the poem itself

Question 20

Onomatopoeia

Answer 20

Words that sound like their meaning. Poem appeals to our senses.

Question 21

Persona

Answer 21

Speaker or voice of the poem

Question 22

Personification

Answer 22

Giving something inhuman human qualities

Question 23

Repetition

Answer 23

Reuse of words or phrases for an effect

Question 24

Rhyme

Answer 24

Words with the same end sound

Question 25

Rhythm

Answer 25

Regular pattern of accented syllables

Question 26

Refrain

Answer 26

Like a chorus or repetition. To emphasise a mood or feeling

Question 27

Sibilance

Answer 27

Repetition of ‘s’. Calming effect. Slows

Question 28

Simile

Answer 28

Comparison using like or as

Question 29

Syllables

Answer 29

Units of sound

Question 30

Symbol

Answer 30

A type of image where the word also stands for something other than itself

Question 31

Theme

Answer 31

Central idea. Usually shows a poet’s attitude towards a subject, place or person

Question 32

Tone

Answer 32

Attitude of the speaker towards the subject of the poem