form techniques Flashcards
A01/A02 (11 cards)
sonnet
A 14-line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter. Can be Petrarchan (Italian) or Shakespearean (English).
✨ Effect: Often used to express love or deep emotion; tight structure creates tension and resolution (especially with a volta).
Dramatic Monologue
A poem spoken by a single speaker addressing a silent listener, revealing inner thoughts and character.
✨ Effect: Builds intimacy; reveals flaws, biases, or unreliable narration.
Ballad
A narrative poem, often in quatrains, with a regular rhythm and rhyme scheme (ABAB).
✨ Effect: Tells a story, often tragic or romantic; musical rhythm makes it memorable.
Ode
A formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and praises a person, idea, or object.
✨ Effect: Elevates the subject, expressing admiration or deep reflection.
Elegy
A mournful, melancholic poem, typically lamenting the dead or reflecting on loss.
✨ Effect: Evokes sorrow, contemplation, and a sense of timeless grief.
free verse
Poetry without a regular rhyme scheme or metre.
✨ Effect: Mimics natural speech; gives the poet more expressive freedom; often reflects modern, fluid themes.
Lyric Poem
A short poem expressing personal emotions or thoughts rather than telling a story.
✨ Effect: Creates intimacy with the speaker’s inner world; emotional and musical.
epic poem
A long narrative poem detailing heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation.
✨ Effect: Elevates subject matter; explores grand, timeless themes like fate, heroism, and morality.
Pastoral
A poem idealising rural life and nature, often romanticising simplicity.
✨ Effect: Contrasts urban/civilised life with peace and purity of the countryside; may be more nostalgic or critical.
Haiku
5 syllables
7 syllables
5 syllables
uses seasonal words
Villanelle
5 tercet followed by a quatrain with two repeating ryhmes and two refrains
- associated with formality, repitition, structured.
