Poetic Terminology

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

The first letter of a word is repeated in words that follow; the cold, crisp, clear ice. The alliteration of a hissing ‘s’ or ‘sh’ sound is called sibilance.

Question 2

Anaphora

Answer 2

The repetition of the same words or phrases at the beginning of lines of poetry.

Question 3

Assonance

Answer 3

The same vowel sound is repeated but the consonants are different; he passed her a sharp, dark glance, shot a cool, foolish look across the room.

Question 4

Blank verse

Answer 4

Poetry written in iambic pentameter that doesn’t rhyme.

Question 5

Iambic pentameter

Answer 5

A line that has ten syllables, with five groups of two syllables. Each pair has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Question 6

Caesura(e)

Answer 6

A pause in a line of poetry; maps too. The sun shines through.

Question 7

Colloquial

Answer 7

Sounding like spoken speech, usually words with an informal meaning.

Question 8

Consonance

Answer 8

The repetition of consonant sounds in nearby words; numb as a smashed arm.

Question 9

Dialect

Answer 9

The version of language spoken by particular people in a particular area; Cantonese

Question 10

Dialogue

Answer 10

Conversation between two people; sometimes an imagined conversation between the narrator and the reader. It can also be found in the conversational style of a poem.

Question 11

Dramatic monologue

Answer 11

A form of poetry that uses the assumed voice of a single speaker who is not the poet to address an implied audience.

Question 12

Emotive

Answer 12

Something that makes you feel a particular emotion.

Question 13

End-stopping

Answer 13

Finishing a line of poetry with the end of a phrase or sentence.

Question 14

Enjambment

Answer 14

When a sentence or phrase runs over from one line to the next WITHOUT USING A TERMINATING PUNCTUATION.

Question 15

Euphemism

Answer 15

An indirect word or phrase used instead of something upsetting or offensive to conceal meaning.

Question 16

Form

Answer 16

The type of poem, such as a sonnet, and its features, like number of lines, rhyme scheme etc.

Question 17

Free verse

Answer 17

Poetry that doesn’t rhyme and has no regular rhythm or line length

Question 18

Half-rhymes

Answer 18

Words that have a similar but not identical end sound; crisp and grasp

Question 19

Hyperbole

Answer 19

Exaggerating something for literary purposes which is not meant to be taken literally; I could eat a horse

Question 20

Imagery

Answer 20

Similes, metaphors and personification; they all compare something ‘real’ with something ‘imagined’.

Question 21

In media res

Answer 21

When a narrative starts in the middle of the action

Question 22

Internal rhyme

Answer 22

When two or more words in the same line rhyme.

Question 23

Irony

Answer 23

The humorous or sarcastic use of words or ideas, implying the opposite of what they normally mean. It can also be used when there is a difference between what people expect and what actually happens.

Question 24

Juxtaposition

Answer 24

When two ideas / events / characters / descriptions are placed close to each other to invite the reader to contrast them.

Question 25

Metaphor

Answer 25

A word or phrase used to imply figurative, not literal or ‘actual’, resemblance; he flew into the room.

Question 26

Metre

Answer 26

The arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables to create a particular rhythm.

Question 27

Mood

Answer 27

The feel or atmosphere of a poem.

Question 28

Monologue

Answer 28

A character speaking for a long period of time.

Question 29

Narrative

Answer 29

Writing that tells a story.

Question 30

Onomatopoeia

Answer 30

A word that sounds like the noise it is describing; ‘splash’, ‘bang’, ‘hiss’, ‘pop’

Question 31

Oxymoron

Answer 31

Where two words normally not associated are brought together; ‘cold heat’

Question 32

Pathos

Answer 32

Language that evokes feelings of pity or sorrow.

Question 33

Personification

Answer 33

Attributing a human quality to a thing or idea; the moon calls me to her darkened world.

Question 34

Plosive

Answer 34

A short burst of sound created by the letters b, d, g, k, p or t

Question 35

Polysyndeton

Answer 35

The repetition of conjunctions throughout a sentence; the horses bit and stamped their feet and rocked their heads and swished their tails. (Conjunctions are words used to connect clauses or sentences together such as and, but and if)

Question 36

Repetition

Answer 36

The repetition of a word or phrase to achieve a particular effect.

Question 37

Rhyme scheme

Answer 37

A pattern of rhyming words in a poem.

Question 38

Rhythm

Answer 38

A repetitive beat or metre within a poem.

Question 39

Simile

Answer 39

A phrase which establishes a similarity between two things to emphasise the point being made (usually involving ‘like’ or ‘as’); ‘as white as snow’.

Question 40

Stanza

Answer 40

A group of lines in a poem (not a paragraph!)

Question 41

Symbolism

Answer 41

When an object stands for something else; a dove symbolises peace.

Question 42

Syntax

Answer 42

The arrangement of words in a sentence / the particular order of words.

Question 43

Tone

Answer 43

The mood or feelings suggested by the way the narrator writes; angry, pensive etc.

Question 44

Voice

Answer 44

The characteristics of the person narrating the poem.

Question 45

Volta

Answer 45

A turning point in a poem, when the argument or tone changes dramatically.