Poetry Terms Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is conceit?
extended metaphors
complex logic or weird comparison
What is personification?
human characteristics to nonhuman objects
What is apostrophe?
speaker addresses someone absent, dead, or nonhuman like it’s present and can respond
What is synecdoche?
using the part for the whole
ex. married ear
What is metonymy?
using something closely related for the thing actually meant
ex. heard from the White House = government/President
What is a paradox?
seeming contradiction that is somehow true
What is hyperbole?
exaggeration, not literal
What is an understatement?
when a poem says less than it means
ex. “It isn’t very serious. I have this little tumor…”
What is sarcasm?
bitter or cutting speech said with the intention to hurt someone’s feelings
What is satire?
literature that ridicules human folly (foolishness) or vice (sin) to bring about reform
What is verbal irony?
what is said is the opposite of what is meant
What is dramatic irony?
when the audience knows more than the character
What is situational irony?
when there is a difference between what is expected and what actually happens
What is alliteration?
repetition of initial consonant sounds
What is consonance?
repetition of final consonant sound
What is assonance?
repetition of vowel sounds
How is rhyme scheme written?
different letter for each line with an ending word that doesn’t rhyme with a previous line, to the end of the poem
What is repetition?
words/phrases intentionally repeated many time to make idea clearer
- not accidental, like repeating ‘the’, ‘an’, ‘to’, etc.
What is anaphora?
first word or phrase is repeated in a series of lines
What is onomatopoeia?
word that sounds like what it means
What is enjambment?
when a line doesn’t stop at the end of the line; it continues onto next line without pause or punctuation
What is caesura?
a pause within a line
- where to pause when reading
What is juxtaposition?
placing two or more things side by side to compare & contrast them, or to create an interesting effect
What is closed form poetry?
poetry that follows the rules
