structural techniques Flashcards
A01/A02 (35 cards)
enjambment
When a sentence or phrase runs over from one line of poetry into the next without punctuation.
✨ Effect: Creates a sense of flow or urgency; mirrors natural speech or thought.
caesura
A strong pause within a line of poetry, often marked by punctuation like a comma or em dash (e.g. “I heard a fly buzz – when I looked up to.. ”).
✨ Effect: Disrupts rhythm to reflect emotion, tension, or hesitation.
Volta
A shift or turn in thought, argument, or emotion, often found in sonnets between octave and sestet.
✨ Effect: Creates contrast or development, adding depth or surprise.
refrain
A repeated line or phrase, typically at the end of a stanza.
✨ Effect: Reinforces key themes, adds musicality, or creates a cyclical structure.
Cyclical structure
A structure where the poem ends in a similar or identical way to how it began.
✨ Effect: Suggests inevitability, entrapment, or a recurring emotional state.
foreshadow
Hints or clues about what will happen later in the poem.
✨ Effect: Builds suspense or tension; adds layers of meaning upon re-reading.
setting
The time or place in which the poem is situated, sometimes introduced at the beginning or shifting throughout.
✨ Effect: Grounds the poem in a context; can reflect emotional or thematic states.
Rising Action
A series of events or building tension that leads up to the climax.
✨ Effect: Creates suspense, deepens emotional engagement, and develops themes.
climax
The peak moment of tension or emotional intensity in the poem.
✨ Effect: Acts as a turning point; highlights the central message or emotional shift.
Falling Action
The events that unfold after the climax, moving towards resolution.
✨ Effect: Eases tension, shows consequences or emotional fallout.
Resolution / Denouement
The conclusion of the poem where conflicts are resolved or final thoughts are revealed.
✨ Effect: Leaves a lasting impression; may offer closure or ambiguity.
Stanzas
Poems are often organized into groups of lines called stanzas. Stanzas can vary in length (number of lines)
Couplet:
Two-line stanza
Tercet:
Three-line stanza
Quatrain:
Four-line stanza
Cinquain:
Five-line stanza
Sestet:
Six-line stanza
Rhyme:
The repetition of similar sounds, often at the end of lines.
Meter:
The rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line. A common example is iambic pentameter, where each line has ten syllables with a pattern of stressed/unstressed, as in “To be, or not to be, that is the question”.
Metrical Feet: Iamb
An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (e.g., “be-LOW”).
Metrical Feet: Trochee
A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (e.g., “DUM-da”).
Metrical Feet: Spondee
Two stressed syllables (e.g., “DUM-DUM”).
Metrical Feet: Dactyl
A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (e.g., “DUM-da-da”).
Metrical Feet: Anapest
Two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable (e.g., “da-da-DUM”).
