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Poetry Unit: Literary Terms
Definition Example Example from Class Poetry
Alliteration: a number of words, having
the same first consonant sound, occur
close together in a series
A big bully beats a baby boy.
Assonance: takes place when two or
more words, close to one another
repeat the same vowel sound, but start
with different consonant sounds.
M e n s e ll w e dding b e lls.
Blank Verse: un-rhyming verse written in
iambic pentameter. In poetry and prose, it has a consistent meter with 10 syllables in each line (pentameter); where, unstressed syllables are followed by stressed ones, five of which are stressed but do not rhyme.
The dreams are clues that tell
us take chances.
Consonance: repetitive sounds
produced by consonants
within a sentence or phrase
Behind Me -- dips Eternity --
Before Me -- Immortality --
Myself -- the Term between --
Death but the Drift of Eastern Gray,
Dissolving into Dawn away,
Before the West begin --
Couplet: having two successive rhyming
lines in a verse, and has the same meter to form a complete thought. “The time is out of joint, O cursed spite That ever I was born to set it right!”
Foot: combination of stressed and
unstressed syllables. there are various
types of foot, each of which sounds
differently
Example of Iambic Pentameter: Iamb : Combination of unstressed and stressed syllable – (daDUM) Free Verse: poems have no regular meter or rhythm. They do not follow a proper rhyme scheme; these poems do not have any set rules. After the Sea-Ship by Walt Whitman After the Sea-Ship—after the whistling winds; After the white-gray sails, taut to their spars and ropes, Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks, Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship. Hyperbole: involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.
Your suitcase weighs a ton!
Iambic Pentameter: is a beat or foot that uses 10 syllables in each line. Simply, it is a rhythmic pattern comprising five iambs in each line, like five heartbeats. “When I see birches bend to left and right/ Across the line of straighter darker trees…” ( Birches , by Robert Frost), each line contains five feet, and each foot uses one iamb. Metaphor: makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics.
Her dance is a great poem.
Meter: the basic rhythmic structure
of a verse or lines in verse. Each
unit of rhythm is called a " foot " of
poetry
Example: iambic pentameter
Narrative Poem: is a form
of poetry that tells a story,
The Raven: It tells of a
talking raven 's mysterious visit to a
distraught lover, tracing the man's
slow fall into madness.
Onomatopoeia: a word which imitates the natural sounds of a thing. It creates a sound effect that mimics the thing described, making the description more expressive and interesting.
Buzz, sizzle, plop, smash
Octave: It is a verse form that contains eight lines, which usually appear in an iambic pentameter. Personification: figure of speech in which a thing – an idea or an animal – is given human attributes. The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like human beings.
The fire swallowed the entire
forest.
Prose: Normal everyday speech is spoken in prose, and most people think and write in prose form. Prose comprises of full grammatical sentences, which consist of paragraphs, and forgoes aesthetic appeal in favor of clear, straightforward language. Quatrain: A quatrain is a verse with four lines, or even a full poem containing four lines, having an independent and separate theme. “He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there’s some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.” Repetition: literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable. “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep , And miles to go before I sleep .” Rhyme Scheme: Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme that comes at the end of each verse or line in poetry. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Twinkle, twinkle, little star, (A) How I wonder what you are. (A) Up above the world so high, (B) Like a diamond in the sky. (B)
