English 9 REAL SPEAK Definitions Poetry terms English 9 REAL SPEAK Definitions

How a poem makes the reader feel mood

the different ways the author shows the reader what the characters in a poem are like characterization

direct characterization when the author straight-forwardly tells the reader what the characters are like direct characterization

indirect characterization when an author shows the reader about the characters by only giving details surrounding them, expecting the reader to figure out what the characters are like for themselves indirect characterization

when the author mentions a specific person, place, or thing from history, pop culture, or literature and offers no addition information about it because the reader should already be familiar with it allusion

a stanza with exactly 4 lines of poetry quatrain

exactly 2 lines of poetry that rhyme and have the same number of syllables in each them couplet

a line of poetry that is repeated throughout the poem like the chorus of a song refrain

a bunch of specific strategies that add cool sounds to a poem sound devices

the specific choice of words and sentence structures that an author uses that make the writing “good” instead of “bad” diction

words that sound similar in their endings rhyme

the pattern of end rhyme in a poem that is identified by assigning letters of the alphabet to symbolize each end sound rhyme scheme

words whose ending match each other exactly in sound perfect rhyme

words whose endings match each other pretty closely in sound—or at least close enough imperfect rhyme

words that match each other in sound in the way they end that sit at the ends of lines of poetry end rhyme

rhyme that occurs in the middle of a line of poetry internal rhyme

a few words in a row or almost in a row that start with the same sound alliteration

when a consonant letter sound is used a few times throughout a line of poetry and when that sound falls anywhere in the words: beginning, middle, or end—it’s just there over and over again consonance

using the same vowel sounds more than once in a line, not in a rhyme for example: the blue moon drew my attention assonance

unpleasant, jarring sounds cacophony

actual sounds written out as words onomatopoeia

using a word or phrase more than once in a single place of a poem to emphasize a point or create a rhythm repetition

the universal idea that a poem tells you about life theme

NOT the author, but the character “telling” the poem speaker

the way an author seems to feel about the topic he is writing about; for example: sarcastic, respectful, serious, hopeful, playful tone

any time an author uses words in a way different from what they literally mean figurative language

painting with words and offering sensory details to the reader imagery

the name of any specific technique that uses language in a non-literal way; for example: simile, metaphor, hyperbole, idiom figure of speech

when things turn out differently than you thought they would or when the reader knows a fact the character does not know or when someone says something by means the opposite irony

describing something that is not human as if it had the qualities of a human personification

addressing or talking to someone that isn’t there in a poem apostrophe

a ridiculously huge exaggeration hyperbole

putting two words next to each other that are opposite of one another oxymoron

a situation that exists at the same time as another even though it doesn’t seem possible that it could—and yet it does paradox

something that means more than just what it is symbol

a direct comparison using “like” or “as” simile

talking about one thing as if it were actually another totally different thing metaphor

talking about one thing as if it were actually another totally different thing, and using the description of the other thing to explain even more deeply something important about the first thing extended metaphor

the way a poem is set up; the rules a poem follows or doesn’t follow; the way a poem rhymes or doesn’t rhyme; the set length of each line or the lack of set length form

poetic writing instead of just regular writing verse

a poem has this when its lines of poetry have specific, pre-established numbers of syllables and patterns of rhythm in them instead of just random lengths of lines and random patterns of rhythm meter

rhythm the beat of a poem; sometimes the beat follows specific patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables which classify it as a particular kind of “meter” rhythm

free verse poetry that follows no rules; all the lines have different lengths, rhyming may or may not happen, no set meter controls the rhythm of the lines free verse

what we call a poem’s paragraph stanza