Poetry & Figurative Language Vocabulary Core C - American Lit - Poetry Unit

Figurative Language Simile Metaphor Hyperbole A figure of speech that uses like or as to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas Examples: good as gold; pale as a ghost; spread like wildfire Metaphor A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically different but have something in common; does not contain like or as Examples: Her hair was silk; in the evening of life Hyperbole An intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect Examples: mile-high ice cream cones

Personification Alliteration Onomatopoeia A form of metaphor in which language relating to human action, motivation, and emotion is used to refer to non-human agents or objects or abstract concepts Examples: The stuffed bear smiled as the little boy hugged him; The weather is smiling on us today; Love is blind Alliteration The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words; used to draw attention to certain words or ideas, to imitate sounds, and to create musical effects Examples: The wild walrus waits and wonders when we'll walk by; Rough & ready; She's super strong! Onomatopoeia The use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning EX: buzz, screech, hiss, jingle, cluck,

Idiom Assonance Consonance A phrase or expression that means something different from what the words actually say; usually understandable to a particular group of people Examples: “on cloud nine;” “over his head” Assonance The repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds Example: tilting at windmills, Adam’s apple Consonance The repetition of consonant sounds within and at the ends of words Examples: think & blank, strong & string

Allusion Symbol Extended Metaphor A reference in literature (or in visual or performing arts) to a familiar person, place, thing or event Symbol A person, place, or object that represents something beyond itself Example: Bald eagle for America Extended Metaphor A long, drawn out metaphor that makes a very detailed and explicit comparison - the two things involved have many things in common. Sometimes, an entire poem can be one long extended metaphor

Rhythm Rhyme Rhyme Scheme The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry Rhyme The repetition of sounds at the ends of words; used to add a song-like quality to writing Examples: light, night; sky, why, sigh; lay, weigh Rhyme Scheme The pattern in which rhyme sounds occur in a stanza; usually presented by the assignment of the same letter of the alphabet to each similar sound in a stanza Example: Dashing through the snow (a) In a one-horse open sleigh (b) O’er the fields we go (a) Laughing all the way (b)

Stanza A recurring grouping of two or more verse lines of the same length, metrical form, and, often, rhyme scheme