Poetry and Literature Terms Review

RHYME The repetition of sounds Example: hat, cat, brat, fat, mat, sat My Beard by Shel Silverstein My beard grows to my toes, I never wears no clothes, I wraps my hair Around my bare, And down the road I goes. Here is another example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGrcdq2viZg

Rhythm- The alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.

Meter: A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

(This is where it’s going to start sounding like geometry class, so you left-brainers are gonna love this!) Each set of syllables is one foot, and each line is measured by how many feet are in it. The length of the line of poetry is then labeled according to how many feet are in it. 1: Monometer 5: Pentameter 2: Dimeter 6: Hexameter 3: Trimeter 7: Heptameter 4: Tetrameter 8: Octameter *there is rarely more than 8 feet*

Count the syllables in each line to determine the meter. She Walks in Beauty I. She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellowed to that tender light Which Heaven to gaudy day denies. Reading this poem out loud makes the rhythm evident. Which syllables are more pronounced? Which are naturally softer? ˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ II. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. Count the syllables in each line to determine the meter. III. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! Examination of this poem reveals that it would be considered iambic tetrameter.

Poetry Terms

Stanza: A major subdivision in a poem Stanza: A major subdivision in a poem. A stanza of two lines is called a couplet; a stanza of three lines is called a tercet; a stanza of four lines is called a quatrain.

End rhyme: Rhyming words that are at the ends of their respective lines—what we typically think of as normal rhyme.

Internal rhyme: A rhyme that occurs within one line such as “He’s King of the Swing.”

Slant Rhyme rhyme in which either the vowels or the consonants of stressed syllables are identical, as in eyes, light; years, yours. I sat in the dark. nursing my broken heart

Types of Poetry

Blank verse: Unrhymed lines of poetry usually in iambic pentameter Blank verse: Unrhymed lines of poetry usually in iambic pentameter. Plenty of modern poetry is written in blank verse.

Free Verse: Poetry with no set meter (rhythm) or rhyme scheme.

Sonnet: A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter Sonnet: A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter. Different kinds of sonnets have different rhyme schemes. The most notable are Shakespeare’s Sonnets which employ the abab,cdcd,efef,gg rhyme scheme.

Elegy: A poem mourning the dead.

Epic: A long poem narrating the adventures of a heroic figure e. g Epic: A long poem narrating the adventures of a heroic figure e.g. Homer’s The Odyssey.

A song or poem that tells a story. Ballad

Lyric: A type of poetry that expresses the poet’s emotions Lyric: A type of poetry that expresses the poet’s emotions. It often tells some sort of brief story, engaging the reader in the experience.

Myth: A legend that embodies the beliefs of people and offers some explanation for natural and social phenomena.

Iambic pentameter: Ten-syllable lines in which every other syllable is stressed. - ’ e.g. “With eyes like stars upon the brave night air.”

Couplets: A pair of rhyming lines in a poem often set off from the rest of the poem. Shakespeare’s sonnets all end in couplets.

Quatrain: A four-line stanza.

Literary Terms

Alliteration: The repetition of sounds in a group of words as in “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers.”

Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds as in “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride. --Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee

The repetition of consonant sounds as in Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds as in “The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free;” --The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Irony the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

Dramatic Irony  a plot device in which the audience's or reader's knowledge of events or individuals surpasses that of the characters.

Allusion: A reference to a person, place, or thing--often literary, mythological, or historical. The infinitive of allusion is to allude. e.g. Romeo alludes to the mythological figure Diana in the balcony scene.

Diction 1)Word choice. 2) The author’s choice of words. An author has the option of choosing any word from our language, why does he/she choose to use certain words and not others? In order to create a certain tone.

Figurative Language: Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language. Any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to furnish new effects or fresh insights into an idea or a subject. e.g. Whenever you call something “cool,” you’re not talking about its temperature but referring to some other quality it possesses.

Imagery: The use of description that helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes. Most of the time, it refers to appearance. e.g. “Tita was so sensitive to onions, any time they were being chopped, they say she would just cry and cry; when she was still in my great-grandmother’s belly her sobs were so loud that even Nacha, the cook, who was half-deaf, could hear them easily.” --Like Water for Chocolate

Metaphor: A comparison of two unlike things using any form of the verb “to be”–-i.e. am, are, is, was, were. Ex: “This chair is a rock,” or “I am an island.”

Simile: Comparing two unlike things using “like” or “as. ” e. g Simile: Comparing two unlike things using “like” or “as.” e.g. “I’m as hungry as a pig,” or “Your eyes are like stars that brighten my night.”

Onomatopoeia: The use of words that sound like what they mean such as “buzz,” “bang,” or “tic-tock.”

Personification:. Giving inanimate objects human characteristics. e. g Personification: Giving inanimate objects human characteristics. e.g. “The wind howled through the night.”

Prose: Writing organized into sentences and paragraphs that is not poetry. e.g. Novels and short stories are examples of prose.

Symbolism:. The use of one thing to represent another Symbolism: The use of one thing to represent another. Something that stands for something else. e.g. A dove is a symbol of peace.

Hyperbole Examples: I may sweat to death. An exaggeration for the sake of emphasis. Examples: I may sweat to death. The blood bank needs a river of blood.

Theme: The central idea of a work.

Tone: The author’s attitude toward the subject of the work Tone: The author’s attitude toward the subject of the work. Usually positive or negative. e.g. The tone of a piece of literature could be pessimistic, optimistic, angry, or sarcastic.

Mood: The feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage Mood: The feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.  The mood may be suggested by the writer's choice of words, by events in the work, or by the physical setting.