1. Poetry Terms
English II

2. Types of Poems Blank Verse Fixed Form Free Verse Epic Poetry
Lyric Poetry
Narrative Poetry
Dramatic Poetry
Haiku
Sonnet
Ballad

3. Blank Verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter, which is a pattern of five repetitions of unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable

4. Fixed Form Poetry with a set meter and/or rhyme scheme
Example: Sonnet, Haiku

5. Free Verse/Form
A type of poetry that has no specific rules of rhyme, meter, or length
Example: “The Red Wheelbarrow”

6. Epic
A long and highly stylized narrative poem celebrating the heroic achievements of its hero.
Example: The Odyssey

7. Lyric Poetry
Romantic or descriptive poems that contain an expression of the poet’s feelings and thoughts
Example: Neruda’s “If you forget me”

8. Narrative
Poem that tells a story
Example: “Theme B for English”

9. Dramatic Poetry
Uses dramatic form in some way (ex: monologue, dialogue, stressing of tense situation and/or emotional conflict)
Example: “My Last Duchess”

10. Haiku Fixed form poem Usually about nature Three lines 17 syllables

11. Sonnet Lyric poem with 14 lines
Meter is Iambic Pentameter (five feet of stressed and unstressed syllables; 10 syllables total)
3 quatrains (stanza with 4 lines) and 1 couplet (two rhyming lines)
Usually about love
English version made famous by Shakespeare
Shakespearian Sonnet has a rhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg

12. Ballad A narrative poem, often of folk origin, intended to be sung
Example: “Ballad of Barbara Allen”

13. Sound Devices Meter Rhyme Scheme Rhythm Repetition Refrain Stanza
Iambic Pentameter
Rhyme Scheme
End
Internal
Slant
Eye
Rhythm
Repetition
Refrain
Stanza
Couplet
Alliteration
Assonance
Onomatopoeia

14. Repetition The repeating of key words or phrases for effect
Example: “Ning Nang Nong”

15. Meter Set rhythm in a poem based on stressed and unstressed syllables
Example: Iambic pentameter in sonnets

16. Rhythm
Musical quality produced by language

17. Rhyme End – words at the end of lines rhyme
Slant – an off-rhyme at the end of poetry lines where only the vowel sounds are the same
Internal – rhyming words are found within a line of poetry
Eye – visual or sight rhyme

18. Rhyme Scheme
Assigning letters to the last word in a poem based on its rhyme.
Used to determine form, if any
Example: Row, row, row your boat (A)
Gently down the stream (B)
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily (C)
Life is but a dream (B)

19. Refrain
Repeating line or lines in a poem
Example: chorus in a song

20. Stanza
Lines grouped together in a poem

21. Alliteration Repetition of initial consonant sound/letter
Example: Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

22. Assonance Repetition of a vowel sound
Example: The broom zoomed through the room.

23. Onomatopoeia Words where meaning is reflected in sound Example: Bzzzzz
POW

24. Literary Devices Connotation/Denotation Idiom Metaphor Simile
Personification
Hyperbole
Allusion
Irony
Situational
Dramatic
Verbal
Symbol
Mood
Tone

25. Word Meaning Connotation – all the meanings associated with a word
Denotation – dictionary definition of that word
Example: cool

26. Idiom
A phrase that cannot be understood by the literal meaning of its words
Example: Raining cats and dogs.

27. Comparisons
Simile – comparison of two different things using “like” or “as”
Metaphor – a figure of speech that compares two different things without using “like” or “as”

28. Personification
Gives human characteristics to something that is not human

29. Hyperbole
An exaggeration for effect

30. Allusion
An implied or indirect reference to a person, place, or thing that is fictitous, historical, or real
Example: 1492

31. Irony
Situational – the expected results in a situation are not the actual results that occur
Dramatic – the audience understands or knows something that characters do not know
Verbal – words that say one thing and mean another

32. Symbol
An thing (title, object, etc) that represents something more than itself/stands for something
Example: The jacket from “On the Bridge”

33. Mood
The atmosphere or feeling in a literary work

34. Tone
The author’s intended attitude toward his or her subject, usually used to set a mood in the work