1. AP LIT: Klenz
Poetry Terms Review

2. What do you know about rhyme?

3. What do you know about rhyme?
Formerly an essential part of poetry
Can define shape of poem and hold it together
One of most basic sound effects of poetry
End rhyme
Rhyme scheme
Internal rhyme
Off rhyme

4. What do you know about meter?

5. What do you know about meter?
Measure of the rhythmic quality of a poem
Scansion is the process of figuring out the meter, which is figuring out the type of foot used and how many feet are used per line.
Iambic pentameter most common
Other feet – trochee, anapest, dactyl

6. What do you know about sound devices?

7. What do you know about sound devices?
Sound devices are meant for your ear – poetry is meant to be read aloud.
It is difficult to connect sound devices to meaning, but in some cases it is possible
alliteration – repetition of consonant the beginning of a succession of words
assonance – repetition of vowel the beginning of a succession of words
consonance – repetition of consonant sounds within and ending words in succession
onomatopoeia – the use of words that imitate sounds

8. What is Free Verse Poetry?

9. What is Free Verse Poetry?
Poetry w/o regular patterns of rhyme or meter – often sounds like everyday language when read aloud
Favored by modern poets

10. Poetic Language – how does it differ from other genres?

11. Poetic Language – how does it differ from other genres?
Because of the brevity of the literary form, each word or phrase must be packed with meaning.
Following are terms that refer to the choices a poet must make to convey message

12. Diction – choice of words
Denotation – literal dictionary definition of words as distinct from an associated idea
Connotation – suggestion of a meaning of a word beyond its definition; positive/negative associations
Imagery – words that appeal to one or more of the five senses (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, taste), usually visual – can produce an emotional response

13. Diction, continued
Refrain/repetition – for emphasis or to establish rhythm
Allusion – a reference to a person, place, event, or literary work with which the author believes the reader will be familiar. Provides the reader with a deeper understanding and/or connection to main idea or theme (biblical, historical, mythical most common)

14. What is figurative language and why does it dominate the genre of poetry?

15. What is figurative language and why does it dominate the genre of poetry?
Figurative language (figures of speech) simply means the use of phrases that aren’t literally true
Figurative language is a way to say more with fewer words

16. Metaphor : the grandfather of all figurative language
Comparison between two otherwise unlike things w/o the use of connectors (e.g. “like”, “as”) – comparisons make unfamiliar ideas easier to understand
Often something intangible is compared to something tangible
Direct (“be” verb) v. implied metaphor (indirect comparison)
Extended metaphor – continues throughout poem, when especially clever, this is called a conceit

17. metaphor’s children
Simile – same definition, just add a connector (not always like or as)
Hyperbole – extreme exaggeration made for emphasis
Personification – gives human qualities to nonhuman entity
Symbol – something that stands for more than itself (usually an idea)

18. metaphor’s children, continued
Apostrophe – an address is made to an absent person/thing or personified thing rhetorically
Pun – wordplay – applies multiple definitions of homophones to same subject (see Shakespeare, knock-knock jokes)
Oxymoron – a pair of opposite or contradictory terms are used together for emphasis
Paradox – a seemingly illogical statement that upon further analysis makes sense

19. Other terms important to the explication of poetry

20. Other terms important to the explication of poetry
Explication - the process of unfolding and of making clear the meaning of things, so as to make the implicit explicit. Specific to literary analysis
Paraphrase – putting the poem into your own words
Both of the above are necessary to grasp the meaning of a poem

21. Other terms, continued
Tone – attitude of the speaker toward the subject of the poem
Speaker – who’s doing the talking in the poem - we will refer to speaker as “someone who…”
Subject –
broad thematic subject (e.g. war, love)
specific subject (the speaker’s lover)

22. Other terms, continued Stanza/line = paragraph/sentence in prose
Caesura, enjambment, end-stopped lines
End-stopped lines end with punctuation
Enjambed lines carry on to another line
Caesura is a pause within a line