1. How to Sound Smart When Talking about Poetry

2. The Basics Diction: the words
Imagery: the pictures they make in your head
Figurative Language: the literary devices you use to build your meaning
Syntax: the order of your words and the way they’re punctuated

3. Diction
Voice: the individual writing style of an author, a combination of their common usage of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text
Speaker: where the voice is coming from
Persona: the “character” of that voice
Agency: the power that character has to take action; the ability of the “I” to do something.
Word Choice: the poet’s particular selection of vocabulary; defines the tone
Tone: the speaker’s opinion on the subject as portrayed by the word choice
Sonics: the vocal quality of the piece; how it sounds when read aloud; i.e. alliteration, assonance, consonance, etc.

4. Imagery
The pictures called into the reader’s head as she reads the words.
This is very important. The best poems rely on a mix of voice and imagery. The worst don’t paint a picture in the reader’s head.

5. Figurative Language
Symbolism: a concrete image that represents an abstract concept
Allusion: a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.
Metaphors: a comparison of two things without the phrase like or as.
Juxtaposition: the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.
There are many, many, MANY literary terms.

6. Syntax Sentence structure
Meter: the rhythmic pattern in a line of verse
Feet: the units of that rhythm
We will go over this in more detail later.
Line: a group of words arranged into a row that ends for a reason other than the right-hand margin.
Stanza: like a paragraph in a poem
End-stopped: when a line is punctuated at the end, as with a period or semicolon
Caesura: a pause or break in the middle of a line of poetry
Penultimate: a fancy word that means next-to-last.

7. Clichés: using words or phrases that we’ve all heard before.
Why is this bad?
Clichés make poetry sound stale and unexciting. Some particularly heinous ones involve describing bruises, blood, beating hearts, and sorrow. “Blood tears” in particular makes me cringe.
Please avoid this kind of writing. Try to think of something fresh to say.
When in doubt, Google it.