1. Poetry Terms

2. Tone
The speaker’s attitude towards his or her audience

3. Rhythm
Musical quality produced by repeated sound patterns

4. Scanning Marking the syllable pattern / = stressed U= unstressed
EX: Dr. Seuss

5. Rhyme Words that end with the same vowel or vowel-consonant sound
EX: clown & noun
Both have –ow followed by an –n sound

6. End Rhyme Rhyming that occurs at the end of a line
EX: Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches : thars & stars

7. Internal Rhyme Rhyming that occurs within a line
EX: “The rumbling, tumbling stones,
And “Bones, bones, bones!”
from “The Sea” by James Reeves

8. Rhyme Scheme The pattern of rhyming sounds at the end of lines
Ill tell you the story of Jimmy Jet- A
And you know what I tell you is true. B
He loved to watch his TV set A
Almost as much as you. B
From “Jimmy Jet and his TV Set” by Shel Silverstein

9. Free Verse Sounds like regular conversation
Many poets use this today because then they don’t have to worry about meters or rhyme schemes

10. Repetition Rhyme and rhythm used to create sound effects
EX: Dr. Seuss using “thars” and “stars” to create humor

11. Refrain
The repetition of a word, phrase, line or group of lines

12. Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close together
EX: It laughs a lovely whiteness,
And whitely whirs away,
From “Cynthia in the Snow” by Gwendolyn Brooks

13. Figurative Language Also known as Figures of Speech
Making imaginative comparisons
EX: His friendship was valuable
His friendship was like a gift

14. Metaphor Directly compares two unlike things
EX: The sea is a hungry dog, Giant and gray.

15. Simile
Comparison between unlike things that uses specific words of comparison, such as like or as
EX: He’s white as spilled milk
from “Ode to Mi Gato” by Gary Soto

16. Personification
Speaking of something that is not human as if it has human abilities, emotions, and reactions.
EX: The sky wept bitterly all day.

17. Word Choice
Choosing the right word- the one that is most vivid and precise-to convey or show a poem’s meaning

18. Sentence Structure
Showing meaning and tone in poetry

19. Strategies…
Strategies that will help you identify tone and meaning in poetry:
Pay attention to the title
Punctuation
Rhythm and rhyme scheme
Word choice
Figurative Language
Fluency