1. Poetry Terms

2. Alliteration The repetition of a beginning consonant sound.

3. Allusion References to people, places, things, etc., that the poet expects us to understand.

4. Assonance the repetition of vowel sounds within words ex. “Tiny white sea lice”

5. Cliché A word or phrase that has been used so many times that its impact is lost. Ex: Life is like a box of chocolates

6. Consonance the close repetition of the same consonant sounds within and at the end of words ex. “…he sweats from pores round as goblets full of swamps.”

7. Connotation Suggested meaning Tasted like dirt meaning not tasting good.

8. Denotation The dictionary meaning of a word. Tasted like dirt meaning it does, in fact, taste like dirt.

9. Dissonance A combination of harsh and jarring sounds or rhythmical patterns. Ex: Drink pups drink pups lease a sash hold, see it shine and a bobolink has pins

10. Euphemism a mild, inoffensive word or expression used in place of one that is harsh or unpleasant ex. to pass away for die eliminate for kill

11. Figurative language intentional departure from normal language to gain strength and freshness of expression, to create a picture quality and poetic effect

12. Free Verse Verse that does not conform to a fixed pattern. Rhyme and rhythm happen by accident

13. Hyperbole exaggeration for emphasis

14. Image or Imagery words that bring to mind visual, auditory, tactile, or other sensory thoughts, feelings and memories

15. Metaphor a figure of speech in which two things are compared without the use of like or as ex. Love is a rose.

16. Meter the pattern or rhythm determined by the accented and unaccented syllables in a line of poetry meter is established by the repetition of a dominant foot

17. Meter - continued monometer = one foot dimeter = two feet trimeter = three feet tetrameter = four feet pentameter = five feet hexameter = six feet ex. iambic pentameter is a line of verse consisting of five iambs

18. Mood the frame of mind or state of feeling created by a piece of writing ex. sorrowful mood sentimental mood

19. Musical or sound device Poetic device involving sound (such as alliteration, assonance, or consonance)

20. Onomatopoeia words that imitate sound enables the writer to express sense through sound ex. splash, buzz, pow, murmur

21. Personification gives human qualities to non-human things

22. Pun Play on words where it can sound alike but has multiple meanings. Ex A chicken farmer's favorite car is a coupe.

23. Refrain Lines that are repeated at the end of different stanzas.

24. Rhyme the repetition of syllable sounds at the ends of words ex. beautiful, dutiful

25. Rhyme scheme the pattern of end rhyme in a poem marked with letters, beginning with “a” and continuing through the alphabet

26. Simile a comparison using like or as ex. Love is like a rose

27. Speaker The person, thing or voice that is saying the poem.

28. Stanza a group of related lines that forms a section of a poem

29. Symbol an image that carries meaning beyond itself

30. Tone the author’s attitude towards the subject

31. Verse Single line of poetry. Usually, but not always, has rhythm and rhyme.