Speaker
The person "telling" the poem; like a narrator; the speaker and the author are not (usually) the same person.
Occasion
An event or circumstance that prompted the speaker to speak; situation
Audience
The person or people to whom the speaker is speaking. Note that some poems contain no clear audience. In this case we assume the speaker is talking to herself (or reflecting).
Purpose
The point of the poem; what the speaker is trying to prove.
Subject
What the poem is about. Note that a poem may have multiple subjects.
Tone
Speaker's attitude toward the subject; this is key and often the focus of AP poetry essay prompts. Tone is also defined as the author's attitude toward the subject. For our class purpose we will usually focus on the speaker's tone. The speaker's tone and the author's tone may differ.
Form
The external pattern or shape of a poem; the physical layout; e.g. free verse, sonnet form, line length, etc. Often used interchangeably with "structure.
Structure
The internal organization of a poem's content; arrangement of ideas, perspective, images, thoughts. Often used interchangeably with "form.
Diction
Word choice
Syntax
Sentence structure
Ambiguity
vagueness or inexactness; in literature an ambiguous word or phrase has more than one possible meaning.
Enjambment
Run-on lines of poetry; the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
Personification
Giving human qualities to something nonhuman
Paradox
A seemingly contradictory statement that, upon further investigation, contains some truth.
Oxymoron
Two apparently contradictory terms back to back.
Free Verse
Poetry that is free from regular rhythm or rhyme.
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word
Metaphor
A direct comparison not using "like" or "as
Allusion
A direct or indirect reference to history, mythology, other literary, art, etc. in literature
Simile
A comparison using "like" or "as
Figurative Imagery
Imagery not meant to be taken literally; metaphor, simile, symbol, etc. are all examples of figurative imagery
Connotation
A meaning that is implied by a word beyond its denotation; the feeling or feelings associated with a word.
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds
Assonance
The repetition of vowels or vowel sounds
Consonance
The repetition of unrhymed final consonance sounds
Conceit
An elaborate and often surprising comparison between two different things
Internal rhyme
Rhyme between a word within a line and another word either at the end of the same line or within another line
Irony
A literary device in which words are used to express a contradiction between appearance and reality�usually the reality is the opposite of what it seems. There are several types of irony
Verbal Irony
The use of words to express something different from or opposite to its literal meaning. Sarcasm, overstatement (or hyperbole), and understatement are all examples of verbal irony
Dramatic Irony
When the audience knows something that a character or characters do not know
Situational Irony
A contradiction between what we expect to happen and what actually happens
Gustatory (literal imagery)
taste
Olfactory (literal imagery)
smell
Visual (literal imagery)
sight
Tactile (literal imagery)
touch
Auditory (literal imagery)
sound
Kinesthetic (literal imagery)
movement
Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates, suggest or resembles a sound
Extended metaphor
a metaphor that continues through multiple lines of a poem or multiple sentences in a paragraph (like a conceit)
Literal imagery
Imagery that relates to the five senses; imagery meant to be taken literally
Shakespearean Sonnet
14 lines
3 quatrains (abab cdcd efef rhyme scheme). The quatrains are usually separated by a hard stop (period, semicolon, colon), and they either present an argument or situation or develop a central idea.
1 rhyming couplet (gg). The couplet provides a solution to the argument, conclusion to the situation, or final statement about the central idea.
Written in iambic pentameter.
Foot
Quatrain
A stanza or poem of four lines; a four line division of a sonnet.
Couplet
Two successive lines of rhyming verse.
Iambic Pentameter
A line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable. An iamb is the most frequently used foot because it mimics normal speech. Also, it is the same rhythm as a heartbeat (da dum), making it even more significant and natural. In summary, a line of iambic pentameter contains 10 syllables and it is made up of five iambs. Each iamb has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Foot
A unit of meter consisting of a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables. An iamb is an example of a metrical foot. For example, the words exist, belong, predict, and away are all iambs. They have an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. In Romeo and Juliet, the famous line "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?" is written in iambic pentameter. So is this line from Macbeth: "So, thanks to all at once and to each one.
Petrarchan (Italian Sonnet)
14 lines
One octave (abbaabba rhyme scheme)
One sestet (cdecde or sometimes cdcdcd rhyme scheme)
The octave poses a question or dilemma and the sestet answers or resolves the question/dilemma.
Written in iambic pentameter
Octave
An eight line stanza or poem�frequently applied to the first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Sestet
A six line stanza or poem�frequently applied to the last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Apostrophe
When a speaker directly addresses something non-human like an object, an idea, or someone who doesn't exist as if it is a living person
Metonymy
A figure of speech where one thing is represented by another thing with which it is associated (e.g. Crown instead of king or queen)
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole (e.g. wheels for car)
Cacophony
A mixture of harsh, unpleasant, and discordant sounds
Euphony
A mixture of pleasing, harmonious sounds
Slant rhyme
A form of rhyme in which words contain similar sounds but do not rhyme perfectly (Also known as near rhyme or half rhyme)
Indirect Characterization
When a narrator describes or shows things that reveal the personality of a character (The personality or defining characteristics are not directly told, they are implied or shown; e.g. a narrator would show or describe an angry girl or a rude child).
Speech (indirect characterization)
What a character says and how she says it can reveal aspects of the personality of the character
Thoughts (indirect characterization)
What a character thinks can reveal aspects of the personality of the character
Effect (on others) (indirect characterization)
How others think about a character or what they say about her may reveal the personality of the character
Actions (indirect characterization)
What a character does can reveal aspects of the personality of the character
Looks (indirect characterization)
The appearance of a character can reveal aspects of the character's personality.
Detail
(Synonymous with literal imagery) This word is often used in AP Prose essay exam prompts
Point of View
Provides the reader with a perspective about the events of a work of fiction (first person omniscient, limited omniscient)
Motif
A unifying element in an artistic work (especially any recurrent element, image, symbol, etc.) (A motif can be almost anything-color, word, phrase, action, image, etc; A motif has symbolic meaning and often establishes theme in a literary work)
Antithesis
a figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other (such as "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.")