literary devices and terms

Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of worrs

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

Apostrophe

a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction; O

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds

atmosphere/mood

the mood/ feeling of the literary work created for the reader by the writer.

cacophony

use of harsh sounding words

cliche

a worn-out idea or overused expression

Connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning. context

Consonance

similar to alliteration but consonant sound can be anywhere in the word

contrast

Difference between things

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

dissonance

chaos words

euphony

use of pleasant sounding words

extended metaphor

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

figurative language

language that uses figures of speech

internal rhyme

A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line

near rhyme

sounds are almost but not exactly alike. share the same vowel or consonant sound but not both

refrain

a sound, word, phrase or line repeated regularly in a poem

Lyric

a short poem of songlike quality. first person,
emotional or idwa

Haiku

a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.

Cinquain

a five line stanza containing 22 syllables

Shakespearean sonnet

14 lines in iambic pentameter, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG three quotations and ends w couplet

Hyperbole

exaggeration for effect

Idiom

literal meaning is not the true meaning of a phrase (raining cats and dogs)

Imagery

language that appeals to the senses

Jargon

language of a group of people

literal language

worlds without benefit of pictures

Metaphor

A comparison without using like or as. two i like things

meter

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

Mood

How the reader feels about the text while reading.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Oxymoron

contradiction within a line

Paradox

a contradiction or dilemma

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Rhyme

Repetition of sounds at the end of words

rhyme scheme

the pattern of rhyme in a poem

Rythm

The beat created by the sounds of the words in a poem

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as

end rhyme

A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line

free verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme, no rhyme, conversational

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

narrative poem

a poem that tells a story

concrete poem

a poem with a shape that suggests its subject

implied metaphor

The comparison is hinted at but not clearly stated.

Speaker

the narrator of a poem

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Synedoche

figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole

Theme

Central idea of a work of literature

Tone

Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character

Trope

a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression

Understatement

ironic or sarcasm, opposite of hyperbole

voice

A writers distinctive use of language

Monometer

one foot on line

Dimeter

two feet on line

Trimeter

three feet on line

Tetrameter

four feet on line

pentrameter

five feet on line

Hexameter

six feet on line

heptameter

7 feet on line

octometer

eight feet

poetry

A type of literature that expresses ideas, feelings, or tells a story in a specific form (usually using lines and stanzas)

poet

The author of the poem

Speaker

the voice of the poem

form

the appearance of the words on the page

Line

A group of words together on one line of the poem

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem

Couplet

2 line stanza

Triplet

3 line stanza

Quatrain

4 line stanza

quintet

a five line stanza

Sestet (sextet)

six line stanza

Septet

7 line stanza

Octave

8 line stanza

Iambic

unstressed, stressed

Trochaic

stressed, unstressed

Anapestic

unstressed, unstressed, stressed

Dactylic

stressed, unstressed, unstressed