7th Grade Poetry Terms

Stanza

Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the sections of a poem. Stanzas often follow the same pattern of rhyme or rhythm. (Think "poetry paragraph")

Speaker

The voice "telling" the poem; the speaker is not necessarily the poet�for example, the speaker of a poem could be a tree or a bird or a little girl, but the poet is someone entirely different

Rhyme

The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words.

End rhyme

Rhyme at the end lines of a verse or stanza; a poem contains "end rhyme" if the endings of certain lines rhyme with each other

Internal rhyme

Rhyme within the same line of a poem. Ex: "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary" (The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe)

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of end rhyme in a poem, which is labeled with letters of the alphabet

Rhythm

The beat or pulse of a poem

Narrative poem

A poem that tells a story; "ballads" and "epics" are types of narrative poems (Ex: "Casey at the Bat")

Free verse

A type of poem that isn't written with a strict rhyming pattern or stanza structure

Imagery

The making of "pictures with words;" language that appeals to the senses (taste, smell, hearing, touch, sight); imagery creates emotional suggestions and communicates mood, tone and meaning.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words

Assonance

The repetition of the similar vowel sounds. Ex: ""Soft language issued from their spitless lips as they swished in low circles round and round the field, winding hither and thither through the weeds" (James Joyce)

Simile

A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the words "like" or "as

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one is the other

Extended metaphor

When a metaphor is extended or continued all throughout a piece of literature

Personification

A figure of speech in which animals, ideas or objects are given human qualities

Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which the author uses obvious exaggeration; Ex: He waited at the bus stop for an eternity

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that uses terms that contradict each other

Irony

A literary device where what is expected is different from what actually happens; or, when what is said is different from what is meant.

Symbol

Anything in literature that stands for or suggests something else; a symbol is usually something concrete�like an object, place or character�that represents a bigger idea

Symbolism

when an author or poet uses something�usually an object, place or character�to represent something else

Tone

The attitude of the speaker of the poem or the poet toward the subject

Theme

The universal message of a piece of literature