poetry quiz

alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words (big bad bully)

apostrophe

when poets direct speech to an abstract concept or a person who is not physically present, they're writing _________ poetry (twinkle twinkle little star)

assonance

repetition of vowel sounds (try to light the fire)

caesura

a break in a line of poetry (Beowulf)

conceit

an unconventional or logically complex metaphor whose delights are more intellectual than sensual (marriage is like getting a root canal OR plath's pregnancy poem)

connotation

refers to an implied meaning that's associated with a word in addition to its literal meaning (she's feeling blue)

diction

refers to the operating language of poetry, language employed in a manner that sets poetry apart from other kinds of speech or writing

elegy

usually a lament, sad and serious poem

enjambment

incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning runs over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation (I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I / Did, till we loved?)

figure of speech

an expressive, nonliteral use of language, include tropes and schemes

foot

a basic repeated sequence of meter composed of two or more accented or unaccented syllables

hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally ("the god Mars cried out as loudly as nine or ten thousand men")

imagery

a vivid and vibrant form of description that appeals to readers' senses and imagination (fluttering and dancing in the breeze)

metaphor

a comparison between two things that states one thing is another, in order help explain an idea or show hidden similarities (the curtain of night fell upon us)

meter

the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse

onomatopoeia

a word that sounds like what it refers to. the combination of letter sounds in the word imitate the natural sounds of that object or action (honk beep, vroom)

personification

assigns human qualities and attributes to object or other non-human things

pun

play on words (The cyclist was two tired to win the race)

simile

type of metaphor that compares two different things using the words "like" or "as." (as heavy as a bag of bricks)

tone

the poet's attitude toward the poem's speaker, reader, and subject matter, as interpreted by the reader (serious, humorous, amused, angry, playful, cheerful, sad, gloomy, etc.)

pathetic fallacy

a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human (clouds seem sullen)

dramatic monologue

written in the form of a speech of an individual character

satire

a literary device for the artful ridicule of a folly or vice as a means of exposing or correcting it (political cartoons, The Colbert Report)

allusion

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

soliloquy

a monologue spoken by a theatrical character which expresses the character's inner thoughts and emotions

aside

a dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience

English (Shakespearean) Sonnet

- rhyme pattern: abab, cdcd, efef, gg
- 3 quatrains (4 lines) then couplet (which restates or refines the theme)

Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet

- 8 line octave with a rhyming pattern of abaabba
- followed by a sestet: a six line rhyming pattern of cdecde
- often the octave posed a problem that is answered in the sestet

iamb

unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (and walked with inward glory crowned)

trochee

stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable