Allusion
A reference to another work of literature, person, or event
Hyperbole
exaggeration
Understatement
the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.
visual imagery
descriptive language that appeals to the sense of sight
auditory imagery
use of language to represent an experience pertaining to sound
Irony
A contrast between expectation and reality
Metaphor
A comparison without using like or as
Simile
A comparison using "like" or "as
Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates the sound it represents.
Personification
A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes
Symbol
A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.
Theme
Central idea of a work of literature
Tone
A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.
total meaning
the total experience communicated by a poem, it includes all those dimensions of experience by which a poem communicates sensuous, emotional imaginative and intellectual and it can be communicated in no other words than those of the poem itself
paraphrase
(v.) to restate in other words; (n.)a statement that presents a given idea in new language
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word
Connotation
an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.
extended figure
A figure of speech sustained or developed through a considerable number of lines or through a whole poem.
structure
the arrangement or framework of a sentence, paragraph, or entire work
fixed form
A poem that may be categorized by the pattern of its lines, meter, rhythm, or stanzas.
Stanza
A group of lines in a poem
refrain
A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.
blank verse
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
free verse
Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme
rhymed verse
Consists of a verse with end rhyme and regular meter
end rhyme
Rhyme that occurs at the end of two or more lines of poetry
internal rhyme
a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next.
slant rhyme
rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme
rhyme scheme
the pattern of rhyme in a poem
Enjambment
no punctuation at the end of a line
Caesura
a pause in the middle of a line
end-stopped line
A line ending in a full pause, usually indicated with a period or semicolon.
cacophony
A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds
euphony
pleasant, harmonious sound
Alliteration
Repetition of initial consonant sounds
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds in the middle of a word
Consonance
consonant sound repeated not at the beginning of the word
Scansion
the action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm
Rhythm
A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.
foot
an individual syllable
Iamb
unstressed, stressed
trochee
stressed, unstressed
spondee
stressed, stressed
anapest
unstressed, unstressed, stressed
dactyl
stressed, unstressed, unstressed
meter
number of feet in a line
diameter
4 syllables
triameter
6 syllables
Tetrameter
8 syllables
Pentameter
10 syllables
Substitution
substitute one type of meter for another