Poetry TerminologyEnglish 10-2

Imagery Words or phrases that stimulate one of

the five senses (hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight)

Simile and Metaphor He eats like a pig (simile)

He is a pig (metaphor)

Personification “The trees danced in the wind”.

“The sun winked at me behind the clouds”.

Symbol A word or object that represents

something else.

Heart represents love.

Paradox A statement that seems contradictory

but actually expresses a truth.

I hate that I love him.

Hyperbole I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

He is as big as an elephant.

Verbal Irony A person says/writes one thing but

means another.

Sarcasm

Dramatic Irony The reader/audience knows something

that the characters do not.

Apostrophewhen someone absent, dead or non-human is addressed as if it were alive or present

The Sun Rising John Donne

Busy old fool, unruly sun, Why dost thou thus,Through windows, and throughCurtains call on us?Milton! Thou shouldn’t be living at this hour

Allusion A reference to a person, place, or event

in history or other piece of literature.

Bob’s lack of motivation was his Achilles heel.

Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds in words.

The cat and the antsy animals frantically swam away.

Free Verse A poem that has no rhythm pattern or

rhyme scheme.

Onomatopoeia Sizzle Splash Woosh

Haiku Snow falling slowly Blanketing the trees and road Silence and beauty

Understatement A statement which lessens the importance

or severity of a situation. The opposite of exaggeration (hyperbole). A man about to be executed states: I’m

going out for a walk. I may be out for quite some time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4

Rhyme and Meter Rhyme: words that sound the same

Meter: a pattern of rhyme and rhythm

Ex. Iambic pentameter

Denotation and Connotation Denotation: The literal or dictionary definition

meaning of a word. Snake – what is a snake?

Connotation: The implied meaning of a word. Snake- evil/danger

Stanza A group of lines in a poem.

Categorized by the number of lines: Two lines = Couplet Three lines= Tercet Four lines = Quatrain Five lines = Cinquain Six lines = Sestet Seven lines= Septet