English— Moreau Name ____________________________________Blk _____ What is Poetry? ... an arrangement of words in verse; a rhythmical composition, sometimes rhymed, in language more imaginative than ordinary speech. Poetry is distilled emotion; poetry is intensely personal; poetry is effective description; poetry is powerful or gentle, simple or complex expression of thoughts and feelings; poetry is musical or harsh; poetry is gentle or vicious; poetry may say what has to be said in three lines, thirty lines or three thousand lines; poetry is imagination flying free or under rigid control. What is your definition of poetry? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ Poetic Terminology Authors and poets develop an image by using poetic devices and figurative language to create vivid images in the reader’s mind. The following is a list of devices, terms and figures of speech that you are expected to be familiar with by the end of this unit. Antithesis:
is a figure of speech made up of opposing or contrasted words or sentiments arranged in parallel construction (a balanced phrase) in the same sentence. is based on unlikeness, hence expresses contrast. (verbs should be contrasted with verbs; nouns with nouns; adjectives with adjectives; etc.) e.g. To err is human; to forgive, divine It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser. Deeds show what we are; words what we should be. “Fair is Foul and Foul is fair.”
Allusion:
is an indirect reference to known events in history, philosophy, Bible subjects, current events, mythology of classical Greece and Rome. The allusion is usually only effective if the audience has the necessary background knowledge. The allusion will usually parallel the theme or events of a second piece of literature. “She’ll not be hit with Cupid’s arrow” (I, i, 204) (R&J) “ ‘Tis since the earthquake now eleven years.” (I, iii, 23) (R&J)
Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sound in consecutive words. e.g. Never knit on a knoll when you have pneumonia. A plaid, purple pencil case sat on the desk. The river runs raging onward. My dog Darwin danced with Donny at the disco. Wilful waste makes woeful want. Anachronism: something placed in an inappropriate period of time. e.g. Shakespeare’s reference to cannons in Romeo & Juliet
Shakespeare’s reference to clocks in Julius Caesar Apostrophe: -addressing directly an inanimate object as if it were alive, or an absent person as if he/she were present e.g. “Hail to thee, blithe spirit.” -addressing inanimate objects as if they were human e.g. O world, I cannot hold thee close enough -the absent are addressed as if they were present e.g. Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour. -the dead... as if they were living e.g. My Shakespeare, rise, I will not lodge thee by... “Poor robes, you are beguiled...” Both you and I, for Romeo is exiled. “Come death and let me have my peace.” He made you for a highway to my bed.” (III,ii, 132) (R&J) “This is thy sheath- O happy dagger, There rust and let me die” (V, iii, 170) (R&J) an apostrophe is often combined with metaphor and personification. e.g. My country, ‘tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing. Aside:
a short passage spoken in an undertone or directed to the audience. “Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?” (II,ii, 37) (Romeo & Juliet)
Assonance:
the repetition of vowel sounds in words in close proximity e.g. Twinkle, twinkle, little star. The long day wanes.
Caesura:
a pause in a line of verse, often indicated by a comma.
Climax:
is a figure of speech in which a series of thoughts is arranged in the order of climatic importance. In true climax a weaker or less important thought is expressed before a stronger one. e.g. He sacrificed his business, his home, and his honour for political importance.
Cliché:
an expression used so often that it has lost its freshness and effectiveness. e.g. “ I cried an ocean of tears.” “Busy as a bee.”
Comic relief: a comic element inserted into a tragic work. Act IV, Scene v - the jesting of the musicians relieves the gloom of the rest of the scene. Act II, Scene v - the nurse with Juliet. Act IV Scene iv - preparation for the wedding. Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds in consecutive words e.g. Never knit on a knoll when you have pneumonia.
Epigram:
is a short, usually witty statement, graceful in style and ingenious in thought; it has the nature of a proverb. Best epigrams are those in which there is an apparent contradiction between the intended meaning and the form of expression. e.g. Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason (Oscar Willed, “The Critic as Artist”) The child is father of the man. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The fastest colours are those that will not run.
Epiphany:
“a sudden spiritual manifestation” which an object or action achieves as a result of the observer’s apprehension of its significance. Sometimes, when observing a trivial incident or listening to a fragment of conversation one would have and “insight”. e.g. ... he felt that the auguary he had sought in the wheeling darting birds and in the pale space of sky above him had come forth from his heart like a bird from a turret quietly and swiftly. Symbol of departure or loneliness?
Epitaph:
originally referring to an inscription in verse on a tombstone, the term has also been used to designate a poem or a part of a long poem which expresses respect (see the epitaph from Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”), and occasionally disrespect, for the dead. Some epitaphs, perhaps unintentionally, are humorous in intent: Here lie I. Martin Elginbrodde: Have mercy on my soul, Lord God, As I wad do, were I Lord God, And ye were Martin Elginbrodde. Anonymous
Foreshadowing: a hint of what is to follow “This intrusion shall now seeming sweet, convert to bett’rest gall.: (I,v,91-92) (R&J) Haiku:
an unrhymed Japanese poem, usually consisting of seventeen jion (Japanese symbolsounds), which records the essence of a moment keenly perceived, usually linking nature to human nature. Though there is no fixed form for Japanese haiku, foreign adaptations, particularly those developed by American poets, have usually consisted of three lines of five, seven, and five syllable, Seventeen syllables is the norm in and English-language haiku, but it frequently contains fewer than this number though rarely more.
Hamartia:
the tragic flaw which causes the downfall of the hero. e.g. Macbeth’s ambition
Hyperbole:
the use of deliberate exaggeration for emphasis e.g. The runners on our track team are faster than lightening. The swimming pool was very little. It was so small that__________________________ The new shopping mall was huge. In fact, it was so big that_______________________ He was a mountain of a man. “Then with one step he was in the next valley.” refers to the use of language to represent descriptively things, actions, or even abstract ideas. Imagery suggests visual pictures often expressed with figures of speech, such as metaphors and similes, to give vividness and immediacy to their thought. e.g. Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end. (Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60)
Imagery:
Irony:
a device by which a writer expresses a meaning contradictory to the stated or ostensible one. dramatic- when a character in a play speaks lines that are understood in a double sense by the audience but not by the characters on stage. e.g. “Indeed, I never shall be satisfied with Romeo, til I behold him - deadIs my poor heart so for a kinsman vexed.” (III,v,95) (R&J) situational- when a set of circumstances turns out to be the opposite/ reverse of those anticipated (IV, iv) plans for wedding and Juliet is drugged or “dead” in the next room. verbal- the attitude of the speaker is the opposite to what is stated: “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford. “No better term than this: thou art a villain.: (III,i,60)
Malapropism: the substitution of an inappropriate word that sounds similar to the proper word; the ludicrous misuse of words by an uneducated character. “I desire some confidence with you”. (II,iv, 12o) (R& J) He hates me and I despise him - the feeling is neutral. Metaphor:
Metonymy:
a comparison of two unlike things by stating that one thing IS the other; the comparison may be direct or implied. A comparison that does not employ “like” or “as” and is often found in slang. e.g. He’s a nut. She’s a doll. The little boy is a devil.(never absolutely true, but comparatively true) He is a raging beast. (direct comparison) Life is a bowl of cherries. (direct comparison) She swam bravely against the tide of popular opinion. (implied comparison - “ swimming against the tide” means she maintained her own opinion, which differed from that of most other people) Our oldest son is the star. (meaning brightest member) The news you bring is a dagger to my heart. Hold fast to the anchor of faith. He swam bravely against the tide of popular opinion. Life is a dome of many-coloured glass. “There is a garden in her face.” “Anthony is but a limb of Caesar.” “He clasps the crag with crooked hands.” “An aged man is but a paltry thing, / A tattered coat upon a stick...” His rash policy let loose the dogs of war. The old man shook his carrot-like fingers at me Autumn is an old brave, loping along in beaded moccasins. an object or idea is substituted for another to which it is related or clearly suggests e.g. The kettle is boiling. (“kettle” is substituted for “water” since it is actually the water that does the boiling) The tailor sews a fine seam. Have you read Shakespeare?
Onomatopoeia:
(imitative harmony) This device is the use of words that in themselves sound like what they are describing. An impression can sometimes be strengthened if the sound is made to “echo” the or imitate the sounds they represent.
e.g. The leaves whispered to one another as they chased the breeze. The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves. (Keats) Dogs bark, cats meow. the “clucking” of hens, the cat’s ‘meow”, the turkey’s “gobble”, the frog’s “croak”, etc. others are: crash, boom, scratch, tinkle, ring, bubble, buzz, splash Only the stuttering rifle’s rapid rattle / Can patter out their nasty orisons. “Hotchkiss dropped to the carpet with a dull thud” “Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard.” (Alfred Noyes’s The Highwayman) Oxymoron:
using two contradictory terms together to create a startling paradox—a pairing of opposites, often spoken by a character who is in emotional confusion. e.g. He is terribly unhappy. “O brawling love, O loving have,” (I,i,73) (R&J) “Fiend angelical.” (III,ii,75) “Damned saint,” (III,ii,78) Beautiful tyrant, Fiend angelical “conspicuous by his absence.”
Palindrome: A word, sentence, or verse which reads the same either backward or forward. e.g. “Madam, I’m Adam” and “Able was I ere I saw Elba.” Parallelism: She’s not well married that lives married long But she’s best married that dies married young. Pathetic fallacy: attributing of human characteristics to inanimate objects e.g. “Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon.” “The sun for sorrow will not show his head.” (Romeo & Juliet) Personification: is essentially a type of metaphor; all personifications are metaphors, but not all metaphors are personifications. Personification is comparing something that does not have life to something that does. Inanimate objects or abstract ideas as if it were endowed with life, or with human parts or qualities. e.g. “... and there tiptoe The stars among the branches go.” “... nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands...” “But look, the morn in russet mantle clad, Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastern hill.” personification... The trees of the wood bowed and wept bitter tears. I passed the English exam - Fortune has smiled upon me. “The house shook, the wind howled.” “Tyranny is dead.” “The laughing faces of happy flowers.” “And there tiptoe / The stars among the branches go.” “O Death, where is thy sting!” In “The Two Corbies” we are asked to think of the two ravens as speaking, thinking and feeling like human beings but not as having human form. “She (an old freighter) nods at her mooring cables, / Head bent to the dry monsoon. / The Jervis Bay is nodding, half asleep.” “She hangs upon the cheek of night.” (I,v,45) (R&J)
“The sun for sorrow will not show his head.” (V,iii,306) (R&J) “When well apparelled April on the heal of limping winter treads.” (R&J) These shall the fury Passions tear, The vultures of the mind, Disdainful Anger, pallid Fear, And Shame that skulks behind, Or pining Love shall waste their youth, Or Jealousy with rankling tooth, That inly gnaws the secret heart, An Envy wan, and faded Care Grim-visaged, comfortless Despair, And Sorrow’s piercing dart Paradox:
a seemingly ridiculous, contradictory statement which, upon further reflection, however, actually makes sense eg. the fortunate fall of Mankind (according to Christians, Man’s fall from Paradise (in itself a terrible event) was actually a good thing in a long run because it paved the way for Jesus, who is supposed to have brought the world eternal salvation)
Pun:
a word play, using a word with two meanings or two words with similar pronunciation but different meanings. eg. “This precious book of love, this unbound lover. To beautify him only lacks a cover.” (I,iii,87-88) “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.”(III,i,96) (R&J)
Repetition:
repeating a word for emphasis Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen Fallen from his high estate. Generations have trod, have trod, have trod. Alone, alone, all, all, alone, / Alone on a wide, wide, sea!” Government for the people, by the people of the people.
Rhyme scheme: the dominant rhyming pattern of a poem. Rhyme can be end rhyme which concludes lines; two words end with identical sounds — cat, hat, sat, back, whack, knack, sack, shack or internal rhyme. Sententious saying: a short pithy saying, pompous, moralizing eg. “Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast.” (II,iii,94 Romeo & Juliet) Sibilance:
How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night Like softest music to attending ears
Simile:
a comparison of two unlike things using the works “like”, “as”, or “than”. eg. Time ran more swiftly than a river that day. Life is like a box of chocolates. Life is like a bowl of cherries. She had eyes like a frog... the tall stacks, “like giant pencils, write broad smears” against the sky.
“Her hair drooped round her pallid cheeks like seaweed on a clam.” “He leapt like a tiger into the fight.” “My love is like a red, red rose.” “The Assyrian came down like a wold on the fold.” “The wind’s like a whetted knife.” “Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus.” “Her presence was like a ray of sunshine in a darkened room.” “Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear” (I,v,46) (R&J) “Your nose is like a red beet.” Soliloquy: Spoonersism:
thoughts spoken in a monologue. eg. “O Romeo, Romeo? Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (II,ii,33) an interchange of sounds (usually at the beginning of words). e.g. Stop faking maces.
Synecdoche: is a figure of speech in which a part is named for a whole. eg. “The speaker beheld a sea of faces.” “He won her hand in marriage.” “The world knows his worth.” Symbolism: something in a work of literature that stands for something larger or more significant “It was the nightingale, (symbol of evening) and not the lark (symbol of dawn) / That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.” (III,v,2-3) Rhythm: the rhythm of poetry is usually marked by a degree of regularity. Rhythm in speech and writing is a pleasing or tuneful arrangement of accented and unaccented syllables. Quatrains:
this very common pattern consists of four lines tied together by some rhyme scheme such as abcb or abab or abba. (Crossing The Bar by Tennyson).
Sonnet:
an extended speech in which a character alone on stage expresses this thoughts. (Since he is by himself, what he says is presumed to be true, or at least sincere.) A soliloquy may reveal the private emotions of the speaker, as, for example, Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” and “How all occasions do inform against me”; or it may, often simultaneously, give information directly to the audience and display character. A sonnet is made up of 14 iambic pentameter lines with a tightly-linked rhyme scheme.
Types of sonnets: a. The Petrarchian (Italian)Sonnet the rhyme scheme is divided into two parts: the abba abba in the octave, and cdecde (or cdcdcd) in the sestet. b. The Shakespearean (English) Sonnet is divided into three quatrains and a concluding couplet. The rhyme scheme is generally abab cdcd efef gg or abba, cddc, effe, gg. The final couplet expresses the central theme of the poem. (when Romeo & Juliet first meet they address one another in Sonnet form (I,v,93-106) Haiku:
a three-line poem in which the first and third lines have five syllables each, while the second has seven. The purpose is to arouse a distinct emotion by giving a brief, vivid picture of something.
Limerick:
a poem written for fun and is only used for light subjects of a humorous nature.
Acrostic:
the first letters of the lines spell out words or names vertically. The minutes In measures, turning into Months and years Endlessly
Theme:
the central idea or thesis of a literary work. It is the “universal” idea or feeling which is made concrete in the poem.
Tone:
how the author feels toward his subject.
Caesura:
a pause in a line of verse, often indicated by a comma
Denotation: the literal dictionary meaning of a words. Connotation: the implied or suggested meaning of a word or expression.
English— Moreau
Name: __________________________________________
Kinds of Poems (Classification): There are 4 main classes of poetry: Narrative, Lyric, Descriptive, Dramatic I. Narrative poem: tells a story (a recording of events). Narrative poetry includes the Epic, Romance, Tale and the Ballad. a. epic: an long narrative poem about the deeds of a traditional or historical hero or heroes of high station. b. classical epic: It has a dignified style, and a background of warfare and heroic events. (The odyssey) c. literary epic: the epic style used with later or different materials. (Milton’s Paradise Lost) d. national or folk epic: expresses the ideals, character, and traditions of people. (Beowulf ) e. mock epic: uses the grand and elevated style of the classical epic, but applies it to a trivial subject. (Pope’s Rape of the Lock ) f. romance: not as long as an epic; deals with historical or mythical personages (Alexander the Great, King Arthur). g. tale: a narrative poem of moderate length (The Lady of the Lake). h. the ballad: a story told in song, often handed down from generation to generation. The story is frequently suggested by dialogue. (Lord Randall) II. Lyric: a subjective poem in which the author expresses his feelings (emotions) or a point of view. a. song: (Shakespeare’s Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies from the Tempest)
b. elegy: a poem in which the theme deals with death of someone or something beloved, death in general or another solemn theme such as war. This poem praises something or somebody. (Gray’s Elegy in a Country Church Yard) c. ode: a lyric poem of some length, serious in subject and dignified in style; a poem praising someone or something. (Keat’s Ode to a Grecian Urn ) d. sonnet: a poem of fourteen lines, the first eight being the OCTAVE and the remaining six the SESTET: the Italian or Petrarchan and the Elizabethan or Shakespearean have different rhyme schemes. Types of sonnets: a. The Petrarchian (Italian)Sonnet the rhyme scheme is divided into two parts: the abba abba in the octave, and cdecde (or cdcdcd) in the sestet. The octave contains the “problem” or theme which the sonnet will develop. An expression of indignation, desire, or doubt may occur in the opening lines which will be resolved in the sestet. b. The Shakespearean (English) Sonnet is divided into three quatrains and a concluding couplet. The rhyme scheme is generally abab cdcd efef gg or abba, cddc, effe, gg. The final couplet expresses the central theme of the poem. (when Romeo & Juliet first meet they address one another in Sonnet form (I,v,93-106) III. Descriptive: an impersonal word painting. A truly descriptive poem is objective; that is, the poet is more interested in depicting the scene in vivid detail than in his own emotions or thoughts. This category includes pastorals and idyls. Pastoral poems depict idealized country scenes, often with shepherds in the “rustic life” or poems of rural people and settings or religious or nature themes. IV. Dramatic: includes comedies, tragedies, and farces; it is a narrative but tells a story by means of speech and action. a. comedy: a play which begins in chaos, disorder, or a Hell-like state, and through the process of the play, ends up in an ordered or paradise-lie state, often with a coming together of the characters and a marriage, symbolic or otherwise. (Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well ) b. tragedy: a play which begins in a state of order, but because of some flaw in the hero’s character (often not something which we could call a “fault”) he brings about his downfall and sometimes his death. The play ends in chaos and isolation. Tragedies (like Easy Rider) may be funny. c. farce: a play which has no real plot or theme and is intended to entertain and nothing more. (Gammer Gurton’s Needle) Special Kinds of Poems: a. satirical: mocks the weaknesses and idiosyncracies of human beings; verse treating its subject with irony or ridicule often with the hope that things will change or improve. b. didactic: attempted to teach, or lay down laws; a poem intended primarily to instruct or to teach a lesson: l) parable: a short tale that teaches a lesson or moral truth. 2) fable: a short tale (a brief narrative, in either verse or prose) that teaches a lesson or moral, using animals as the characters. c. dramatic monologue: an often long poem in which the speaker (not the poet) imagines himself to be a certain character, and using this borrowed identity, speaks directly to the reader. He exposes his own character and the dramatic situation (and sometimes that of his listener— to speak directly to the reader). Unlike the stage soliloquy, in which place and time have been previously established and during which the character is alone, the dramatic monologue itself reveals place, time, and the identities of the characters. (Browning’s My Last Duchess).
d. allegory: a description of one thing under the image of another; the people and/or the events are symbolic (for example, a person could represent the forces of good or evil). e. analog: an explanation of one thing, by comparing it point by point with another thing. e.g. Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” Poetic Forms (Versification): a. blank verse: lines using iambic pentameter lines, regular rhythm but no rhyme (Birches by Frost) b. free verse: no consistency in line length, metre,rhyme, or stanza form In this pattern the poet does not make regular use of any one meter, or any one rhyme scheme, or any one numerical line length. Much modern poetry is written in free verse which relies upon the natural speech rhythms of the language, the cadences which result fromt he alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. (Dover Beach by Arnold). c. rhyming couplet: a stanza of two lines d. heroic or classical couplet: two rhyming iambic pentameters e. tercet: a stanza of three lines, generally connected by rhyme with another stanza of three lines f. quatrain: a stanza of four lines g. sestet: a poem or stanza of six lines. g. septet: a poem or stanza of seven lines. h. octave: the first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet. i. triolet: a stanza of eight lines, rhyming abbaabab j. ottava Rima: a stanza of eight lines, with a rhyme scheme of abababcc. k. Spenserian stanza: a stanza of nine lines with a rhyme scheme of ababbcbcc. The first eight lines are iambic pentameter. The ninth line is an iambic hexameter. (The Eve of St. Agnes by Keats). Meter:Rhythm in English verse is achieved by combining accented and unaccented syllables. The unit of measuring meter is the foot, that is, a combination of two or three syllables. The most common metrical feet are described below. (Note that the symbol U represents an unaccented syllable, the symbol / an accented.) a. iambic: an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable ( U / ) as in delight or forgive b. trochaic: ( / U) as in laughter or kindly c. anapestic: ( U U / ) as in interrupt or unafraid d. dactylic: ( / U U ) as in satisfy or buttercup e. pyrrhic: ( U U ) as in of the f. spondaic: ( / / ) as in white dawn g. amphibraic: ( U / U ) as in the maple
h. amphimacaic: ( / U / ) as in sorrows end Lines of verse: are described by combining the name of the number of feet in the line. When a line is scanned, it is marked off into its metrical feet as in the following iambic pentameter line: U / U / U / U / U / When I / have fears / that I / may cease / to be./ monometer: one foot (one beat to the line) dimiter: two feet (two beats to the line) trimeter: three feet (three beats to the line tetrameter (quatrameter): four feet (four beats to the line) pentameter: five feet (five beats to the line) hexameteer: six feet heptameter: seven feet octameter: eight feet iambic quatrameter: _______________________________________________ iambic pentameter: _______________________________________________ anapestic quatrameter: _____________________________________________ Stanzas (poetic paragraphs): example:
A bird came down the walk: He did not know I saw; He bit an angle-worm in halves And ate the fellow, raw
stanza l
And then he drank a dew From a convenient grass, And then hopped sidewise to the wall To let a beetle pass.
stanza 2
A quatrain is a specific type of stanza. It is a four line stanza, like the two stanzas above. It is the most common stanza found in English poetry. Ballad stanza: a poetic paragraph of four lines (each iambi penta or tetrameter) with an A B C B rhyme scheme Rhymes (two or more words that sound the same): a. masculine rhymes: one syllable rhymes go, though; boat, antidote b. feminine rhymes: two syllable rhymes. shepherd, leopard; sing now, bring now c. internal rhymes:
when a word or words in the middle of a line rhyme with a word or words at the end of a line. Old King Cole was a merry old soul.
occur within a single verse. It may serve several functions: giving pleasure in itself, pointing up the rhythmical structure, or, as in this example from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, breaking a long line into shorter units: When you’re lying awake with a dismal headache, and repose is taboo’d by anxiety, I conceive you may use any language you choose to indulge in without impropriety; For your brain is on fire— the bedclothes conspire of usual slumber to plunder you: First your counterpane goes, and uncovers your toes, and your sheet slips demurely from under you. Then the blanketing tickles—you feel like mixed pickles—so terribly sharp is the pricking, And you’re hot, and you’re cross, and you tumble and toss till there’s nothing twixt you and the ticking. d. half rhymes:
the repetition of identical or similar sounds.. The women will win it.
e. couplet:
two lines of the same meter and length held together by rhyme. (two successive rhyming verses - usually of the same meter, often the end of a scene. “The which of you with patient ears attend What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend” (Prologue, 13-14) (Romeo & Juliet) The candle will not last the night, But, oh, it gives a lovely light.
f. eye rhymes:
words that look like they should rhyme, but they do not eg. weak, break, wound, sound
English Definitions
Sally Sun Block 4
Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sound in consecutive words
Antithesis: a figure of speech made up of opposing or contracted words or sentiments arranged in parallel construction (a balanced phrase) in the same sentence Apostrophe: addressing directly an inanimate object as if it were alive, or an absent person as if he/she were present Hyperbole: the use of deliberate exaggeration for emphasis Malapropism: the substitution of an inappropriate word that sounds similar to the proper word; the ludicrous misuse of words by an uneducated character Metaphor: a comparison of two unlike things by stating that one is the other; the comparison may be direct or implied. No “like” or “as” YES: uses “is” “was” “;” Metonymy: an object or idea is substituted for another to which it is related or clearly suggests Onomatopoeia: (imitative harmony) this device is the use of words that in themselves sound like what they are describing Oxymoron: using two contradictory terms together to create a startling paradox—pairing of opposites Palindrome: a word, sentence, or verse which reads the same backward or forward Pathetic Fallacy: attributing of human characteristics in inanimate objects Personification: all personifications are metaphors, but not all metaphors are personification. Is comparing something that does not have life to something that does. Satire: A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. Simile: a comparison of 2 unlike things using “like”, “as”, or “than” Spoonerism: an interchange of sounds (usually at beginning of words) Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part is named for a whole Repetition: repeating a word for emphasis Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds in words in close proximity Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds in consecutive words Sibilance: repetition of “s” sounds Allusion: an indirect reference to know events in history, philosophy, bible subjects, current events, and mythology. Acrostic: the first letters of the lines spell out words or names vertically Blank Verse: unrhymed verse, has a beat Free Verse: unrhymed verse, no beat Anachronism: something placed in an inappropriate period of time Analogy: a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump. Anagram: a word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters Allegory: The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form. Analepsis: where some of the events of a story are related at a point in the narrative after later story-events have already been recounted
Caesura: a pause in a line of verse, often indicated by a comma Connotation: the implied or suggested meaning of a word or expression Denotation: the literal dictionary meaning of a word Dilemma: a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives. Imagery: refers to the use of language to represent descriptively things, actions, or even abstract ideas. Suggests visual pictures often expressed with figures of speech, such as metaphors and similes. To give vividness and immediacy to their thought ClichÊ: an expression used so often it has lost its freshness and effectiveness Comic Relief: a comic element is inserted into tragic work Epigram: is a short, usually witty statement, graceful in style and ingenious in thought; it has the nature of a proverb. Epiphany: which an object or action achieves as a result of the observer’s apprehension of its significance Epitaph: originally referring to an inscription in verse on a tombstone, the term has also been used to designate a poem or part of a long poem which expresses respect and occasionally disrespect, for the dead Foreshadowing: a hint of what is to follow Hamartia: the tragic flaw, which causes the downfall of the hero Irony: a device where a writer expresses a meaning contradictory to the stated or ostensible one. Dramatic, situational, verbal. Aside : a short passage spoken in an undertone or directed to the audience Monologue : a form of dramatic entertainment, comedic solo, or the like by a single speaker Sonnet : an extended speech in which a character along on stage expresses his thoughts. 14 lines with tightly-linked rhyme scheme Ode : a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion. Ballad: any light, simple song, esp. one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody. Parallelism: The use of identical or equivalent syntactic constructions in corresponding clauses or phrases. Parody: a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing Paradox: a seemingly ridiculous, contradictory statement which, upon further reflection, however, actually makes sense. Poetic Justice: an ideal distribution of rewards and punishments such as is common in some poetry and fiction.
Pun : a word play, using a word with 2 meanings or 2 words with similar pronunciation but different meanings Quatrains : 4 lines tied together by some rhythm scheme such as abcb or abab or abba Soliloquy : thoughts spoken in a monologue Stereotype: A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.
Symbolism: something that stands for something larger or more significant Rhythm: the rhythm of poetry is usually marked by a degree of regularity Sententious Saying: a short pithy saying, pompous, moralizing Theme: the central idea or thesis of a literary work Tone: how the author feels towards his subject