AP Lit POETRY TERMS

Sound Devices �  Alliteration: Repetition of similar or identical initial

consonant sounds: the giggling girl gave me gum.

�  Assonance: Repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds: The thin man grinned at the win.

�  Consonance: The repetition of similar consonant sounds in groups of words: “add” and “read,” “bill” and “ball.”

Other sound devices… �  Cacophony: describes words that are harsh

sounding—crackle, dragon, crunchy, etc…

�  Euphony: describes words that are pleasant sounding and melodious—flower, sea, happy, pepper, etc…

Figurative Language �  Simile: Comparison of two UNLIKE things using

“like” or “as”—The sea was like a monster.

�  Metaphor: Comparison of two UNLIKE things NOT using “like” or “as”—The sea was a monster thrashing around.

�  Hyperbole: An intentional exaggeration used for effect—The teacher gave me so much information that my brain hurt.

Figurative Language, Cont. �  Personification: Giving human characteristics to a non-human

object or animal—The bear looked questioningly at me.

�  Types of Metaphors:

�  Synecdoche: Using a part to represent a whole or a whole to represent a part--•All hands on deck.

�  Metonymy: Using a word we associate with something in place of the actual word--The White House asked the television networks for air time on Monday night.

�  These two are often confused!! Be careful. They are both considered to be types of metaphors.

More figurative Language… �  Conceit: In literature, a conceit is an extended

metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem. By juxtaposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison. This may be a brief metaphor, or it may be consist of an entire poem.

And still more… �  Extended metaphor: this is a metaphor where the comparison is carried

out through an entire stanza or even the whole poem. Ex:

"This night is the comfort,

Of a hug from mother to child.

It is the warmth and security,

Of love and compassion so tender.

This night is the nightmare,

The one that started it all.

It is what I fear most,

And the only thing I find serenity in."

Other terms… �  Allusion: A reference to an historical event, place, or

mythological god or goddess. Biblical allusions are quite common in the literary cannon.

�  Apostrophe: A figure of speech in which a character or speaker addresses something or somebody who cannot respond as though it/he can act.

More other terms… �  Caesura: A pause near the end or middle of a line

of verse, usually indicated by the sense of the line. The pause is greater than a normal pause—”To err is human, to forgive divine.”

�  Diction; the word choices used by an author/poet

�  Didactic poetry: poetry that is intended to teach a lesson

Still more!! J �  Dramatic poem: a poem where the dramatic form

is employed as a means of achieving dramatic ends

�  Elegy: A poem with a mournful subject throughout (death, etc…)

�  End-Stopped Line: A line with a pause at the end. Lines that end with a period, comma, colon, semi-colon, exclamation point, or question mark. EX: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

J �  Enjambment: the continuation of the sense AND

grammatical construction from one line of poetry to the next—Ex:

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Imagery �  Imagery is writing that appeals to any of the five

senses. It helps create IMAGES in poetry and prose. EX:

http://www.frostfriends.org/imagery.html

Meter �  The repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry. The meter of

a poem emphasizes the musical quality of the poem. AP Lit students SHOULD KNOW AND BE ABLE TO ANALYZE THESE!!!

�  Poetic Feet:

Iambic u /

trochaic / u

Anapestic u u /

Dactylic / u u

Pyrrhic u u

Spondaic / /

Refrain �  A refrain is a word or group of words that is repeated in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza

EX: Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It's had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on,

And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

And sometimes goin' in the dark

Where there ain't been no light.

So, boy, don't you turn back.

Don't you set down on the steps.

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.

Don't you fall now—

For I'se still goin', honey,

I'se still climbin',

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

--Langston Hughes

Rhythm �  Rhythm is the recurrence of stressed and

unstressed syllables. The presence of rhythmic patterns should create pleasure and heightened emotion in the reader.

Scansion �  Scansion is the system for describing the meter of a poem by identifying

the number and types of feet per line. Common types:

�  Monometer one foot per line

�  Dimeter two feet per line

�  Trimeter three feet per line

�  Tetrameter four feet per line

�  Pentameter five feet per line

�  Hexameter six feet per line

�  Heptameter seven feet per line

�  Octameter eight feet per line

More terms… �  Style: Style refers to the way the author expresses

language. This class is 100% style analysis!!

�  Syntax: The ordering of words into patterns or sentences. The author’s use of syntax can tell us about time period, mood, etc…

�  Theme: The theme is the message expressed in a work. Subject is easy to find. What the author says about the subject(message) often needs interpretation!!

Still more!! J �  Symbol: An object, color, person that represents

something much larger than itself.

EX: winter, cold = death, decay, etc…

-TONE: The manner in which an author expresses his attitude; the intonation of the voice that expresses meaning. TONE is the result of DICTION, SYNTAX, IMAGERY, ALLUSIONS, IRONY, STYLE, and SYMBOLISM!

Rhyme �  Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter

�  Couplet: two-line rhyming stanza

�  Eye rhyme: rhyme that appears correct from the spelling of the words but is actually a half-rhyme or slant rhyme from the pronunciation. Ex: “watch” and “match”

�  Feminine rhyme: a rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed. Ex: “waken” and “forsaken” and “audition” and “rendition”

More Rhyme… �  Masculine rhyme: rhyme that falls on the stressed

and concluding syllables of the rhymed words. Ex: “keep” and “sleep” and “spell” and “impel”

�  Heroic Couplet: two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, cc, etc… with the thought usually completed in the entire two-line unit. Refer to The Rape of the Lock.

And more Rhyme… �  Internal Rhyme: rhyme that occurs within a line,

rather than at the end of lines. EX: “Once upon a midnight DREARY, while I pondered weak and WEARY…”