Poetry & Non-FictionWords to Know

Prose

Typical writing; not poetic in nature Examples: newspapers, novels, short

stories, encyclopedias, or magazines

Memoir

A type of biography. Typically focuses on a set amount of time, rather than a person’s entire life.

Biography

A detailed account or description of someone’s life, NOT written by them. Is written by an outsider.

Autobiography

A detailed description and account of someone’s life, written by the person themselves, not an outsider.

Structure

The way words and ideas are put together to make a sentence or create a piece of writing

Poetry

Writing that is not necessarily straight forward in nature. Words often mean more and figurative language is generally included.

Diction

The word choice an author or writer makes.

Imagery The use of concrete details that appeal to the five

senses. Example:

“I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each/ I do not think that they will sing to me/ I have seen them riding seaward on the waves/ Combing the white hair of the waves blown back/ When the wind blows the water white and black/ We have lingered in the chambers of the sea/ By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown/ Till human voices wake us, and we drown.” ~T.S. Eliot, “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Symbolism

Something that stands for something else. It means itself and something else.

Figurative Language

Any language that is not used in a literal (meaning exactly what it says) way. It’s way of saying one thing and meaning another. We use figurative language because it’s a rich, strong, and vivid way to express meaning.

Point of View

The perspective from which a story or poem is told from

Selection of Detail

specific words, incidents, images, or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative.

Aesthetic Effects

The outcome of using details that deal with the creation and appreciation of beauty. In poetry, we look for how aesthetic effects help us understand the meaning of a work or appreciate the beauty of the writing

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words

Ex: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

Onomatopoeia The use of words whose sounds suggest the

sounds made by objects or activities. Example:

“…While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells - From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.”~Edgar Allen Poe, “The Bells”

Personification Human characteristics are given to non-human

animals, objects, or ideas.Example: “The fog comes on little cat feet.It sits lookingover harbour and city on silent haunchesAnd then moves on.” ~ Carl Sandburg, “Fog”

Metahphor An implied comparison between two basically

different things. Is not introduced with the words “like” or “as”.

Simile A direct comparison between two basically

different things. A simile is introduced by the words “like” or “as”.

Example:

“And when they all were seated,/ A Service like a Drum —/ Kept beating — beating — till I

thought/ My Mind was going numb”

~Emily Dickinson, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain”

Hyperbole A great exaggeration to emphasize strong

feeling.

Example: “By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,Here once the embattled farmers stood,And fired the shot heard round the world.”~Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Concord Hymn”

Fixed Form Poems

Poetry that follows a specific pattern of rhyme scheme, meter, stanza patterns, etc

Examples: Sonnets, limericks, haikus, ballads, villanelles

Free Form Poems

Sometimes called "free verse," open form poetry does not conform to established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza.

Such poetry derives its rhythmic qualities from the repetition of words, phrases, or grammatical structures, the arrangement of words on the printed page, or by some other means.

Narrative Poem

Poetry that has a plot. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be simple or complex.

Lyric Poem

A genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat.