Poetry UnitTerms, Definitions and Terms, Definitions and ExamplesExamples

Dialect- a version of a language spoken by the people of a particular place, time, or social group

Ex: ya’ll, yun’z

Onomatopoeia- the use of words or phrases that sound like the things to which they refer

Ex: bang, pop, buzz

Alliteration- the repetition of initial consonant

sounds

Ex: sally sells sea shells, tip of the tongue

Atmosphere- that emotion created in the reader

by all or part of a literary work, also known as

“mood” or “tone”

Ex: Dark and eeriness of “Emmett Till” by James A. Emanuel: “I hear a whistling / Through the water / Little Emmett / Won’t be still. / He keeps floating / Round the darkness, / Edging through / The silent chill.”

Rhyme- the repetition of sounds at the ends of words

Ex: mine and pine

Rhyme Scheme- a regular pattern of end rhymes

Ex: ABAB, ABBA, ABBB, AABB, AABA, ABCA…etc.

Assonance – repetition of the same vowel sounds

Ex: “The crumbling thunder of the seas”

Concrete - printed or written in a shape that suggests its subject matter

Ex:

Action- the sequence of events that occur in a literary work, as opposed to those that occur off-scene or precede or follow the events in the work itself.

Ex: “My love is like a red, red rose”Takes place RIGHT NOW

Analyze - To discover something through detailed examination of a text; an analysis is that examination

Ex: Through usage, tone, and symbolism, Margaret Atwood discusses the position of women in society in her poem “Siren Song.”

Quatrain- four-line stanzasEx: “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soulAnd sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all”

Tercet- three-line stanzasEx: Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of dayRage, rage against the dying of the light

Hyperbole – an extreme exaggerationEx: “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!”

Symbol- a thing that stands for or represents both itself and something else

Ex: Dove = peace, rose = love

Theme – a central idea in a workEx: Good is better than evil

Personification – giving inanimate objects human-like qualities

Ex: “The fog comes / on little cat feet. / It sits looking / over harbor and city / on silent haunches / and then moves on.”

Ambiguity– word or phrase that can be read one in more than one way

Ex: “The whiskey on your breath / could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy.”

Figurative language– tool that an author uses to help the reader visualize what is happening

Ex: Simile, metaphor, etc.

Appositive-a grammatical form in which a thing is renamed, in different words, in a word or phrase

Sandra, my best friend, writes nature poetry.

Lovely, dark and deep

Simile- a comparison using like or asExample: “O my love is like a red, red rose / That’s newly sprung in June.”

Metaphor- a comparison that is directly statedExample: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”