Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2013 19:11:00 GMT
We have compiled a list of commonly used poetic terminology to assist you. This list is not entirely comprehensive of all poetic devices and terms, but it is a solid foundation from which an understanding of poetry may begin.
Allegory: A symbolic narrative that uses concrete characters, actions, or events to represent more abstract concepts, archtypes, or worldviews.
Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds (usually 3 or more words in a phrase) for literary effect. Tongue twisters are usually good examples of alliteration: "My sister Susie sells sea-shells by the sea shore."
Apostrophe: A figure of speech wherein a personification or an absent person is addressed. Often you will hear these begin with O' e.g. "O' vagrant lover" etc. when the subject is not present.
Assonance: Also known as "Vowel Rhyme," assonance involves the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming in verse, phrases, or sentence. Example: These sly rhymes of mine conspire in time.
Blank Verse: Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Caesura: A strong pause within a line of poetry, often to emphasize or mimic a pattern of speech.
Concrete Imagery:
Constructive Critique: Literary feedback that offers suggestions for changes in style, phrasing, grammar, spelling, or syntax.
Consonance: Consonance involves the repetition of final consonant sounds in closely placed words.
Elision: The omission of at least one sound or element of a word, often for literary or poetic effect. The phrase 'Twas e're so contains two elisions.
Enjambment: The continuation of meaning or thought, without punctuation, from one line or stanza of a poem to the next.
Exposition: The initial stage of a dramatic plot in prose or poetry which lays out the necessary background detail for comprehension of successive events.
Foot: A combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that composes the smallest unit of metered rhythm in a poem. Think of this as "where the beat lands" in poetry.
Foreshadowing:
Hyperbole:
Iamb: A unstressed syllable followed by an stressed syllable, e.g. "for-GIVE," "en-HANCE," etc. An Iamb is a two-syllable Foot.
Iambic Pentameter:
Irony:
Meter: A measured pattern of stressed syllables in poetry; an easily recognizable rhythm which can often be "felt" within verse; meter can be measured and recognized by the intervals of accented syllables within a given verse, phrase, or sentence.
Metaphor: Figurative language containing an implied comparison between two unlike things using symbolism. A figure of speech. Example: "Surf the net" "On the wings of love"
*Extended metaphors may use an entire composition to indirectly demonstrate a point.
Simile: A metaphor using the words "like" or "as." Examples: As thin as a whisker; sting like a bee
Allegory: A symbolic narrative that uses concrete characters, actions, or events to represent more abstract concepts, archtypes, or worldviews.
Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds (usually 3 or more words in a phrase) for literary effect. Tongue twisters are usually good examples of alliteration: "My sister Susie sells sea-shells by the sea shore."
Apostrophe: A figure of speech wherein a personification or an absent person is addressed. Often you will hear these begin with O' e.g. "O' vagrant lover" etc. when the subject is not present.
Assonance: Also known as "Vowel Rhyme," assonance involves the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming in verse, phrases, or sentence. Example: These sly rhymes of mine conspire in time.
Blank Verse: Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Caesura: A strong pause within a line of poetry, often to emphasize or mimic a pattern of speech.
Concrete Imagery:
Constructive Critique: Literary feedback that offers suggestions for changes in style, phrasing, grammar, spelling, or syntax.
Consonance: Consonance involves the repetition of final consonant sounds in closely placed words.
Elision: The omission of at least one sound or element of a word, often for literary or poetic effect. The phrase 'Twas e're so contains two elisions.
Enjambment: The continuation of meaning or thought, without punctuation, from one line or stanza of a poem to the next.
Exposition: The initial stage of a dramatic plot in prose or poetry which lays out the necessary background detail for comprehension of successive events.
Foot: A combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that composes the smallest unit of metered rhythm in a poem. Think of this as "where the beat lands" in poetry.
Foreshadowing:
Hyperbole:
Iamb: A unstressed syllable followed by an stressed syllable, e.g. "for-GIVE," "en-HANCE," etc. An Iamb is a two-syllable Foot.
Iambic Pentameter:
Irony:
Meter: A measured pattern of stressed syllables in poetry; an easily recognizable rhythm which can often be "felt" within verse; meter can be measured and recognized by the intervals of accented syllables within a given verse, phrase, or sentence.
Metaphor: Figurative language containing an implied comparison between two unlike things using symbolism. A figure of speech. Example: "Surf the net" "On the wings of love"
*Extended metaphors may use an entire composition to indirectly demonstrate a point.
Simile: A metaphor using the words "like" or "as." Examples: As thin as a whisker; sting like a bee