GLOSSARY FOR POETRY GCSE and A-Level.

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "GLOSSARY FOR POETRY GCSE and A-Level."

Rudolf Hopkins
5 years ago
Views:

1 GLOSSARY FOR POETRY GCSE and A-Level. TERMS ABOUT STRUCTURE Blank verse A poem written in iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line) but doesn t rhyme Caesura - A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line. End stopped - The opposite of enjambment. End-stopped is where each line has a full stop after it. It is short and punchy and does not flow very well. Enjambment - Where there is no punctuation at the end of a line of poetry, so you keep reading onto the next line, and the meaning continues too. Makes it flow from one line to the next. Free verse A poem which has no regular rhythm or rhyme scheme Iambic pentameter 5 pairs of de dum beats in a line of poetry (equalling 10 syllables in total) Metre The rhythmic arrangement of syllables in a line or verse of poetry (another word for rhythm the metre of the poem is Narrative persona - The persona is the invented voice which presents a narrative the I of a narrative which is not necessarily the voice of the author Narrative voice - The narrative voice is the voice which tells a story. Some narratives are third-person (he/she/they) while others are first-person (I) Refrain - A phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem, usually after every stanza kind of like the chorus of a song. Rhyme - The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words. The pattern of rhyme in a stanza or poem is shown usually by using a different letter for each final sound. In a poem with an aabba rhyme scheme, the first, second, and fifth lines end in one sound, and the third and fourth lines end in another. Rhyme structure - The pattern that is made by the rhyme within each stanza or verse. Eg abab, aabb. Rhyming couplets - In a poem, a pair of lines that are the same length and (usually) rhyme and form a complete thought. Shakespearean sonnets usually end in a couplet.

2 Rhythm The pattern of pulsed beats within a line or stanza of poetry Stanza The posh word for a verse, the way a poem is divided into chunks of lines Quatrain: 4 line stanza Sestet: 6 line stanza Octave: 8 line stanza Cinquain: 5 line stanza Structure The organisation of a poem into sections. This includes the line length, the number of lines in a stanza, the number of stanzas. Tense The time setting for the poem is it past, present, future or a mixture? TERMS ABOUT FORM Ballade - A poem consisting of three stanzas, all ending with the same line (refrain). The first three stanzas commonly have eight or ten lines each and the same rhyme scheme. Elegy - a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead. Form Poems are grouped into categories or types, such as acrostics, sonnets, haiku, limericks etc. Form is the generic term for the organising principle of a literary work. In poetry, form is described in terms of elements like rhyme, meter, and stanzaic pattern. Genre - The TYPE of text that a piece belongs to. Examples of genre are: horror, romance, science fiction or multicultural. Ode - A kind of poem devoted to the praise of a person, animal, or thing. An ode is usually expresses deep feeling. Famously used by Keats a lot. Pastoral A poem which deals with the simplicity and beauty of rural country life Sonnet Made famous by Shakespeare. 14 lines. Abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme. Iambic pentametre rhythm (10 syllable per line) Often about love and romance. Limerick - is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. Haiku - A Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five

3 TERMS ABOUT LANGUAGE Accent The way words are pronounced, often denoting the poet comes from another country. When written down, accent is often spelt phonetically (see Zephaniah and Agard s poetry) Adjective A word that describes the noun (thing.) Answers the question what was it like? The quick, brown, fox. Adverb - A word that describes the verb (doing word.) Answers the question how did it do it? He ran quickly. Alliteration The repetition of the same consonant sounds at any place, but often at the beginning of words. Some famous examples of alliteration are tongue twisters. She sells seashells by the seashore, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Anthropomorphism Where an animal is given human qualities Apostrophe - A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply Assonance - The repetition or a pattern of (the same) vowel sounds, as in the tongue twister: "Moses supposes his toeses are roses." Asyndeton Where connectives are left out of a sentence or line of poetry, often creating a list-like style Connotation - What a word suggests beyond its basic definition. The words childlike and childish both mean 'characteristic of a child,' but childlike suggests meekness and innocence Dialect Linking to accent, but these are specific words used by people from a certain area Ellipsis - makes the ending of something tense and keeps the reader holding on until the next part because they want to know what has happened. Envoy - The shorter final stanza of a poem

4 Euphemism - Euphemism is the use of a soft indirect expression instead of one that is harsh or unpleasantly direct. For example 'pass away' as opposed to 'die' Hyperbole - A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis. tons of money, waiting for ages, a flood of tears, etc. Imagery - The use of pictures, figures of speech and description to evoke ideas feelings, objects actions, states of mind etc. Irony - Expressing something by using words that mean the opposite (humorous or sarcastic) Juxtaposition A stark contrast between two ideas, words or phrases which don t seem to fit together (iron teacups as iron has connotations of strength, whereas teacups are meant to be delicate) Litotes An understatement (opposite to hyperbole) Metaphor - Where two things are compared WITHOUT using as or like. They are compared by saying that one IS the other. Some examples of metaphors: the world's a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles. Metonymy using the name of an object to represent a bigger idea which it s related to, such as crown for monarchy, or count heads for count people. Mood A distinctive emotion or feeling displayed by a poem. Links to tone. Motif A recurring symbol (where a word or phrase represents something else) Noun - Abstract A thing that we cannot touch or feel, usually emotions. Eg, love, hate, fear. Concrete A thing/place that we can see. Eg, river, Paris, Simon. Onomatopoeia - A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic words are: buzz, hiss, zing, clippety-clop, cock-a-doodle-do, pop, splat Oxymoron Two complete opposites put together (iced fire) to create a contrast Personification A figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract ideas are given human attributes: the sky is crying, dead leaves danced in the wind, blind justice. Polysyndeton An over use of the same connective (for example, using and in between every item in a long list) Opposite of asyndeton. Preposition A word category which explains where something is (on, under, in) etc

5 Pronoun A word category which explains who without using their name (she, us, I) etc Reification To give something alive qualities of a inanimate object Repetition - Where something is said more than once to emphasise your point. Rhetorical Question - A question where the writer doesn t want you to answer. This technique is used so that you think about what is being said Rule of three - This technique is often used to get a point across to the reader 3 adjectives in a list Simile - A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or "as." An example of a simile using like occurs in Langston Hughes's poem Harlem : "What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?" Symbol - When a word, phrase or image 'stands for' an idea or theme. The sun could symbolize life and energy or a red rose could symbolize romantic love. Theme The dominant idea which runs through a poem such as death, love, hope etc Theriomorphism Where a human is given animal qualities Tone - The way something is said or written can show what the speaker or writer is really thinking, especially when it indicates that their attitude is ironic or satirical, and that the true meaning of the text is hidden below the surface. It can help to think of tone of voice here, and the many different ways in which words can be expressed. Verb - A doing word. Eg sings, runs, dances, hops. Imperative verb: A command / bossy verb (sit there, run faster) Modal verb: An advice or suggestion verb (might / may / could) Viewpoint - The position, place or perspective from which we are encouraged (or forced) to consider the events and characters within a text. Our view may be deliberately restricted so that we only receive one point of view, while other potential viewpoints are misrepresented or missing altogether.

Campbell s English 3202 Poetry Terms Sorted by Function: Form, Sound, and Meaning p. 1 FORM TERMS

Campbell s English 3202 Poetry Terms Sorted by Function: Form, Sound, and Meaning p. 1 FORM TERMS Poetry Terms Sorted by Function: Form, Sound, and Meaning p. 1 FORM TERMS TERM DEFINITION Acrostic Verse A poem that uses a pattern to deliver a second, separate message, usually with the first letter