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, semicolon, 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 Pyrrhic / u u 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.
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