Poetry Sound & Structure Exam Study Guide

The exam will not provide a word bank, but the terms you will use to respond to the questions in each part of
the exam are included below.

Part 1: Definitions
Identify the term described by each phrase.

Terms:
couplet, tercet, quatrain, sestet, octave
blank verse, free verse, prose poem
scansion, line, verse, foot
end stop, enjambment, caesura

Part 2: Sound Repetition

Identify the kind(s) of sound repetition in each pair of words.

Terms: alliteration, assonance, consonance

Part 3: Rhyme
Identify the kind of rhyme in each pair of words.

Terms: masculine rhyme, feminine rhyme, triple rhyme, slant rhyme

Part 4: Rhythm and Meter

Identify the rhythm and meter of each line.

Terms:
iambic, trochaic, dactylic, anapestic, spondaic
monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter

Part 5: Metrical Variation

Identify the kind of metrical variation in the italicized line.

Terms: extrametrical syllable, substitution, truncation

Part 6: Poem Analysis

Answer the following questions about the provided poem.

What kind of stanzas does the poem include?

What is the prevailing rhythm of the poem?
What is the prevailing meter of the poem?
What kind of metrical variation occurs at the end of almost every line of the poem
What kind of metrical variation occurs in line ___?
What is the rhyme scheme of every stanza?
What kind of end rhyme occurs most throughout the poem?
What two words are an exception to the end rhyme that occurs throughout most of the poem?
What two words are an example of alliteration in the poem?
What two words are an example of assonance in the poem?