Name: ________________________________________________________ Date: ___________ Block: _______

11th Grade Poetry Terms

Directions: As you read poetry for this class, find examples for each of the following terms. You will be responsible for knowing a general definition for each term, and also for finding examples of each term in poetry on the test.

Term Alliteration Allusion

Definition
The repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together. (Big Bad Books) A reference to someone or something that is know from history, literature, or some other branch of culture. The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words close together. The tide rises, the tide falls, the twilight darkens, the curlew calls A song or poem that tells a story.

Example from Whitman, Dickinson, or Music

Assonance

Ballad

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Couplet

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry. I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them, Sam I am.

Diction

A writer s choice of words. Diction affects tone of writing.

End Rhyme

When the last words of the lines of poetry rhyme.

Enjambment

The running on of a sentence or phrase from the end of one line of verse into the next, without a punctuated pause. Poetry that does not conform to regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Free Verse

Imagery

The use of language to evoke a picture. Imagery appeals to the five senses: touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing.

Lyric Poem

A poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of a speaker.

Metaphor

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without specific comparison words such as like or as. There are three types of metaphor: 1. Direct 2. Implied 3. Extended The use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning. Buzz.

Repetition

A unifying property of repeated words, sounds, syllables, and other elements that appear in a work. The pattern of rhyme in a poem. Usually indicated with letters of the alphabet. The alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in the language of the poem. A figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using comparison words including like or as. A group of consecutive lines that form a structural unit in a poem.

Rhyme Scheme Rhythm Simile

Stanza

Theme

The insight about human life that is revealed in the poem.

Tone

The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience. Tone is dependent on diction and style.