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Pre-AP Literature Poetry Terms Flashcards

Poetry terms

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2797840014ALLEGORYstory or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities0
2797840015ALLITERATIONrepetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together1
2797840016ALLUSIONreference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something (usually from literature etc.).,2
2797840017ANALOGYComparison made between two things to show how they are alike,3
2797840018ASSONANCEthe repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together4
2797840019CHIASMUSIn poetry, a type of rhetorical balance in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. Coleridge: "Flowers are lovely love is flowerlike." ,5
2797840020CONCEITan elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different. Often an extended metaphor.6
2797840021CONNOTATIONthe associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase in addition to its strict dictionary definition.,7
2797840022COUPLETtwo consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.,8
2797840023DICTIONa speaker or writer's choice of words.,9
2797840024ELEGYa poem of mourningusually about someone who has died. This is great praise or commendation a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died.10
2797840025EXPLICATIONthe meaning of a text, act of interpreting or discovering usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.11
2797840026FARCEa type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly far-fetched situations.12
2797840027FIGURATIVE LANGUAGEWords which are inaccurate if interpreted literally but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms.13
2797840028FLASHBACKa scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.14
2797840029FOILA character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero or a villain contrasting the hero.15
2797840030FORESHADOWINGthe use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.16
2797840031FREE VERSEpoetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.17
2797840032HYPERBOLEa figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement for effect. "If I told you once I've told you a million times...."18
2797840033IMAGERYthe use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person , a thing a place, or an experience.,19
2797840034IRONYa discrepancy between appearances and reality.,20
2797840035VERBAL IRONYoccurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.21
2797840036SITUATIONAL IRONYtakes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.22
2797840037DRAMATIC IRONYis so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true but the audience or reader knows better.23
2797840038LITOTESis a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized throughthe negation of a negative form: Hawthorne--- "...the wearers of petticoat and farthingale...stepping forth into the public ways and wedging their not unsubstantial persons if occasion were, into the throng...",24
2797840039LYRIC POEMa poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker.25
2797840040METAPHORa figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as likeas, than, or resembles.,26
2797840041IMPLIED METAPHORdoes not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison:27
2797840042EXTENDED METAPHORis a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (conceit if it is quite elaborate).28
2797840043METONYMYa figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. "We requested from the crown support for our petition." The crown is used to represent the monarch.29
2797840044MOODAn atmosphere created by a writer's diction and the details selected.30
2797840045ONOMATOPOEIAthe use of words whose sounds echo their sense. "Pop." "Zap.",31
2797840046OXYMORONa figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. "Jumbo shrimp." "Pretty ugly." "Bitter-sweet"32
2797840047PARADOXa statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.,33
2797840048PARALLEL STRUCTUREthe repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures34
2797840049PERSONIFICATIONa figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings thoughts, or attitudes.,35
2797840050QUATRAINa poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.36
2797840051REFRAINa word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem.37
2797840052RHYTHMa rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.38
2797840053RHETORICAL QUESTIONa question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer.39
2797840054SIMILEa figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things using words such as like, as , than, or resembles.,40
2797840055SOLILOQUYa long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage.41
2797840056SYNECDOCHEa figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. "If you don'tdrive properly you will lose your wheels." The wheels represent the entire car.,42
2797840057THEMEthe insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.,43
2797840058TONEthe attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audiencerevealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.,44

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