AP Literature & Composition: Poetry Flashcards

13670861362	literal meaning	meaning derived by taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory; denotative	0
13670861363	figurative meaning	meaning that is beyond the literal interpretation; associative or connotative meaning	1
13670861364	ambiguity	a word, statement, or situation with two or more possible meanings	2
13670861365	stress	a syllable uttered in a higher pitch—or with greater emphasis—than others	3
13670861366	meter	a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry	4
13670861367	foot	the basic unit of measurement of accentual-syllabic meter; usually contains one stressed syllable and at least one unstressed syllable	5
13670861368	iamb	a metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable; for example, the words "unite" and "provide"	6
13670861369	trochee	a metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable; examples include "garden" and "highway."	7
13670861370	dactyl	a metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables; the words "poetry" and "basketball" are examples	8
13670861371	anapest	a metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable; the words "underfoot" and "overcome" are examples	9
13670861372	spondee	a metrical foot consisting of two accented syllables (as in "hog-wild")	10
13670861373	trimeter	a line made up of three feet	11
13670861374	tetrameter	a line made up of four feet	12
13670861375	hexameter	a metrical line of six feet, most often dactylic	13
13670861376	heptameter	a meter made up of seven feet and usually 14 syllables total	14
13670861377	elision	the omission of unstressed syllables (e.g., "e're" for "ever," "t'other" for "the other"), usually to fit a metrical scheme	15
13670861378	caesura	a stop or pause in a metrical line, often marked by punctuation or by a grammatical boundary, such as a phrase or clause	16
13670861379	end-stopped	a metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break—such as a dash or closing parenthesis—or with punctuation such as a colon, a semicolon, or a period	17
13670861380	enjambment	the running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation	18
13670861381	stanza	a grouping of lines separated from others in a poem	19
13670861382	couplet	a pair of lines, usually rhymed	20
13670861383	heroic couplet	a pair of rhymed, iambic pentameter lines; the last two lines of an Elizabethan (Shakespearean sonnet)	21
13670861384	tercet	a three-line stanza or poem	22
13670861385	terza rima	an arrangement of tercets, especially in iambs, that rhyme aba bcb cdc, etc.	23
13670861386	triadic (stepped line)	a poetic line that unfolds in three descending or "stepped" parts	24
13670861387	quatrain	a four-line stanza or poem; divided into three, the first 12 lines of an Elizabethan (Shakespearean sonnet) are also called quatrains	25
13670861388	sestet	a six-line stanza or poem; the last six lines of an Italian (Petrarchan sonnet) are also called a sestet	26
13670861389	octave	an eight-line stanza or poem; the first eight lines of an Italian (Petrarchan sonnet) are also called an octave	27
13670861390	rhyme	the repetition of syllables, typically at the end of a verse line; rhymed words conventionally share all sounds following the word's last stressed syllable	28
13670861391	masculine rhyme	rhymes ending in a stressed syllable (the most common type)	29
13670861392	feminine rhyme	rhyming of one or more unstressed syllables, such as "dicing" and "enticing."	30
13670861393	end rhyme	rhyming of the final syllables of a line with the final syllables of another line	31
13670861394	internal rhyme	rhyme within a single line of verse; when a word from the middle of a line is rhymed with a word at the end of the line	32
13670861395	monorhyme	the use of only one rhyme in a stanza (for example, "bright", "sight", and "night")	33
13670861396	blank verse	unrhymed iambic pentameter; also called heroic verse	34
13670861397	assonance	the repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called "vowel rhyme"	35
13670861398	alliteration	the repetition of initial stressed, consonant sounds in a series of words within a phrase or verse line	36
13670861399	refrain	a phrase or line repeated at intervals within a poem, especially at the end of a stanza	37
13670861400	sonnet	a 14-line poem with a variable rhyme scheme; literally a "little song," the sonnet traditionally reflects upon a single sentiment, with a clarification or "turn" (volta) of thought in its concluding lines	38
13670861401	ode	a formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea; its stanza form, rhythm, and meter vary from poem to poem	39
13670861402	ballad	a popular narrative song passed down orally; in the English tradition, it usually follows a form of rhymed (abcb) quatrains alternating four-stress and three-stress lines folk (or traditional) ballads are anonymous and recount tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event	40
13670861403	elegy	in traditional English poetry, it is often a melancholy poem that laments its subject's death but ends in consolation	41
13670861404	epic	a long narrative poem in which a heroic protagonist engages in an action of great mythic or historical significance	42
13670861405	epigram	a short poem, especially a satirical one, having a witty or ingenious ending	43
13670861406	limerick	a kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet (see Edward Lear: "There Was an Old Man with a Beard")	44
13670861407	free verse	non-metrical, non-rhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech	45
13670861408	prose poem	a prose composition that, though not broken into lines, contains poetic element such as metaphors and other figures of speech associated with poetry	46
13670861409	lyric	a short poem in which the poet, the poet's persona, or another speaker expresses personal feelings	47
13670861410	pastoral	a poem that celebrates a retreat from the trappings of modernity to the imagined virtues and romance of rural life; also known as "bucolic"	48
13670861411	villanelle	a French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza repeating alternately in the following stanzas; these two refrain lines form the final couplet in the quatrain (see "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas)	49
13670861412	parody	a comic imitation of another author's work or characteristic style	50
13670861413	complaint	a poem of lament, often directed at an ill-fated love; it may also be a satiric attack on social injustice or immorality	51
13670861414	dirge	a brief hymn or song of lamentation and grief	52
13670861415	occasional poem	a poem written to describe or comment on a particular event and often written for a public reading	53
13670861416	ubi sunt	a Latin phrase meaning "Where are they?"; by posing a series of questions about the fate of the strong, beautiful, or virtuous, these poems meditate on the transitory nature of life and the inevitability of death; the phrase can now refer to any poetry that treats these themes	54
13670861417	ekphrasis	a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art; through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the "action" of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning	55
13670861418	figurative language (figures of speech)	expressive, nonliteral use of language; also known as "tropes"	56
13670861419	simile	comparison between two essentially unlike things using words such as "like," "as," or "than"	57
13670861420	epic simile	a detailed, often complex poetic comparison that unfolds over the course of several lines	58
13670861421	metaphor	a comparison that is made directly, or less directly, but does not point out a similarity by using words such as "like", "as", or "than"	59
13670861422	conceit	an often unconventional, logically complex, or surprising metaphor whose delights are more intellectual than sensual	60
13670861423	kenning	a figurative compound word that takes the place of an ordinary noun; for example, when the ocean is referred to as a "whale-path" in "The Seafarer"	61
13670861424	symbol	something in the world of the senses, including an action, that reveals or is a sign for something else, often abstract or otherworldly	62
13670861425	hyberbole	a figure of speech composed of a striking exaggeration	63
13670861426	litotes	a deliberate understatement for effect	64
13670861427	apostrophe	an address to a dead or absent person, or personification as if he or she were present	65
13670861428	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole (for example, "I've got wheels" for "I have a car")	66
13670861429	metonymy	a figure of speech in which a related term is substituted for the word itself; often the substitution is based on a material, causal, or conceptual relation between things; for example, the British monarchy is often referred to as "the Crown"	67
13670861430	personification	a figure of speech in which the poet describes an abstraction, a thing, or a nonhuman form as if it were a person	68
13670861431	paradox	as a figure of speech, it is a seemingly self-contradictory phrase or concept that illuminates a truth	69
13670861432	oxymoron	a combination of two words that appear to contradict each other	70
13670861433	irony	as a literary device, irony implies a distance between what is said and what is meant	71
13670861434	allusion	a brief, intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or movement	72
13670861435	ellipsis	in poetry, the omission of words whose absence does not impede the reader's ability to understand the expression	73
13670861436	imagery	vivid language that appeals to the senses (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic, organic, and gustatory)	74
13670861437	synesthesia	in description, a blending or intermingling of different sense modalities (as in "the thick silence of the forest")	75
13670861438	onomatopoeia	the use of words to imitate the sounds they describe	76
13670861439	euphony	language that is pleasing to the ear, commonly made up of "soft" consonants and/or open vowels within a group of words	77
13670861440	cacophony	harsh or discordant sounds, often the result of repetition and combination of hard consonants and/or closed vowels within a group of words	78