The Building Blocks of Poetry – Flashcards
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High or Formal Diction
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exactly follows the rules of syntax and seeks accuracy of expression even if unusually elevated or complex words are brought into play; characterized by complex words and a lofty tone; introduced word of French, Latin, Greek derivation which makes formal diction seem difficult
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Middle or Neutral Diction
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maintains the correct language and word order of formal diction but avoids elaborate words and elevated tone just as it also avoids colloquialisms, contractions, slang, jargon, and fads of speech
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Low or Informal Diction
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relaxed, the language of people buying groceries, gasoline and pizza, and of people who may be "hanging out" while drinking pop; poems use common and simple words substandard expressions, foreign expressions, slang, swear words, grammatical errors, and contractions
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Dialect
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habits of speech that are characteristics of many groups, regions, and nations
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Slang
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much of the language people use everyday; sometimes it is impermanent, appearing among speakers and then vanishing
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Jargon
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special words and expressions to fit needs and circumstances among particular groups
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Syntax
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refers to word order and sentence structure; normal English word order is firmly fixed in a subject-verb-object sequence
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Appositive
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a noun or pronoun that follows another noun or pronoun to identify or explain it
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Direct Object
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a word or group of words that directly receives the action expressed by the verb or shows the result of the action; answers What? Or Whom?
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Indirect Object
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a noun or pronoun in the predicate that precedes the direct object; it tells To Whom or For Whom the action of the verb is done
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Imagery
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refers to words that trigger your imagination to recall and recombine the images, memories or mental pictures of sights sounds smells sensations of touch and motions
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Lyric
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type of melodious, imaginative and subjective poetry that is usually short and personal, expressing the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker rather than telling a story
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Ode
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more variable stanzaic form than lyric with varying line lengths and intricate rhyme schemes; there is no set form with a usually serious or elevated tone often written to praise someone or something
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Sonnet (Italian/Petrarchan)
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consists of 14 lines in iambic pentameter; problem is presented in the octave and resolved in the sestet; rhyme scheme abba abba cdc cdc or abba abba cde cde
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Sonnet (English/Shakespearian)
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consists of 14 lines in iambic pentameter; contains 3 quatrains and a couplet; quatrains develop the problem or idea and the couplet is the climax and resolution
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Ballad
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a long narrative poem that presents a single dramatic episode which is often tragic or violent; consists of many quatrains; only the second and forth lines of each stanza rhyme; rhyme scheme xaxa xbxb xcxc xdxd and so on
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Haiku
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3 line poem with 17 syllables; 5,7,5; topic should be derived from nature
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Epigram
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short witty poem that usually makes a humorous or satirical point; 2 to 4 lines long and written in couplets
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Elegy
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formal poem focused on death or morality; usually beginning with the recent death of a particular person
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Conundrum
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a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; may also be a paradox or difficult problem
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Idyll
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(pastoral) a short descriptive narrative, usually a poem, about an idealized country life
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Blank Verse
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a poem using unrhymed iambic pentameter
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Free Verse
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a poem that is written without regular meter, usually without rhyme
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Stanza
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group of lines in the formal pattern of a poem
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Couplet
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two rhymed lines
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Tercet
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three lines, usually having the same rhyme
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Quatrain
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four lines
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Cinquain
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five lines
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Sestet
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six lines
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Octave
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eight lines
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Foot
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the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up the basic unit of a line of poetry
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Anapest
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two unstressed followed by one stressed syllable, as in interrupt
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Dactyl
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one stressed followed by two unstressed syllables, as in beautiful
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Iamb
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one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable, as in disturb
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Spondee
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two successive stressed syllables, as in Hong Kong
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Trochee
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one stressed followed by one unstressed syllable, as in injure and constant
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Catalectic
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metrically incomplete line of verse, lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot
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Meter
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The repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry
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Monometer
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one foot (rare)
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Dimeter
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two feet (rare)
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Trimeter
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three feet
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Tetrameter
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four feet
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Pentameter
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five feet
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Hexameter
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six feet
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Heptameter
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seven feet (rare)
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Metaphor
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compares two things by equating them with each other or merging them together
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Simile
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illustrates the similarity or comparability of the known to something unknown or to be explained
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Paradox
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a figurative device through which something apparently wrong or contradictory is shown to be truthful and noncontradictory
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Anaphora
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the repetition of the same word or phrase throughout a work or section of a work in order to lend weight and emphasis
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Apostrophe
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(a turning away, or redirection of attention) a speaker addresses a real or imagined listener who is not present; it is like a public speech with readers as audience and it therefore lends an element of drama to a poem
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Synecdoche
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a device in which a part of something is used to represent a whole
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Metonymy
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a device that uses the name of an object, person or idea to represent something with which it is associated
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Overstatement
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(hyperbole) exaggeration used for humor or emphasis
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Understatement
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the deliberate underplaying or undervaluing of a thing
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Alliteration
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the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another
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Assonance
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the repetition of vowel sounds between different consonants
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Consonance
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the repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowel sounds
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Cacophony
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harsh, awkward sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose;the opposite of euphony
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Euphony
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a succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose
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Conceit
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an elaborate figure of speech in which two seemingly dissimilar things or situations are compared
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Mood
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similar to tone, this is the primary emotional attitude of a work
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Onomatopoeia
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the use of words that sound like what they mean, such as his and boom
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Enjambment
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the continuation of a poem so that it spills over from one line to the next
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Caesura
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a strong pause or break within a line of verse, often creating a counter rhythm
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Masculine Rhyme
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the rhyme sound is the last syllable of of a line; profound/bound
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Feminine Rhyme
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a rhyme when the sound that rhymes is in the first syllable of the word, which is stressed, and the last syllable of the word is unstressed
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Half Rhyme (Slant Rhyme)
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rhyme in which either the vowels or the consonants of stresses syllables are identical; eyes/light
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Internal Rhyme
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a rhyme created by two or more words in the same line of verse
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Visual
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seen with the eyes
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Auditory
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hearing
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Olfactory
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smell
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Gustatory
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taste
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Tactile
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touch
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Kinetic
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general movement
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Kinesthetic
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human or animal movement
