Flashcards For Poetry Terms Williams 313-2011

Front 1

denotation

Back 1

the dictionary meaning of a word

Front 2

connotation

Back 2

the implied or suggested meaning connected with a word

Front 3

literal meaning

Back 3

limited to the simplest, ordinary, most obvious meaning

Front 4

figurative meaning

Back 4

associative or connotative meaning OR representational

Front 5

meter

Back 5

measured pattern of rhythmic accents in a line of verse

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rhyme

Back 6

correspondence of terminal sounds of words or of lines of verse

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apostrophe

Back 7

a direct address of an inanimate object, abstract qualities, or a person not living or present.

Front 8

hyperbole

Back 8

exaggeration for emphasis (the opposite of understatement)

Front 9

metaphor

Back 9

comparison between essentially unlike things without using words OR application of a name or description to something to which it is not literally applicable

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metonymy

Back 10

a closely related term substituted for an object or idea

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oxymoron

Back 11

a combination of two words that appear to contradict each other

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paradox

Back 12

a situation or phrase that appears to be contradictory but which contains a truth worth considering

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personification

Back 13

the endowment of inanimate objects or abstract concepts with animate or living qualities

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pun

Back 14

play on words OR a humorous use of a single word or sound with two or more implied meanings OR quibble

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simile

Back 15

comparison between two essentially unlike things using words such as "like," as," or "as though"

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synecdoche

Back 16

a part substituted for the whole

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irony

Back 17

a contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant or what is expected in a particular circumstance or behavior, or when a character speaks in ignorance of a situation known to the audience or other character

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imagery

Back 18

word or sequence of words representing a sensory

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synesthesia

Back 19

an attempt to fuse different senses by describing one in terms of another

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symbol

Back 20

an object or action that stands for something beyond itself

Front 21

alliteration

Back 21

the repetition of consonant sounds, particularly at the beginning of words

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assonance

Back 22

the repetition of similar vowel sounds

Front 23

elision

Back 23

the omission of an unstressed vowel or syllable to preserve the meter of a line of poetry

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onomatopoeia

Back 24

the use of words to imitate the sounds they describe

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allusion

Back 25

a reference to the person, event, or work outside the poem or literary piece-Example: "Shining, it was Adam and maiden"

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open

Back 26

poetic form free from regularity and consistency in elements such as rhyme, line length, and metrical form

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closed

Back 27

poetic form subject to a fixed structure and pattern

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stanza

Back 28

unit of a poem often repeated in the same form throughout a poem OR a unit of poetic lines

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blank verse

Back 29

unrhymed iambic pentameter

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free verse

Back 30

lines with no prescribed pattern or structure

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couplet

Back 31

a pair of lines, usually rhymed

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heroic couplet

Back 32

a pair of rhymed lines in iambic pentameter

Front 33

quatrain

Back 33

four-line stanza or grouping of four lines of verse

Front 34

sonnet

Back 34

fourteen line poem in iambic pentameter with a prescribed rhyme scheme

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English (Shakespearean) Sonnet

Back 35

A sonnet with the following rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg

Front 36

Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet

Back 36

A form of sonnet with the following rhyme scheme: abbaabba cdecde OR cdcdcd Its first octave generally presents a thought, picture, or emotion, while its final sestet presents an explanation, comment, or summary.

Front 37

stress

Back 37

greater amount of force used to pronounce one syllable over another

Front 38

pause

Back 38

(caesura) a break for a beat in the rhythm of the verse (often indicated by a line break or a mark of punctuation)

Front 39

rising meter

Back 39

meter containing metrical feet that move from unstressed to stressed syllables

Front 40

iambic (iamb)

Back 40

a metrical foot containing two syllables--the first is unstressed, while the second is stressed

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anapestic (anapest)

Back 41

a metrical foot containing three syllables--the first two are unstressed, while the last is stressed

Front 42

falling meter

Back 42

meter containing metrical feet that move from stressed to unstressed syllables

Front 43

trochaic (trochee)

Back 43

a metrical foot containing two syllables--the first is stressed, while the second is unstressed

Front 44

dactylic (dactyl)

Back 44

a metrical foot containing three syllables--the first is stressed, while the last two are unstressed

Front 45

spondee

Back 45

an untraditional metrical foot in which two consecutive syllables are stressed

Front 46

iambic pentameter

Back 46

a traditional form of rising meter consisting of lines containing five iambic feet (and, thus, ten syllables)