Poetry Terminology

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STOCK CHARACTERS

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A stereotypical character that the audience recognise from recurring in literary traditions.

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TRADUCTIO

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A single word/phrase/idea that is meant metaphorically but occurs literally later.

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INTERTEXTUALITY

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Interlacing numerous, similar stories, into one main narrative.

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INTRATEXTUALITY

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Allusions to other sections of the same text, or other works by the same author.

e.g. mentions of the wife of bath, in the merchants tale.

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ENTRALACEMENT

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Allusions to other texts; several simultaneous stories are interlaced in one larger narrative. This technique allows digression and presents opportunities for moral and ironiccommentary while not disturbing the unity of the whole.

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EXEMPLUM

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Using examples from other texts to support an argument - the bible.

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APOSTROPHE

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An exclamatory speech addressed to a person/thing/idea

'O! O!'

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DENOUEMENT

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The final unfolding of the plot

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CIRCUMLOCUTION

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Language intentionally used to beat around the bush.

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DIGRESSIO

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Digressing from the main plot, going off on a tangent, to create suspense and tension.

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ALLEGORY

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A story or situation with multiple meanings, with one which often suggests the moral of the story as a whole.

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CAESURA

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A stop or pause in a metrical line, often marked by punctuation such as comma

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ENJAMBMENT

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in verse the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

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STRESS

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Stress is the emphasis that falls on certain syllables

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ANTHROMORPHISM

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attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object

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BALLAD

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Follows a form of rhymed (abcb) quatrains alternating four-stress and three-stress lines

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CONCIET

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Extended metaphor

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DIDACTIC POETRY

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Contains a clear moral or message or purpose to convey to its readers that instructs, either in terms of morals or by providing knowledge of philosophy, religion, arts, science, or skills

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DISSONANCE

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A disruption of harmonic sounds or rhythms; the organization of sound for a jarring effect

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DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE

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A poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a silent listener

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EPIC POEM

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An epic is a long narrative in verse form that retells the heroic journey of a single person, or group of persons.

Elements that typically distinguish epics include superhuman deeds, fabulous adventures, highly stylized language, and a blending of lyrical and dramatic traditions.

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ANAPHORA POEM

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Refers to a type of parallelism created when successive phrases or lines begin with the same words, often resembling a litany.

E.G. W.S. SONNET 66

And needy nothing trimm’d in jollity,

And purest faith unhappily forsworn,

And gilded honour shamefully misplac’d,

And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,

And right perfection wrongfully disgrac’d,

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SONNET POEM

- Shakespearean Sonnet

- Italian Sonnet

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1)Three quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. 14 lines.

2)Divided into two stanzas, the octave (the first eight lines) followed by the answering sestet (the final six lines). Rhyme scheme, abba, abba. Usually with volta 8/9 lines in.

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RONDEAU POEM

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Fifteen lines, eight to ten syllables each, divided stanzaically into a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet. Rhyme: aabba aabX aabbaX.

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PASTORAL POEM

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idealize rural life and landscapes

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ALTERNATE RHYME

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Lines of poetry where the rhyme is on every other line (ABAB)

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INTERNAL RHYME

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Where the rhyming sound occurs within a line of verse

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COUPLET

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Two line often rhymed verse

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QUATRAIN

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4 Line verse

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SESTET

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6 Line verse

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OCTET

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8 Line verse

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TROCHEE

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poetic metre starts with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable

/ (stress)

- (unstressed)

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SPONDEE

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two stressed syllables after each other

//

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DACTYL

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stressed syllable followed by TWO unstressed

/ - -

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ANAPEST

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two unstressed syllable followed by one stressed

(if dactyl were to be flipped)

- - /

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IAMBIC

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unstressed then stressed, mirrors natural rhythm of speech.

- /

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IAMBIC PENTAMETER

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A line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by one or stressed syllable

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TRIMETER

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Poetic meter of 3 feet = 6 syllables

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TETRAMETER

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Poetic meter of 4 feet = 8 syllables

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PENTAMETER

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Poetic meter of 5 feet = 10 syllables

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ACTIVE VOICE

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"A grammatical structure in which the subject is the actor of the sentence, e.g. 'the dog eats the bone' "

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PASSIVE VOICE

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" A grammatical structure in which the subject and object can change places in order to alter the focus of the sentence, e.g. 'the bone was eaten by the dog' "

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FRICATIVES

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F, V TH sounds

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PLOSIVES

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T, K, D sounds

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BILABIALS

- plosives

- nasals

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P and B sounds

M sounds

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ASPIRATES also known as VOICELESS GLOTTAL FRICATIVES

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H sounds

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SIBILANTS

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S and Z sounds

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NASALS

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N sounds

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GUTTERALS

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G sounds

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Affricates

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C anf H sounds

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ASSONANCE

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Shared vowels

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CONSONANCE

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Shared consonants

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CACOPHONY

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Harsh or discordant sounds, often the result of repetition and combination of consonants within a group of words