Literary Vocabulary

Poetry

- a kind of writing that uses stanzas, rhythm and imagery to express thoughts, feeling, ideas and stories.

A poem is one piece of poetry.

Poetry elements

Theme

The main idea or message of the story. It is similar to the subject, but is more universal.

Point of view

The perspective of the narrator, relationship of the narrator to the story.

Types of point of view–1st person– 2nd person–3rd person limited–3rd person omniscient

AtmosphereTone

The tone is the attitude, style or spirit

the writer has about the subject.

AtmosphereMood

The emotions and feelings

shown in the poem.

Stanza - a grouping of lines within a poem like a paragraph

2-Couplet -- a unit of two lines 3-Tercet -- a unit of three lines4-Quatrain (Quartet) -- a group of four lines 5-Quintain (Quintet) -- a group of five lines 6-Sestet -- a group of six lines7-Septet -- a group of seven lines 8-Octave -- a group of eight lines

is written in a shape that adds meaning

to the poem.

Concrete poem

RHYMERhyme is words that

end with the same sound

• End Rhyme- the use of rhyming words at the ends of lines.

• Internal rhyme: use of rhyming words within lines

• Slant Rhyme- use of rhyming sounds that are similar but not identical, as in rave and rove or rot and rock. (consonance is a type of slant rhyme).

Rhyme

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of rhyming words in a poem.

Example:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood AAnd sorry I could not travel both BAnd be one traveler, long I stood AAnd looked down one as far as I could ATo where it bent in the under growth B

Blank verse

Unrhymed

Types of Poetry

Narrative Poetry

Lyric Poetry

Dramatic

Lyrical Poetry

A poem that tells about emotions, opinions or ideas. Common types are sonnets, odes, free verse and elegies.

Does not tell a story!

Narrative Poetry

Poetry that tells a story. It has a beginning a middle and an end. It also has characters and other story elements. Types of narrative poetry include ballads and epics.

a narrative poem that tells a dramatic story

Ballad:

a long narrative poem centering on a heroic figure.

Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic of Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles Grendel, Grendel's mother; and, later in life after becoming a king, an unnamed dragon.

Epic

Dramatic Poetry

Dramatic poetry involves the techniques of drama, especially dialogue and action. Thespeaker's voice in the poem is not that of the poet.

It is often found within a play. Two kinds are dramatic poetry are monologue and soliloquy.

Figures of Speech

ImageryWords that describe what our five senses experience:

Smelling, hearing, seeing, tasting, and touching.Example:

The softly rustling leaves gently moved in a caressing breeze along the banks of the happily bubbling stream in the quiet, shaded woods.

Hear the mellow wedding bells.

— Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells"

Personification

Personifications copies people. Something not human is given human qualities

Hyperbole

Exaggeration – describing something as bigger than it really is.

Example:

“It’s so hot in here that I think I’m melting.” or

“I’m starving to death. When is lunch?”

Irony

• When the opposite you expect happens.

Simile

is a figure of speech that says two unlike things are the same. It use the words “like” or “as.”

Examples:Her eyes are as green as emeralds. Clouds soft and fluffy like marshmallows.My sister’s hair flows like a brown river.

Metaphoris a figure of speech that says one thing is

another. It compares two unlike things using the word “is”.

Examples:My sister’s hair is a flowing river of brown.

My father’s anger is a volcano about to blow.

Symbolism

Something that represents something else such as person, place, thing, or an idea.

Example: A dove sometimes symbolizes or represents peace.

Sound Devices

Alliteration

uses the same beginning word sounds over and over, like a tongue twister.

My beautiful bubbles burst and then,

I simply blow some more again.

The setting sun slipped slowly down,

Making room for the milky moon.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate sounds.

buzz, fizz, whoosh

Wham! Splat! Pow! I am in trouble now!

Repetition

is used to make an impact on the poem’s tone. Words or phrases are repeated throughout the poem.

Here comes summer,

Here comes summer,

Chirping robin, budding rose.

Here comes summer,

Here comes summer,

Gentle showers, summer clothes.

By Shel Silverstein

Assonance

repetition of the same vowel sound in a line of poetry

falls mainly on the plain

Consonance

repetition of the same consonant sound in the middle or end of several words in a line of poetry

Alliteration

A line that has the same the initial (first / beginning) sound for two or more words

Analogy

A comparison between two things that may have one aspect in common. They are parallel to each other.