| A | B |
|---|
| speaker | the imaginary voice assumed by the writer of a poem. |
| imagery | the descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader. |
| stanzas | a formal division of lines in a poem, considered as a unit; often they are separated by spaces. |
| iambic pentameter | verse written in five foot lines in which a foot has one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. |
| rhyme scheme | a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem. |
| figurative language | writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally |
| metaphor | a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else. |
| simile | a figure of speech in which like or as is used to make a comparison between two basically unlike ideas. |
| personification | a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics |
| hyperbole | a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement |
| theme | a central message or insight into life revealed through literary work |
| symbol | anything that stands for or represents something |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words that imitate sounds |
| rhythm | the pattern of beats, or stresses, in spoken or written language |
| repetition | the use of any element of language—a sound, word, phrase, clause, or sentence—more than once. |
| alliteration | the repetition of initial consonant sounds |
| assonance | the repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables. |
| parallelism | Likeness, correspondence, or similarity in aspect, course, or tendency |
| narrative poem | a poem that tells a story. |
| lyrical poem | a poem that is highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker |
| dramatic poem | a poem that utilizes the techniques of drama |
| dramatic monologue | a poem or speech in which a fictional character addresses the listener. |
| soliloquy | a long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage |
| blank verse poem | a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines |
| sonnet | a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter |
| Petrarchan Sonnet | a sonnet that consists of an octave and a sestet, often with the octave rhyming abbaabba and the sestet cdecde |
| octave | eight-line stanza, usually presenting a problem or idea |
| sestet | six-line stanza, which usually resolves a problem |
| Shakespearean Sonnet | a sonnet that consists of three quatrains and a couplet, usually rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. |
| quatrain | a stanza or poem made up of four lines, usually with a definite rhythm and rhyme scheme. |
| couplet | a pair of rhyming lines, usually of the same length and meter. |
| trochee | a foot with one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable |
