| A | B |
|---|
| alliteration | repetition of consonant sounds |
| allusion | reference to another piece of literature, history, art or music |
| assonance | repetition of vowel sounds |
| ballad | A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung |
| blank verse | Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| couplet | Two lines whose last words rhyme |
| triplet | Three lines of rhyming following an AAA or ABA pattern |
| quatrain | Four lines of rhyming following an ABBA, ABCB or ABAB pattern |
| epic | Long narrative poem that relates the deeds of a hero |
| fable | A brief story or poem told to present a moral or lesson |
| figurative language | Language that is not intended to be interpreted literally |
| free verse | Poetry that has no fixed pattern and depends on natural speech rhythms |
| iambic pentameter | A line of ten syllables, alternating between stressed and unstressed |
| lyric poetry | Poetry that expresses a speaker’s personal thoughts or feelings |
| metaphor | A comparison between two unlike things with the intent of giving added meaning to one of them |
| onomatopoeia | A word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning |
| personification | An animal, object or idea is given personality or is described as if it was human |
| poetry | Language arranged in lines with a regular rhythm and often a definite rhyme scheme |
| narrative poetry | Poetry that tells a story |
| imagery | Language that appeals to any sense or any combination of senses |
| dramatic poetry | Poetry in which one or more characters speak |
| irony | A contrast between what is stated and what is really meant or between what is expected to happen and what really does happen |
| theme | The main idea or meaning of a literary work |
| tone | The attitude a writer takes toward his/her subject, character or reader |
| refrain | A word or group of words repeated regularly in a poem, usually at the end of each stanza |
| rhyme scheme | The pattern of rhymes in a poem |
| rhythm | The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry; the beat |
| simile | A comparison between two dissimilar things through the use of a specific word of comparison (like, as, than) |
| sonnet | A 14-line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter |
| stanza | A group of lines forming a unit of poetry |
| symbol | Something that has a meaning in itself and that also stands for something larger than itself |
