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| Ballad (literary and folk) | a simple narrative poem of folk origin, composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing, |
| sonnet | a poem, properly expressive of a single, complete thought, idea, or sentiment, of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to one of certain definite schemes, being in the strict or Italian form divided into a major group of 8 lines (the octave) followed by a minor group of 6 lines (the sestet), and in a common English form into 3 quatrains followed by a couplet. |
| simile | a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.” |
| personification | the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure. |
| internal rhyme | a rhyme created by words within two or more lines of a verse. |
| rhyme scheme | the pattern of rhymes used in a poem, usually marked by letters to symbolize correspondences, as rhyme royal, ababbcc. |
| metaphor | a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.” |
| paradox | a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. |
| oxymoron | a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.” |
| alliteration | the commencement of two or more stressed syllables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group |
| apostrophe | the sign ('), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o'er for over, or pronounced, as in gov't for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in man's; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.'s, 3's. |
| hyperbole | an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.” |
| allusion | a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication |
| aside | a part of an actor's lines supposedly not heard by others on the stage and intended only for the audience. |
| onomatopeia | the formation of a word, as cuckoo, meow, honk, or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent. |
| understatement | the act or an instance of stating something in restrained terms, or as less than it is |
| assonance | Also called vowel rhyme. Prosody . rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words, as in penitent and reticence. |
| dialect | a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially. |
| monologue | any composition, as a poem, in which a single person speaks alone. |
| soliloquy | an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present (often used as a device in drama to disclose a character's innermost thoughts) |
| shock of recognition | When the audience empathizes with the actors on stage |
| activity | any movement on stage |
| action | meaningful movement on stage |
| arena | an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater |
| downstage | at or toward the front of the stage. |
| upstage | on or toward the back of the stage. |
| proscenium | the arch that separates a stage from the auditorium |
| speaker | the voice of the poem |
| tone | quality or character of sound. |
| consonance | the correspondence of consonants, especially those at the end of a word, in a passage of prose or verse. Compare alliteration ( def 1 ) . b. the use of the repetition of consonants or consonant patterns as a rhyming device. |
| dramatic irony | irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play. |
| situational irony | irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. |
| free verse | verse that does not follow a fixed metrical pattern. |
| denotation | the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it; the association or set of associations that a word usually elicits for most speakers of a language, as distinguished from those elicited for any individual speaker because of personal experience. |
| connotation | the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning |
| imagery | the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively |
| iambic pentameter | a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable |
| stanza | an arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem. |
| theme | a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic: |
