| A | B |
|---|
| apostrophe | a direct address of an inanimate object, abstract qualities, or a person not living or present |
| hyperbole | exaggeration for emphasis (the opposite of understatement) |
| metaphor | comparison between essentially unlike things, or the application of a name or description to something to which it is not literally applicable |
| metonymy | a word or phrase that replaces the name of an object or concept for another to which it is related |
| oxymoron | a combination of two words that appear to contradict each other |
| paradox | a situation or phrase that appears to be contradictory but which contains a truth worth considering |
| personification | the endowment of inanimate objects or abstract concepts with animate or living qualities |
| pun | play on words, or a humorous use of a single word or sound with two or more implied meanings; quibble |
| simile | comparison between two essentially unlike things using words such as "like," "as," or "as though" |
| synecdoche | a part substituted for the whole |
| alliteration | the repetition of consonant sounds, particularly at the beginning of words |
| allusion | a reference to a person, event, or work outside the poem or literary piece |
| assonance | the repetition of similar vowel sounds |
| elision | the omission of an unstressed vowel or syllable to preserve the meter of a line of poetry |
| imagery | word or sequence of words representing a sensory experience (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory) |
| irony | a contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant (verbal irony) or what is expected in a particular circumstance or behavior (situational), or when a character speaks in ignorance of a situation known to the audience or other characters (dramatic) |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words to imitate the sounds they describe |
| slant rhyme | formed with words with similar but not wholly identical sounds |
| synesthesia | an attempt to fuse different senses by describing one in terms of another |
| symbol | an object or action that stands for something beyond itself |
| ballad | A popular narrative song passed down orally and are anonymous and recount tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event. |
| epic | A long narrative poem in which a heroic protagonist engages in an action of great mythic or historical significance. |
| free verse | Non metrical, non-rhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech. A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge in free-verse lines, but the poet does not adhere to a metrical plan in their composition. |
| haiku | A Japanese verse form of three un-rhyming lines in five, seven, and five syllables. It creates a single, memorable image. |
| limerick | A fixed light-verse form of five generally anapestic lines rhyming AABBA. |
| ode | A formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. |
| sonnet | A 14-line poem with a variable rhyme scheme. Literally a "little song." |
