POETRY UNIT
Literary Terms
Alliteration
- repetition of the FIRST consonant sound
Allusion
- mentioning a well-known person,
place, event, or something from the
Bible
e.g., You’re a regular Einstein. (allusion
aka:reference to a historical figure)
Analogy
– comparing the
relationship of two pairs
day is to night; as; the sun is to the moon
Assonance
• The repetition of similar vowel sounds within a line of poetry
• Example : (Sweet sleep and keep safe.)
Cliché
-a saying or expression that has been so
overused that it has become boring and
unoriginal
Connotation
The emotional connections/associations of a
word that go beyond its dictionary definition
Example: Be a man! (not literally meaning a
male human but rather to be strong.
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word.
Hyperbole
- statements not
meant to be taken
literally-the writer is
exaggerating the
facts for effect
Idiom
-a phrase that does not
literally mean what the
individual words mean
Imagery
Imagery -the words
represent the five senses:
sight, taste, touch, sound,
and smell.
Irony
– the opposite of what is meant, THERE ARE THREE KINDS!
Dramatic Irony
– when the audience/reader knows something that’s going to happen
in the story but the characters in the story do not
Situational Irony
- when the end is the opposite of what the reader thought was going to
happened
Verbal Irony
- when the character says (verbal) the opposite of what they feel or
should have really said- like sarcasm.
Jargon
- the term for
specialized or
technical language
that is only
understood by those
who are members of
a group or who
perform a specific
trade.
Metaphor
- a comparison without
using like, as, or than.
Mood
Mood - the feeling the writer creates
Moral
- the lesson to be learned
Onomatopoeia
- the name given to a sound
Oxymoron
- two words next to each other that have opposite dictionary definitions
Paradox
– a statement that seems
untrue/ridiculous, but actually states
truth
Men work together whether they
work together or apart.
- Robert Frost
You can save money by spending it.
(You spend money by putting it into
savings but essentially you are saving it
for later)
(Essentially even if you work by
yourself, alone, you are working
for a greater good, all, and/or for
another man)
Personification
- giving human
characteristics to animals
or objects
Poetry
Speaker – the narrator of the poem
Stanza – a group of lines arranged together;
much like a paragraphs in narratives
Rhythm – the repetition of a pattern of
sounds in poetry; the stressed syllables in a
poem created by meter, rhyme, alliteration,
and refrain (repetition)
Meter – the pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables in a poem
Rhyming/Rhythm – includes end rhyme (a
word at the end of one line rhymes exactly
with a word at the end of another line), near
rhyme (imperfect/close rhyme), and internal
rhyme (a word within a line rhymes with
another word in the same line).
Pun
– a humorous play on words used to create a double meaning
Repetition
– when words or phrases are repeated
Simile
- using like, as, or as though
to make a comparison
Slang
- informal language; words that are not typically part of what is
accepted as correct use of language
Symbol(ism)
- a word or object that has its
own meaning and represents
another word, object or idea
that is more abstract.
e.g., American Flag
Tone
- the author’s word choice, THE WORDS, creates the tone
e.g., The dull, grim, grey, still sky resembled that of a stormy morning.
Understatement
- when a statement means less than what is meant
Poetry
Couplet
A pair of rhymed lines
•"Blessed are you whose worthiness gives scope,
Being had, to triumph; being lacked, to hope."
•"So, till the judgement that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes."
•"Tir'd with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone."
Quatrain
A four-line stanza in a poem
Verse
A single line of poetry, or poetry in general as
opposed to prose
Enjambment
A run-on line of poetry in which a sentence
carries over to the next line
Speaker
The narrator of the poem
stanza
A group of lines arranged together;
equivalent to a paragraph in prose
Rhythm
The stressed syllables in a poem created by
meter, rhyme, alliteration, and refrain
meter
The pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables in a poem
Rhyming/Rhythm
Includes end rhyme (a word at the end of
one line rhymes exactly with a word at the
end of another line), near rhyme
(imperfect/close rhyme), and internal rhyme
(a word within a line rhymes with another
word in the same line).
They have a AABBA rhyme scheme and
A 9,9,5,5,9 rhythm count
Theme
- the main message or lesson learned that is incorporated throughout a
literary work
Blank Verse
Is poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic
pentameter (a meter that Shakespeare used
for many of his plays)
Free Verse
Poetry that doesn’t have a regular pattern of
rhythm (often doesn’t rhyme)
Haiku
a Japanese poem or form of poetry without
rhyme having three lines with the first and
last lines having five syllables and the middle
having seven
SONNET
a fixed verse form of Italian origin consisting
of 14 lines that are typically 5-foot iambics
rhyming according to a prescribed scheme
LIMERICK
especially one in five-line,
predominantly anapestic[2] meter with a
strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is
sometimes obscene with humorous intent.
The first, second and fifth lines are usually
longer than the third and fourth.
Story Elements
Anecdote
- a very short personal story
Protagonist
- a protagonist is the major character; usually trying to solve a problem:
THE GOOD GUY
Antagonist
- a character that betrays,
upsets, or works against the
main character
THE BAD GUY
(ANTI- AGAINST)
Plot Structure Components
Climax: The turning point. The
most intense moment (either
mentally or in action.) high point of
intensity in the conflict is reached
Rising Action: the series of
conflicts and crisis in the story
that lead to the climax.
Exposition: The start of the
story. The way things are
before the action starts. :
characters and setting are introduced
Falling Action: all of the
action which follows the
Climax. conflict’s intensity
lessens
Resolution: The conclusion,
the tying together of all of
the threads. conflict concludes
and loose ends are tied up
Setting
- the time, place, physical details, and circumstances in which a
situation occurs
Climax
- the turning point in the story or
play. SOMETHING HAPPENS and
the story changes from good to
bad or bad to good.
Point of view
– who is telling the story, can be more than
one at a time
Conflict
– the main problem(s) to be solved by
the characters
Conundrum
-a riddle. The answer is or
involves a pun (which is a play
on words); it may also be a
paradox (which is a phrase
that seems untrue but really it
has a hidden truth)
Dialogue
-conversation between characters.
IN FICTION IT THIS IS THE WORDS
IN QUOTATION MARKS
Direct characterization
-the AUTHOR describes or
tells about a character
DIRECTLY though narrative
Indirect characterization
-the character tells about
himself/herself, OR other
characters tell about the
other characters
Epiphany
-that moment in the story when the truth is
revealed to a character. The "ah-ha" I GET IT,
moment.
Flashback
- a writer presents past events
Foreshadowing
-a hint or clue to suggest
something that will happen later
in a story
Inference
Inference -formulate a conclusion based on the evidence given while
reading; we are using the evidence that is available in the text to make
a LOGICAL GUESS
Elements of Speech and
Persuasive Essay
Thesis
- the main idea of a text; it presents the author’s statement or claim.
The rest of the piece should develop and support the thesis
Logos
(logical appeal): uses facts and evidence to convince a reader or
listener of the strength of an argument. LOGOS: LOGIC
e.g., citing statistics, research, financial costs, authority figures,
historical events, etc.
Ethos
-(ethical appeal): when an argument is constructed based on the ethics
or credibility of the person making the argument.
ETHOS: ETHICS (based on morals: knowing the difference between
right and wrong)
Pathos
- (emotional appeal): appealing to a reader’s emotions PATH: word
part means FEELINGS
Elements of Drama
Monologue
– one character gives a speech on stage to the audience or other
characters
https://youtu.be/wRRx-7fAEwA
Parody
- (sometimes referred to as a spoof) is a piece of writing that imitates
another piece of writing, or an author's style, to produce humor
Satire
-an author uses exaggeration, humor, and irony to criticize something
about a person or society or turn a serious subject into something
humorous by exaggerating or employing irony to expose the
foolishness of society.
Aside
– when a character is speaking directly to the audience and is
PRETENDING the other characters on stage can’t hear this even though
they are standing right there
https://youtu.be/wRRx-7fAEwA
Soliloquy
– a speech spoken by a character to reveal his or her inner thoughts.
Essentially, the character speaks to him or herself regardless of whether
there are others are on stage or not.
https://youtu.be/wRRx-7fAEwA