Poetry Terms and Definitions

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What is a simile?

Back

A figure of speech that compares two different things using the words 'like' or 'as'. Example: 'As busy as a bee'.

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What is alliteration?

Back

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a series of words. Example: 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore'.

Front

What is the primary purpose of alliteration?

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To create rhythm and emphasize certain words or phrases.

Front

What is rhythm in poetry?

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The pattern of sounds created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse.

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What is iambic pentameter?

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A type of meter in poetry that consists of five iambs (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) per line. Example: 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'

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What is enjambment?

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The continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break in poetry, without a pause.

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What is a metaphor?

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A figure of speech that directly compares one thing to another for rhetorical effect, without using 'like' or 'as'. Example: 'Time is a thief'.

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What is personification?

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A literary device where human qualities are attributed to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract concepts. Example: 'The wind whispered through the trees'.

Front

What is a rhyme scheme?

Back

The pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem, often described using letters to indicate which lines rhyme.

Front

What is a stanza?

Back

A grouped set of lines within a poem, often separated by a space from other stanzas.