1. allegory
a short moral story
2. alliteration
use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word
3. assonance
the repetition of similar vowels in successive words
4. consonance
the property of sounding harmonious
5. enjambment
continuation from one line of verse into the next line
6. imagery
the ability to form mental pictures of things or events
7. metaphor
a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
8. rhyme
correspondence in the final sounds of two or more lines
9. mood
a characteristic state of feeling
10. tone
the distinctive property of a complex sound
11. couplet
a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse
12. foreshadowing
the act of providing vague advance indications
13. free verse
poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter
14. hyperbole
extravagant exaggeration
15. irony
incongruity between what might be expected and what occurs
16. literal
limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text
17. figurative
not literal
18. metonymy
substituting the name of a feature for the name of the thing
19. apostrophe
a mark used to indicate the omission of one or more letters
20. narrator
someone who tells a story
21. speaker
someone who expresses in language
22. onomatopoeia
using words that imitate the sound they denote
23. plot
a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation
24. point of view
a mental position from which things are perceived
25. protagonist
the principal character in a work of fiction
26. antagonist
someone who offers opposition
27. stanza
a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem
28. rhythm
an interval during which a recurring sequence occurs
29. satire
witty language used to convey insults or scorn
30. setting
the physical position of something
31. simile
a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
32. synecdoche
using part of something to refer to the whole thing
33. symbol
something visible that represents something invisible
34. theme
the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
35. allusion
passing reference or indirect mention
36. personification
attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas
37. repetition
the act of doing or performing again
38. oxymoron
conjoined contradictory terms
39. syllable
a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme
40. connotation
an idea that is implied or suggested
41. denotation
the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression
42. pun
a humorous play on words
43. paradox
a statement that contradicts itself