Poetry Terminology Review
Lesson 17
9th Lit
ELA9RL1 (poetry) a
The student identifies and responds to the
aesthetic effects of subject matter, sound
devices (i.e., alliteration, onomatopoeia,
rhyme scheme), figurative language (i.e.,
personification, metaphor, simile, hyperbole)
and structure (i.e., fixed and free forms,
rhymed and unrhymed, narrative and lyric)
in a variety of poems.
Here is a list of words. Write down the numbers
of all that you think you understand.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
oxymoron
couplet
assonance
consonance
personification
simile
hyperbole
onomatopoeia
metaphor
10. alliteration
11. allusion
12. paradox
13. apostrophe
14. symbol
15. internal rhyme
16. exact rhyme
17. approximate
rhyme
The EOCT will require you to use your
knowledge of these terms to answer
questions like the ones we will discuss
today.
oxymoron
• a combination of two words that are
seemingly opposites – usually an
adjective-noun
Examples:
dark light
living dead
noisy silence
new classic
open secret
successful failure
virtual reality
from Idylls of the King
by Tennyson
"And faith unfaithful kept him
falsely true.“
What are the two examples in
this phrase?
couplet
•a pair of rhyming lines,
usually of the same length
and meter
I THINK that I shall never see,
A poem as lovely as a tree.
assonance
• the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming
within phrases or sentences
• For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the /u:/
sound ("o"/"ou"/"ue“) is repeated within the sentence
and is assonant.
Where is assonance in these two examples from literature?
Ex: Dead in the middle of little Italy, little did we know that we
riddled two middle men who didn't do diddily.“
Ex: I bomb atomically—Socrates' philosophies and hypotheses
can't define how I be droppin' these mockeries.
consonance
• most commonly used in poetry and songs
and characterized by the repetition of the
same consonant two or more times in
short succession
Examples:
#1. "pitt patter"
#2. "all mammals named Sam
are clammy".
#1.
“When the men sent children off to
war,
Linda knew emptiness that didn’t
end anymore.”
A. oxymoron
B. couplet
C. assonance
D. consonance
personification
•a nonhuman
subject is
given human
characteristics
simile
•comparison between two
unlike ideas using “like” or
“as”
He walked
on stage as
bold as a
lion.
hyperbole
•a deliberate
exaggeration
or
overstatement
onomatopoeia
use of words that imitate
sounds
Ex: buzz, crash, whirr,
clang, hiss, purr, squeak,
boom, tinkling
#2.
“Splish, splash, the water fell
Trickling slowly down the well.”
A. personification
B. simile
C. hyperbole
D. onomatopoeia
personification
•a nonhuman
subject is
given human
characteristics
simile
•comparison between two
unlike ideas using “like” or
“as”
He walked
on stage as
bold as a
lion.
metaphor
• one thing spoken of as though it were
something else
His brain
was a
wall.
=
couplet
•a pair of rhyming lines,
usually of the same length
and meter
I THINK that I shall never see,
A poem as lovely as a tree.
#3.
“I wandered lonely as a cloud.”
(William Wordsworth)
A. personification
B. simile
C. metaphor
D. couplet
alliteration
•Repetition of initial
consonant sounds
Cherry Blossoms Adrift
Pink petals passing
Scents above so high
Painted porcelain perfection
Blossoms caress the sky
paradox
• a statement that
seems to be
contradictory but
that actually
presents a truth
How is this
statement a
paradox?
A Cretan
says: "All
Cretans
are liars".
metaphor
• one thing spoken of as though it were
something else
His brain
was a
wall.
=
allusion
•a reference to a
well-known
person, place,
event, literary
work, or work of
art
#4.
He moved the tree with
Herculean strength.
A. alliteration
B. paradox
C. metaphor
D. allusion
paradox
• a statement that
seems to be
contradictory but
that actually
presents a truth
How is this
statement a
paradox?
A Cretan
says: "All
Cretans
are liars".
personification
•a nonhuman
subject is
given human
characteristics
simile
•comparison between two
unlike ideas using “like” or
“as”
He walked
on stage as
bold as a
lion.
metaphor
• one thing spoken of as though it were
something else
His brain
was a
wall.
=
#5.
“His fear was a prison, stronger
than any more visible barricade.”
A. paradox
B. personification
C. simile
D. metaphor
hyperbole
•a deliberate
exaggeration
or
overstatement
personification
•a nonhuman
subject is
given human
characteristics
apostrophe
• a figure of speech in which someone
absent or dead or something nonhuman
is addressed as if it were alive and
present and was able to reply
Example of Apostrophe
The Sun Rising
by John Donne
Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
symbol
stands for
something else
#6.
My blood boiled as I listened
to the gossip.
A. hyperbole
B. personification
C. apostrophe
D. symbol
hyperbole
•a deliberate
exaggeration
or
overstatement
couplet
•a pair of rhyming lines,
usually of the same length
and meter
I THINK that I shall never see,
A poem as lovely as a tree.
internal rhyme
•rhyming words appear in the same
line
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers.
personification
•a nonhuman
subject is
given human
characteristics
Exact Rhymes
• Exact rhymes are the
same in everything but
the first sound. Exact
rhymes are the most
common type of rhyme
and can be formed
easily with common
sounds in English.
• pay / day / way / say /
may / bay / play / pray
/ stay ...
• me / we / be / see /
tree / knee ...
#7
I have a million things to do today
So hurry up and get out of my way!
A. hyperbole, couplet
B. personification, couplet
C. hyperbole, internal rhyme
D. personification, exact rhyme
simile
•comparison between two
unlike ideas using “like” or
“as”
He walked
on stage as
bold as a
lion.
personification
•a nonhuman
subject is
given human
characteristics
couplet
•a pair of rhyming lines,
usually of the same length
and meter
I THINK that I shall never see,
A poem as lovely as a tree.
approximate rhyme
• words that are similar in sound
but do not rhyme exactly
examples:
•send and when
•sun and plum
•day and made
•fellow and hollow
metaphor
• one thing spoken of as though it were
something else
His brain
was a
wall.
=
#8.
“And the land was a pretty woman
Smiling at us, looking at her” (Ortiz)
A. simile, personification
B. couplet, personification
C. approximate rhyme
D. metaphor, personification
hyperbole
•a deliberate
exaggeration
or
overstatement
onomatopoeia
use of words that imitate
sounds
Ex: buzz, crash, whirr,
clang, hiss, purr, squeak,
boom, tinkling
oxymoron
• a combination of two words that are
seemingly opposites – usually an
adjective-noun
Examples:
dark light
living dead
noisy silence
new classic
open secret
successful failure
virtual reality
from Idylls of the King
by Tennyson
"And faith unfaithful kept him
falsely true.“
What are the two examples in
this phrase?
paradox
• a statement that
seems to be
contradictory but
that actually
presents a truth
How is this
statement a
paradox?
A Cretan
says: "All
Cretans
are liars".
#9.
The car creaked forward once
the old engine began to wheeze.
A. hyperbole
B. onomatopoeia
C. oxymoron
D. paradox
oxymoron
• a combination of two words that are
seemingly opposites – usually an
adjective-noun
Examples:
dark light
living dead
noisy silence
new classic
open secret
successful failure
virtual reality
from Idylls of the King
by Tennyson
"And faith unfaithful kept him
falsely true.“
What are the two examples in
this phrase?
paradox
• a statement that
seems to be
contradictory but
that actually
presents a truth
How is this
statement a
paradox?
A Cretan
says: "All
Cretans
are liars".
#10.
He ordered jumbo shrimp for
dinner.
A. oxymoron
B. paradox
ELA9RL1 (poetry) a
The student identifies and responds to the
aesthetic effects of subject matter, sound
devices (i.e., alliteration, onomatopoeia,
rhyme scheme), figurative language (i.e.,
personification, metaphor, simile, hyperbole)
and structure (i.e., fixed and free forms,
rhymed and unrhymed, narrative and lyric)
in a variety of poems.
In your group of three, choose three of these
terms and agree on an example for each one.
Write these down and be prepared to share.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
oxymoron
couplet
assonance
consonance
personification
simile
hyperbole
onomatopoeia
metaphor
10. alliteration
11. allusion
12. paradox
13. apostrophe
14. symbol
15. internal rhyme
16. exact rhyme
17. approximate
rhyme