Poetry Unit Review
Poetry terms
 Literal: dictionary meaning of a word
 Figurative language: using language to create a
comparison or image
 Denotative: literal meaning of a word (stubborn)
 Connotative: suggestion or implication in addition
to the literal meaning of a word (strong-willed vs.
pig-headed)
 Imagery: creating ‘pictures’ with words
 Purpose: author’s reason for writing a poem
 Topic: general idea of a poem
 Theme: idea about life or what it means to be
human that is drawn from a poem
 Tone: author’s attitude toward the subject of a poem
 Effect: the way a poem makes you feel; its impact
 Form: the way the words are arranged
 Stanza: like a ‘paragraph’ grouping of lines
 Rhythm: series of beats or metrical units in a line
 Rhyme: final words of a line sound the same
 Symbol: concrete person, place, thing or action that
represents an abstract idea or emotion
Sound devices
 Alliteration: repetition of same consonant sound
 Pirouettes of professional players
 Repetition: repeating phrase or word
 I came, I saw, I conquered; on and on and on
 Assonance: repeating sounds: do you like blue? ou-
ou-ou or the continuing conversation (con-con)
 Onomatopoeia: words that sound like the sound
they represent

Buzzing, bubbling, sputtering, tinkling
 Hyperbole: exaggeration (this book weighs a ton)
 Metaphor: comparing without saying ‘as’ or ‘like’
 Simile: comparing using ‘as’ or ‘like’
 Personification: giving human like qualities to
inanimate objects
Irony
 Situational irony: Incongruity between what
might be expected and what actually occurs

in Sucker the story begins when Pete says, ‘it was always
my room’ and, in the end, Sucker takes over the room.
 Dramatic irony: when the reader knows
something that the main characters do not

the reader knows that Maybelle is using Pete for his
homework, when he thinks she finally likes him.
Imagery: Mrs. Reece Laughs
Metaphors:
Laughter = a sudden wave that… (a wave)
= it germinates, it spreads (a growing seed)
= clusters of subterranean chuckles (an earthquake)
Simile: all the woman heaves as a great elm
Personification: volcanic forces takes her and shakes her
Imagery: Mrs Reece as a great elm whose leaves wallow…; clusters of
subterranean chuckles; a visage that expands in scarlet ridge ….
Alliteration: huge hands, hanging head
Assonance: takes her and shakes her
Repetition: dimple by dimple, takes her and shakes her
Rhyme scheme: a-a-b-b-c-c, etc.
Tone: joyful, comical
Purpose: observation of how laughter can physically move a person
Effect: makes the reader feel the power of Mrs. Reece’s laughter
 Narrative:
 The Cremation of Sam McGee
 Metaphor:
 My Sealed Aquarium
 Dreams
 Waves
 Inuit Poem
 To Hold in a Poem
 Mother to Son
 Irony:
 Richard Cory, Warren Pryor
 Last Lesson of the Afternoon, Did I Miss Anything?
 July 15, 1986
Unit Test
 50 questions multiple choice
 You will need an HB pencil for the Scantron
 Three sections:
 Poetic
terms
 Applying poetic terms to poems we studied
 A sight poem which you will interpret