Poetry Final Exam Review
Poetry
Term
Definition
Example(s) from Published Poetry
Makes a comparison between two unlike
things using the words LIKE or AS.
Ex. My love is as boundless as the sea; Her
eyes sparkled like diamonds
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan
Thomas
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
“Joker” by Michael (teen poetry)
I will die / Like the product of a pun
Simile
“How Do I Love Thee?” (Sonnet 43) by Elizabeth
Barrett Browning
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right.
Metaphor
Allusion
Personification
Paradox
Tone
A comparison between two unlike things
WITHOUT using words such as like or as. A
metaphor says that one thing IS another thing.
Ex. It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.
“Love Is” by Adrian Henri
Love is presents in the Christmas shops
An indirect reference to a famous person,
place, historical event, or literary work
Ex. He is our local Paul Revere.
“Me and Womankind” by Samuel
The words you speak are more powerful,
more controlling than Big Brother.
The giving of human qualities to an inhuman
object, animal, or idea.
Ex. The house’s walls breathed with every
gust of wind.
A statement whose two parts seem
contradictory yet make sense with more
thought and hold significance
Ex. I must be cruel to be kind.
I can resist anything but temptation.
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan
Thomas
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay
The author’s attitude toward the subject
matter which is communicated by the words
the author chooses.
The feeling created in the reader by a literary
work or passage.
Mood
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan
Thomas
Dark is right
Sad height
Curse, bless
Blinding sight
“Legal Alien” by Pat Mora
The speaker’s tone is resentful / angry / annoyed
because she is constantly judged by both the
American and Mexican cultures.
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan
Thomas
The reader should feel motivated by Thomas’ poem
because he is encourages people to live life to the
fullest and to never give up.
Purposeful/Specific word choice. Writers
choose their words with purpose. The specific
words are chosen for either a special
emphasis or their connotation (emotional
connotation).
Ex. We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf
*Romped is an example of diction because it
has a positive and playful connotation.
Romped means to play around in a lively
manner.
“Daddy’s Little Girl” by Erin
And Mother won the children.
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word.
Ex. Cheater: a person or thing who cheats.
“Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare
Reeks : a strong or disagreeable fume or odor
Connotation
The feelings/emotions associated with a word.
Ex. Cheater: negative connotation
Diction
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
By Dylan Thomas
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Rhyme Scheme
A pattern of end rhymes in a poem. A rhyme
scheme is noted by assigning a letter of the
“Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare
“reeks” (stinks) “treads” (drags feet) – negative
connotation because they are meant as insults
“How Do I Love Thee?” (Sonnet 43) by Elizabeth
alphabet, beginning with a, to each line. Lines that
rhyme are given the same letter.
Ex. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, a
And sorry I could not travel both
b
And be one traveler, long I stood
a
And looked down one as far as I could a
To where it bent in the undergrowth
b
Barrett Browning
ABBAABBACDCDCD
Approximate rhyme; occurs when authors
attempt to rhyme words that simply do not
rhyme exactly
Ex. What immortal hand or eye / Could frame
thy fearful symmetry?
“How Do I Love Thee?” (Sonnet 43) by Elizabeth
Barrett Browning
“Grace” and “day’s” is an example of slant rhyme.
Repetition
A sound, word, phrase, or line that is repeated
for emphasis and unity
“Joker” by Michael (teen poetry)
He will keep telling jokes (this line is repeated twice)
Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds at the
beginnings of words
Ex. Which circle slowly with a silken swish
“Prologue” Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
The same expression (word or words) is
repeated at the beginning of two or more
lines, clauses, or sentences that are in
sequence.
Ex. It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times,
It was the age of wisdom,
It was the age of foolishness,
Words that sound like their meaning
Ex. swoosh, zip, click, zoom, pop, crackle
“Legal Alien” by Pat Mora
Slant Rhyme
Anaphora
Onomatopoeia
Free Verse
A form of poetry that does not use any
consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other
musical pattern.
able to slip from “How’s life?”
to “Me’stan volviendo loca,”
able to sit in a paneled office
drafting memos in smooth English,
able to order in fluent Spanish
at a Mexican restaurant,
“Egg Horror Poem” by Laurel Winter
they hear the sound of the mixer,
deadly blades whirring.
“400-Meter Freestyle” by Maxine Kumin
The gun full swing the swimmer catapults and cracks
“Egg Horror Poem” by Laurel Winter
Concrete Poem
A poem in which the poet uses visible shape
to create a picture related to the poem’s
subject.
Ex. a concrete poem about stars might be
written in the shape of a star.
Shakespearean
Sonnet
A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter;
used to explore such deeply felt issues as the
fleeting nature of love and the aching questions of
mortality; typically presents a problem/issue and
then offers a “solution” Generally follows rhyme
scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
“Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
A line of poetry that consists of five pairs of
stressed and unstressed syllables
Ex. But soft! What light through yonder
window breaks?
The switch from problem to resolution.
“Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Iambic
Pentameter
Volta (Turn)
“Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
A series/unit of four rhymed lines.
“Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
Quatrain
Couplet
Any meal is dangerous,
but they fear breakfast most.
They jostle in their compartments
A series of two rhymed lines with a pattern of
AA, meaning that the ends of the two lines
rhyme with each other.
“Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.