Assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds within nonrhyming words. An example of assonance is
the repetition of the u sound in the following line:
Only their usual maneuvers, dear
-W.H. Auden, “O What Is That Sound”
Alliteration – the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. Note the repetition of d
in the following:
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
-Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”
Rhythm – the pattern or flow of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed
syllables, used to bring out a musical quality in language.
Iambic pentameter – a pattern of poetic meter made up of 5 units, each unit made up of 2 syllables,
the first unstressed and the second stressed.
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Sonnet – a 14-line lyric poem, commonly written in iambic pentameter
- Petrarchan sonnet
1st 8 lines (octave)
presents a problem or raises a question
abba, abba rhyme scheme
end 6 lines (sestet)
resolves or comments on the problem
cdecde or cdcdcd rhyme scheme
- Shakespearean sonnet
3 sets of 4 lines (quatrain)
abab, cdcd, efef scheme
1 pair of rhyming lines (couplet)
gg rhyme scheme
Personification – a figure of speech in which human qualities are given to an object, animal, or idea.
The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Metaphor – a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically unlike
but have something in common. Unlike similes, metaphors do not contain the word like or as.
Simile – a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using the word
like or as.
Idiom – a common figure of speech whose meaning is different from the literal meaning of its words.
For example, “raining cats and dogs.”
Oxymoron – a special kind of concise paradox that brings together two contradictory terms. For
example, “bright smoke” or “feather of lead.”
Paradox – a seemingly contradictory or absurd statement that may nonetheless suggest an important
truth.