Poetry Vocabulary Terms

alliteration

• use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word

• a comparison using like or as

• a warning about what is to come

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

allusion

• a comparison between two things that are not alike

• a flashback in literature

• passing reference or indirect mention

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

assonance

• the repetition of similar consonants in successive words

• the repetition of similar vowels in successive words

• a break or pause in the middle of a verse line

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.4

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

caesura

• a break or pause in the middle of a verse line

• understatement for rhetorical effect

• comparison using like or as

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

couplet

• a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse

• a stanza consisting of four successive lines of verse

• a stanza consisting of six successive lines of verse

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

enjambment

• when words rhyme somewhat but not exactly

• continuation from one line of verse into the next line

• a break in the middle of a line

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

hyperbole

• a passing or indirect reference

• when a narrator says something they don't actually mean

• extravagant exaggeration

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

litotes

• rhetorical questioning

• understatement for rhetorical effect

• rhetorical comparisons

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

metaphor

• a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity

• comparison using like or as

• a phrase that expresses tone

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

octave

• a rhythmic group of four lines of verse

• a rhythmic group of six lines of verse

• a rhythmic group of eight lines of verse

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.4

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4