key words

• What is alliteration?

  A way of describing something by saying it is something else
• How does anapaest create rhythm in poetry?

  By arranging stressed and unstressed syllables
• What is a dactyl?

  One person speaking for a long period of time
• What does atmosphere refer to in a poem?


  The feel or mood of the poem
• What is a ballad?

  Writing that tells a story
• Who is considered a character in poetry?

  The person speaking the words in the poem
• What is a caesura?


  A pause in a line of poetry
• What is a couplet in poetry?

  A pair of rhyming lines next to each other
• What is a dramatic monologue?


  A poem where a single speaker addresses an audience
• What is enjambment in poetry?

  When a sentence runs over from one line to the next
• What is hyperbole?

  An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally
• What is iambic pentameter?

  A meter of ten syllables with alternating stress
• What is a metaphor?

  A way of describing something by comparing it to something else
• What is onomatopoeia?

  A word that sounds like the thing it describes
• What is oral poetry?

  Poetry intended to be spoken aloud
• What is an oxymoron?

  A phrase that appears to contradict itself
• What is personification?

  Describing a non-living thing as if it has human qualities
• What is a Petrarchan sonnet?

  A sonnet with an ABBA rhyme scheme in the first eight lines
• What is phonetic spelling?

  When words are spelled as they sound
• What is a plosive?

  A short burst of sound made by certain letters
• What is rhetoric in poetry?

  Language used to persuade the reader
• What is a rhetorical question?

  A question that doesn't need an answer
• What is a rhyme scheme?

  A pattern of rhyming words in a poem
• What is a rhyming couplet?


  A pair of rhyming lines that are next to each other
• What is a rhyming triplet?


  Three rhyming lines that are next to each other
• What is rhythm in poetry?


  The arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables
• What is sibilance?

  Repetition of s sounds
• What is a simile?


  A way of describing something using like or as
• What is a sonnet?


  A form of poem with fourteen lines
• What is a stanza?


  A group of lines in a poem
• What is structure in poetry?


  The order and arrangement of ideas in a poem
• What is a syllable?


  A single unit of sound within a word
• What is symbolism?


  When an object stands for something else
• What is syntax?


  The arrangement of words in a sentence
• What is third person in poetry?

  When the poet writes using he or she
• What is tone in poetry?

  The mood or feelings suggested by the narrator
• What is voice in poetry?

  The characteristics of the person narrating the poem
• What is a volta in poetry?

  A turning point in a poem's argument or tone
• What are the key features of a sonnet?

  • Fourteen lines
  • Usually follows a clear rhyme scheme
  • Often explores a theme or problem
• What are the characteristics of oral poetry?

  • Intended to be spoken aloud
  • Often uses repetition and rhythm
  • May include storytelling elements