English

• Poetic Terminology
• Allusion


  Reference to other works/ideas that the writer assumes their reader will recognise
• Anaphora


  A repeated word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines
• Assonance


  The repetition of vowel sounds for aural effect
• Caesura


  A strong pause between words in the middle of a line of poetry indicated by the use of punctuation such as a comma or full stop
• Consonance


  The recurrence of similar-sounding consonants in close proximity
• Enjambment


  The continuation of a poetic phrase beyond the end of a line, couplet or stanza
• Hyperbole


  A form of dramatic exaggeration used in poetry and prose
• Iambic pentameter


  A form of poetic meter where each line contains five metrical feet known as iambs-two syllable groupings where the second syllable is emphasised
• Meter


  The number of feet within a line of poetry
• Oxymoron


  A phrase containing words that appear to be logically incompatible e.g. deafening silence
• Quatrain


  Four-line groupings of lines in a poem where alternate lines typically rhyme
• Repetition


  Repeated ideas, thoughts, actions or events
• Rhyme


  The repeated sound of identical concluding syllables in different words e.g. moon & June
• Rhyming couplet


  A rhyming pair of successive lines of verse, typically of the same length
• Rhythm


  A strong, regular repeated pattern of sound
• Stanza

  Grouped lines of poetry
• Syllable


  A unit of pronunciation with one vowel sound
• Key Structural Terms
• Exposition


  Background information of the plot that includes character and setting
• Inciting incident


  The very first conflict that occurs in the plot
• Rising action


  Major events that add suspense or tension to the plot (complications or frustrations) that lead to the climax
• Climax


  The most suspenseful part of the plot. The turning point for the protagonist's character
• Falling action


  One to three events that unravel the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist that lead to the resolution
• Resolution


  The conflict is resolved and we discover whether the protagonist achieves their goal, or not
• Denouement


  The 'tying up of loose ends'
• Motifs


  A dominant or recurring idea
• Narrative


  A set of features determining the way a story is told and what is told. Narrative voice is the perspective the story is told from
• Perspective


  Changes in ideas and perspectives e.g. from outside to inside
• Order of events


  This could be chronological or a writer might choose to start at the end, in the middle, or with flashbacks/flash forwards
• Temporal references


  References to time
• Contrast


  The differences between two things
• Repetition or patterns


  When words, phrases or ideas are repeated for effect
• Simile


  Comparing two (usually unlike) things using 'like' or 'as'
• Onomatopoeia


  A word or phrase which reproduces the sounds of the thing being described. It creates a sound effect making the description more expressive and interesting. For example: crash
• Alliteration


  This is when you start two or more words next to each other with the same consonant or sound
• Personification


  Giving something, which is non-human, a human characteristic. For example: The door's hinges groaned loudly as it slowly shut
• Pathetic Fallacy


  Where the weather reflects human feelings
• Adjectives


  A word describing the attribute of a noun, e.g. large, small, bright, sweet
• Imagery


  Something described clearly so the reader can imagine the picture being created by the writer