AP Literature - Poetry Test Terms

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

Repetition of vowel sounds

Repetition of consonant sounds

Rhyme that occurs at the end of two or more lines of poetry

the repetition of the same stressed vowel sound as well as any consonant sounds that follow the vowel

a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next.

A comparison without using like or as

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

the giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea

Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

A comparison using "like" or "as"

an approximate rhyme derived by substituting assonance or consonance for true rhyme

a poetic form with quatrains rhyming ABAC or ABAB; 8 syllables in the A lines, 6 in the others (Amazing Grace, America the Beautiful, etc.)

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme (or a 2-line stanza)

two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, cc with the thought usually completed in the two-line unit

a four-line stanza with any combination of rhymes

a fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi

The six end-words in each line are repeated throughout the poem in a regular pattern

a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter

a section or a division of a poem; specifically, a grouping of lines of poetry

a nineteen-line poem consisting of five tercets(triplets) and a quatrain, Lines 1 and 3 alternately repeated at the ends of each stanza

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

the basic unit of rhythmic measurement in a line of poetry

has no regular beat or meter, but rather depends on the individual poet's sensitivity to the rhythm of natural speech

occurs in a ten-syllable line starting with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables throughout the line

the basic rhythmic structure of a line within a poem

Sonnet containing three quatrains and a couplet with the rhyme scheme ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG

An octave and a sestet. Octave must rhyme abba abba; the rhyme scheme of the sestet can vary.

Figurative language in which the speaker uses a part of a thing/person to stand for the whole (nice wheels = I like your car; all hands on deck = the whole worker is needed, not just the hands)

Figurative language in which you mean to reference someone/something by stating something associated with that person/thing (Hollywood = the movie industry, The Crown = the monarchy)

Overblown exaggeration

A sentence with 2 parallel clauses that present contrasting ideas (Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more)

an object that takes on significance because it represents an abstract idea

A poem written in quatrains in which two lines are repeated in the next stanza

a 6-line stanza

an 8-line stanza

A poem in which the speaker is a fictional character who is addressing an implied audience (usually another fictional character)

a poem that has a plot (tells a story)

Most poems are this type - a single speaker talks about their thoughts/feelings in a brief poem