AP Poetry Packet

Lyric

subjective, reflective poetry with regular rhyme scheme and meter that reveals the poet's thoughts and feelings to create a single, unique impression

Narrative

nondramatic, objective verse with regular rhyme scheme and meter that relates a story or narrative

Sonnet

a rigid 14-line verse form, with variable structure and rhyme scheme according to type

Shakespearean (English) Sonnet

three quatrains and concluding couplet in iambic pentameter, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg or abba cddc effe gg - the spenserian sonnet is a specialized form with linking rhyme abab bcbc cdcd ee

Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet

an octave and sestet, between which a break in thought occurs - the traditional rhyme scheme is abba abba cde cde (or, in the sestet, any variation of c, d, e)

Ode

elaborate lyric verse that deals seriously with a dignified theme

Blank Verse

unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter

Free Verse

unrhymed lines without regular rhythm

Epic

a long, dignified narrative poem that gives the account of a hero important to his nation or race

Dramatic Monologue

a lyric poem in which the speaker tells an audience about a dramatic moment in his/her life an, in doing so, reveals his/her character

Elegy

a poem of lament, meditating on the death of an individual

Ballad

simple, narrative verse that tells a story to be sung or recited; the folk ballad is anonymously handed down, while the literary ballad has a single author

Assonance

repetition of two or more vowel sounds within a line

Consonance

repetition of two or more consonant sounds within a line

Alliteration

the repetition of one or more initial sounds, usually consonants, in words within a line

Onomatopoeia

the use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning

Metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison of unlike objects by identification or substitution

Simile

a direct comparison of two unlike objects, using like or as

Conceit

an extended metaphor comparing two unlike objects with powerful effect (it owes its roots to elaborate analogies in Petrarch and to the Metaphysical poets, particularly Donne)

Personification

a figure of speech in which objects and animals have human qualities

Apostrophe

an address to a person or personified object not present

Metonymy

the substitution of a word that relates to the object or person to be named, in place of the name itself

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole object or idea

Hyperbole

gross exaggeration for effect: overstatement

Litotes

a form of understatement in which the negative of an antonym is used to achieve emphasis and intensity

Irony

the contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning

Verbal Irony

meaning one thing and saying another

Dramatic Irony

two levels of meaning - what the speaker says and what he/she means, and what the speaker says and the author means

Situational Irony

when the reality of a situation differs from the anticipated or intended effect; when something unexpected occurs

Symbolism

the use of one subject to suggest another, hidden object or idea

Imagery

the use of words to represent things, actions, or ideas by sensory description

Paradox

a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that underlines a basis of truth

Oxymoron

contradictory terms brought together to express a paradox for strong effect

Allusion

a reference to an outside fact, event, or other source