The "Why" of Word Choice
A poet describes a character’s heart as a "cold, unfeeling stone." This word choice impacts the reader’s view of the character’s __________.
What is personality/trait (or lack of empathy)?
This is the specific term for a four-line stanza, which is a common building block in traditional poetry.
What is a quatrain?
In poetry, we don't call the narrator the "author." We call the person telling the poem this.
What is the speaker?
This is the process of finding what is "the same" between a poem and a short story on the same topic.
What is comparing?
"The stars winked at me" is an example of this.
What is personification?
This is the term for a word that imitates the sound it represents, like "hiss" or "boom," used to increase sensory imagery.
What is onomatopoeia?
When a sentence in a poem carries over from one line to the next without a terminal punctuation mark.
What is enjambment?
This is the term for when the speaker's perspective is different from the author's actual beliefs.
What is a persona?
To "contrast" two texts means to look for these.
What are differences?
A reference within a poem to a well-known person, place, event, or another literary work (like the Bible or Mythology).
What is an allusion?
To determine the "impact" of a word, a student must explain how that specific word changes the poem's __________ or __________.
What is tone or meaning?
How does a poet’s use of a "refrain" (a repeated line or stanza) contribute to the overall meaning?
What is emphasizing a central theme/idea?
A poet might use this technique to give the reader insight into the speaker’s inner thoughts that other characters don't hear.
What is an interior monologue (or soliloquy)?
This is the term for a specific type of literature, such as "Lyric Poetry," "Ballad," or "Epic."
What is genre?
This is a comparison between two things that continues throughout several lines or even the whole poem.
What is an extended metaphor?
If a poet uses the word "slithered" to describe a person walking, they are likely trying to create this specific mood.
What is suspicious, sneaky, or untrustworthy?
Poets use this "empty space" on a page to signal a shift in thought or to make the reader pause.
What is white space?
If a poem uses the pronouns "I," "me," and "my," it is written in this point of view.
What is first-person?
When a poem and a story have the same theme, the poem usually relies more on __________ language than the story does.
What is figurative (or compressed) language?
An extreme exaggeration used for effect, such as "I've told you a million times."
What is hyperbole?
This occurs when a poet uses an object, person, or place to represent a much larger, abstract idea.
What is symbolism?
This structural element is the "heartbeat" of the poem; it is the recurring pattern of sounds.
What is rhythm?
How a speaker’s __________ (their background or feelings) influences the way they describe an event in a poem.
What is perspective?
Reading a poem about a historical event provides an "emotional" perspective, while a textbook provides this type of perspective.
What is factual (or objective/informational)?
When a poet uses two contradictory terms together, like "deafening silence."
What is an oxymoron?