Poetic Device
Poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.
What is free-verse?
A poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line.
What is a sonnet?
The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.
What is foreshadowing?
A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect.
What is hyperbole?
A long speech spoken by a single character to him or herself, to the audience, or to an off-stage character.
What is a monologue?
A poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.
What is a quatrain?
A rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.
What is rhythm?
A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase
What is an oxymoron?
A discrepancy between appearances and reality, can be situational, verbal, or dramatic.
What is irony?
In drama, those who perform as a part of a group as opposed to those who perform singly.
What is a chorus?
A poem that does NOT tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker
What is a lyric?
Poems that are anonymous and recount tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event; often passed on orally.
What is a ballad?
Device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit.
What is juxtaposition?
A word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing.
What is colloquialism?
A speech, usually short and often witty or satirical, delivered by a character to the audience or to another character, the convention being that only the intended characters can hear it, along, of course, with the audience.
What is an aside?
A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society.
What is an epic?
Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.
What is a couplet?
A reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture.
What is an allusion?
A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.
What is satire?
A long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage.
What is a soliloquy?
A word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem.
A poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died.
What is an elegy?
An adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. “Father of our country” and “the great Emancipator” are examples.
What is an epithet?
Story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities (ex: Animal Farm or The Crucible).
What is an allegory?
An outlandish physical comedy overflowing with silly characters, improbable happenings, wild clowning, extravagant language, and bawdy jokes.
What is a farce?