Free Verse
Free verse poets still divide their poems using these, even without a set rhyme scheme.
What are lines/line breaks?
An ode is a poem written to do this to a person, object, or idea.
What is praise/celebrate?
A traditional sonnet has this many lines.
What is 14?
This is the syllable pattern of a haiku.
What is 5-7-5?
In visual poetry, readers rely on this to understand the poem.
What are pictures/shapes?
A free verse poem describes a city as “grimy” rather than “busy,” creating this type of connotation.
What is negative connotation?
In an ode, calling a phone “faithful” instead of “old” creates a this type of connotation.
What is positive connotation?
The two most common types of sonnets.
What are Petrarchan (Italian) and Shakespearean (English) Sonnets?
A poet describes a house as “cozy” instead of “cramped", showing this kind of connotation.
What is positive connotation?
A poet structures the writing like a withering flower, creating this type of connotation.
What is negative connotation?
Repeating a consonant sound at the start of words, often used in free verse for emphasis or musicality.
What is alliteration?
An ode might exaggerate a subject’s qualities for emphasis, which is called this.
What is hyperbole?
The comparison of "a lover to a summer’s day" is an example of this figurative device.
What is metaphor?
Describing the wind as whispering in a haiku uses this figure of speech.
What is personification?
In a visual poem shaped like a tree, the line “Her fingers were like branches reaching for the light” illustrates this figurative device.
What is a simile?
A free verse poem avoids punctuation entirely; this shifts interpretive control toward this group.
Who are the readers?
This refers to the author’s attitude toward the subject, not the reader’s feeling.
What is tone?
5 iambs per line equaling 10 syllables alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.
What is iambic pentameter?
This five-line humorous poem follows an AABBA rhyme scheme and often ends with a punchline.
What is a limerick?
This refers to how the reader feels while reading a poem.
What is mood?
EX. “I fold myself smaller / like receipts / crumpled in your coat pocket”
The simile suggests the speaker feels this way in the relationship.
What is insignificant / disposable / ignored?
Ex. “O cracked sidewalk, map of forgotten summers”
The sidewalk most strongly symbolizes this abstract concept.
What is memory / nostalgia / passage of time?
Ex. “Your silence speaks more loudly than your praise”
The contrast between silence and speaking creates this figure of speech.
What is irony / paradox?
Ex. “almost sent—/ cursor blinking / still”
The tension comes from the speaker’s hesitation between these two choices.
What is speaking vs staying silent?
What is sending the email vs not sending it?
Ex. A poem about social media forms the shape of a phone screen filled with repeated phrases.
The repetition visually emphasizes this modern emotional effect.
What is overload / pressure / constant comparison/anxiety?