Poetic Terminology

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Poetic Terminology
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• Denotation
• The exact, dictionary meaning of a particular
  word.
• Connotation
• Emotional word associations usually based on
  individual experience, regional experience, or
  universal implications.

• Imagery
• Words that arouse the sense of sight, sound,
  smell, taste, or touch.
• Simile
• Generally introduced by like or as, a comparison
  of two dissimilar objects.

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• Metaphor
• A comparison of two dissimilar objects, without
  using like or as endowing the first object with
  the qualities of the second object.
• Personification
• The application of human characteristic to
  animals, inanimate objects, or ideas.

• Rhythm/Meter
• The regularity of recurrence, which establishes
  a repetitive pattern of stressed and unstressed
  syllables.
• Rhyme
• The repetition of all sounds, beginning with the
  accented vowel, in two or more words.

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• Alliteration
• The repetition of initial consonant sounds.
• Assonance
• The repetition of vowel sounds within a line of
  poetry.

• Consonance
• The repetition of consonant sounds within a line
  of poetry.
• Allusion
• Reference to a well-known historical or literary
  figure or event.

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• Paradox
• An apparent contradiction that actually may
  contain a universal truth.
• Thesis Statement
• A general statement of a major aspect of the
  literary work that can be substantiated through
  analysis of elements.

• Form
• The structure or organization of the work that
  gives it unity, through arrangement, rime scheme,
  number of lines, etc. Different forms of poetry
  include haiku, sonnet, ode, elegy, lyric, epic,
  and many others.