Poetry glossary
Ode: is a poem honoring or glorifying a person, a place or a thing.
subject: This is what the poem is about. You should be able to write this in one or two words. For example, war
Theme: This message or moral of the poem. You should be able to write this in a single sentence. However. there may be MORE than one theme in a poem. For example, that war is senseless or meaningless.
Stanzas: are basically the chunks or paragraphs of poem i.e groups of lines clustered together. Please note that there are NO paragraphs in a poem.
Enjambment: This is when a line runs onto the next without stopping because there is no punctuation.
Rhyme scheme:is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem. The rhyme scheme might go A,B,A,B or A,A,B,B
Alliteration: is the repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables. For example, the tongue twister "Suzie sells sea shells down by the seashore"
Assonance: is the repetition of an identical or similar vowel sound. The "oo" sound in the sentence "Look at the cookies." is an example of assonance.
Consonance: is the repetition of an identical or similar consonance sound. The "b" sound as in the sentence "Blue baby books are usually used for boys" is an example of consonance.
Imagery: refers to the five senses (sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste). It is used to create a mental image. Images are created by using figures of speech such as similes and metaphors.
Figure of speech: is an expression that uses language in a figurative NOT a literal sense . Metaphors and similies are examples of figures of speech.
Metaphor: is a figure of speech that directly compares two or more unrelated subjects. For example, my hunger is a hole in my stomach.
Simile: is a figure of speech used to compare one subject to another. Frequently, similes are denoted by use of the words "like," "as," or "so." For example, "my smile is like an umbrella" is a simile
Onomatopoeia:is the use of words to imitate sounds associated with objects such as "quack" or "click."
Ode: is a poem honoring or glorifying a person, a place or a thing.
subject: This is what the poem is about. You should be able to write this in one or two words. For example, war
Theme: This message or moral of the poem. You should be able to write this in a single sentence. However. there may be MORE than one theme in a poem. For example, that war is senseless or meaningless.
Stanzas: are basically the chunks or paragraphs of poem i.e groups of lines clustered together. Please note that there are NO paragraphs in a poem.
Enjambment: This is when a line runs onto the next without stopping because there is no punctuation.
Rhyme scheme:is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem. The rhyme scheme might go A,B,A,B or A,A,B,B
Alliteration: is the repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables. For example, the tongue twister "Suzie sells sea shells down by the seashore"
Assonance: is the repetition of an identical or similar vowel sound. The "oo" sound in the sentence "Look at the cookies." is an example of assonance.
Consonance: is the repetition of an identical or similar consonance sound. The "b" sound as in the sentence "Blue baby books are usually used for boys" is an example of consonance.
Imagery: refers to the five senses (sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste). It is used to create a mental image. Images are created by using figures of speech such as similes and metaphors.
Figure of speech: is an expression that uses language in a figurative NOT a literal sense . Metaphors and similies are examples of figures of speech.
Metaphor: is a figure of speech that directly compares two or more unrelated subjects. For example, my hunger is a hole in my stomach.
Simile: is a figure of speech used to compare one subject to another. Frequently, similes are denoted by use of the words "like," "as," or "so." For example, "my smile is like an umbrella" is a simile
Onomatopoeia:is the use of words to imitate sounds associated with objects such as "quack" or "click."