Transcript Poetry Terms - Wayzata Public Schools
Literary terminology that will allow us to discuss poetry, short stories, plays and novels
1. exposition – introduces the character and setting of a story 2. rising action – consists of most of the story; shows an increasing number of conflicts 3. climax- the turning point of the story for the major character; major secrets are revealed 4. falling action – the major secrets are out so you get to see how characters react 5. denouement/resolution- some stories don’t include this- shows what happens to characters after the story.
Time & Place Example – To Kill a Mockingbird – 1930’s in Alabama Example – Romeo and Juliet – 15 th Italy century
Protagonist – the main character in the story; the reader should want this character to find success Antagonist- opposes the protagonist and creates conflict
Static- these characters don’t really change in the story. Dynamic- these characters learn, grow, develop, change over the course of the story Foil – a character who contrasts another character
The meaning or lessons within the story Example from Harry Potter - Humility, modesty, good vs. evil
Dramatic- the audience/reader knows something about the plot that the characters don’t know Example – Romeo & Juliet – the audience knows from the opening scene that both the lead characters will die at the end
Situational- when the outcome is very different from what’s you’d expect Example – Friday Night Lights – you think they’ll win the game, but they don’t
Verbal- when you say one thing, but mean something different (sarcasm) Example – If the weather is pouring rain and you walk outside and say “It looks like a nice day for a picnic.”
Flashback- sometimes in a story you’ll “flash back” to an earlier time ◦ Foreshadowing- when a future event in the plot is hinted at based upon prior plot events.
Example – Lenny killing Curly’s wife is foreshadowed – everytime he pets something soft, he kills it. ◦ Anachronism- when something is out of place or out of time Example – if a character in a story about the 17 th pulls out a cell phone century
Diction : word choice – extremely key in poetry Hyperbole : exaggerated, non-literal language Example -"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No. This my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red." from Act 2, scene 2 of "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare
Allusion:
◦ time.
a reference to an historical person, place, or event; or a literary or Biblical reference that elicits an association that is not directly stated Example – Harriet Tubman was the Moses of her
Apostrophe
: a device in which the speaker addresses a dead or absent person, or an abstraction or inanimate object The Sun Rising by John Donne Busy old fool, unruly sun, Why dost thou thus, Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Denotation definition : the literal, explicit, or surface meaning of a word – this is the dictionary Example – dog- a carnivorous animal used for hunting or kept as a pet.
Connotation : the “deeper” or suggested meaning(s) of words Example – dog – that cute, funny guy who curls up at your feet
Imagery : use of language to appeal to the reader’s senses; images are frequently, but not always, visual Examples - Grandma's hugs burn my skin .
The pitter-patter of the rain against the window.
The gurgling sound of my brother slurping.
Metaphor : an implied comparison or resemblance between two unlike things Example – I am a rainbow.
Mood : a feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind--especially the predominating atmosphere or tone of a literary work
Paradox: a statement or expression so self contradictory as to provoke the reader into seeking another sense or context in which it would be true "War is peace." "Freedom is slavery." "Ignorance is strength." (George Orwell,
1984
)
Personification: giving human characteristics to inanimate objects, ideas, or animals Example - The first rays of morning tiptoed through the meadow.
Poetic License : a poet’s privilege of departing from normal order, diction, rhyme, or pronunciation to make verse fit a pattern
Simile : a stated comparison between two things using
like
or
as
Example – He was as tall as a tree.
Symbol: an object, action, person, or name that stands for something in addition to itself Example - in
To Kill a Mockingbird -
the characters of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are symbolically mockingbirds
Syntax : the way in which words and clauses are ordered Tone : the author’s attitude to the reader (or the speaker’s attitude in a work) ◦ Understatement humor : form of speech in which a lesser expression is used than what would be expected – used by comedians frequently for Example – Looking outside right now and saying “It looks like we have a little snow in the parking lot.”
◦ ◦ Meter: the rhythm established by the regular or almost regular patterns of sound Example - Shall mer’s DAY ?
I com PARE thee TO a SUM Foot: unit of rhythm in a line of verse (similar to measure in music) Lines vary according to number of feet (i.e. pentameter = 5 feet)
Rhyme: similarity of sounds between syllables in corresponding positions in two or more lines of verse ◦ ◦ Internal: rhyming that occurs within a line of verse rather than at the end Ex - Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, End: rhyming at the end of lines
Whose woods these are I think I know, a His house is in the village, though; a He will not see me stopping here b To watch his woods fill up with snow a Rhyme scheme: the pattern or sequence in which the rhyming sounds occur in a stanza or a poem
◦ Examples of rhyme schemes aabb ccdd abab cdcd abcb defe
◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Stanza: a recurring group of two or more lines (in terms of length, metrical form, rhyme scheme, and so on) Couplet: two lines of verse with similar end rhymes Triplet: three lines with the same rhyme Quatrain: stanza of four lines (rhyme schemes may vary) Refrain: a phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals
Language choice means everything in poetry
Alliteration: repetition of beginning letters or sounds (ex. six slender saplings) Assonance: repetition of similar vowel sounds (lake, fake, take, make) Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds; similar to alliteration, but repetition may occur anywhere within the words (such a tide as moving seems asleep)
Inversion : the reversal of the normally expected order of words – think of how Yoda talks “Ready, you are.” Onomatopoeia : words sound like the sound their name (a
crack
of thunder) Repetition: reiterating word, phrase, statement, or stanza to achieve emphasis
There are multiple ways to structure a poem
Fixed Verse : Poetry with clearly established meter and rhyme Blank Verse: poetry that has meter (usually iambic pentameter), but does not have a rhyme scheme Free Verse : poetry without a fixed meter or rhyme scheme Prose Poetry : a poem printed as prose, but using characteristics of poetry