Closed Form Poetry Poetry Written in Specific and Traditional Patterns Produced Through
Poetic Forms
Closed Form Poetry Poetry written in specific and traditional patterns produced through control of rhyme, meter, line-length and line groupings
Open Form PoetryPoems that avoid traditional structural patterns such as rhyme or meter, in favor of other methods of organization
QuatrainA stanza of four lines…possible rhyme schemes vary from unrhymed quatrain to almost any arrangement of one, two, or three rhyme lines
Stanzaa recurrent grouping of two or more verse lines in terms of length, metrical form and often rhyme scheme…division of stanzas is sometimes made according to thought as well as form…a unit like a prose paragraph-a group of poetic lines corresponding to paragraphs in prose; the meters and rhymes are usually repeating or systematic
Blank Verseunrhymed but otherwise regular verse, usually iambic pentameter
Free Versepoetry based on the natural rhythms of phrases and normal pauses, not metrical feet…a type of open form poetry
Couplettwo consecutive lines of verse with end rhymes…two lines which may be unified by rhyme, or in Biblical poetry by content
Tercet/Tripleta stanza of three lines, a triplet in which line ends with the same line…a three line unit of poetry or stanza, often rhyming
TerzaRimathree line stanza with rhyme scheme ababcbcdcded…
Villanelle a fixed 19 line form, originally French, employing only two rhymes and repeating two of thelines according to a set pattern…line 1 is repeated as lines 6, 12, and 18, line 3 as 9, 15 and 19, the first and third lines return as a rhymed couple at the end…rhyme scheme abaabaabaabaabaabaa…a closed form poem of 19 lines composed of 5 tercets and a concluding quatrain the form requires that whole lines be repeated in a specific order and that only two rhyming sounds occur throughout
Sonneta poem of 14 lines in iambic pentameter…it follow one of several set rhyme schemes
English/Shakespeariana sonnet consisting of three quatrains followed by a couplet-rhyme scheme ababcdcdefefgg
Italian/Petrarchansonnet divided into an octave and a sestet…rhyme scheme abbaabbacdecde
Ballad form of verse to be sung or recited and characterized by its presentation of a dramatic or exciting episode in simple narrative form…a narrative poem composed of quatrains in which lines of iambic tetrameter alternate with iambic trimester rhyming xaxa
Lyric Poetrya brief subjective poem strongly marked by imagination, melody and emotion and creating a single unified impression…a short poem written in a repeated stanzaic form, often designed to be set to music
Odea single unified strain of exalted lyrical verse directed to a single purpose and dealing with one theme…divided into strophe, antistrophe, and epode. There are three types-Pindaric, Horatian and Irregular…a variable stanzaic poetic form usually long with varying line lengths and sometimes intricate rhyme schemes
Haikua form of Japanese poetry that gives-usually in 3lines of5,7,5 syllables- a clear picture designed to arouse a distinct emotion and suggest a specific spiritual insight
Epigrama pithy saying…a short and witty poem often in couplets that makes a humorous or satiric poem
Limericka form of light verse that follows a definite pattern:5 anapestic lines of which the first, second and fifth consisting of three feet rhyme; and the third and fourth lines consisting of two feet rhyme…a brief poem with pre-established lengths and rhyming patterns designed to be humorous and often risqué
Prose Poema short work laid out to look like prose but employing the methods of verse such as rhythm and imagery for poetic ends
Visual Poetrypoetry written so that the lines form a recognizable shape, such as a pair of wings- also called concrete poetry or shaped verse
Concrete Poetrygraphic art…poetry that exploits the graphic, visual aspect of writing
Shaped Versea poem constructed so its printed form suggest its subject matter
Structure
Prosodythe principles of versification particularly as they refer to rhyme, meter, rhythm and stanza
Metricsthe study of the patterns of rhythm in poetry
Versificationthe art and practice of writing verse- the term includes all the mechanical elements making up poetic composition…the word is also applied to the transformation of prose into verse- mechanics of verse are prosody
Music of Poetry
Scansion a system for describing conventional rhythms by dividing lines into feet, indicating the locations of binomial accents and counting syllables…the act of determining the prevailing rhythm of a poem…there are three methods Traditional/Graphic written means of indicating mechanical elements; Musical employing musical notation; Acoustic using complex machines
RhymeIdentity of terminal sound between accented syllables, usually occupying corresponding positions in two or more lines of verse…repetition of identical or nearly identical concluding syllables in different words most often at the end of lines
Exact Rhymerhyming words in which both the vowel and consonant sounds rhyme…it is important to note that rhymes result from sound rather than spelling…words do not have to be spelled the same way or look alike to rhyme
Internal Rhymethe occurrence of rhyming words within a single line of verse
Cliché rhymetrite and widely used rhymes such as moon and June or trees and breeze
Inexact Rhymerhymes that are created out of words with similar but not identical sounds…in most of these instances either the vowel segments are different while the consonants are the same or vice versa- this type of rhyme is variously called slant rhyme, near rhyme, half rhyme, off rhyme, analyzed rhyme or suspended rhyme
Identical Rhymea syllable both begins and ends in the same way as a rhyming syllable without being the same word ex: rain rein and reign… also called a redundant rhyme or a rime riche
Eye/Sight Rhyme rhyme that appears correct form the spelling but is not so from the pronunciation ex: love and move
Vowel Rhymethe use of vowels in rhyming positions as in day and sky
Internal Rhymerhyme that occurs at some point before the last syllable in a line… rhyming words within a single line of verse
Alliterationthe repetition of initial identical consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in successive or closely associated syllables, especially stressed syllables
Assonancepatterning of vowel sounds without regard to consonants… patterning may be successive, alternating or chiastic… the repetition of identical vowel sounds in different words in close proximity ex: deep green sea
Consonancethe relation between words in which the final consonants in the stressed syllables agree but the vowels that precede them differ ex: add read, mill ball, torn burn and eye rhymes
Rhyme Schemethe pattern in which rhyme sounds occur in a stanza… the pattern of rhyme usually indicated by assigning a letter of the alphabet to each rhyming sound
Meterthe recurrence in poetry of a rhythmic pattern or the rhythm established by the regular occurrence of similar units of sound
Monometera line of verse consisting of one foot
Dimetera line of verse consisting of two feet
Trimetera line of verse consisting of three feet
Tetrametera line of verse consisting of four feet
Pentametera line of verse consisting of five feet
Hexametera line of verse consisting of six feet
Heptameter/Septametera line of verse consisting of seven feet
Octametera line of verse consisting of eight feet
Footthe unit of rhythm in verse whether quantative or accentual syllabic… the measured combinations of heavy and light stresses such as the iamb
Iamba foot consisting of an unaccented syllable and an accented- the most common in English verse
Trocheea foot consisting of an accented and an unaccented syllable ex: happy…trochees are generally unpopular for sustained writing because they soon degenerate into a rocking rhythm… long rhymed trochaic poems are extremely rare because all rhymes would have to be feminine
Spondeea foot composed of two accented syllables…rare… usually composed of two monosyllabic words ex: all joy
Pyrrhica foot composed of two accented syllables occurs most often as variants in iambic verse
Dacytla foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented ex: manikin
Anapestconsisting of three syllables with two unaccented syllables followed by an accented one
Imperfect Foota metrical foot consisting of a single syllable either heavily or lightly stressed
Stressthe emphasis given a spoken syllable
Heavy Stress a syllable that receives strong emphasis and loudness
Light a syllable receiving less emphasis than syllables near it which receive greater stress
Accent beat-a heavy stress in a line of poetry… the number of beats in a line usually dictates the meter of the line
Linea fundamental conceptual unit, normally realized as a single spoken or written sequence of elements and possible zoned by various sorts of pronunciation, meter, rhyme, and other devices… the basic poetic unit of length appearing as a single word or even as part of a word… lines in the closed poetic form are composed of determinable numbers of metrical feet… lines in the open poetic form are composed of variable feet depending on content and rhythmical speech patterns
Caesuraa pause or break in a line of verse… the pause separating phrases within lines of poetry
End-Stoppeda poetic line ending in a full pause, usually indicated with a period or semicolon
Run-On/Enjambmenta line having no end punctuation but running over to the next line
Sound
Onomatopoeia words that by their sound suggest their meaning… a blending of consonant and vowel sounds designed to imitate or suggest the activity being described
Euphonypleasing sounds… “good sounds” refer to word groups containing consonants that permit and easy and pleasant flow of spoken sound
Cacophony“bad sounds” refers to words combining sharp or harsh sounds
Content: Literary Elements and Devices
Speaker/Personaliterally a mark-term is widely used to refer to a “second-self” created by and author and through whom the narrative is told
Point of Viewthe speaker, voice, narrator or persona of a work; the position from which details are perceived and related; a centralizing mind or intelligence not to be confused with opinion or belief… the vantage point from which an author presents a story
Dialoguethe speeches of two or more characters in a story, play or poem
Monologuea long speech spoken by a single character to himself or herself to the audience or to an off stage character
Settingthe background against which action takes place including: geographical location, occupation and daily manner of living of the characters, time or period in which the action takes place, general environment of the characters
Specific Languagewords referring to objects or conditions that may be perceived or imagined
General Languagewords referring to broads classes of persons, objects or phenomena
Dictionthe use of words in oral or written discourse
Concrete Dictionwords that describe exact and particular conditions or qualities ex: cold and sweet when referring to ice cream
Abstract Dictionlanguage describing qualities that are rarefied and theoretical ex: good and nice
High/Formal Dictionthe level of usage common on serious books and formal discourse
Low Diction the use of slang- a group of newly coined words which are not acceptable for formal use usage yet
Middle Dictionthe use of informal or colloquial… the level of usage found in the relaxed but polite conversation of cultivated people; colloquial refers to the everyday usage of a group and it may include terms and constructions accepted in that group but not widely acceptable
Idiomthe use of words peculiar to a given language- and expression that cannot be translated literally… usage that produces unique words and phrases within regions, classes or groups- also the habits and structures of particular language
Dialectswhen the speech of two groups or of two persons representing two groups both speaking the same “language” exhibits very marked differences, the groups or persons are said to speak different dialects… language characteristics involving pronunciation, unique words, and vocal rhythms- particular to regions such as the South
Slanga vernacular speech, not acceptable as suitable for highly formal usage, though much used in conversation… informal diction and substandard vocabulary
Jargonconfused speech resulting particularly from the mingling of several languages or dialects… the term is also used to refer to any strange languages which sounds uncouth to us
Syntaxthe rule governed arrangements of words in sentences… word order and sentence structure- a mark of style is a writer’s syntactical patterning depending on the rhetorical needs of the literary work
Rhetoricthe art of persuasive writing: broadly the art of all effective writing… the presentation of ideas in clear persuasive language
Parallelismsuch and arrangement that one element of equal importance with another is similarly developed and phrased… a figure of speech in which the same grammatical forms are repeated
Repetitionreiteration of a word, sound, phrase or idea
Antithesisa figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences or ideas… a rhetorical device of opposition or contrast in which one idea or word is established and then the opposite idea or word is expressed
Denotationthe basic meaning of a word, independent of its emotional coloration or associations
Connotationthe emotional implications and associations that words may carry as distinguished from their denotative meanings- they may be private and personal, the result of individual experience, group or universal
Imagerythe collection of images in a literary work… images are references that trigger the mind to fuse together memories of… sights(visual), tastes(gustatory), sounds(auditory), smells(olfactory), touch(tactile), and motion(kinetic and kinesthetic)… imagery refers to images throughout a work
Figures of Speechorganized patterns of comparison that deepen, broaden, extend, illuminate and emphasize meaning and also that conform to particular patterns of forms such as metaphor, simile, and parallelism… there are two types: metaphorical language and figurative language- rhetorical figures are departures from customary usage to achieve to achieve special effects without changing the radical meaning of the words and tropes involve basic changes in the meaning of words- “figures of thought”
Metaphoran analogy identifying one object with another and ascribing to the first object one or more of the qualities of the second… describing something as though it actually were something else
Similea figure in which a similarity between two objects is directly expressed, most are introduced by as or like… a figure comparison using like with nouns and as with clauses
Paradoxa statement that although seemingly contradictory or absurd may actually be well founded or true… a figure of speech embodying a contradiction that is nevertheless true
Anaphoraone of the devices of repetition in which the same expressions is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences… the effect is to lend weight and emphasis
Apostrophethe addressing of a discourse to a real or imagined person who is not present; also a speech to an abstraction
Personificationa figure that endows animals, ideas, abstractions and inanimate objects with human form; the representing of imaginary creatures or things as having human personalities
Synecdochea trope in which a part signifies the whole or the whole signifies the part… a part stands for a whole or a whole for a part
Metonymythe substitution of the name of an object closely associated with a word or the word itself
Pun/Paranomasiaa witty word play that reveals which words with different meanings have similar or even identical sounds… play on words based on the similarity of sound between two words with different meanings
Synaesthesiathe concurrents response of two or more of the senses to the stimulation of one- the description of one kind of sensation in terms of another… a figure of speech writing or fusing separate sensations or feelings; the description of one type of perception or thought with words that are appropriate to another
Overstatement/Hyperboleexaggeration- may be used to heighten effect or it may be used for humor
Understatement/Litotesunderstatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite
Tone attitudes toward the subject and audience implied in a literary work- tone may be informal, formal, intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious, ironic, condescending etc.
Ironythe recognition of a reality different from appearance
Verbal Ironyfigure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words that carry the opposite meaning
Situational Ironyemphasizing that human beings are enmeshed in forces beyond their comprehension and control…
Dramatic Ironyspecial kind of situational irony in which a character perceives his/her plight in a limited way while the audience and one or more of the other characters understand it entirely
Symbolismthe use of one object to represent or suggest in another
Symbolsomething that is itself and also stand for something else- in a literary sense a symbol combines a literal and sensuous quality with an abstract or suggestive aspect
Cultural/Universal Symbola symbol recognized and shared as a result of a common social and cultural heritage
Contextual Symbolsymbol that is derived not from common historical, cultural or religious materials but that is rather developed within the context of an individual work… also known as private and authorial symbols
Allusiona figure of speech that makes brief reference to a historical or literary figure, event or object… unacknowledged references and quotations which authors make while assuming the readers will recognize the original sources and relate the meaning to new context
Archetypesa term brought into literary criticism from the psychology of Carl Jung who holds that behind each individual’s “unconscious” the blocked-off residue of the human race… a character or action or situation that is a prototype or pattern of human life generally; a situation that occurs over and over again in literature, such as a quest, an initiation, or a attempt to overcome evil
Theme/Main Ideaa central idea- the general topic of discussion, the subject of the discourse… the abstract concept that is made concrete through representation in person, action and image