A Glossary of Literary Terms for Poetry
Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighbouring words. For example: the sweet smell of success, a dime a dozen, bigger and better, jump for joy
Figurative Language is the opposite of literal language, in which every word is truthful, accurate, and free of exaggeration. Examples of figurative language are metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification and irony.
Foreshadowing refers to clues that the author uses to let the reader know about what might happen later on in the book. Most often this is used to build suspense.
Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration used to achieve an effect. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth hyperbolizes when she says, "All the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten this little hand."
Image is language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching
Irony is an implied discrepancy (difference) between what is said and what is meant. There are three kinds of irony:
1. verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means something else.
2. dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a character in the literature does not know.
3. irony of situation is a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results.
Example: "A fine thing indeed!" he muttered to himself.
Metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things using the verb "to be" and without using the word “like” or “as”. Compare metaphor with simile. For example: He is a pig. You are sunshine.
Narrator is the point of view that is telling the story. A first person point of view narrator is one that is in the story. In other words he or she is one of the characters character. A third person point of view narrator is one that is NOT a character in the story. This narrator is outside the story.
Onomatopoeia (a Greek word meaning “name-making ") is a word that imitates the sound it represents. For example: splash, wow, gush, kerplunk, buzz, hiss, boom.
Personification is giving human qualities to animals or objects. For example: a smiling moon, a jovial sun
In "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath, for example, the mirror--the "I" in the first line--is given the ability to speak, see and swallow, as well as human attributes such as truthfulness.
I am silver and exact.
I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful—
Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of rhymed words at the ends of lines.
For example, this poem’s rhyme scheme is ABCB:
Roses are red
Violents are blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are you.
Setting is used to describe when and where the story takes place. For instance, “Halifax in the 1990s.” Mood is also part of the setting. What does it feel like to be in this world?
Simile is the comparison of two unlike things using the word “like” or “as”. It is related to metaphor. For example: He eats like a pig. Vines like golden prisons.
Stanza is a unified group of lines in poetry.
Symbol is using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning.
*The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships.
*A system of symbols or representations.
*A symbolic meaning or representation.
Example: the bird of night (owl is a symbol of death)
THEME: We use theme to talk about the “big ideas” in a book. For instance, is the book about friendship, loyalty, bravery, love, revenge, etc? Many books have more than one theme.
Tone is the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character: serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective.
The tone set by the mayor, made the city a very tense and angry place to live and work.
Verse is a line of a poem. It can be metered verse (each line has the same number of syllables) or free verse (the lines can be different length and do not rhyme.