Poetry Terms

Prose - Writing or speaking in the normal or ordinary form; it is arranged in sentences and paragraphs.

Poetry - A piece of literature written in meter or verse.

Literal - The standard meaning of a word.

Figurative - Departure from the standard meaning of a word to achieve some special meaning or effect.

Hyperbole - Great exaggeration used to emphasize strong feeling.

Simile - A comparison of one thing with another by the use of word "like" or "as".

Metaphor - A figure of speech in which a person, an object, or an idea is imaginatively transformed. It may be suggested by comparison, but it need to be.

Personification - Granting human attributes to things that are not human.

Rhythm - Pattern of stressed and unstressed sounds in a line of poetry.

Alliteration - The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words to produce a noticeable effect.

Onomatopoeia - A word whose sound imitates the actual sound to which refers, such as pop, sizzle, crush.

Imagery - The use of concrete details that appeal to the five senses.