1. Poetry Terms

2. General Vocabulary

3. Prose: Writing organized into sentences and paragraphs that is not poetry. e.g. Novels and short stories are examples of prose.

4. Genre: A term used to describe a particular category or type of literature. Some literary genres are mysteries, westerns, and romances.

5. Voice: The authorial presence in a piece of literature whether in the first, second, or third person.

6. Stanza: A major subdivision in a poem
Stanza: A major subdivision in a poem. A stanza of two lines is called a couplet; a stanza of three lines is called a tercet; a stanza of four lines is called a quatrain.

7. Quatrain: A four-line stanza.

8. Refrain
A line that is repeated in a poem

9. Meter: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in the lines of a poem.

10. Couplets: A pair of rhyming lines in a poem often set off from the rest of the poem. Shakespeare’s sonnets all end in couplets.

11. Sestet
6 line stanza

12. Tercet
3 line stanza

13. Rhyme Scheme The structure, pattern, and form of rhyming in a poem
For example:
I love the trees A
They sway in the breeze A
I like bushes too B
And I love you B

14. Iambic pentameter: Ten-syllable lines in which every other syllable is stressed. - ’ e.g. “With eyes like stars upon the brave night air.”

15. Poetic Forms

16. Villanelle Nineteen Line
Five stanzas, each of three lines, with final stanza being four lines
First line of stanza is repeated in last line of second and fourth stanzas
Third line of first stanza is repeated as last line of third and fifth stanzas
These two refrains lines follow each other to become the second-to-last lines of the poem
The rhyme scheme is aba. The rhymes are repeated according to the refrains

17. Sestina 39 lines First stanza is a sestet (6 lines)
Lines of any length
The six words that end each of the lines of the first stanza are repeated in a different order at the end of lines in each of the subsequent five stanzas.
The repeated words are unrhymed

18. Sestina Repetition Pattern
End words of lines in first sestet.
End words of lines in second sestet.
End words of lines in third sestet.
End words of lines in fourth sestet.
End words of lines in fifth sestet
End words of lines in sixth sestet.

19. Sestina Continued…
The first line of each sestet after the first ends with the same word as the one that ended the last line of the sestet before it.
In the closing tercet, (3 lines) each of the six words are used, with one in the middle of each line and one at the end.

20. Blank verse: Unrhymed lines of poetry usually in iambic pentameter
Blank verse: Unrhymed lines of poetry usually in iambic pentameter. Plenty of modern poetry is written in blank verse.

21. Sonnet: A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter
Sonnet: A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter. Different kinds of sonnets have different rhyme schemes. The most notable are Shakespeare’s Sonnets which employ the abab,cdcd,efef,gg rhyme scheme.

22. Narrative Poem that tells a story For example:
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.”

23. Ballad Poems inspired by melody ABAB pattern or rhyme Syllabic rhythm
In Scarlet Town, where I was born, There was a fair maid dwellin' Made every lad cry wellaway, And her name was Barbara Ellen.

24. Elegy: A poem mourning the dead.

25. Lyric: A type of poetry that expresses the poet’s emotions
Lyric: A type of poetry that expresses the poet’s emotions. It often tells some sort of brief story, engaging the reader in the experience.

26. Free Verse: Poetry with no set meter (rhythm) or rhyme scheme.

27. Pastoral
Poems inspired by nature
Specifically, pastures

28. Poetry Lit Devices

29. Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds in lit “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers.”

30. Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds as in “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride. --Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee

31. 1)Word choice. 2) The author’s choice of words.
Diction
1)Word choice.
2) The author’s choice of words.

32. Denotation The dictionary definition of the word.
e.g. The word “indolence” denotes “laziness.”

33. Connotation Implied meaning of a word e.g. The word “cool” connotes
“an awesome or exciting thing.”

34. End rhyme: Rhyming words that are at the ends of their respective lines—what we typically think of as normal rhyme.

35. Internal rhyme: A rhyme that occurs within one line such as “He’s King of the Swing.”

36. Slant Rhyme
A case where the rhyme is not a direct rhyme, but is close enough to be recognized as rhyme
trust/cusp
Lisp/list

37. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that sound like what they mean such as “buzz,” “bang,” or “tic-tock.”

38. Pun: The use of a word in a way that plays on two or more different meanings. I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

39. What is it? Why do we use it?
TPCASTT…
What is it?
Why do we use it?

40. WHAT IS TPCASTT??? A no nonsense way of analyzing poetry.
It takes you RIGHT THROUGH the process on how to BEST understand how to analyze a poem.

41. Steps in TPCASTT
Title - The meaning of the title without reference to the poem
Paraphrase - Put the poem, line by line, in your own words. DO NOT READ INTO THE POEM. Only read on surface level.
Connotation - looking for deeper meaning (literary devices)

42. TPCASTT steps continued…
Attitude - Looking for the author’s tone. How is the writer speaking?
Shifts - Looking for shifts in tone, action, and rhythm. Don’t just write the number. Discuss how the shift(s) affects the poem.
Title - reevaluate the title as it pertains to the poem
Theme - What does the poem mean? What is it saying? How does it relate to life?