1. Literary Terms

2.  poetry: highly concise, musical, and emotionally charged language  stanza: a group of lines in a poem  speaker: the imaginary voice assumed by the writer of the poem  lyric poetry: highly musical poetry achieved through the use of many sound devices  narrative poetry: poetry that tells a story  symbol: something that stands for (or represents) something else. Typically, something concrete that represents something abstract. Ex: flag=freedom  imagery: the use of descriptive language (use of 5 senses) to create “word pictures” for the reader

3.  figurative language: used by a writer to create vivid impressions by setting up comparisons; NOT meant to be taken literally (figure of speech)  simile: a figure of speech in which like or as is used to make a comparison of two basically unlike ideas Example: “Life is like a box of chocolate; you never know whatcha gonna get.” –Forrest Gump  metaphor: a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as if it were something else (also a comparison- without using like or as) Example: Life is a box of chocolate… or the wrinkled sea  personification: a device used to give a non-human subject human characteristics (i.e. Death walks through the door or Trees cry in the wind)  hyperbole: a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. Example: Jim will follow a bug as far as Mexico to win a bet. OR Do you ever feel so paper thin?

4.  sound devices: used by a writer to create a musical quality ◦ onomatopoeia: the use of words that imitate sounds (i.e. pop, buzz, ring, boom) ◦ repetition: the use of a word or group of words more than once ◦ alliteration: a sound device that involves the repetition of the first consonant sound (i.e. Sally sells seashells by the seashore or the forest’s ferny floor) ◦ rhyme: the repetition of the ending sounds of words (mop & top, hat & cat, mend & bend) ◦ rhythm: formed by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables used within the lines of a poem (beat)