General
Denotation: The basic definition of dictionary meaning of a word (W. Almquist)
Connotation: What a word suggests beyond its basic dictionary definition; a word's overtones of meaning. (WA)
Imagery : The representation through language of sense experience. WA
Allusion: A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history. WA
Figurative Language 1 (p. 726)
Simile— a method of comparing an object with another by using like, as, thank similar to, resembles, or seems. Figurative term is used to describe a literal term; the literal term is usually named while the figurative term, usually definite, is often implied. Ex: the leaves are like snakes. (Tai)
Metaphor A metaphor is used to compare things that are essentially alike, like a simile. However, in a metaphor, the figurative term is substituted for the literal term. The form of the metaphor depends on whether the terms are named or implied—this can be tricky and rather annoying. Like in that snow poem, snow (the literal term) and flour (the figurative term) were both implied (not directly mentioned). So, just try to figure it out. Go Hawks. (uɐɯʍoq ɹǝʇǝd)
Personification- Consists of giving the attributes of a human being to an animal, an object, or a concept. As a subset of a metaphor, it is an implied comparison in which the figurative term of the comparison is always a human being. They ask the reader, on varying degrees, to visualize the literal term in human form. Ex: Keats describes autumn as a harvester "sitting careless on a granary floor" (To Autumn). (Gaustin)
Apostrophe- A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply. The most often seen use of an apostrophe is “O,” saying something like “O grim-looked night!” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Clearly the night cannot respond so therefore it is an apostrophe. (MMcG)
Metonymy- A figure of speech in which some significant aspect or detail of an experience is used to represent the whole experience, specifically the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant. Metonymy can be used as a broader term to represent both itself and synecdoche. (BMITT)
Synecdoche-Similar to metonymy above but more specific than metonymy because synecdoche is the use of the part for the whole (which is more detailed than just something closely related) (BMITT)
Figurative Language 2 (p. 748)
Symbol - Something that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well. A literary example is the ocean in The Awakening, it is both the physical ocean and a symbol of freedom and escape for Edna. An example in poetry is the toads in the poem Toads (739). One toad represents work and the other is the obligation one feels to provide for family and or oneself. (SarahB)
Allegory
Allegory is a narrative that has another meaning beyond the literal. While the story may have significance, the meaning beneath the surface is more important. Allegory can be a series of symbols or an extended metaphor involving many related comparisons and can be differentiated from symbolism because it puts more emphasis on the meaning of the image instead of its description in detail. Also, allegorical meanings are more fixed and less up to interpretation but not necessarily more straightforward than the meanings behind symbols. Examples include interpretations of stories in the Bible and long narrative works such as The Faerie Queen and Pilgrim's Progress. (C.Chiaroni)
Figurative Language 3 (p. 771)
Paradox: A paradox is a statement that seems to be false (literally) but is actually true when the situation is further considered. Paradoxes reveal an insight into human nature (aspect of the meaning of a literary work). (CarolineKelly)
figurative -- profound philosophical way of looking at things
(it is true)
literal -- earthly perception
(not true)
example: "Much Madness is divinest Sense —" by Emily Dickinson (doesn't seen true when you first look at the poem; however, madness, when compared to conformity, is the best sense because if you are mad, then you are retaining your own personal opinions and ideas)
Overstatement : Overstatement can also be called hyperbole, or exaggeration in the service of truth. Used appropriately, overstatement is an effective way to add emphasis. ex: "I'll die if I don't pass this exam!" (RLucas)
Understatement: The opposite of overstatement, but understatement is used to achieve the same emphasis. It is simply saying less than what is meant or true. ex: calling a full plate of food "a nice snack" (RLucas)
Irony the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning (Aashna). Note that there all also multiple types of irony. For example, dramatic irony the audinece is aware of what the character is not. LL
There's also situational and verbal irony. Situational is like when two adults having an affair go to a play and happen to sit next to their spouses who are also having an affair…the situation is ironic…and awkward. Verbal irony is when someone says something that is ironic based on what has previously happened or will happen in the future. (WHolt)
Sound/Meaning (p. 881)
Onomatopoeia: the use of words that mimic their meaning in their sound. ex: boom, click, plop (AGTagoe)
Phonetic intensives: Words whose sounds relate to their meaning. Ex. The fl sound is often related to the idea of moving light, as in flame, flare, flash, flicker, flimmer. (HW)
Cacophony: A harsh, discordant, unpleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds, ex:"straining harsh discords and unpleasing flats"= a cacophonic phrase.(EBush)
Euphony: A smooth, pleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds. (EBush)
Musical Devices (p. 840)
Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds…e.g. "tried and true," "safe and sound," "fish or fowl" (CBerk)
Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds…e.g "free and easy," and "slapdash," whatever slapdash means… (CBerk)
Feminine rhyme a rhyme either of two syllables of which the second is unstressed (double rhyme), as in motion, notion, or of three syllables of which the second and third are unstressed (triple rhyme), as in fortunate, importunate.(Aashna)
Masculine rhyme a rhyme of but a single stressed syllable, as in disdain, complain.
Consonance-Characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession, as in "pitter patter" or in "all mammals named Sam are clammy” (Tmott)
End rhyme: Exactly what it sounds like. When the end of a line rhymes with the end of another line. An example of this occurs in the final lines of a sonnet in the rhyming couplet. To elaborate further, and end rhyme a.k.a. tail rhyme (or rime couée) is a rhyme in the final syllable(s) of a verse (the most common kind). (WHolt)
Internal rhyme A rhyme when one or both of the rhyme words are within a line. (awan)
Rhythm/Meter (p. 856)
Meter: the measurable repetition of accented and unaccented syllables in poetry (AGTagoe)
Accent: A syllable given more prominence in pronunciation then the syllables around it in the word. (Molly)
End-stopped line: A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked with punctuation (Molly)
Run-on line Also called enjambment, it's just a line without punctuation at the end. (Luke Hedrick)
Free verse Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter, and is the predominant type of poetry now being written (ZI)
Stanza: generally referred to as a verse but according to the dictionary it is: "a fixed number of verse lines arranged in a definite metrical pattern, forming a unit of a poem". Basically if you don't already know what a stanza is… this is going to be a rough exam for you. (ECL)
Blank verse: an unrhymed verse used often with iambic pentameter (ECL)
Pattern (p. 900)
Villanelle: A nineteen-line fixed form consisting of five tercets rhymed aba and a concluding quatrain rhymed abaa, with lines 1 and 3 of the first tercet serving as refrains in an alternating pattern through line 15 and then repeated as lines 18 and 19. (rlovejoy)
Sonnet: The sonnet, one of the most common English fixed forms, must be 14 lines in length and almost always iambic pentameter. In class we concentrated on the English or Shakespearean sonnet that consists of three quatrains and a concluding couplet. The rhyme scheme for this form is abab cdcd efef gg. If you are asked to analyze a sonnet, pay careful attention to the ending couplet, as this is where the poet will frequently come to a resolution and meaning may be most obvious. (KW)
The Petrarchan sonnet, or Italian sonnet, is another form of the poem that breaks the 14 lines into an 8 line octave and a 6 line sestet. The octave's rhyme scheme is usually abba abba, while the sestet's is less strict, but usually repeats two endings only. (Luke Hedrick)