Poetry Vocabulary (Part 1) PDF

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Summary

This is a quick list of vocabulary words in poetry, such as apostrophe, metaphor, metonymy, overstatement, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement. ...

Description

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Apostrophe: In poetry, this is a direct address to someone or something. The speaker may address an inanimate object, a dead or absent person, an abstract thing, or a spirit.

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Metaphor: This is a statement that one thing is something else (which, in a literal sense, it is not). This term creates a close association between the two entities and underscores some important similarity between them. For example, "Richard is a pig."

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Metonymy: Figure of speech in which the name of a thing is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. For instance, we might say "The White House decided" when we mean that the president did. A symbolic object stands in for the actual thing.

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Overstatement: Exaggeration is used to emphasize a point. This is also called hyperbole.

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Paradox: A statement that at first strikes one as self-contradictory, but that on reflection reveals some deeper sense. It is often achieved by a play on words.

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Personification: The endowing of a thing, an animal, or an abstract term with human characteristics.

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Simile: This terms describes a comparison of two things, usually using the word like, as, than, or resembles. It usually compares two things that initially seem unlike but are shown to have a significance resemblance. For example, "Cool as a cucumber" or "My love is like a red, red rose.”

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Synecdoche: The use of a significant part of a thing to stand for the whole of it, or vice versa. Saying wheels when you're referring to a car is an example. In other words, the part stands in for the whole.

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Understatement: An ironic figure of speech that deliberately describes something in a way that is less than the case....