GHSGT Review 2

Poetry: Figurative Language and Word Structure

Elements of Poetry Prose – writing of novels and short

stories (using typical grammar and syntax rules)

Literature written in lines and verses Often involves rhythm and rhyme Usually shorter than prose Uses more figurative language and fewer

words than prose

Types of Figurative Language Personification – giving human

qualities to things not human Metaphor – direct comparison

Extended Metaphor – when something with several characteristics is compared with another item

Imagery – appealing to the senses Simile – comparison using “like” or

“as”

Figurative Language (continued)

Irony – appearance of things differs from reality Dramatic irony – reader/audience know more

than the actors/characters Paradox – contradictory ideas together to

point out a deeper meaning Allusion – reference to well-known place,

literary work, art work, famous person or historical event

Figurative Language (continued)

Symbolism – any object, person, place or action that has a meaning in itself and also represents a meaning beyond itself

Hyperbole – exaggerated statement Understatement (Meiosis) – stressing

the importance of something by minimizing it’s expression

Figurative Language (that you may not know or remember) Synecdoche – using a part of something to

represent the whole All hands on deck!

Metonymy – substituting a term closely associated to another term The power of the crown was weakened.

Conceit – opposite words describe conflicting emotions (used mostly in love poems) Love/hate relationship: love for a person

described as bright smoke, cold fire, sick health…

Types of Poetry Epic – long, complicated story-poems

Tell of extraordinary deeds by supernatural heroes and villains

Lyric poem – conveys exact mood or feeling to the reader Poet speaks directly to the reader

Sonnet – kind of lyric poem with strict 14-line format

Ballads – oral tradition that tell a story in a song Focus on actions and dialogue (not characters)

Rhythm and Meter Rhythm - Movement or sense of

movement (beat) Pattern of stressed and unstressed

syllables that is repeated throughout the poem

Meter – Word pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Consonance, alliteration, and assonance help

Rhyme Types

Internal rhyme – words that rhyme inside a single line

Slant – words almost rhyme; final consonant sound rhymes but not the final vowel

End – most common type; at the ends of lines

Rhyme Scheme Fixed rhyme – repeated pattern of

end rhyme Use letters to identify Couplets – two-line rhyme pairs Stanza – group of lines Masculine rhyme – end rhyme couplet

of only one syllable each Feminine rhyme – end rhyme couplet

of more than one syllable each

Poetry Passages/Questions Always read the directions Scan the Questions Read the poem carefully Identify rhyming couplets if possible Underline key words information Read all the choices REMEMBER: You CAN write in your

test booklets.