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Sonnets and Prosody
Terms
67
English
Undergraduate 1
02/28/2010

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Term
Sonnet Cycle
Definition
a series of sonnets on a particular theme, often to (for) a particular person. Numerous poets have written sonnet cycles including Shakespeare, Donne, Wordsworth, Petrarch, and Spenser.
Term
Petrarchan Sonnet
Definition
Italian meter, octave and sestet. ABBAABBA CDECDE (written for Laura who probably died of the plague in 1348). Petrarch established the form in his Canzoniere, but many poets wrote sonnets and sonnet cycles.
Term
Spenserian Sonnet
Definition
iambic pentameter, three quatrains and a couplet. ABAB BCBC CDCD EE
Term
Shakespearian sonnet
Definition
iambic pentameter, three quatrains and a couplet. ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Term
Meter
Definition
the system of stressed and unstressed syllables used by formal or metrical verse (poetry). U= unstressed syllable, /= stressed syllable
Term
Iamb
Definition
U/
Term
Trochee
Definition
/U (falling rhythm)
Term
Spondee
Definition
//
Term
Pyrrhic
Definition
UU
Term
Dactyl
Definition
/UU (falling rhythm)
Term
Anapest
Definition
UU/ (a galloping foot)
Term
feet
Definition
Lines of formal verse are broken into their natural "____" or sets of two syllables (unless clearly an anapest or dactyl).
Term
feminine ending
Definition
A ________ ______ is a loose unstressed syllable at the end of a line (rare).
Term
substitution
Definition
A ____________ is a deviation from the dominant type of meter used in the poem. One common use of substitution is where the first foot of an iambic sonnet is a trochee rather than an iamb.
Term
scansion
Definition
Scanning or ________ is the act of breaking a poem into metrical feet.
Term
Prosody
Definition
_______ is the study of verse.
Term
Monometer
Definition
1 metrical foot, 2 syllables
Term
Penthimimer, or Dipody
Definition
2 metrical feet, 4 syllables.
Term
Trimeter
Definition
3 metrical feet, 6 syllables
Term
Tetrameter
Definition
4 feet, 8 syllables
Term
Pentameter
Definition
5 feet, 10 syllables
Term
Hexameter or Alexandrine
Definition
6 feet, 12 syllables
Term
stanzas
Definition
Poetry is also broken into _______ which are consistent units of lines.
Term
Couplet
Definition
2 lines
Term
Tercet
Definition
3 lines
Term
Quatrain
Definition
4 lines
Term
Pentastich
Definition
5 lines
Term
Sestet or Hexastich
Definition
6 lines
Term
Septet
Definition
7 lines
Term
Octave or Octet
Definition
8 lines
Term
Decastich
Definition
10 lines
Term
Blank Verse
Definition
Unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter.
Term
Free Verse
Definition
Poetry of various line lengths, without formal meter or rhyme.
Term
Diction
Definition
Choice of words. Diction may be colloquial, formal, abstract, playful, etc.
Term
Syntax
Definition
Organization of words into sentences. Syntax may be convoluted, simple, declarative, inquisitive, etc.
Term
Denotation
Definition
The direct and specific meaning of a word.
Term
Connotation
Definition
What is suggested by a word apart from what it explicitly describes (denotes).
Term
Alliteration
Definition
Repetition of consonant sounds, particularly at the beginning of words: "Like a white, wooly whale."
Term
Consonance
Definition
Repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowels: Slip/slop, creak/croak, black, block.
Term
Allegory
Definition
A story in prose or verse that contains a surface meaning and a secondary, symbolic meaning.
Term
Allusion
Definition
Reference to outside texts, usually implicit-that is, not overt.
Term
Apostrophe
Definition
The direct address of an inanimate object, abstraction, or absent person: "Oh, Love..."
Term
Onomatopoeia
Definition
Use of words that imitate sounds: "buzz, shhh."
Term
Image, Figurative Language
Definition
Writing that tries to convey a picture in a reader's mind.
Term
Irony
Definition
A contradiction of expectation between what is said or meant (verbal irony), or what is expected in a particular circumstance (situational).
Term
Hyperbole
Definition
deliberate exaggeration, overstatement.
Term
Litotes
Definition
is understatement.
Term
Metonymy
Definition
A closely related word substituted for an object or idea: "We have been loyal to the crown"
Term
Motif
Definition
Any repeated idea, description, word, group of words, theme, trope, etc. that appears in a text.
Term
Mood
Definition
The atmosphere of the text: the "feel of the story or poem.
Term
Personification
Definition
The endowment of inanimate objects or abstractions with living qualities.
Term
Pun
Definition
Play on words or a humorous use of a word with more than one implied meaning.
Term
Synesthesia
Definition
Describing an element of one sense with the terminology of another: "Her voice was bitter."
Term
Symbol
Definition
A person, place, or thing that designates itself while also representing something else.
Term
Tone
Definition
The attitude a literary work takes toward its theme or subject.
Term
End Stop
Definition
A poetic line that ends grammatically where it ends spatially.
Term
End Rhyme
Definition
Rhyme at the end of a line
Term
Head Rhyme
Definition
Rhyme at the beginning of a line.
Term
Internal Rhyme
Definition
Rhyme within the span of a line.
Term
Slant Rhyme, Off Rhyme
Definition
An incomplete or partial rhyme: "abroad/head," "crumb/home," "seam/swim."
Term
Enjambment
Definition
a poetic line that does not end grammatically where it ends spatially ; that is, the syntax continues into the next line.
Term
Elision
Definition
Use of an apostrophe to slur a word to keep with meter; the removal of a syllable.
Term
Hymn
Definition
a poem in praise of a god or a hero. A hymnal stanza is ABCB or ABAB in alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter.
Term
Elegy
Definition
a formal lament for the passing of an individual.
Term
Dramatic Monologue
Definition
A monologue set in a specific situation where a narrator speaks in verse and reveals psychological elements.
Term
Ode
Definition
a grand lyrical poem of significant length, usually reserved for ceremonial occasions if for public use, meditative purposes if for private use.
Term
Idyll, Pastoral
Definition
A poem that describes a bucolic country scene that evokes tranquil happiness. Idyll is sometimes used to descripe a euphoric setting or scene or feeling that is impossible to attain.
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