Engish Literature Poetry Exam- Key Words

Key words needed for the English Literature Poetry Exams

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Structure, Repetition and Contrast

Structure- The patterns within a poem or how the parts of the poem are organised either within the text and/or visually organised (laid out) on the page

Repetition- The reoccurance of words, letters, phrases, lines, stanzas, sounds and ideas in a poem that create a particular pattern

Contrast- To set in opposition in order to show or emphasize differences: The appearance of opposing or dramatically different ideas created by the juxtaposing (placing side by side) of words, ideas, phrases or the use of antonyms (opposites) or the use of oxymoron (two contradictory terms or two irreconcilable e.g. 'small gulf', 'deafening silence'

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Stanzas, Free Verse and End Stopped Line

Stanzas- One of the divisions of a poem composed of two or more lines often characterised by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines

Free Verse- Verse composed of variable, usually unrhymed lines having no fixed metrical pattern

End-Stopped Line- Brought to a pause at which the end of a verse line coincides with the completion of a sentence, clause or other independent unit of syntax. End stopping, the opposite of enjambment, gives verse lines an appearance of self-contained sense

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Enjambement, Punctuation and Syntax

Enjambement- The running over of the sense and grammatical structure from one verse line or couplet to the next without a puncutated pause. in an enjambed line (also called a 'run-on-line'), the completion of a phrase, clause, or sentence is held over the to the following line so that the line ending is not emphasized as it is in an end-stopped line

Punctuation- Use of punctuation for effect to enhance the meaning in the poem, in particular the use of caesura

Syntax- The rules whereby words or other elements of sentence structure are combined to form grammatical sentences (word order)

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Caesura, Sonnet and Rythm

Caesura- A pause in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural speech rhythm rather than by metrics, often coinciding with a break between clauses or sentences. It is usually placed in the middle of the line ('medial caesura'), but may appear near the beginning ('initial') or towards the end ('terminal')

Sonnet- A lyric poem comprising 14 rhyming lines of equal length: iambic pentameters

Rythm- The patterned, recurring alternations of contrasting elements of sound or speech. A specific kind of metrical pattern or flow

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Rhyme, Internal Rhyme, Assonance and Consonance

Rhyme- Correspondance of terminal sounds or of lines of verse. A poem or verse having a regular correspondance of sounds, especially at the ends of lines

Internal Rhyme- A poetic device by which twoo or more words rhyme within the same line of verse

Assonance- The repitition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase tiliting at womdmills- helps create rhythm

Consonance- The repetition of consonants or of a consonant pattern, especially at the ends of words, as in blank and think or strong and string. These help create rhythm

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naz

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very helpful =] thanx!!

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