Key Terms

Types of Words

Verb – A doing word

Adjective – A describing word

Noun – A thing.

Adverb – A word that describes a verb (usually ends in ‘ly’)

Abstract noun – A noun which you can’t physically sense – like ‘love’ or ‘hope’ or ‘honesty’

Active verb – a verb which shows a lot of action. ‘exploded’

Techniques

Enjambment - When a line of a poem spills onto the next line. This can be done to show that the poet/poem is too full of action to worry about stopping at the end of a line. Or, it may be done to make sure that a more important word appears at the start/end of a line.

Onomatopoeia – A word which depicts a sound

Emotive language – any word or group of words that makes the reader feel emotion

Repetition – a word or group of words repeated to make them stand out.

Personification – When something non-human is made to sound human through its actions/emotions

Dehumanisation – Where a human is made to sound unhuman.

Rhetorical Question - You know what this is.

Alliteration - Words which begin with the same sound or letter to make them stand out or to bring sound to the poem.

Assonance - Similar to alliteration but using vowel sounds. eg. 'The brown owl howled'

Caesura - A break or pause in a line of poetry

Metaphor - When something is compared to something else by saying that it is something different, eg. 'Jack is a little monster.'

Simile - When something is compared to something else by saying it is 'like' or 'as' something else. Eg, 'Megan is as happy as a dolphin on skates'

Other terms

Lexical field - a group of words that link a theme or subject - ie, the poet uses a lexical field which is based around suffering and pain: 'nerves', 'blood' and 'suffering'

Rhythm - The pattern of beats in a line. A lot of old traditional/romantic poems used a rhythm called 'iambic pentameter' which puts roughly ten beats to a line. If there is a rhythm, it may be that the poet is trying to make the poem look more organised, or it might reflect the theme of the poem (army, war etc). If a poem has no rhythm, it may have been done deliberately to make the poem seem disorganised to relfect the things that are going on in the poem.

Rhyme - As above. If there IS rhyme, it may be to reflect organisation. Or, for example, a simpe rhyme may be used to make the poem seem more child-like or traditional. A lack of rhyme can reflect a lack of organisation or seriousness.

Tone - The feeling or mood that the poet creates

Stanza - Verse