Lowell Writing Center: LC-406B, 978-656-3365 Bedford Writing Center: LIB 7A, 781-280-3727
Meter – the recurrence of rhythmic stresses or accents in a regular pattern.
Narrative poem – a poem that tells a story.
Onomatopoeia – use of a word that resembles the sound it denotes. Ex: buzz, bowwow,
choo-choo.
Personification – giving human characteristics to an animal, object or abstract concept.
Poetry – literature written in meter or verse. It is characterized by language chosen for its
sound and suggestive power and by such literary techniques as structured meter, rhyme, and
metaphor.
Prose poem – a poem which is written in prose format; i.e. it has no fixed lines.
Quatrain – a four-line stanza.
Rhyme (see also End, Eye, Internal and Slant rhyme) – two or more words that repeat
the same end sounds. ALso called perfect rhyme. Ex: send, bend, trend.
Rhyme scheme – the pattern of end rhymes denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, d…)
where each letter represents a new rhyme.
Setting – the place and time in which a poem takes place; not all poems have settings.
Simile – an explicit comparison of one thing to another using the connecting words like, as,
than, similar to, resembles or sees. Ex: He is like a lion in the field.
Slant rhyme – words, usually in a set rhyme scheme, which have similar sounds but are not
perfect rhymes. Also called approximate rhyme, imperfect rhyme, or near rhyme. Ex: arrayed/said.
Sonnet – a 14-line poem that has traditionally followed specific rules of thyme and meter.
Stanza – a group of lines in a poem. People often mistakenly call them paragraphs.
Style – the author’s manner of expression. An author’s style is the result of choices about
vocabulary, organization, imagery, pace, and recurring themes.
Symbol – a figure of speech in which a person or thing stands for some other idea/abstract
concept. Ex: the color white has become a symbol of purity or innocence.
Theme – the central or unifying idea that is developed in a work.
Tone – the expressions of the author’s attitude toward the subject matter.
Verse – another name for poetry derived from the Latin “vers” meaning “to turn.” It refers
to the fact that poetry lines “turn” at a specific point versus prose, which has no fixed lines.