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Ms. Gulitti
English
Study of Poetry:
Figures of Speech
In an inclusive sense, a figure of speech is an intentional use or arrangement of words to produce
a specific, expressive, and striking effect by departing from ordinary, usual language. Consider
the effects of each term listed below.
1.alliteration: the repetition of beginning consonant sounds in words (ex: big, black bear)
2. apostrophe: speaking to something that cannot answer (ex: O Death, hear me cry and spare me
from this pain)
3. connotation: the associations (emotional and/or symbolic) of a word (ex: heart may connote
ideas such as love, giving, the color red, and Valentine’s Day)
4.contractions: shortening of words by leaving out letters for poetic or other effect (ex: o’er =
over; ‘tis = it is)
5. denotation: the literal or dictionary definition of a word (ex: heart denotes the organ that
pumps blood throughout the body.)
6. hyperbole: overstatement and exaggeration (ex: I died laughing)
7. metaphor: implied comparison between things basically not alike as if they are equal, not
similar (ex: her eyes are shining stars)
8. personification: giving human characteristics to nonhuman things (ex: fear grabbed her
tightly; death peered over my shoulder)
9. oxymoron: two contrasting terms that are placed next to each other to provide a strong
exaggerated effect (ex: bittersweet; fiery ice)
10. repetition: the repetition of sounds, rhyme, words or phrases to convey a point
11. rhyme: using words that have similar vowel and consonant sounds (ex: round, sound)
12. simile: comparison between things basically not alike by using the words like or as to reveal
similarity (ex: her lips were soft as rose petals)
13. synecdoche: using a part of something to represent the whole (ex: “I don’t have a penny”
means “ I don’t have any money.”)
14. pun: usually, the humorous use of a word or phrase that sounds alike though often spelled
differently to suggest two or more meanings at the same time. (ex: remember the old, “I scream,
you scream, we all scream for ice cream” ?)
15. onomatopoeia: words that sound like what they represent. (ex: Pow! Burp; buzz)
Other Poetic Terms:
16. couplet: two consecutive, rhymed lines of poetry written in iambic pentameter.
17. iambic pentameter: a type of poetic meter whereby each line contains ten syllables, and the
stress is placed on the second beat.
18. foot: the smallest unit of poetic measurement; lines are divided into metrical groups (feet)
with one to three syllables in each one.
19. meter: the rhythm created in poetry by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in
the lines.
20. quatrain: a poem or stanza containing four lines.
21. stanza: a group of lines in poetry, usually with a common form and spaced apart from each
other.
22. Shakespearean sonnet: a lyrical poem expressing one idea, containing fourteen lines of
iambic pentameter and a set rhyme scheme. Shakespeare divides the 14 lines into 3 quatrains (12
lines) that conclude in a final couplet (2 lines)
23. blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter (Shakespeares’ tragedies are written in this form)