alliteration

repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words

                            i.e. lady lounges lazily

couplet

a pair of lines of poetry that are usually rhymed

                            i.e. If cars go zoom/exhaust smoke will plume

diction

choice of a particular word as opposed to others; determines the reader's reaction to the object of description, and contributes to the author's style and tone

                            i.e. A writer could call a rock formation by many words--a stone, a

                                  boulder, an outcropping, a pile of rocks, a cairn, a mound

end rhyme

rhyme in which the last word at the end of each verse is the word that rhymes

free verse

poetry based on the natural rhythms of phrases and normal pauses rather than any particular rhyme or pattern

imagery

the "mental pictures" that readers experience with a passage of literature through the five senses

                           i.e. the roar of trees, the crack of branches, beating on a box

metaphor

a comparison between two unlike things

                           i.e. America is a melting pot.

onomatopoeia

use of sounds that are similar to the noise they represent for a rhetorical or artistic effect

                            i.e. buzz, click, rattle

repetition

similar endings of words or even of identical syllables

                           i.e. How they scream out their affright!

                                   Too much horrified to speak,

They can only shriek, shriek,

Out of tune,

In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,

In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,

Leaping higher, higher, higher,

With a desperate desire,

rhyme scheme

pattern of rhyme

                           i.e. The glories of our blood and state --------------A

                                   Are shadows, not substantial things; -----------B

                                   There is no armor against fate; ------------------A

                                   Death lays his icy hand on kings: ---------------B

                                   Scepter and crown -------------------------------C

                                   Must tumble down, --------------------------------C

                                   And in the dust be equal made ------------------D

                                   With the poor crooked scythe and spade. -----D

rhythm

the varying speed, loudness, pitch, elevation, intensity, and expressiveness of speech, especially poetry

simile

an analogy or comparison implied by using an adverb such as like or as

                              i.e. The blanket is as soft as a cloud.

stanza

an arrangement of lines of verse in a pattern usually repeated throughout the poem. Typically, each stanza has a fixed number of verses or lines, a prevailing pattern, and a consistent rhyme scheme

theme(s)

a central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work. The theme can take the form of a brief and meaningful insight or a comprehensive vision of life.

tone

the means of creating a relationship or conveying an attitude or mood (*note: in poetry tone is often called voice)

                             i.e. formal or informal, playful, ironic, optimistic, pessimistic

verse

any composition written in meter (pattern)