The Official English Handbook for AP Poetry Terms - literary terms list and definitions

Oct 1, 2026

Comprehensive handbook of AP Poetry terms with clear, exam-focused definitions. The text introduces core literary devices and poetic techniques through concise explanations, including sound-based methods like alliteration, assonance, consonance, cacophony, and diction. It also covers structural and rhetorical elements such as antithesis, apostrophe, allusion, caesura, blank verse, ballad meter, couplet, and enjambment. Examples from well-known poets support quick recognition and classroom discussion.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

alliteration

allusion

antithesis

apostrophe

assonance

ballad meter

blank verse

cacophony

caesura

conceit

consonance

couplet

devices of sound

diction

didactic poem

dramatic poem

elegy

end-stopped

enjambment

Mrs. Talley Name: The Official English Handbook for AP Poetry Terms You will be tested over these terms. Bring this to class EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Listed and defined below are literary terms that you will need to know in order to discuss and write about works of poetry. You are already familiar with many of these. l. alliteration-the repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginnings of words. EX. Gnus never know pneumonia is an example of alliteration since, despite the spellings, all four words begin with the “n” sound. 2. allusion-a reference in a work of literature to something outside the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work. Ex. When T.S. Eliot writes, "To have squeezed the universe into a ball" in "The Love Song ofJ. Alfred Prufrock," he is alluding to the lines "Let us roll our strength and all/ Our sweetness up into one ball" in Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress. " 3. antithesis-a figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas, as in: Man proposes; God disposes. Antithesis is a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness. The second line of the following couplet by Alexander Pope is an example of antithesis: The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, And wretches hang that jury-men may dine. 4. apostrophe-a figure of speech in which someone (usually, but not always absent), some abstract quality, or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present. Following are two examples of apostrophe: Papa Above! Regard a Mouse. -Emily Dickinson Milton! Thou shouldst be living in this hour; England hath need of thee . . .. -William Wordsworth 5. assonance-the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds. A land laid waste with all its young men slain repeats the same “a” sound in “laid,”“waste,” and “slain.” 6. ballad meter-a four-line stanza rhymed abcd with four feet in lines one and three and three feet in lines two and four. O mother, mother make my bed. O make it soft and narrow. Since my love died for me today, I’ll die for him tomorrow. 7. blank verse-unrhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse is the meter of most of Shakespeare ’splays, as well as that of Milton ’s Paradise Lost. 8. cacophony-a harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones. It may be an unconscious flaw in the poet’s music, resulting in harshness of sound or difficulty of articulation, or it may be used consciously for effect, as Browning and Eliot often use it. See, for example, the following line from Browning’s “Rabbi Ben Ezra”: Irks care the crop-full bird? Frets doubt the maw-crammed beast? 9. caesura-a pause, usually near the middle ofa line of verse, usually indicated by the sense of the line, and often greater than the normal pause. For example, one would naturally pause after“human” in the following line from Alexander Pope: To err is human, to forgive divine. 10. conceit-an ingenious and fanciful notion or conception, usually expressed through an elaborate analogy, and pointing to a striking parallel between two seemingly dissimilar things. A conceit may be a brief metaphor, but it also may form the framework of an entire poem. A famous example of a conceit occurs in John Donne ’s poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” in which he compares his soul and his wife’s to legs ofa mathematical compass. 11. consonance-the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words. The term usually refers to words in which the ending consonants are the same but the vowels that precede them are different. Consonance is found in the following pairs of words: “add” and “read,” “bill and ball,” and “born” and “burn.” 12. couplet-a two-line stanza, usually with end-rhymes the same. 13. devices of sound-the techniques of deploying the sound of words, especially in poetry. Among devices of sound are rhyme, allit

FAQs

What is alliteration and how is it recognized in poetry?

Alliteration is the repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, usually at the beginnings of words. It is recognized by the repeated starting consonant sound across multiple words.

How does apostrophe differ from other figures of speech?

Apostrophe directly addresses someone absent, some abstract quality, or a nonexistent personage as though present. It is characterized by the direct address within the poem.

What are blank verse and enjambment in poetry?

Blank verse is unrhymed iambic pentameter. Enjambment is the continuation of the grammatical construction and sense from one line to the next.

Oct 1, 2026

Uploaded by Indoniesian Boy