Glossary of Poetry Techniques - AATE

Introduction

• This glossary is a collaboration between the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) and The Red Room Company.
• It provides definitions and explanations of various poetry techniques.

Key Poetry Techniques

A

• Alliteration: Repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of closely connected words to create rhythm and mood.
• Allusion: Indirect reference to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly.
• Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase or sentence.

C

• Caligram: A concrete shape poem using repetition to form the shape.
• Conceit: An extended metaphor exploring different facets of a comparison throughout a poem.
• Confessional Poetry: Poetry focusing on personal experiences with themes of death, trauma, and relationships, often autobiographical.
• Connotation: Additional associations beyond a word's dictionary definition.
• Couplet: A pair of successive lines in a poem, usually rhymed and with the same meter.

D

• Double Couplet: Repetition of sounds in a rhyming pattern (AABB), used to create rhythm.
• Dramatic Monologue: A poem spoken by one person to another implied listener, using first and second person.

E

• Emotive Language: Deliberate word choice to evoke emotion in the reader.
• Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
• Epigraph: A short quotation at the beginning of a text suggesting its theme.

F

• First Person Point of View: Story narrated by one character focusing on their personal experience.
• Free Verse: Poetry without a regular rhyme scheme or rhythm.

H

• Hyperbole: Exaggerated claims not meant to be taken literally.

I

• Imagery: Use of descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind.
• Imagism: Poetry style using precise language and clear images.
• Intertextuality: How one text influences another through direct or indirect borrowing.

M

• Metaphor: A figure of speech applying a word/phrase to an object/action not literally applicable.
• Meter: A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem giving it rhythm.
• Mood: Inducing or suggesting a particular feeling or state of mind.

O

• Onomatopoeia: Formation of a word from a sound associated with what it names.

P

• Pantoum: A poem with repeating lines and a specific structure.
• Personification: Applying human traits to non-human things.
• Punctuation: Use of marks to clarify meaning in sentences.

Q

• Quatrain: A four-line stanza with a specific rhyme scheme.

R

• Refrain: Repeated line or lines in poetry or music; emphasizes ideas.
• Repetition: Repeating sounds or words to emphasize ideas or create rhythm.
• Rhyme: Repetition of sounds, especially at line ends.
• Rhyme Scheme: Pattern of rhymes in a poem.

S

• Semiotics: Study of signs and symbols and their meaning.
• Sensory Imagery: Descriptive language involving the five senses.
• Simile: Comparison using "like" or "as".
• Symbolism: Using symbols to represent ideas.

T

• Tone: General character or attitude of a piece of writing.