Summary Introduction to Poetry

form - answer-the physical arrangement of the words on the page including the length and placement of the lines and the way they are grouped into stanzas stanza - answer-a verse paragraph, separated from the remainder of the poem by an additional space free verse - answer-poetry that is not written in strict formal patterns imagery - answer-word pictures; poets try using the five senses to create these word pictures figurative language - answer-helps create strong imagery; comparisons between things that have something in common simile - answer-like or as signals the comparison: "my life is like an open book" metaphor - answer-a direct comparison, with no signal word: "jealousy is a green-eyed monster" personification - answer-type of figurative language in which animals, inanimate objects, or ideas are given human characteristics: "the teakettle ordered us back to the kitchen" alliteration - answer-repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words: "to jiggle and jump for joy" assonance - answer-repetition of vowel sounds within words: "a greed as deep as the sea"