Poetry Terms

In the Ear

In the Ear—Alliteration

Example“We wear the mask that grins and lies,/”

Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask”

In the Ear—Consonance

Example“We wear the mask that grins and lies,/ It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--/”

Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask”

In the Ear—Assonance

Example:“Like stalks of tall, dry straw At poor peace I sing”

Dylan Thomas, “Prologue”

In the Ear—Onomatopoeia

Examples:ClangBuzzTwangswoosh

In the Ear—Repetition

We Real CoolBy Gwendolyn Brooks

               The Pool Players.         Seven at the Golden Shovel.

            We real cool. We               Left school. We

            Lurk late. We             Strike straight. We

            Sing sin. We               Thin gin. We

            Jazz June. We               Die soon.

The StormJames K. McAlister

Wind rustled crunching leaves aThat on the sidewalk lay. bThere was a big storm coming cOn a windy Autumn day. bThunder rumbled overhead dAnd shook me through and through. eA jagged bolt of lightning struck! fThe sky then cracked in two! eRain washed down the dirty road. gIt hissed, and gushed, and muttered. hThe downpour swept dead leaves away iInto the bubbling gutter. h

In the Ear – End Rhyme/Rhyme Scheme

In the Ear—Internal Rhyme

We Real CoolBy Gwendolyn Brooks

               The Pool Players.         Seven at the Golden Shovel.

            We real cool. We               Left school. We

            Lurk late. We             Strike straight. We

            Sing sin. We               Thin gin. We

            Jazz June. We               Die soon.

In the Ear—Rhythm

Regular is called meterRandom is called Free Verse

Contemporary poetry often uses ___________________