National Board Ea/ELA Study

The commonest human of experiences: birth, youth, age and death. The pieces of life that are true no matter where you are.

A representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form and can often be an extended metaphor for a specific historical or political event.

A stylistic device, or literary technique, in which successive words (more strictly, stressed syllables) begin with the same consonant sound or letter.

The repetition of vowel sounds within a short passage of verse.

The repetition of consonant sounds in a short sequence of words.

The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning.

An element of meter in poetry. In quantitative verse, such as Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllable.

The literal dictionary meaning(s) of a word as distinct from an associated idea or connotation.

A rhyme in the final syllable(s) of a verse.

A metaphor which is drawn out beyond the usual word or phrase to extend throughout a stanza or an entire poem, usually by using multiple comparisons between the unlike objects or ideas.

The use of words, phrases, symbols, and ideas in such as way as to evoke mental images and sense impressions.

A Japanese form of poetry consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Traditionally, they contain either a direct or oblique reference to a season.

A unit of rhythm or meter; the division in verse of a group of syllables, one of which is long or accented.

The use of expressive or evocative images in poetry, art, literature, or music.

Also called middle rhyme, a rhyme occurring within the line. The rhyme may be with words within the line but not at the line end, or with a word within the line and a word at the end of the line.