This poem excerpt displays enjambment, a poetic technique in which the meaning and syntax of one line are carried over and finished in the next line (e.g. in this poem’s “And there's a barrel that I didn't fill / Beside it”). Sprung rhythm is a pattern designed to mimic the cadences of natural spoken speech. Asyndeton refers to a lack of conjunction words (e.g. “I came, I saw, I conquered”). Aposiopesis is the sudden, deliberate breaking-off of a line of writing or speech for deliberate effect (e.g. “When your father gets home…”).

Metonymy is the substitution of one word for another word that’s commonly associated with it (e.g. using “throne” to discuss a monarchy).

Passage adapted from Robert Frost’s “After Apple-Picking.” North of Boston. (1915)

Allegory, which is the use of a story or extended metaphor to make a philosophical or moral point, is the technique in question. Synecdoche is a specific type of metonymy in which the real word for something is replaced by a word for a part of that thing (e.g. someone saying they need a “hand” when they really need the entire person’s help). Paradoxes are contradictory statements, something that seems impossible (e.g. Odysseus’ “I am no man” in The Odyssey). Antithesis is a contrast or direct opposite to something, and parsimony is stinginess and is not a specific literary term.

Passage adapted from Robert Frost’s “After Apple-Picking.” North of Boston. (1915)

Inversion is the reversal of common syntactical patterns (putting the object of a sentence before its verb, for example), and it is the device used here (for intentionally comical effect). Simile is a comparison using “like” or “as” (e.g. “the still pond is like a looking glass”). Litotes is the deliberate use of understatement or double negatives, the opposite of hyperbole (e.g. “they don’t seem unhappy”). Chiasmus is the use of a crisscross or reverse structure in a sentence or paragraph (e.g. Coleridge’s “Flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike”). Oxymoron is a simple contradictory term (e.g. “ice water”).

Passage adapted from The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope (1712)

Instead of “disconsolate accents” (adjective-noun), we see the reversal of typical word order: “accents disconsolate” (noun-adjective). This is an example of anastrophe, the purposeful inversion of normal word order in a clause or sentence. Stream of consciousness is a style of writing designed to mimic the free-flowing thoughts of someone’s inner consciousness; the style often involves disorganization and lack of standard punctuation or capitalization. Colloquialism is the use of an informal, conversational, or regional bit of speech (e.g. “y’all” for “you all”). Puns are simply plays on words.

Passage adapted from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Evangeline.” (1847)

In line 6, we see the ocean speaking and the forest wailing; in other words, inanimate entities adopting human characteristics. A periodic sentence is one in which the main clause and important idea comes at the very end, while sprung rhythm is a pattern designed to mimic the cadences of natural spoken speech and is most often associated with the work of Gerard Manely Hopkins. Onomatopoeia is the use of a word that mimics the sound of the thing it is describing (e.g. “pop” or “buzz”). Epistrophe is the repetition of the end of a clause at the end of several clauses in a row (e.g. “I like strawberry ice cream, I buy chocolate ice cream, I eat all kinds of ice cream”).

Passage adapted from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Evangeline.” (1847)

Anaphora is the repetition of the beginning of a clause two or more times, and the beginning of lines 3 and 4 are identical. Motif is the recurring use of an image, idea, or subject in a work of literature (e.g. weaving and silk production in Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel Middlesex). Sarcasm is verbal irony and is often cutting or satirical, while assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe’s “the mellow wedding bells”). Foreshadowing is the use of hints to suggest something that will appear later in a narrative (e.g. the appearance of a black cat at the beginning of a poem may foreshadow bad luck at the end of the poem).

Passage adapted from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Evangeline.” (1847)

Parallelism is the use of clauses with identical grammatical patterns, syntax, or meter (e.g. “She expected nothing, hoped for everything, and received something”). We can see parallelism here in the repetition of the pattern “before,” “when,” or “ere” and then some event. Simile is a comparison using “like” or “as” (e.g. “the still pond is like a looking glass”). Telegraphic sentence refers to any concise sentence (usually five or fewer words in length) that omits unnecessary words and parts of speech. Verisimilitude is the appearance of reality or truth (without necessarily being actually real or true). An aphorism is a pithy saying or adage (e.g. “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”).

Passage adapted from “Absalom and Achitophel,” by John Dryden (1681)

Here we have anastrophe, the purposeful inversion of normal word order in a clause or sentence (e.g. “forsake me not” instead of “do not forsake me”). Litotes is the deliberate use of understatement or double negatives, the opposite of hyperbole (e.g. “they don’t seem unhappy”). Simile is a comparison using “like” or “as” (e.g. “the still pond is like a looking glass”). Anthropomorphism is another word for personification: the attribution of human characteristics to non-human or inanimate things. Caesura refers to a dramatic pause in a sentence or line of poetry, often accomplished by use of an em dash.

Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor. (1907)

This passage, like other famous epics, begins in media res: in the middle of the action. Deus ex machine is the use of a contrived plot device or outside power to solve a problem in a story, novel, or play (e.g. Shakespeare’s use of pirates in Hamlet). Synecdoche is a specific type of metonymy in which the real word for something is replaced by a word for a part of that thing (e.g. someone saying they need a “hand” when they really need the entire person’s help). Enjambment is a poetic technique in which the meaning and syntax of one line are carried over and finished in the next line (e.g. Robert Frost’s “And there's a barrel that I didn't fill / Beside it”), and, while it does appear at the beginning of this passage, is not generally a hallmark of epics’ opening lines.

Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor. (1907)

Enjambment is the continuation of a thought, clause, or sentence from one line to another. In other words, to enjamb a sentence is to interrupt it with a line break. The only one of these choices that is not naturally broken by punctuation and is instead broken by lineation is Lines 11-12.

Passage adapted from Arthur Rimbaud’s “The Drunken Boat,” (1920)