If you have no idea what I just said then you probably need a Lictionary! An index to many if not all the words you need to know as a poet, writer, rapper, singer, and just plain word nut. Please click on a letter or just browse. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Alliteration Definition: first sound of a word repeated in close succession Example: She shall share her shadowy secrets. <Back to menu Allusion Definition: a reference within a poem, story, song or essay to another literary work. Example: The Regina Spektors song "Baobabs" alludes to the lovely rose and the out-of-control trees that inhabit the planet of Antoine de Saint Exupéry's "The Little Prince" <Back to menu Anecdote Definition: a short narrative usually consisting of a single incident or episode. An anecdote is often humorous. Example: We all regularly recount anecdotes in coversation. A story from our childhood, a wacky animal encounters, a tale of "the worst date ever": each of these are anecdotes. <Back to menu Aphorism Definition: a brief statement about the nature of life; a kernel of wisdom Example: "Me and Bobby McGee," a song written by Kris Kristofferson and popularized by Janis Joplin, there is a memorable aphorism in the chorus: "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose." <Back to menu Anthropomorphism Definition: attribution of human qualities to animals or inanimate objects Example: The hyenas are sharing off-color jokes. <Back to menu Archetype Definition: "a recurring symbol, character, landscape, or event that is found in myth and literature across different cultures and eras." (The Art of the Short Story, Ed. Dana Gioia, R.S. Gwynn) Example: The wicked witch, the clever trickster, the heartless temptress, the calculating gigolo, the beautiful innocent, the wise jester. . .these are all examples of archetypal characters. <Back to menu Assonance Cacaphony Definition:unpleasant, dissonant, harsh or jarring combination of sounds Example: I do consume food. <Back to menu Confessional Poetry Definition: a poet shares his or her intimate personal experiences Example: Sharon Olds wrote many first-person poems about her father dying of cancer. <Back to menu Colloquialism Definition: use of slang or idioms Example: Get my drift? <Back to menu Couplet Definition: two-line stanza Example: Shakesepeare inevitably ended his sonnet with a couplet, often invested with the theme of his poem. <Back to menu Elegy/Lament Definition: poem of mourning Example: Upon hearing of the death of John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote an elegy titled "Adonais. <Back to menu Enjambment Definition: a poem's line ends and continues to the next line before a thought has been finished; the line break is not based on any grammatical rule but is determined by the poet <Back to menu Epigram Definition: a short, often humorous or ironic poem, that says a lot in a few words Example: Algonquin Roundtable member Dorothy Parker is the acknowledged queen of the epigram. <Back to menu Euphony Free Verse Definition: poetry that doesn't follow a proscribed form, lacking meter and rhyme and often characterized by irregular line lengths Example: In part I of "flying saucers rock 'n' roll," poet/rockstar Patti Smith tells a stream-of-consciousness tale of childhood illness in about 500 words. <Back to menu Haiku Definition: first developed in Japan, haiku are non-rhyming poems consisting of three lines. The lines possess 5, 7 and 5 syllables, respectively. Example: Japanese haiku master Matso Basho wrote: From all directions Winds bring petals of cherry Into the grebe lake. <Back to menu Hyperbole Imagism Definition: name “given to a movement in poetry, originating in 1912. . .aiming at clarity of expression through the use of precise visual images.” (http://www.writing.upenn.edu/) Example: Thankfully, when most of us say, "I'm starving to death," we merely mean we are very hungry. <Back to menu Imagery Definition: language used to evoke mental pictures or images Example: the Siouxsie and the Banshees song "Dazzle" consists of a long string of imagery as opposed to a typical "plotline" <Back to menu Irony Definition: use of words or images that are the opposite of what is really meant Example: In Charles Bukowski's "a smile to remember," his mother's pleasant expression masks profound unhappiness. <Back to menu Kinetic Poetry/Concrete Poetry Definition: use of words or images that are the opposite of what is really meant Example: In Charles Bukowski's "a smile to remember," his mother's pleasant expression masks profound unhappiness. <Back to menu Near Rhyme Definition: a partial or imperfect rhyme Example: In the song "Juicy," by the late Notorious B.I.G., rapper Biggie Smalls uses a near rhyme while describing the move from poverty to wealth: "Birthdays was the worst days/now we sip champagne when we thirst-ay" <Back to menu Neologism Definition:the creation of a new word for effect Example: In Lewis Carol's poem Jabberwocky from "Alice in Wonderland," the author uses neoligisms like "slithy. <Back to menu Novella Definition: a fictional work that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. A typical novella ranges between 20,000 and 50,000 words. Example: Stephen King's "Rita Heyworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is a gripping novella that was later turned into the critically acclaimed fiilm "The Shawshank Redemption." <Back to menu Onomatopoeia Definition: words that emulate the sound a writer is trying to describe Example: Fight scenes in comic books are rife with onomatopoeic words like "thwack" and "pow" <Back to menu Persona Poem (Dramatic Monologue) Rap Definition: central to hip hop culture, rapping is the delivery of rhymes over a beat or a capella. According to Wikipedia, the genre, which has surged in popularity since the 1970s, is derived from African, African, Jamaican, and American roots. Example: Late rapper Tupac Shakur is widely accepted as one of the most accomplished rap lyricists. Rap has often served as a forum to express the pain of the poverty and discrimination faced by many black Americans, in songs like "I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto": It ain't a secret, don't conceal the fact/The penitentiary's
packed, and it's filled with blacks/I wake up in the morning and I ask
myself/Is life worth living, should I blast myself?
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