Poetic Concepts for Kids Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rhyme scheme

Traditionally, you would describe a rhyme scheme using capital letters, with lines that rhyme with one another being labeled with the same letter. This is helpful when reading sonnets, which go ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, but it would not be helpful when learning the alphabet song, which would just be a bunch of A's.

Answer: Metaphor

Simile is much like metaphor, except that it uses "like" or "as". Alliteration is a series of words that begin with the same sound, like the Peter Piper tongue twister. Zeugma is when two unlikely or seemingly unrelated things are parts of the same sentence component (ex: "she was beating her high score and around the bush"), but you probably won't have to know that until high school or college.

Answer: True

Personification is helpful, as it can combine clear imagery with an idea of a character's mindset: the sky, as described in the example, cannot literally stare at the person in question, but if that person feels like it is, then it is a perfectly good idea to personify it that way.

Answer: Stanzas

"Stanza" comes from an old Italian word for "room". While it is not necessary to do so, stanzas can help make longer poems easier for readers to digest (metaphorically - please don't eat paper).

Answer: Onomatopoeia

"Onomatopoeia" would be a very good word to know if you plan to take part in a spelling bee. It is used to describe any word which descriptively refers to a sound, imitating the actual sound it describes, and these tend to differ between different cultures.

Answer: False

Epic poems certainly can involve impressive endeavors and fantastic feats, but this does not define the genre. Epic poems are usually very, very long and deal with folkloric or mythological figures; Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are foundational works of this genre.

Answer: Haiku

Many haiku were likely written in katakana, a syllabic Japanese alphabet. While it can be difficult to craft rhyming lines in English, it is very easy to do in Japanese; as such, Japanese poets have historically tended not to worry about rhyme and focus more on other aspects of writing.

Answer: False truth

An oxymoron is a form of juxtaposition in that it is a phrase consisting of an adjective and a noun which seem to contradict each other. "Freshly rotten" and "deafening silence" are other examples.

Answer: Iambic Pentameter

Poetry written in iambic pentameter has lines of ten syllables each, with every second syllable stressed; the resulting rhythm mimics the sound of a heartbeat. Shakespeare's plays are all examples of blank verse.

Answer: Free verse

Prose is, by definition, not poetry, but free verse is. Free verse is how the majority of modern poetry is written and is usually meant to be experienced in a particular way, whether heard aloud or read silently. As a genre, it asks what, beyond the traditional rules of the form, defines poetry.