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Poetry Terminology Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Poetry Terminology Quizzes, Trivia

Poetry Terminology Trivia

Poetry Terminology Trivia Quizzes

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If you know your sonnets from your terza rimas, this may be the category for you.
15 Poetry Terminology quizzes and 180 Poetry Terminology trivia questions.
1.
  Dancing in the Dark editor best quiz   best quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Identifying Poetic Devices
The title of this quiz is just one example of the many devices employed in writing poetry. Test your knowledge of these devices, whose use is not limited to a literary context!
Tough, 10 Qns, LadyNym, Oct 04 24
Recommended for grades: 9,10,11,12
Tough
LadyNym gold member
Oct 04 24
198 plays
2.
  The Poetic Stylings of Poems Themselves editor best quiz   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Poetry is a wonderful art, and poems can be free, or very structured. I'll give you part of a poem I've written; you choose the closing line, based on the poem's style.
Average, 10 Qns, Tchochkekop, Jan 07 21
Average
Tchochkekop
Jan 07 21
2228 plays
3.
  A Poetic Alphabet   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 25 Qns
An abecedarian poem is one where verses begin with successive letters of the alphabet. Try this loosely abecedarian quiz on poetic terms.
Average, 25 Qns, Catamount, May 04 07
Average
Catamount
2024 plays
4.
  Rhyme in Poetry    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
This quiz contains a variety of questions focused on one aspect of poetry: rhyme.
Average, 15 Qns, skylarb, Jun 30 20
Average
skylarb
Jun 30 20
2888 plays
5.
  Poetry Terms    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
What sets poetry apart from prose? In this quiz you will test your knowledge about the distinctive set of terms that gives poetry its literary uniqueness.
Average, 10 Qns, 57wordsmith, Nov 29 24
Average
57wordsmith
Nov 29 24
4174 plays
6.
  Poetic Devices    
Multiple Choice
 20 Qns
After each line, tell which poetic device is being used.
Average, 20 Qns, valrenee, Feb 20 23
Average
valrenee
Feb 20 23
7817 plays
7.
  English Sonnet Basics    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
How fare you in depths of sonnet matters?
Average, 10 Qns, shs05, Oct 13 20
Average
shs05
Oct 13 20
471 plays
8.
  Forms of Poetry    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
I will give you a definition of a form of poetry, and you must choose which form it is from the choices given.
Average, 10 Qns, Buzby, Jan 21 23
Average
Buzby
Jan 21 23
1192 plays
9.
  Poetry Terminologies and Types    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is not about famous poets or poems, but about (as the Quiz Title suggests) Poetry Terminologies and Types. An easy quiz that all should enjoy!
Tough, 10 Qns, Eema-U, Sep 21 22
Tough
Eema-U
Sep 21 22
1446 plays
10.
  To What End?    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
All these questions about poetry have something to do with the end of a poetic form or a line of poetry.
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, Jul 09 24
Average
littlepup
Jul 09 24
275 plays
trivia question Quick Question
What is the meaning of meiosis in poetry?

From Quiz "A Poetic Alphabet"




11.
  Haiku    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
I just learned about a Haiku poem in school.
Average, 10 Qns, lucymal20, Dec 23 16
Average
lucymal20
922 plays
12.
  The Ultimate Poetic Forms Quiz    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Sometimes there seem to be almost as many poetic forms as poems themselves! Okay, that's an exaggeration, but many unique forms of poetry exist, and this quiz covers some of them.
Tough, 10 Qns, Crystallina, Nov 08 08
Tough
Crystallina
1149 plays
13.
  The Ode Less Travelled    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Since reading Stephen Fry's book, I now know my iamb from my anapaest. Test your knowledge of poetic terminology in this quiz based on 'The Ode Less Travelled'.
Tough, 10 Qns, rosc, May 04 07
Tough
rosc
392 plays
14.
  Take this Poetic Forms Quiz    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Choose the best answer for each question.
Tough, 10 Qns, skylarb, May 04 07
Tough
skylarb
946 plays
15.
  Poetry for Dummies    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
If you're taking this quiz, there's a good chance you already know a thing or two about poetry. But if you're not sure what the difference between a sonnet and a nonet is then don't fret because this quiz is here to help! Enjoy!
Average, 10 Qns, cinnabun, Dec 25 16
Average
cinnabun
725 plays

Poetry Terminology Trivia Questions
1. Which country is credited with the sonnet's beginning?

From Quiz English Sonnet Basics

Answer: Italy

Sonnets began in Italy. Most people credit England, because of Shakespeare, since he perfected the poetry form. The Italian sonnet is different from the English sonnet in that is has two parts or two quatrains. The rhyme is typically different as well in that it is a "abba" in the first quatrain and a variety of "cd" combinations for the second quatrain.

2. What is the best closing line for the following limerick? This quiz is on poetry style. 'Tis simple; I shall use no guile. Elim'nate the rest, Pick the answer that's best,

From Quiz The Poetic Stylings of Poems Themselves

Answer: It should not take you quite a while.

A limerick is a five-line poem with an "aa bb a" rhyme scheme, so the last word here has to rhyme with "style" and "guile". The meter of lines 1, 2, and 5 is "ua uua uua", where "u" and "a" are "unaccented" and "accented" respectively.

3. How many lines does a Haiku poem have?

From Quiz Haiku

Answer: three

A haiku poem has three lines. The first line has five syllables and the second has seven syllables and the last line, the third line, has five syllables.

4. What term best applies to this line: "The wind screamed about my window that February night"?

From Quiz Poetry Terms

Answer: personification

Personification gives human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, and ideas. Wind can scream, a dog can smile, and truth can cheer.

5. What is the meaning of "apheresis"?

From Quiz A Poetic Alphabet

Answer: A letter or syllable omitted at the beginning of a word

An example would be: "'Twas the night before Christmas..."

6. Milton, Shakespeare, and Marlowe all used this unrhymed poetic form.

From Quiz Poetic Forms

Answer: blank verse

Blank verse was referred to as "Marlowe's mighty line." It is unrhymed, but it is written in iambic pentameter.

7. What is a stanza?

From Quiz Poetry Terminologies and Types

Answer: a paragraph in a poem

If it is a rhyming poem, each stanza will usually have two words that rhyme. Sometimes there may be more.

8. This form of poetry is usually unrhymed and has five lines structured 5,7,5,7,7. What is it called?

From Quiz Forms of Poetry

Answer: Tanka

The Tanka is a form of Japanese poetry.

9. The leaves danced in the wind

From Quiz Poetic Devices

Answer: personification

Whenever an inanimate object is given human-like qualities, it is called personification.

10. This poetic form is characterized by fourteen lines of iambic pentameter and a rhyme scheme. This form has several variations including the Petrarchan. What form is it?

From Quiz Poetic Forms

Answer: sonnet

One of the best known writers of sonnets was playwright and poet William Shakespeare.

11. The last two lines of a Shakespearian sonnet must rhyme and sum up the rest of the poem. What are the final two lines called?

From Quiz To What End?

Answer: Couplet

The first twelve lines of a Shakespearian sonnet introduce a problem or idea. Each set of four lines is its own rhyming quatrain. The final rhyming couplet resolves or sums up all that came before.

12. An English sonnet has a total of how many lines?

From Quiz English Sonnet Basics

Answer: 14

An English sonnet has 14 lines--three quatrains and one couplet. A quatrain is made up of four lines and a couplet is two rhyming lines. The rhyme scheme is an important aspect of forming the English sonnet, as it divides the lines into three distinct parts followed by the couplet, which acts as a summation or final thought to the sonnet.

13. What is the best closing line for the following Shakespearean sonnet? (Only the second-to-last line is given, but that should be enough.) This quiz, I fear, is taxing on my mind;

From Quiz The Poetic Stylings of Poems Themselves

Answer: And yet, the answer, swiftly will I find.

The Shakespearean sonnet's rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg, so the last word here must rhyme with "mind". Each line must be iambic pentameter. An iamb has a "ua" meter, such as "today", or "alike". There must be five iambs in each line. "Obviously" is obviously not iambic!

14. What is a pyrrhic foot?

From Quiz The Ode Less Travelled

Answer: A foot with no stressed syllables.

See if you can spot the pyrrhic foot in these famous lines by Robert Frost: 'The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep.' The poem is iambic tetrameter so you would expect there to be a stress on the final syllable of 'promises'. But that sounds silly. It's better not to stress either syllable in the foot '-mises' and so it is pyrrhic.

15. What term would you choose when coming across this line: "The soft sound of the sea soothed my troubled soul"?

From Quiz Poetry Terms

Answer: alliteration

The repetition of sounds at the beginning of words is known as alliteration, and it's what gives many a tongue twister its twist--just ask Peter Piper...

16. One very common type of poetry is haiku. Though most people recognize the name, they are not always familiar with the poem's country of origin. Where did the haiku originate?

From Quiz Poetry for Dummies

Answer: Japan

A haiku is a poem consisting of 3 unrhymed lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables and the third line has 5 syllables. Most often the subject matter of haikus is nature.

17. What character would you expect to find in a bucolic poem?

From Quiz A Poetic Alphabet

Answer: A shepherdess

A bucolic poem deals with the countryside and its inhabitants, often in an idyllic manner. The term comes from Greek "boukolos", a herdsman.

18. Chaucer used this form, which consists of seven lines written in iambic pentameter.

From Quiz Poetic Forms

Answer: rhyme royal

The specifc rhyme scheme is ababbcc.

19. 'Poor little pet dog. At home alone, all day long. Sleeping all day long.' This is an example of a what type of poem?

From Quiz Poetry Terminologies and Types

Answer: Haiku

This poem is called 'Little Dog'. The Haiku is made up of three short lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively. It has a total of seventeen syllables. I wrote "Little Dog" myself, actually.

20. This form of poetry has six six-lines stanzas (usually unrhymed). The end words of each line of the first stanza recurr in rotating order throughout the poem, and again as the middle and end word of a concluding envoi. What is it called?

From Quiz Forms of Poetry

Answer: Sestina

A fairly complicated form, a well written sestina has a very nice flow to it. The envoi (a short ending stanza, used to form a conclusion)is usually in the form of a tercet (group of three lines).

21. Children! Where have you gone?

From Quiz Poetic Devices

Answer: apostrophe

An address to someone or something absent or inanimate.

22. This Japanese form of poetry has five lines. Line one has five syllables, line two has seven, line three has five, and lines four and five have seven syllables each, making a total of 31 syllables. Which form is this?

From Quiz Poetic Forms

Answer: tanka

Not to be confused with the haiku, similar but with three lines in a 5-7-5 pattern.

23. The Italian sonnet is divided into two sections, the first eight lines which set up the situation or problem, and the final six lines, which resolve the problem. What is the name of the "turn" which makes the transition to the ending?

From Quiz To What End?

Answer: Volta

A volta can occur in any form of poetry and is a dramatic shift in direction. It's most famous in sonnets, however, because of their usual form of setting up a theme or situation or problem in the first section, then resolving or commenting on that theme in the conclusion.

24. Typically, how many syllables are found in an English sonnet line?

From Quiz English Sonnet Basics

Answer: 10

Ideally, a sonnet line contains ten syllables: five unstressed and five stressed. Although most people don't emphasize the unstressed/stressed beat, should they recite the sonnet out loud, the beat does come through. It's more or less a ta-Tum ta-Tum ta-Tum ta-Tum ta-Tum beat when the sonnet is read.

25. What is the subject of the poem, usually?

From Quiz Haiku

Answer: nature

The subject is usually nature or seasons. You give clues to your poem about your season, you don't just say the season. You could say "in my swimming suit". Or "the leaves were falling".

26. When two words sound the same, especially at the end of each line, as in "He shall no longer be/a visitor to the sea", what do we call this device?

From Quiz Poetry Terms

Answer: rhyme

Rhyme is the likeness of sounds at the end of the lines, and it is what people tend to think of when poetry is mentioned. The pattern of rhyme is called rhyme scheme.

27. What is the term for a rhythmic break inside a line of verse?

From Quiz A Poetic Alphabet

Answer: Caesura

Alexander Pope's "Eloise to Abelard" is full of examples of caesura: "Alas how changed! What sudden horrors rise! A naked lover bound and bleeding lies!" The first line is a "strong" caesura since it coincides with a punctuation mark. The second line is an example for "weak" caesura; it still calls for a pause between "lover" and "bound".

28. The famous poem by Dylan Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," is written in this form.

From Quiz Poetic Forms

Answer: villanelle

This is a complex form requiring set repetition of lines and a specific rhyme scheme.

29. This form has fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. The lines are grouped into three quatrains, and followed by a couplet. What is it called?

From Quiz Forms of Poetry

Answer: Shakespearean Sonnet

The Shakespearean, or English, Sonnet has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Iambic Pentameter means that the poem has ten syllables (or beats) per line, with the accent falling onto the second syllable. This gives the poem a 'De Dum De Dum De Dum De Dum De Dum' flow.

30. The storm was a raging bull.

From Quiz Poetic Devices

Answer: metaphor

A metaphor states (or implies) that two things are the same, emphasizing their shared qualities. In this case, the violence and destructiveness of the storm is being conveyed by considering it to have the properties of a raging bull.

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