Glossary

G.1: Write the phrase you misused and the rule.

Do not write just “G” or “Glossary.”

verse, stanza, chorus

Students should be aware of the difference between the popular meanings of these terms and the technical meanings used in writing about literature.

VERSE:

Popular usage: Repeating pattern equal in meter, rhyme scheme, and number of lines.

Literary term: 1. Line of poetry. 2. Metrical poetry (as opposed to free verse).

STANZA:

Popular usage: Any group of lines.

Literary term: Repeating pattern equal in meter, rhyme scheme, and number of lines.

VERSE PARAGRAPH:

Popular usage: none

Literary term: A separate group of lines equal in meter but not in number of lines (usually in blank verse or couplets).

CHORUS or REFRAIN:

Popular usage: Recurring line(s) after each verse.

Literary term: Recurring lines(s) after each stanza.

The most common error in student writing is calling a stanza a verse. Stanzas recur; a poem can have two stanzas or a hundred. Some poetic forms like sonnets do not have stanzas even though they have a pattern. An English sonnet (rhyme ababcdcdefefgg) has three quatrains (abab, cdcd and efef), but they are not stanzas (even if the poem is printed with breaks between parts) because they are part of a closed fourteen-line structure. “Quatrain” can mean both (a) a four-line stanza (whatever the pattern of meter and rhyme), and (b) one of the four-line groups of lines in a sonnet.

Since most poetry nowadays is in free verse (without meter or rhyme), literary critics are loosening the definition of “stanza” and sometimes using it for any group of lines separated by a break from the rest of the poem, whether or not there is any formal pattern.

very

Usually intensifiers like “very” are unnecessary. If your words fail to express your idea, the solution is to find better ones, not to attach a “very.”

WEAK: The manual is very hard to read.

STRONGER (understated): The manual is hard to read.

STRONGEST (imaginative): Reading the manual is like swimming in peanut butter.

visual

The Keables Guide recommends using “visual” as an adjective, not a noun. Its use as a noun (usually plural), which began as jargon used in editing and advertising, sounds awkward in most contexts. For a noun, use “images” (which can cover still and moving images), “videos,” “visual aid” and “video footage.” “Video” was once a prefix, but with modern technology it has become widely accepted as a noun.

AWKWARD: To enhance my speech I added visuals.

BETTER: To enhance my speech I added pictures and charts.

“Visual” is not a literary term. Use “image” or “imagery” instead.

WRONG: The poet uses visuals of nature in autumn.

RIGHT: The poet uses imagery of nature in autumn.

Literary critics use “visual” as an adjective to distinguish visual imagery from imagery that appeals to other senses: auditory imagery (sound), tactile imagery (touch), olfactory imagery (smell) and gustatory imagery (taste).