Beowulf and Canterbury Tales Literary Terms
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Created by:
khginley on September 21, 2009
Subjects:
Classes:
Stone Ridge, Mrs. Baker's Eng SRHS, Purvis's Seniors, Dual Credit ENG 12, the new jersey words, Mr. Ginley's English 10 HN (2011-2012) (see more)
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35 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Epic Hero | a character involved in heroic battles. Most undertake quests to achieve something of tremendous value to themselves or their society |
| Alliteration | repetition of initial consonant sounds (ie: window wiper; mighty man) |
| Assonance | repetition of vowel sounds in the middle or end of words |
| Consonance | repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or end of words |
| Simile | a comparison using like or as |
| Metaphor | comparison of two unlike things not using like or as |
| Allusion | a brief indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea. In Beowulf, there are several Biblical allusions |
| Imagery | vivid description using the 5 senses, description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) |
| Kenning | Renaming a person or thing by their qualities or actions, a metaphorical description (ie: bone-house = body; whale-road = sea; ring-giver = lord; flashing-light = sword) |
| Caesura | a break in the middle of a line of Old English poetry |
| Elegy | a poem which is a funeral song or lament |
| Christian allusion | a reference to Biblical figures or stories |
| Pagan allusion | a reference to mythological figures or stories (gods and goddesses, demons or Monsters, heroes) |
| Allusion | a reference to major literary works or characters |
| Epic Poem | Long narrative poem presented in an elevated style (poetic language: figures of speech), Supernatural beings (in Christian epic: God; in pagan epic: gods and goddesses), Begins in the middle of the action: in medias res, Begins with an Invocation (generally, to one of the Muses), Covers a vast scope of time and place and focuses on characters of noble birth,Concerns a central conflict that involves a person's or nation's fate, Has a hero figure with extraordinary abilities, Includes a catalogue effect (in Beowulf, the lists of gifts awarded to the hero) |
| Simile | a comparison between two unlike things using like, as, than, similar to, resembles or seems (Example His fist seems a mighty hammer.) |
| Foreshadowing | Hints beforehand of what is to come |
| Verbal Irony | What is meant is the opposite of what is said, sarcasm can be a form of it |
| Situational Irony | What actually happens is opposite of what is expected or appropriate |
| Narrative | a poem which tells a story |
| Narrative Digression | The narrator departs from the central story or plot line to tell a related story that serves as a point of comparison or contrast. In Beowulf, this is a method of showing rather than telling. Careful readers will note how the many digressions in the poem serve to advance theme. |
| Narrative Intrusion | The narrator interrupts the flow of the story to express a personal opinion or to comment on the action of the story. |
| First person | The narrator is a character in the work narrating the action as he or she perceives and understands it |
| Third person omniscient | The narrator is outside the action and all-knowing and can see into the mind of more than one character. |
| Third person limited | The narrator only has insight into the perspective of one or a few characters. The reader learns only knows exterior action and what that character thinks, feels, explores, or experiences. |
| Scop | An Old English poet or bard, counterpart of the Old Norse skald. |
| Tone | The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject |
| Theme | The central idea of a literary work |
| Extended metaphor | The comparison between two things is continued beyond the first point of comparison. This extends and deepens a description. |
| Persona | the speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing |
| Satire | form of literature in which irony, sarcasm, and ridicule are employed to attack human vice and folly |
| Frame Narrative | a story within a story |
| Direct Characterization | the author directly states a character's personality traits |
| Indirect Characterization | the character is revealed through their personality, appearance, words, actions, and effect on others |
| Unreliable Narrator | a narrator whose account of events appears to be faulty, misleadingly biased, or otherwise distorted |
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