| Term | Definition |
|---|
| allegory | an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances |
| allusion | a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication |
| hyperbole | extravagant exaggeration |
| metaphor | a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity |
| metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads') |
| personification | the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc. |
| simile | a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as') |
| symbol | something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible |
| synecdoche | understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole or the whole for the part |
| understatement | a statement that says less than what is meant |
| connotation | an idea that is implied or suggested |
| denotation | the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression |
| diction | the manner in which something is expressed in words |
| syntax | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences |
| alliteration | the commencement of two or more stressed syllables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group |
| assonance | resemblance of sounds |
| onomatopoeia | the formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent. |
| ballad | any light, simple song, esp. one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody |
| blank verse | Poetry written without rhymes, but which retains a set metrical pattern, usually iambic pentameter |
| couplet | a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse |
| elegy | a mournful poem |
| end rhyme | The words or final syllables at the end of a line of poetry rhyme in a set pattern. |
| end stopped line | Denoting a line of verse in which a logical or rhetorical pause occurs at the end of the line, usually marked with a period, comma, or semicolon. |
| enjambment | the continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of verse into the next line without a pause |
| epic | a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds |
| epigram | a witty saying |
| haiku | 3 unrhymed lines (5, 7, 5) usually focusing on nature |
| iamb | a metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables |
| internal rhyme | a rhyme occurring within the line |
| lyric poetry | in which the speaker's ardent expression of a (usually single) emotional element predominates |
| narrative poetry | The narration of an event or story, stressing details of plot, incident, and action |
| ode | a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion. |
| open form (free verse) | A fluid form which conforms to no set rules of traditional versification |
| sestina | highly structured poem with 39 lines, iambic pentameter, and repetitino of six words from first stanza in each of six stanzas |
| stanza | an arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem. |
| villanelle | a short poem of fixed form, written in tercets, usually five in number, followed by a final quatrain, all being based on two rhymes. |
| dramatic irony | when the words and actions of the characters of a work of literature have a different meaning for the reader than they do for the characters |
| situational irony | discrepancy between what is expected, as in action or as regards to the situation/setting, and what one wold expect to happen |
| verbal irony | discrepancy between what is said and what is meant |
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