| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abstract words | words used to discuss intangible qualities like good and evil |
| accent | the stressed portion of a word in poetry |
| ad hominem argument | argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason; may attack the messenger rather than the message |
| aesthetic | appealing to the senses (adj.), a coherent sense of taste (n.), the study of beauty (n.) |
| aestheticism | devotion to the idea of beauty in art |
| aleatory | an alogical poem seems composed by chance |
| allegory | a story in which each aspect has symbolic meaning outside the story |
| alliteration | repetition of initial consonant sounds |
| allusion | reference to a famous work or figure outside the poem |
| amplification | repeating a word, and adding more modifiers each time |
| anachronism | an object misplaced in time |
| anacoluthon | finishing a sentence with different grammatical structure from that with which it began |
| analogy | a comparison, involving two or more symbolic parts, employed to clarify an action or a relationship |
| anapestic | metrical measurement of two unstressed syllables and then one stressed one (u u ') |
| anaphora | repetition of the same words at the beginning of successive sentences or clauses |
| anecdote | a short story |
| antagonist | one that contends with or opposes another |
| antecedent | a word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to |
| anthropomorphism | inanimate objects are given human characteristics, but no human shape |
| anticlimax | an action produces far smaller results than one had led to expect, comic |
| antihero | a protagonist who is markedly unheroic |
| antimetabole | reversing the order of repeated words/clauses to intensify the sentence, present alternatives, or show contrast |
| antiphrasis | one word irony (calling a beautiful girl "ugly) |
| antistrophe | repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive lines |
| antithesis | juxtaposition of opposites, e.g., heaven and hell |
| aphorism | a short and witty saying |
| apocopated rhyme | a cut-off rhyme; last syllable of one of the rhymes is missing (pain/gainless) |
| apologia | a defense of one's opinions, actions, or life (Think Socrates' The Apology) |
| apologue | moral fable using animals to comment on human condition |
| aporia | expression of doubt about conclusions |
| aposiopesis | stopping abruptly and leaving statement unfinished |
| apostrophe | speech is directed to a nonhuman object or one that is not present |
| appositive | a noun or phrase placed next to another noun, for the purpose of further describing |
| archaism | use of deliberately old-fashioned diction |
| archetype | the original pattern or model of which all things of a similar nature are copies |
| ars poetica | a poem written on the subject of poetic art, usually explaining poet's reasons for writing |
| aside | a speech made by an actor to the audience as though momentarily stepping outside the action on stage |
| assonance | the repeated use of internal vowel sounds |
| atmosphere | the emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene |
| aubade | a love song or poem greeting the dawn |
| ballad | a long narrative poem in regular meter and rhyme |
| bathos | writing that strains for grandeur it can't support |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| bildungsroman | a novel of self-development or personal formation |
| bombast | pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language |
| burlesque | broad parody that takes on a specific style and makes fun of it |
| cacophony | using deliberately harsh, awkward sounds |
| cadence | the beat or rhythm of poetry |
| caesura | a pause in a line of poetry (indicated or not) |
| camera eye narrator | third-person narrator who describes what would be visible to a camera; objective |
| canto | a section division in a long work of poetry |
| caricature | a portrait that exaggerates a facet of personality |
| carpe diem | the enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future |
| catalogue | a complete enumeration of items, arranged systematically, with descriptive details |
| catharsis | cleansing of emotion an audience member experiences, having lived through the experiences on stage |
| Chaucerian stanza | 7 lines, rhyme ababbcc |
| chorus | the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it |
| classicism | a tendency to reflect he principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome |
| climax | the point of highest tension, or a major turning point in a play |
| coinage | a new word, usually invented on the spot |
| colloquialism | a word or phrase used in everyday conversational English |
| conceit | an extended metaphor, developed and expanded upon over several lines |
| concrete poetry | a poem wherein shape of words and lines conveys the meaning |
| confessional poetry | makes frank, explicit use of incidents in the poet's life |
| connotation | the association with a word; the word suggests/implies meaning beyond the literal |
| consonance | repetition of consonant sounds within words |
| continuous form | a poem in which lines follow each other without stanza breaks |
| couplet | a pair of lines ending in rhyme |
| dactylic | a metrical measurement of one accented syllable and two unaccented (' u u) |
| decorum | the attitude one should display according to his social/economic status |
| denotation | a word's literal meaning |
| denoument | conclusion, the outcome of a plot |
| determinism | belief that man is fated to defeat under indifferent natural forces; emphasizes vanity of free will |
| deus ex machina | "god from the machine" - conflicts quickly resolved at end of last act, often by sudden introduction of a power who solves all |
| diacope | repetition of words before and after syntactical break (We will do it, I tell you, we will do it.) |
| dialect | the characteristic speech of a particular region or group |
| diction | the author's choice of words |
| didactic | primary purpose is to teach |
| dirge | a song for the dead |
| dissonance | the grating of incompatible sounds |
| doggerel | crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme |
| dramatic monologue | single speaker in literature talks to silent audience |
| dramatic poem | a poem that has a conflict |
| dualistic | two-valued, e.g., good/evil |
| dystopia | opposite of utopia, society where social and technological advances have served to aid corruption |
| elegy | poem on death or mortality |
| encomium | a laudatory poem for a legendary or real person |
| enjambment | continuation of syntax over line break |
| enumeratio | listing parts, cause, effect, for added emphasis |
| epic | a long narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style; often describes glorious or profound subject |
| epigram | a short poem intended to impart wisdom |
| epigraph | a quotation that is placed at the start of a work or section that expresses what will be said |
| epiphany | a sudden realization or comprehension of the meaning of something |
| epistle | a letter directed or sent to a group of people |
| epistrophe | repeat of same word(s) at the end of sentences |
| epitaph | lines that commemorate the dead at the burial place |
| epithalamium | a poem that is written for the bride; celebration of a wedding |
| epithet | a word preceding or following a name which serves to describe (fleet-footed Achilles or wine-dark sea) |
| epizeuxis | repetition of the same word for emphasis |
| eponym | substituting the name of a famous person for a description (He's a real Einstein) |
| eulogy | formal expression of praise, usually given at a funeral |
| euphemism | a word that takes the place of a more harsh or inappropriate word (physically challenged rather than crippled) |
| euphony | sounds blending harmoniously |
| euphuism | elegant Victorian prose style (filled with alliteration and similes) |
| exemplum | citing an example |
| expletive | word interrupting syntax to give emphasis to words around it |
| expressionism | emphasizes the life of the mind and feelings rather than the realistic external details of everyday life |
| eye of the poem | the central focus of the poem |
| eye rhyme | words that look similar, but pronounced differently (wind/find) |
| falling rhyme | feminine rhyme; ending with unaccented last syllable |
| farce | a comedy of unlikely, but possible situations |
| feminine rhyme | falling rhyme; ending with unaccented last syllable |
| figurative image | representation of one thing by another |
| first person narrator | character in the story who tells the tale from his/her point of view |
| flashback | scene that interrupts the action to show an event that happened earlier |
| foil | a secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character |
| foot | basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry, formed by two or three syllables, stressed or not |
| foreshadowing | an event or statement that, in miniature, suggests a larger event that comes later |
| free verse | poetry without regular rhyme or meter |
| genre | a sub-category of literature; categorizes literature by types |
| gothic | use of eerie themes and images (shrieking women, ghosts) |
| haiku | Japanese poetry with 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables |
| half rhyme | words that almost rhyme; slant rhyme (dizzy/easy) |
| hamartia | tragic flaw or error which brings down the protagonist of a tragedy |
| Harlem Renaissance | flowering of African American art and music in the 1920s; center was in Harlem, New York |
| head rhyme | another word for alliteration |
| heptameter | poem of seven metrical feet |
| heroic couplet | a rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter |
| hexameter | poetic form of six metrical feet |
| homonyms | words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings (sale/sail) |
| hubris | excessive pride/ambition which leads to character's downfall |
| hyperbaton | departure from normal word order; a form of inversion (a personality indescribable) |
| hyperbole | exaggeration or deliberate overstatement |
| hypophora | raising a question then proceeding to answer it |
| iambic | a metrical foot with an unstressed first syllable and a stressed second syllable |
| in media res | a piece of writing that begins in the middle of the action |
| incongruity | the joining of opposites to create an unexpected situation |
| interior monologue | recording of mental talk in character's head |
| invective | speech/writing that abuses, denounces, attacks |
| inversion | switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase |
| irony | events turn out exactly the opposite of how they might be expected; saying the opposite of what is meant |
| lament | a poem of sadness or grief over the death of a loved one or some intense loss |
| lampoon | a satire |
| linked rhyme | first syllable of a line echoes the last syllable of the previous line (on the rooftop/Stops the light of the cop) |
| literal image | concrete replication in words of an object or experience |
| litotes | type of understatement achieved by denying the opposite (Heat waves are not rare in summer.) |
| local color | use of specific details describing dialect, dress, customs, and scenery associated with a particular region |
| loose sentence | a sentence complete before its end (Jack loved Barbara despite her irritating laugh.) |
| lyric | poetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world |
| madrigal | a short lyric on love or pastoral themes |
| masculine rhyme | rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable |
| melodrama | cheesy theater; often emphasizes plot and action over character development |
| metabasis | brief summary of what has been said and what will follow |
| metanoia | modifies a statement by recalling it and expressing it in a better way (Max is the best of all bichons, nay of all dogs.) |
| metaphor | comparison or analogy that states that one thing IS another |
| meter | rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up feet |
| metonymy | a single characteristic used to describe something outside itself (Victory crossed the finish line) |
| mixed metaphor | combination of incompatible comparisons; trying to compare objects too dissimilar to carry off a comparison |
| mood | prevailing atmosphere created by language, tone, setting |
| motif | a recurring feature (e.g., name, image, phrase) in a work of literature |
| narrative | a story poem |
| naturalism | emphasis on man as animal, behaving strictly according to dictates of nature; emphasizes lack of free will; emphasizes sordid |
| neo-classicism | sees man as flawed and his institutions are flawed. Nature is neither good nor evil. Man needs to seek harmony with what is. |
| neologism | coinage; forming a new word, usually spontaneously |
| nonce | open form poem (shape is unique to poem) written for a special occasion |
| novel of manners | novel describing social habits/customs of a social group |
| octave | eight line stanza |
| ode | long poem on a serious subject that develops its theme with dignified language, intended to be sung |
| omniscient narrator | a third-person narrator who sees into character's heads |
| onomatopoeia | words that sound like what they mean |
| opposition | a pair of elements that contrast sharply |
| oxymoron | a phrase composed of opposites; a contradiction (sweet vinegar) |
| palinode | a poem retracting a regretted derogatory statement |
| parable | a story told in prose or verse that illustrates a religious or ethical idea |
| paradigm | a formal plan or sequence of changes which acts as a model |
| paradox | a statement that seems contradictory, but is not |
| parallelism | repeated syntactical similarities used for effect |
| parenthetical | a phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence |
| parody | exaggerating a specific work so that it appears ridiculous |
| pastoral | a poem set in tranquil nature (ideally around shepherds) |
| pathetic fallacy | a cliched personification of nature (rain weeps) |
| pentameter | a line of verse containing five metrical feet |
| periodic sentence | a sentence that is grammatically incomplete until its final phrase (Despite Barbara's irritation, she cut Jack's hair.) |
| persona | the character created by the author to narrate |
| personification | inanimate objects or animals take on human shape |
| Petrarchan sonnet | 14 lines/abba abba cde cde |
| picaresque novel | novel about a picara or rogue and vagabond |
| prelude | an introductory poem to a longer work of verse |
| private symbol | an author's personal symbol that the reader understands through context |
| protagonist | the main character of a novel or play |
| public voice | a writer who is speaking for all people |
| pun | humorous use of a word in a way to suggest two or more meanings |
| pure rhyme | initial sounds of a word differ, and rest of the sound is identical (sing/wing) |
| pyrrhic | a metrical foot with two unstressed syllables |
| quatrain | four-line stanza |
| quintet | five lines of poetry with no prescribed rhyme |
| realism | nature is benign and there is optimism that man can rise above his own animal nature if he wills to |
| refrain | a line or a set of lines repeated several times in a poem |
| requiem | a song of prayer for the dead |
| rhapsody | passionate verse or section of verse, usually addressing love or praise |
| rhetorical question | a question that suggests an answer, and therefore doesn't need to be answered |
| rhetorical shift | a change in tone or attitude; key words include "but," "however," "even though," "although," "yet" |
| rhyme royal | ababbcc: sounds are staggered (abab) in first lines, then closely linked (bcc). First used by Chaucer. |
| ridicule | words intended to belittle and generate contempt/laughter |
| rising rhyme | masculine rhyme; rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable |
| romanticism | man is good by institutions and their imposed orders are evil; nature is good; man can live in harmony with nature. |
| saga | generally long novels, often about several generations |
| sarcasm | ridicule expressed in ironic praise |
| satire | work in which human vice or folly is attacked with irony, derision, or wit |
| scansion | analysis of a poem's rhythm and meter |
| second intensity | weak poems that could have been better |
| septet | 7 lines of poetry |
| sestet | a stanza or poem of six lines, e.g., the last six lines of a sonnet |
| sestina | 6 six-line stanzas ending with tercet; last words of each line in 1st stanza are repeated as last words in next stanza |
| Shakespearean sonnet | 14 lines in iambic pentameter, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG |
| simile | comparison using "as" or "like" |
| slant rhyme | half rhyme (home/bone) |
| soliloquy | speech spoken by single character on stage |
| sonnet | 14 rhymed lines of verse in iambic pentameter |
| Spenserian sonnet | 14 lines: ABAB BCBC CDCD EE |
| spondee | a metrical foot with two stressed syllables (' ') |
| stanza | a unit within a longer poem |
| stock character | standard or cliched character types |
| stream of consciousness | reader sees inside main character's head and is privy to all character's conscious, random thoughts |
| subjunctive | setting up a hypothetical situation |
| surrealism | allowing the subconscious or dream-like imagery to guide the poem; leaps from image to image |
| suspension of disbelief | demand of audience to accept stage limitations and believe |
| syllogism | deductive reasoning |
| synecdoche | a type of metaphor wherein a part stands for the whole (He asked for her hand in marriage.) |
| synesthesia | a mixing of senses (a blue smell) |
| tautology | a repetition so redundant as to be frozen with obvious foolishness |
| technique | styles, devices, and diction used by the author |
| tetrameter | a poetic line with four metrical feet |
| texture of poem | the sound of the poetic words in a piece |
| theme | general idea or insight about life that the writer wishes to convey |
| tone | the attitude of the poet |
| transcendentalism | holds that basic truths can be reached through intuition; transcends reason; the divine is in nature and people |
| travesty | grotesque parody |
| trochaic | a metrical measurement of one stressed syllable and one unstressed (' u) |
| trope | any figurative language |
| truism | a way-too obvious truth |
| understatement | ironic minimalizing of fact |
| unreliable narrator | first person narrator is crazy, very young, or not entirely credible |
| utopia | an idealized place |
| verisimilitude | how precisely the characters/events in fiction match reality |
| vernacular | everyday spoken language of people in a particular region |
| villanelle | 19 lines: 5 tercets (aba) and a quatrain (abaa) |
| voice | associated with the basic vision of a writer, her general attitude toward the world |
| weak specification | imprecise, abstract language |
| wit | words that are intellectually amusing; delight that surprises |
| zeugma | word modifies two or more words for different meanings (The dance floor was square as was his personality.) |
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