| Term | Definition |
|---|
| archaism | a word, phrase, or style of writing that is no longer commonly used, and is associated with some time in the distant past |
| archetype | an image, symbol, setting character type, plot design, situation, incident or theme that is considered universal, having appeared so frequently and consistently throughout the history of literature and folklore |
| aside | In a play, a line or short speech spoken aloud by a character, but not heard by all or most of the other characters onstage |
| assonance | alliteration with vowels |
| atmosphere | the overall emotional impressino conveyed by the setting, action, tone, and descriptions in a narrative or parts of a narrative |
| ballad | a narrative poem composed in ballad stanzas |
| ballad stanzas | a stanza form consisting of four lines of ABCB |
| bathos | the effect of a writer's failed attempt to provoke pathos, pity, sorrow, awe, or any similarly weighty response |
| pathos | the rousing of pity, sympathy or sorrow through description of misfortune |
| Bildungrsroman | a novel recording the growth and development of its protagonist, from childhood to adulthood |
| black comedy | comedy that focuses on situations more commonly associated with tragedy |
| blank verse | refers to poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| bombast | the use of extravagantly inflated language, disproportionate to the subject being discussed |
| burlesque | a work of literaure in which there is a distinct incongruity between style and content for the sake of humor, irony, parody, or satire |
| cacophony | a harsh, unpleasant group of sounds, used either accidentally or deliberately |
| caesura | a distinct pause within a line of verse |
| canto | a section in a long poem, like a chapter |
| caricature | in a piece of writing, a character presented in such a way that features of his personality or appearance are greatly exaggerated often to comic effect |
| catharsis | the emotional release that the resolution of a tragedy evokes in its audience |
| character | the representation of a person or personified being in a narrative work of literature |
Combine with other sets
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