| Term | Definition |
|---|
| prose | Any material that is not written in a regular meter like poetry |
| verse | a line of poetry |
| diction | The choice of a particular word as opposed to others |
| genre | a type of literature |
| denotation | the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning |
| connotation | an implied meaning of a word |
| blank verse | Unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| couplet | a pair of lines rhyming consecutively |
| aside | an actor's speech, directed to the audience, that is not supposed to be heard by other actors on stage |
| soliloquy | A monologue spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character believes himself to be alone |
| monologue | a speech where only one character speaks |
| alliteration | a pattern of sound that includes the repetition of consonant sounds |
| short story | a prose narrative that is brief in nature |
| hero | characters that, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice |
| tone | The means of creating a relationship or conveying an attitude or mood |
| antagonist | a character in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works again the main character, or protagonist, in some way |
| anti-climax | A decline viewed in disappointing contrast with a previous rise |
| syntax | the standard word order and sentence structure of a language |
| voice | one who tells a story, the speaker |
| narrative | a collection of events that tells a story, which may be true or not, placed in a particular order and recounted through either telling or writing |
| coincidence | the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection |
| comedy | A work intended to interest, involve, and amuse the reader or audience, in which no terrible disaster occurs and that ends happily for the main characters. |
| tragic flaw | A flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to ruin or sorrow |
| audience | The person(s) reading a text, listening to a speaker, or observing a performance |
| third person omniscient | A method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story |
| falling action | follows the climax |
| stock character | A character type that appears repeatedly in a particular literary genre, one which has certain conventional attributes or attitudes |
| figurative language | a type of language that varies from the norms of literal language, in which words mean exactly what they say |
| metonymy | a figure of speech which substitutes one term with another that is being associated with the that term |
| dramatic irony | occurs when facts are not known to the characters in a work of literature but are known by the audience |
| major character | important character |
| situational irony | results from recognizing the oddness or unfairness of a given situation |
| psychological realism | The sense that characters in fictional narratives have realistic "interiority" or complex emotional and intellectual depth, including perhaps subconscious urges and fears they are not aware of |
| imagery | A common term of variable meaning, imagery includes the "mental pictures" that readers experience with a passage of literature |
| motif | a recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature |
| essay | to put to a test |
| hyperbole | an extravagant exaggeration |
| foreshadowing | Suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a narrative |
| assonance | resemblance of sound in words or syllables |
| understatement | to state or present with restraint especially for effect |
| iambic pentameter | a type of meter that is used in poetry and drama. It describes a particular rhythm that the words establish in each line. |
| epic | a poem that is (a) a long narrative about a serious subject, (b) told in an elevated style of language, (c) focused on the exploits of a hero or demi-god who represents the cultural values of a race, nation, or religious group (d) in which the hero's success or failure will determine the fate of that people or nation. Usually, the epic has (e) a vast setting, and covers a wide geographic area, (f) it contains superhuman feats of strength or military prowess, and gods or supernatural beings frequently take part in the action. The poem begins with (g) the invocation of a muse to inspire the poet and, (h) the narrative starts in medias res (see above). (i) The epic contains long catalogs of heroes or important characters, focusing on highborn kings and great warriors rather than peasants and commoners. |
| epic hero | a larger than life figure from a history or legend |
| setting | the place in which the story takes place |
| climax | the turning point in a story |
| figurative language | a type of language that varies from the norms of literal language, in which words mean exactly what they say |
| chronological narrative | An account of a sequence of events, usually in chronological order |
| narrator | one who tells a story |
| point of view | The way a story gets told and who tells it |
| allusions | a reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature |
| comic relief | A humorous scene, incident, character, or bit of dialogue occurring after some serious or tragic moment |
| foil | A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character |
| rite of passage | a ritual that marks a change in a person's social or sexual status |
| existentialism | A twentieth-century philosophy arguing that ethical human beings are in a sense cursed with absolute free will in a purposeless universe |
| atmosphere | the mood of a particular setting or location |
| first person | a literary technique in which the story is narrated by one character |
| euphemism | Using a mild or gentle phrase instead of a blunt, embarrassing, or painful one |
| dynamic character | one whose personality changes or evolves over the course of a narrative or appears to have the capacity for such change |
| synecdoche | A rhetorical trope involving a part of an object representing the whole, or the whole of an object representing a part |
| dramatic monologue | A poem in which a poetic speaker addresses either the reader or an internal listener at length |
| satire | An attack on or criticism of any stupidity or vice in the form of scathing humor, or a critique of what the author sees as dangerous religious, political, moral, or social standards |
| realism | An elastic and ambiguous term with two meanings. (1) First, it refers generally to any artistic or literary portrayal of life in a faithful, accurate manner, unclouded by false ideals, literary conventions, or misplaced aesthetic glorification and beautification of the world |
| symbol | A word, place, character, or object that means something beyond what it is on a literal level |
| theme | A central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work |
| apostrophe | the act of addressing some abstraction or personification that is not physically present |
| omens | A miraculous sign, a natural disaster, or a disturbance in nature that reveals the will of the gods in the arena of politics or social behavior or predicts a coming change in human history |
| personification | A trope in which abstractions, animals, ideas, and inanimate objects are given human character, traits, abilities, or reactions |
| consonance | A special type of alliteration in which the repeated pattern of consonants is marked by changes in the intervening vowels |
| paradox | Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper level |
| novel | a novel is any extended fictional prose narrative focusing on a few primary characters but often involving scores of secondary characters |
| play | A specific piece of drama, usually enacted on a stage by diverse actors who often wear makeup or costumes to make them resemble the character they portray |
| anti-hero | a protagonist who is lacking the traditional heroic attributes and qualities, and instead possesses character traits that are antithetical to heroism |
| black humor | grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world |
| protagonist | The main character in a work |
| turning point | a point in the story in which it takes a twist, or turn |
| flashback | A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events |
| cliffhanger | A melodramatic narrativein which each section "ends" at a suspenseful or dramatic moment |
| persona | An external representation of oneself |
| tragedy | A serious play in which the chief character, by some peculiarity of psychology, passes through a series of misfortunes leading to a final, devastating catastrophe. |
| archetype | An original model or pattern from which other later copies are made, especially a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life |
| mood | a feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind |
| rising action | The action in a play before the climax |
| static character | a simplified character who does not change or alter his or her personality over the course of a narrative |
| blank verse | Unrhymed lines of ten syllables each with the even-numbered syllables bearing the accent |
| alliteration | repetition at close intervals of initial consonant words |
| assonance | repetition at close intervals of vowel sounds |
| consonance | repetition at close intervals of final consonant sounds |
| cacophony | harsh, non-melodic, unpleasant sounding arrangement of words |
| euphony | pleasant, easy to articulate words |
| onomatopoeia | use of words which mimic their meaning in sound |
| sibilance | hissing sounds represented by s, z, sh |
| allegory | characters are symbols, has a moral |
| apostrophe | someone absent, dead, or imagianary, or an abstraction, is being addressed as if it could reply |
| didactic poetry | poetry with the primary purpose of teaching or preaching |
| dramatic monologue | character "speaks" through the poem; a character study |
| elegy | poem which expresses sorow over a death of someone for whom the poet cared, or on another solemn theme |
| sonnet | 14 line poem, fixed rhyme scheme, fixed meter (usually 10 syllables per line) |
| connotation | what a word suggests beyond its surface definition |
| denotation | basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word |
| diction | choice of words for effect |
| syntax | word order or grammatical appropriateness |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| caesura | a natural pause in the middle of a line, sometimes coinciding with punctuation |
| couplet | two successive lines which rhyme, usually at the end of a work |
| enjambment | describes a line of poetry in which the sense and grammatical construction continues on to the next line |
| feminine rhyme | latter two syllables of first word rhyme with latter two syllables of second word (ceiling appealing) |
| free verse | no fixed meter or rhyme |
| iambic pentameter | 70% of verse is written this way; ten syllables per line, following an order of unaccented-accented syllables |
| internal rhyme | repetition of sounds within a line (but not at the end of the line) |
| masculine rhyme | final syllable of first word rhymes with final syllable of second word (scald recalled) |
| meter | regularized rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables; accents occur at approx. equal intervals of time |
| refrain | repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines in a pattern |
| rhyme | repetition of end sounds |
| rhythm | wave-like recurrence of sound |
| stanza | group of lines |
| structure | internal organization of a poem's content |
| allusion | a reference to something in literature of history |
| anaphora | repetition of the same word or words at the start of two or more lines |
| archetype | a character or personality type found in every society |
| conceit | an extended witty, paradoxical, or startling metaphor |
| hyperbole | exaggeration, overstatement |
| imagery | representation through language of a sensory experience |
| irony | incongruity or discrepancy between the implied and expected; verbal, dramatic, situational |
| metaphor | implied or direct comparison |
| metonymy | symbolism; one thing is used as a substitute for another with which it is closely identified (the White House) |
| mood | the atmosphere suggested by the structure and style of the poem |
| oxymoron | compact paradoxl two successive words contradict each other |
| pace | tempo or rate implied by the structure and style of the poem |
| paradox | statement or situation containing seemingly contradictory elements |
| parallelism | presents coordinating ideas in a coordinating manner |
| persona | assumed speaker of the poem; typically used synonymously with 'speaker' |
| personification | giving a non-human the characteristics of a human |
| simile | comparison using 'like' or 'as' |
| style | an author's combined use of these ideas into a recurring pattern of usage |
| symbolism | something (object, person, situation, etc.) means more than what it is |
| synecdoche | symbolism; the part signifies the whole, or the whole the part (all hands on board) |
| theme | central idea |
| tone | writer's attitude toward the audience or subject, implied or related directly |
| understatement | saying less than one means, for effect |
| imagery | A term that incorporates all sensory perceptions. Can be Allusions, Similes, Metaphors, or Motion |
| structure | The way writing is put together, such as stanzas, paragraphs, ect. |
| syntax | Sentence structure. Must connect to argument or another part of the house |
| theme | Central idea or statement that unites an entire book, dissertation, ect. It runs throughout and is the primary argument |
| motif | A subset of theme, it is a reappearing object or thing that is symbolic of something. |
| allusion | Use of influence of historical, cultural, Biblical, ect. elements. Understandable by most people |
| apostrophe | talking to an idea, emotion, person, ect. that is not present. Ex. Prayer |
| anathema | Something that is very distasteful. |
| archetype | Stock element, stays the same. It is usually determined by culture. Ex. Wicked Stepmom |
| cliche | Highly overused expression. Created through truth, but the overuse of it robbed it of complexity and meaning. |
| dramatic Irony | Found mostly in plays, kit is an element or convention of drama. |
| structural Irony | Reversal found in the structure of something. |
| epithet | Links two words together to characterize someone. Ex. "Richard the Lion-Hearted" |
| euphemism | A soft way of putting a harsh fact. |
| hyperbole | Exaggeration that is powerful and purposeful |
| idiom | Expression that is localized to geography, region, groups, ect. It is considered colloquial. |
| inversion | Reversing the order of words in a sentence or reversing entire sentences. It is used to create an impact when providing information, making a point, ect. |
| irony | The use of reversal, when what is said in a message is in conflict with the truth, character, ect. |
| colloquial | Localized slang. Best avoided in writing. |
| jargon | Vocabulary that is limited to a specific occupation |
| litotes | A deliberate understatement that serves as a statement. Ex. That was no small task. |
| meiosis | Understatement to belittle or put down. Ex.: A lawyer defending a schoolboy who has set fire to his school might call the act of arson a "prank." In this case using meiosis to attempt to diminish the significance of what he had done (in this case grand arson) to the level of a harmless joke or minor act of vandalism. |
| metaphor | Direct comparison of two different things without like or as. It is more powerful than simile. |
| metonymy | A type of metaphorical language or metaphor. It refers to something by referring to something related to it. Ex. Police and Badge |
| oxymoron | A contradictory term Ex. Civil War, Jumbo Shrimp. |
| paradox | Statement that appears to be false but is true in reality. It is used to further an argument |
| personification | Attributing human qualities to an inanimate object. |
| symbol | A concrete item that represents an abstract idea. Do not get it confused with "refers:, ect. |
| synechdoche | Uses a part to explain a whole or a whole to explain a part. ex. Lend me an ear. |
| tragic Irony | Elemts of tragedy that starts good and ends bad. The opposite may also hold true |
| tropes | A very fancy word for "figure of speech." |
| verbal irony | Irony found in what is said |
| allegory | An extended metaphor, in which it may personify abstract ideas |
| aphorism | A sharp saying. If used enough, it becomes a Cliche |
| dirge | Musical, mournfu lsong or expression |
| elegy | Poem of mourning |
| threnody | Song or hymn of mourning |
| monody | Praise for the death of a person. Ex. "He's in a better place." |
| eulogy | Speech in praise of someone's life. Can have poetic qualities that make it like an elegy. |
| genre | Type of form of literature, music, ect. |
| epic | Long poem about a hero |
| epistle | A letter or letters |
| epitaph | Inscription on gravestones. Usually two lines long and describes someone. |
| fable | A short story using animals or the like that gives a preachy and moralistic theme. |
| homily | An instructional, moralistic, inspiring sermon. It is lighter than an actual sermon |
| lyric | Verse that focuses in an idea or emotion. It is not a narrative. |
| mock ironic | To belittle at various degrees |
| narrative | A story |
| novel | A long story |
| novelle | A piece longer than a short story, but not as long as a novel. Ex. Billy Budd |
| parody | Mocking of something serious in the same structure of the serious object. |
| prose | A form that is not poetry |
| sardonic | Hopeless and bitter sarcasm. |
| satire | Uses a reversal to bring light to problems. The intention is to make something better |
| sonnet | A fixed form of poetry. It is 14 lines, has a particular rhyme scheme and thought development |
| tragedy | Something that begins hopefully, but ends tragically |
| verse | Not prose, but poetry. |
| rhetoric | All the appeal of the house. They are the tools to make the point clear and used with the argument. |
| ad hominem | The fallacy of attacking a person rather than his argument. |
| antithesis | The opposite of something |
| casual reasoning | Reasoning having to do with a cause. One thought leads to another |
| circular reasoning | Reasoning that ends and begins in the same place. No evidence is offered |
| coinage/ neologism | Creating new words |
| sarcasm | Involves a reversal, the intention being to pick on or hurt |
| deductive reasoning | Reasoning in which ideas are at the beginning and proof follows. Essays, textual commentary, and loose sentences are deductive |
| either/ or reasoning | A black or white type of thinking, where there are only absolutes. |
| inductive reasoning | Reasoning in which ideas come at the end. Global commentary and periodic sentences are inductive |
| logical fallacy | Way of supporting facts that are not logically sound. |
| non sequitor | A break in logical progression. All logical fallacies are non sequitors |
| pathetic fallacy | Fallacy of emotion |
| red- herring | A purposeful digression meant to confuse |
| refutation/ refute | To prove wrong or incorrect |
| resources of language | Rhetorical devices, strategies, ect. used to determine the message |
| rhetorical question | Question not meant to be answered but to draw attention to a point. |
| rhetorical shift | A change in mood accompanied by a change in nuance. The focus may shift and it is frequently introduced with "But" or "so" |
| rhetorical strategies | Devices of language, ect. |
| strawman | The fallacy of taking an argument that no one will attack. |
| syllogism | Form of reasoning in which it goes to major premise, minor premise, and then conclusion. Ex. a=b, so b=a |
| zeugma | Uniting a single verb to refer to different objects, for which one does not fit. It is essential denotative in meaning for one and connotative for the other. |
| alliteration | Repetition of initial, usually consonant sounds. Used to affect the pace or tone. It is also an umbrella term for "Assonance" |
| sibilance | A type of alliteration in which the "s" sound is repeated. |
| cacophonous | A strident sounding word or sound |
| euphonious | Very soft sounding |
| assonance | Repetition of initial vowel sounds. |
| blank verse | Unruled poetry |
| caesura | A break mid line in poetry (with punctuation) to affect meter and tone. |
| qualifying | Use to adjust or modify the precedent or after. |
| consonance | Repetition of internal consonant sounds followed by a different vowel sound. |
| end- stop rhyme | Poetry in which punctuation is at the end. |
| onomatopoeia | Word for which the sound suggests its meaning |
| rhyme | Similar sound at the end of a sentence |
| anadiplosis | A technique in which the word at the end is the same as the start for the next sentence. |
| anaphora | Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases. |
| antimetabole | Repetition of a phrase in reversed order. |
| asyndeton | Linking of words or phrases with punctuation rather than conjunctions. It tightens the image and quickens the speed. It may also produce a sense of overwhelming. |
| chiasmus | Reverse in syntax, but words are different. Ex. to eat is boring, to sleep is fulfilling. |
| cumulative sentence | Loose sentence. The main part is at the begging and the proof is at the end. It is deductive. |
| balanced sentence | Grammatically balanced. Antithesis is usually involved. Ex. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. |
| ellipsis | Omission of words, often signified by three dots (...) |
| epanalepsis | Words start and end a sentence. Ex. Blood will have blood. |
| interrupted sentence | A sentence that has a thrown in part usually with dashes (- - ) |
| loose sentence | The topic or point is in the beginning. |
| polysyndeton | Shoves "ands" and conjunctions to link ideas, things, ect. It too creates a sense of overwhelming |
| ambiguity | What is unclear. Warrants closer attention |
| anecdote | A personal story to illustrate a point. |
| elliptical sentence | When a portion of it is gone, but the whole still makes sense |
| annotation | The act of putting in marginal thought |
| antecedent | The word a pronoun replaces. Can come before or after the pronoun. |
| atmosphere | The tine and mood of a work |
| connotation | The emotional definition of a word |
| conventional | Specific and standard |
| denotation | the dictionary meaning or a word |
| devices | Tools. The House. |
| diction | An author's word choice |
| didactic | Teacher like or parable like tone. |
| explication | Breaking down something into part to explain how the argument is built. |
| generic conventions | What is common to a genre. |
| inference | To gain meaning from something that is not directly said |
| invective | A put down or one liner. Usually harsh, angry, profane, ect. |
| mood | Atmosphere and tone |
| narrative devices | Tools used to tell the story. |
| organization | The subset of structure, it is how the piece is put together. |
| pedantic/ bombastic | The attempt of using elevated language. It is overly educated and does not fit. |
| persuasive devices | Tools used to persuade. It is a form of rhetoric. |
| phrase point of view | Angle from which something is being written or told. |
| omniscient POV | All knowing and god-like in knowledge narrator |
| limited omniscience POV | Almost all knowing narrator |
| objective POV | Unbiased in perspective |
| stream of consciousness POV | The first thing that comes to mind is said |
| rhetorical mode | Types of writing, genres |
| expository | Used to explain or reveal |
| persuasive | to convince using emotion. Synonymous with argumentative on the test. |
| argumentative | Intellectual based persuasion. Synonymous with persuasive on the test. |
| descriptive | Details |
| unity | Cohesion |
| protagonist | Main character |
| antagonist | One who opposes the main character |
| bathos | Something that is tricvial or unintentionally anticlimactic. |
| burlesque | Vaudeville or low class humor |
| pun | Humorous play on words |
| anthropomorphism | Giving an animal the traits of a human. |
| vernacular | Common speak |
| anachronism | Old and Outdated |
| malapropism | Word similar to another that is mistakenly substituted . |
| carpe diem | The most common interpretation of the phrase is as an existential cautionary term with emphasis on making the most of current opportunities because life is short and time is fleeting. It is thematically related to several other expressions and phrases |
| confidant/ confidante | Male and female you confide in. |
| utopia | A perfect place |
| dystopia | A nightmarish, hellish place |
| empathy vs. sympathy | To feel true pain and understanding for and to intellectually simulate another pain, respectively. The latter may have an air of superiority. |
| epiphany | Sudden awakening or realization |
| microcosm | View of the world through something small. Ex. Lord of the Flies |
| persona | The image, point of view, persona, and tone one assumes. |
| surreal | Out of reality |
| verisimilitude | trying to articulate how a false theory could be closer to the truth than another false theory. |
| audience | Whom the writer is addressing. |
| lexicon | Level of language register |
Combine with other sets
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