| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abstract | an abbreviated synopsis of a longer work of scholarship or research |
| annotation | a brief explanation, summary, or evaluation of a text or work of literature |
| Apollonian | in contrast to Dionysian, it refers to the most noble, godlike qualities of human nature and behavior |
| apostrophe | a locution that addresses a person or personified thing not present. |
| canon | the works considered most important in a national literature or period |
| caricature | a grotesque likeness of striking qualities in persons or things |
| connotation | the suggested or implied meaning of a word or phrase. Contrast with denotation |
| end-stopped | a term that describes a line of poetry that ends with a natural pause often indicated by a mark of punctuation. |
| eponymous | a term for the title character of a work of literature |
| exegesis | a detailed analysis or interpretation of a work of literature |
| figure of speech | implies metaphors |
| farce | a comedy that contains an extravagant and nonsensical disregard of seriousness, although it may have a serious, scornful purpose |
| frame | a structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative. |
| in medias res | a Latin term for a narrative that starts not at the beginning of events but at some other critical point. |
| invective | a direct verbal assault; a denunciation |
| novella | a work of fiction of roughly 20,000-50,000 words--longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel |
| novel of manners | a noel focusing on and describing the social customs and habits of a particular social group |
| ottava rima | an eight-line rhyming stanza of a poem |
| parable | a story consisting of events from which a moral or spiritual struth may be derived |
| pathetic fallacy | faulty reasoning that inappropriately ascribes human feelings to nature or nonhuman objects |
| roman a clef | French for a novel in which historical events and actual people appear under the guise of fiction |
| syntax | the organization of language into meaningful structure |
| villanelle | a French verse form calculated to appear simple and spontaneous but consisting of nineteen lines and a prescribed pattern of rhymes |
Combine with other sets
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