| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Scansion | Analyzing the meter in lines of verse by marking the accented and unaccented syllables, dividing the lines into metrical feet, and indicating any distinct pauses within the lines. |
| Sonnet | A poem consisting of fourteen lines, traditionally in iambic pentameter, with one of several regular rhyme schemes. |
| Septet | Any stanza (or poem) of seven lines, whether rhymed or unrhymed. |
| Sestet | Any stanza (or poem) of six lines, whether rhymed or unrhymed. |
| Sestina | A poem consisting of six sestets and a three line envoy (thirty nine lines total). |
| Surrealism | In literature, the term refers to an attempt to push, question or cross the boundaries of reality and rationality. |
| Subplot | In a narrative, a secondary sequence of events that constitutes a plot subordinate to the main plot. |
| Stock Character | A conventional character who fills a sterotypical role in a work of literature or folklore. |
| Suspension of Disbelief | The reader's (or viewer's) willingness or tendency to set aside questions of probability or truth when encountering a work of fiction. |
| Stream of Consciousness | The progression of one's entire awareness over a period of time -- including thoughts (both verbal and non verbal), impressions, perceptions, memories, associations, and emotions. |
| Stichomythia | A style of dialogue in which two characters exchange single, antagonistic lines of speech, partially repeating and manipulating each others' words. |
| Summary Method | A method of narration in which action and dialogue are presented indirectly, in the form of a summary. |
| Stasimon | A passage of text recited or sung by the chorus between the episodes of a classical Greek play. |
| Spenserian Stanza | A stanza of nine lines in iambic meter, rhymed ABABBCBCC. The first eight lines are in iambic pentameter, and the ninth line is in iambic hexameter. |
| Scenic Method | A method of narration in which action and dialogue are presented directly, in a form similar to that of a dramatic scene. |
| Syllabic Verse | Metrical verse in which the lines have a set number of syllables, but not a set number or pattern of accents. |
| Soliloquy | In a play, a speech delivered by a character who is alone onstage, serving to inform the audience of his or her private thoughts, feelings, motives, plans, or prior actions. |
| Scop | A royally appointed Anglo-Saxon poet and performer of epics. |
| Satire | Literature that uses irony, humor, and wit in order to criticize or ridicule an institution, a group of people, a culture or society, or even humanity in general. |
| Sapphic Verse | an Aeolic verse form spanning four lines; form is two hendecasyllabic verses, and a third verse beginning the same way and continuing with five additional syllables |
| Hendecasyllabic | a quantitative metre used in Ancient Greek Aeolic verse. |
| Sprung Rhythm | a poetic rhythm designed to imitate the rhythm of natural speech. It is constructed from feet in which the first syllable is stressed and may be followed by a variable number of unstressed syllables |
| Stanza | A group of two or more lines of verse, separated vertically by a space from other, similar groups in the same poem. |
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