 | Term | Definition |
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allegory |
a story or poem in which characters, settings, and even events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities. |
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alliteration |
the repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together |
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allusion |
a reference to someone or something known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture. |
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ambiguity |
a technique by which a writer deliberately suggests two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. |
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analogy |
a comparison made between two things to show how they are alike. |
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anecdote |
a very brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something. |
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anti-transcendentalism |
the opposite (somewhat) of transcendentalism |
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aphorism |
a brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life. |
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apostrophe |
a technique by which a writer addresses an inanimate object, an idea, or a person who is either dead or absent. |
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blank verse |
poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter |
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caesura |
a pause or break within a line of poetry |
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conceit |
an elaborate metaphor or other figure of speech that compares two things that are startlingly different |
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connotation |
the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in action to its strict dictionary definition |
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dialect |
a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area. |
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epistle |
A poem addressed to a patron, friend, or family member, thus a kind of "letter" in verse |
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foil |
a character who acts as a contrasts to another character |
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foot |
a metrical unit of poetry |
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foreshadowing |
the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot |
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free verse |
poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme |
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hyperbole |
a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration, or overstatement for effect. |
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iamb |
a metrical foot in poetry that has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word protect |
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iambic pentameter |
a line of poetry that contains five iambic feet |
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imagery |
the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience |
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internal rhyme |
rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry or within consecutive lines |
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inversion |
the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase |
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irony |
in general, a discrepancy between appearances and reality |
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lyric poem |
a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of a speaker |
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metaphor |
a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles |
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meter |
a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry |
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naturalism |
a nineteenth-century literary movement that was an extension of realism and that claimed to portray life exactly as it was. |
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octave |
an eight line people, or the first eight lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet. |
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parable |
a relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson, about how to lead a good life. |
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paradox |
a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth |
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parallelism |
the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structure |
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personification |
a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes. |
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plain style |
a way of writing that stresses simplicity and clarity of expression |
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pun |
a "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things |
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quatrain |
a poem consisting of four lines or a four line poem that can be considered as a unit |
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rationalism |
a literary movement that was based on reason and intuition rather than spiritual aspects |
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realism |
a style of writing, developed in the nineteenth century, that attempts to depict life accurately without idealizing or romanticizing |
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regionalism |
literature that emphasizes a specific geographic settings and that reproduces the speech, behavior, and attitudes of the people who live in that region |
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rhetorical question |
a question asked for an effect, not actually requiring an answer |
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romance |
in general, a story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful |
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romanticism |
a revolt against rationalism that affected literature and the other arts, beginning in the late eighteenth century and remaining strong through most of the nineteenth century |
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satire |
a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or instructions in an attempt to bring about a change |
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sestet |
six lines of poetry, especially the last six lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian sonnet |
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simile |
a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as, than, or resembles. |
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symbol |
a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself |
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transcendentalism |
a nineteenth-century movement in the Romantic tradition, which held that every individual can reach ultimate truths through spiritual intuition, which transcends reason and sensory experience. |
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understatement |
a statement that says less than what is meant |
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