 | Term | Definition |
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Alliteration |
The repetition of sounds at the beginning of words |
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Allusion |
A reference to a person, place, poem, book, event, etc., which is not part of the story that the author expects the reader will recognize |
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Anaphora |
The repetition of a word of group of words within a short section of writing |
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Anthropomorphism |
Attributing human qualities, emotions, and behavior to animals |
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Assonance |
Repetition of an interior vowel sound within a short section |
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Ballad stanza |
A stanza of four lines of poetry with a rhyme scheme of abcb |
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Catalog Verse |
A technique in poetry used to describe people, things, places, or ideas |
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Cliche |
A familiar word or phrase that is used so often that it is no longer fresh or meaningful, but trite |
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Climax |
The point of greatest dramatic tension or excitement in a story |
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Colloquialism |
A popular expression or term that may or may not be proper english |
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Connotation |
A meaning of a word that carries a suggested meaning different from the actual definition |
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Consonance |
Repetition of an interior consonant sound within a short sentence |
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Couplet |
Two successive rhyming lines of poetry, usually the same length |
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Denotation |
The primary understanding or meaning of a word |
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Dialect |
A particular kind of speech used by members of one specific group because of its geographical location or class |
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Dialogue |
Conversation between two or more characters |
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Double Entendre |
A type of pun in which a word or phrase has two or more different meanings, one of which is usually sexual |
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Elegy |
A formal, stylized poem about the death of a famous person, a close friend; a poem on a very solemn subject |
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Elision |
The exclusion or blending of a syllable |
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End Rhyme |
Rhyme that occurs at the ends of lines |
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Epitaph |
An inscription on a tombstone |
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Foot |
A standard of length in poetry, dependent on syllables |
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Half Rhyme |
A near-rhyme; one that is approximate, not exact |
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Hyperbole |
Exaggeration for emphasis; overstatement |
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Iamb |
The most common foot of poetry in English, made up of two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed |
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Iambic Pentameter |
A line of poetry composed of five feet of iambs; the most common form of English poetry |
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Imagery |
The use of words to evoke impressions and meanings that are more than just the basic, accepted definitions of the words themselves |
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Inference |
The act of drawing a conclusion that is not actually stated by the author |
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Interior Monologue |
An author's thoughts, written as if they come from his or her mind directly to the reader's |
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Internal Rhyme |
The rhyming of words within one line of poetry or one sentence of prose |
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Irony |
A perception of inconsistency, sometimes humorous, in which the significance and understanding of a statement or event is changed by its context |
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Dramatic Irony |
The audience or reader knows more about a character's situation than the character does and knows that the character's understanding is incorrect |
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Structural Irony |
The use of a naive hero, whose incorrect perceptions differ from the reader's correct ones |
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Verbal Irony |
A discrepancy between what is said and what is really meant; sarcasm |
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Juxtaposition |
The placement of two dissimilar items, people, thoughts, places, etc., next to one another to emphasize the differences or heighten the similarities |
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Lyric Poem |
A genre of poetry in which the voice of the poem expresses personal feelings or perspectives |
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Metaphor |
A comparison of two things that are basically dissimilar in which one is described in terms of the other |
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Meter |
The emphasized pattern of repeated sounds in poetry; meter is represented by stressed and unstressed syllables |
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Monologue |
An extended speech by one character, either when alone or to others |
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Motif |
A situation, incident, idea, or image that is repeated significantly in a literary work |
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Onomatopoeia |
A word whose sound imitates its meaning |
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Paradox |
A statement that is self-contradictory on its surface, yet makes a point through the juxtaposition of the ideas and words within the paradox |
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Parallelism |
The repetition of similarly constructed phrases, clauses, or sentences within a short section |
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Personification |
A figure of speech in which an object, abstract idea, or animal is given human characteristics |
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Plot |
The pattern of events in a literary work; what happens |
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Point of View |
The position or vantage point, determined by the author, from which the story seems to come to the reader. The two most common points of view are first-person and third-person |
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Pun |
An expression that achieves or emphasizes humor by utilizing two distinctly different meanings for the same word or two similar sounding words |
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Quatrain |
A four-line stanza of poetry that may or may not rhyme |
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Rhetoric |
the art of eloquent speech or writing, which employs various techniques in order to persuade one's audience |
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Rhyme Scheme |
An alphabetical representation of the way a poem rhymes, constructed by assigning each line a letter |
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Romanticism |
An 18th and 19th century literary movement that is frequently characterized by....a) a depiction of emotion and imagination, b) a depiction of the beauties of nature, c) settings that are in exotic or remote locations (old castles or mansions), d) a hero or heroine who rebels against the social norms of his or her society, e) an intense interest in nature, its beauty, and/or its fierceness, f) an interest in the irrational realms of dreams, folk superstitions, legends, and ghosts, g) language and characters marked by emotional intensity |
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Satire |
Using humor to expose something or someone to ridicule |
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Sensory Images |
The use of details from any, some, or all of the five senses |
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Setting |
When and where the short story, play, or novel takes place |
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Simile |
A comparison between two different things using either like or as |
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Soliloquy |
Lines in a play in which a character reveals thoughts to the audience, but not to the other characters; it is usually longer than an aside and not directed at the audience |
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Sonnet |
A fourteen line poem written in iambic pentameter and having a standard rhyme scheme |
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Stanza |
A grouping of lines in a poem |
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Synecdoche |
Using a part of something to stand for the entire thing |
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Synesthesia |
The merging or mixing of two sensory experiences to create an image: "hearing" a "color" |
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Syntax |
The arrangement of words to form sentences |
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Tercet |
A grouping of three consecutive lines of poetry that may or may not rhyme |
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Tetrameter |
A verse in a poem consisting of four metric feet |
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Theme |
The central of dominant idea behind the story; the most important aspect that emerges from how the book treats its subject. Usually expressed indirectly, as an element the reader must figure out. Universal statement about humanity. NOT ALL WORKS OF LITERATURE HAVE THEMES |
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Tone |
The atmosphere in a literary work or the attitude the author puts in a literary work |
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Trimeter |
A line of a poem that contains three metric feet |
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Verse |
Another word for "poetry" |
