 | Term | Definition |
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rising action |
a related series of incidents in a plot that build toward the point of greatest interest |
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colloquial |
involving or using conversation |
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connotation |
an idea or meaning associated with a word or thing |
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denotation |
the direct meaning of a word or expression |
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dialect |
a language considered as one of a group that have a common ancestor |
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dialogue |
conversation between two or more persons |
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diction |
style of speaking of writing as dependent upon choice of words |
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paradox |
a statement that seems false but in reality is a possible truth |
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proverb |
a short popular saying |
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slang |
very informal usage in vocabulary |
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tone |
the quality of a person's voice |
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voice |
expression in spoken or written words |
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anecdote |
a short account of a particular incident |
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narrative voice |
describing a story or account of events |
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point of view |
the position of the narrator in relation to the story |
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first person |
a speaker referring to himself or herself |
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objective |
not influenced by personal feelings |
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omniscient |
having complete knowledge or awareness |
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limited |
an inability to think imaginatively or independently |
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third person |
referring to anything or to anyone other than the speaker or the one being addressed |
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unlimited |
boundless |
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stream-of-consciousness |
thought regarded as a succession of ideas and images constantly moving forward in time |
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theme |
a subject of discourse |
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character |
a person represented in a drama |
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allusion |
The act of alluding; indirect reference |
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apostrophe |
when a speaker or writer breaks off and directs speech to an imaginary person or abstract quality or idea |
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euphemism |
an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces |
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hyperbole |
obvious and intentional exaggeration |
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litotes |
understatement |
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metaphor |
an indirect comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects. "is a" |
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onomatopoeia |
a word or a grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing |
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personification |
figure of speech that gives non-humans and objects human traits and qualities |
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simile |
is a comparison of two unlike things, typically marked by use of "like", "as" or "than". |
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symbol |
are objects, characters, or other concrete representations of ideas, concepts, or other abstractions |
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synecdoche |
a term denoting a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing |
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understatement |
is a form of speech in which a lesser expression is used than what would be expected |
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Alliteration |
is a structuring device characterized by the reiteration of the initial consonant at the beginning of two consecutive or slightly separated words. Always avoid annnoying alliteration |
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Assonance |
is the repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words as in, "some ship in distress that cannot live." |
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Blank verse |
is a type of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter, but no rhyme |
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Cacophony |
refers to sound that is harsh and unpleasant-sounding |
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Cadence |
rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words |
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Caesura |
a term to denote an audible pause that breaks up a line of verse |
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Conceit |
an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs an entire poem or poetic passage |
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Connotation |
the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression, implied |
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Consonance |
Repetition of two or more consonants but has different vowels, for example, the "i" and "a" followed by the "tter" sound in "plitter platter" |
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Controlling image |
a literary device employing repetition so as to stress the theme of a work or a particular symbol. |
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Couplet |
a pair of successive lines of verse that rhyme and are of the same length |
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Dirge |
A mournful or elegiac poem or other literary work |
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Dissonance |
is the deliberate avoidance of assonance |
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Dramatic monologue |
which a character in fiction or in history delivers a speech explaining his or her feelings, actions, or motives |
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Elegy |
poem which is a reflection on the death of someone |
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End-stopped line |
A poetic line that has a pause at the end |
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Enjambment |
is the breaking of a a phrase by the end of a line or between two verses (opp. is end-stop) |
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Epic |
a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style |
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Euphony |
a pleasant sounding or harmonious combination or succession of words |
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Foot |
the basic unit in their description of the underlying rhythm of a poem |
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Free verse |
is a term describing various styles of poetry that are not written using strict meter or rhyme |
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Iamb |
a short syllable followed by a long syllable (as in i-amb) |
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In media res |
is a literary technique where the narrative starts in the middle of the story instead of from its beginning |
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Lyric |
a form of poetry that does not attempt to tell a story, more personal |
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Meter |
poetic measure; arrangement of words in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic lines or verses |
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Octave |
a group of eight lines of verse, esp. the first eight lines of a sonnet in the Italian form |
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Ode |
a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion |
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Pentameter |
a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet |
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Persona |
the term is sometimes used in the criticism of poetry and fiction to refer to a "second self" |
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Quatrain |
a poem or a stanza within a poem that consists of four lines |
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Refrain |
is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse |
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Scansion |
Scansion is the analysis of poetry's metrical and rhythmic patterns |
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Trochee |
a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one |
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Volta |
turn; time |
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Pentameter |
a pentameter is a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet |
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Iambic Pentameter |
An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. da DUM |
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Masculine Rhyme |
is a rhyme on a single stressed syllable at the end of a line of poetry (thee, phy/ spent, went) |
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Internal Rhyme |
internal rhyme or middle rhyme, is rhyme which occurs within a single line of verse (Fingertips on the hip as i dip) |
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Synaesthesia |
The description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another |
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Stanza |
an arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem |
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Italian Sonnet |
consisting of an octave with the rhyme scheme abbaabba and of a sestet with one of several rhyme schemes, as cdecde or cdcdcd. |
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Feminine Rhyme |
is a rhyme that matches two or more syllables at the end of the respective lines (painted, passion, acquainted, fashion) |
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End Rhyme |
a rhyme that occurs in the last syllables of verses |
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External Rhyme |
the last syllable in the last word of each line in a stanza rhymes |
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