English literary terms Flashcards
Allegory
a story, poem, or picture that it used to convey a hidden meaning or lesson
Alliteration
The repetition of initial sounds in successive words.
Allusion
an indirect reference
Analogy
A partial similarity on which a comparison may be based.
Analysis
A type of writing that seeks to explain or understand a text by examining in detail how its parts work in relation to each and to the whole.
Aside
A dramatic device that occurs when an actor directly addresses the audience, but is not supposed to be heard by the other actors on stage.
Atmosphere
The mood that is created in the work.
Ballad
A story told in verse form. Originally ballads were anonymous songs passed orally from generation to generation.
Blank verse
Unrhymed, regular verse, usually iambic pentameter. It is commonly used by Shakespeare.
Catastrophe
The unhappy conclusion of a tragedy.
Cliche
An expression or work that has lost its freshness through overuse (ex: “there is nothing to fear but fear itself”).
Climax
The point of highest interest in a short story or novel, where the reader makes the greatest emotional response. In drama, especially Shakespearean tragedy, the climax occurs when the rising action give way to the falling action. (i.e. when things begin going against the protagonist).
Comic relief
A humorous scene, incident, or speech introduced in a serious fiction or drama to relieve emotional intensity.
Comparison / contrast
A way or organizing ideas in prose by pointing out similarities and differences between subjects of the same type.
Colloquialism
Language that is acceptable in informal conversation or writing but not in formal writing.
Conflict
The struggle of opposing forces (external/internal)
Connotative diction
Words that have additional meaning or associations beyond the denotative meaning (dictionary meaning).
Contrast
The contrast of images or words (opposite)
Couplet
Two consecutive lines of poetry with end rhymes.
Crisis
The decisive action on which the plot of a short story or novel will turn. It occurs when the situation of the protagonist is certain to either improve or worsen. The crisis is not an index of emotional response, but a structural element of plot. (to confuse matters, the turning point of a dramatic structure, e.g., Romeo and Juliet, is referred to as the climax!)
Euphemism
A mild expression used instead of a harsh one (e.g. perspire instead of sweat).
Denouement
The final “unknotting” of the plot, the outcome of the story.
Figures of speech
Literary or poetic devices used to achieve vivid description, to deepen insight, or to add emphasis. Similes, metaphors, personification, and hyperbole are figure of speech.
Diction
The choice of words used in writing. (connotative diction).
Falling action
The “fall” of a plot to resolution, denouement, or catastrophe. In Shakespearian tragedy, the falling action occurs after the climax, when things begin to go against the protagonist.
Foil
A character though, through contrast, emphasizes the distinctive characteristics of another.
Free verse
Poetry without a set rhyme scheme or meter.
Foreshadow
Material in a book that hints, or prepares us for later events
Iambic pentameter
The meter of much english poetry before the twentieth century. Shakespeare uses this meter in his blank verse. Each line consists of five iambs (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable).
Imagery
Words and phrases that appeal to our senses and create a mental picture
Irony
A figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words that carry the opposite meaning; a passage in a literary work where the reader recognizes a deeper meaning than the apparent meaning.
Verbal irony: refers to the difference in what was said and what was intended.
Situational irony: refers to the difference between what actually happens and what was expected to happen.
Lyric
A brief subjective poem strongly marked by imagination, melody, and emotion, and creating a single unified impression. It is often opposed to narrative verse, i.e., verse tells a story.
Metaphor
A comparison which imaginatively identifies one object or thing with another.
Meter
The rhythm of poetry generally determined by the number of stresses or accented syllables (feet) in a line of poetry: one foot, monometer; two feet, dimeter; three feet, trimeter; four feet, tetrameter; five feet, pentameter, etc.
Mood
The emotional attitude or feeling of the audience toward the subject, e.g. suspenseful, romantic.
Onomatopoeia
The word’s sounds suggest its meaning (e.g. buzz, hiss).
Oxymoron
Contradictory terms appear together (e.g. jumbo shrimp, deafening silence).
Paradox
Two contradictory statements that contain an element of truth if examined closely.
Parody
A word mimicking the language, style, or idea of another for comic or satiric effect.
Pathetic fallacy
A dramatic device in which the heavens respond to the tragedy on earth (e.g. storms, earthquakes, eclipse, etc.)
Pathos
In drama, to stimulate pity or sorrow in the audience.
Personification
A figure of speech in which objects, ideas, or animals are given human characteristics.
Plot
The orderly arrangement of events or episodes in a literary work, i.e., what happens in a story.
Pun
A humorous play on words, popular in Shakespearian times.
Quatrain
A four line stanza.
Retributive justice
Occurs when an evil act brings about a fitting or appropriate punishment, or a virtuous act results in a positive reward.
Rhetorical question
A question which requires no answer usually because the answer is self-evident or because the answer is not known.
Rhyme scheme
The pattern in which rhyme sounds occur within a poem or stanza. Can be presented by assigning each rhyme a letter of the alphabet.
Rising action
The part of the plot that has to do with introducing conflict and complication; in Shakespearian tragedy the rising action usually sees things going well for the protagonist.
Soliloquy
A speech delivered in a drama when the speaker is alone on stage. It informs the audience what is passing through the character’s mind.
Sonnet
A fourteen line poem following a set of rhyme scheme. The two basic types are the Shakespearean and the Petrarchan. The Shakespearean sonnet is characterized by three quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet, with a rhyme scheme of abab cd cd efef gg.
The Petrarchan sonnet is characterized by an octave and a sestet, with the rhyming scheme of abbaabba cdecde.
Stanza
A group of two or more lines of poetry
Symbol
Something which is itself, but which stands for, suggests, or means something else (e.g. the dove is a symbol of peace)
Suspense
A combination of qualities in a story that compel us to read on
Theme
The central idea behind the play, poem, short story, or novel
Thesis
The main idea, the focus, or the position of a writer. The main point that the writer intends to argue. It must be supported by direct evidence from the text.
Tragedy
A serious play that recounts a casually related series of events in the life of a person of significance, culminating in a catastrophe.
Tragic flaw
A flaw in the character of the tragic hero that causes his downfall (e.g. Macbeth’s ambition, Othello’s jealousy, or Hamlet’s tendency to procrastinate).
