Medieval Literature Terms Flashcards
a reference in one piece of literature to a person or event from another piece of literature
allusion
a song that tells a story
ballad
two consecutive rhyming lines in poetry
couplet
a repeated section of a poem (we call it a chorus)
refrain
the pattern of end-of-the-line rhymes in a poem
rhyme scheme
a poetic verse (such as a paragraph is to an essay)
stanza
an extra implied meaning which has come about through usage
connotation
the dictionary definition
denotation
a conversation between two or more people
dialogue
a story that illustrates a moral point
exemplum
a short tale to teach a moral
fable
a short, metrical tale, usually, ribald and humorous
fabliau
a second story embedded in a main story
frame story
elements that form basis of medicine (Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, Phlegmatic)
humurous
a person who is willingly sfuufers death rather than renounce his/her beliefs
martyr
a comparison of two essentially unlike things without using the word “like” or “as”
metaphor
a pilgrim who had returned from the Holy Land bearing a palm branch as a token
palmer
a puzzle; something that seems as though it cannot be true, but is (e.g. Mary being both a virgin and a mother at the same time)
paradox
a character in a play, novel, etc
persona
giving human qualities to nonhuman things
personification
a long journey made to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion
pilgrimage
memorials of the past
relics
any serious speech, discourse, or exhortation, especially on a moral issue; a long, tedious speech
sermon
a comparison of two essentially unlike things using the words “like” or “as”
simile
has a shire in Canterbury Cathedral (archbishop of Canterbury, murdered in 1170 because of a conflict with Henry II of England over rights and privileges of the church, assassinated by followers of the King.)
St. Thomas a Becket
