Summer Literary Terms Flashcards
Allegory
A work that functions on a symbolic level.
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
Allusion
A reference contained in a work.
Anapest
A metrical pattern of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable.
Antagonist
The force or character that opposes the main character, the protagonist.
Apostrophe
Direct address in poetry. Yeats’ line “Be with me Beauty, for the fire is dying” is a good example.
Aside
Words spoken by an actor intended to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on stage.
Aubade
A love poem set at dawn which bids farewell to the beloved.
Ballad
A simple narrative poem, often incorporating dialogue that is written in quatrains, generally with a rhyme scheme of a b c d.
Blank Verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Most of Shakespeare’s plays are in this form.
Cacophony
Harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage of a literary work.
Caesura
A break or pause within a line of poetry indicated by punctuation to emphasize meaning.
Catharsis
According to Aristotle, the release of emotion that the audience of a tragedy experiences.
Character
One who carries out the action of the plot in literature. Major, minor, static, and dynamic are types of characters.
Climax
The turing point of action or character in a literary work, usually the highest moment of tension.
Comic Relief
The inclusion of a humorous character or scene to contrast with the tragic elements of a work, thereby intensifying the next tragic event.
Conflict
A clash between opposing forces in a literary work, such as man vs. man; man vs. nature; man vs. God; man vs. self.
Connotation
The interpretive level of a word based on its associated images rather than its literal meaning.
Convention
A traditional aspect of a literary work, such as a soliloquy in a Shakespearean play or a tragic hero in a Greek tragedy.
Couplet
Two lines of rhyming poetry; often used by Shakespeare to conclude a scene or an important passage.
Dactyl
A foot of poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
Denotation
The literal or dictionary meaning of a word.
Denouement
The conclusion or tying up of loose ends in a literary work; the resolution of the conflict and plot.
Deus Ex Machina
A Greek invention, literally “the god from the machine” who appears at the last moment and resolves the loose ends of a play. Today, the term refers to anyone, usually of some stature, who untangles, resolves, or reveals the key to the plot of a work. See the conclusion of Euripides’ Medea for an example or the sheriff at the end of Desire under the Elms by O’Neill.
Diction
The author’s choice of words.
Dramatic Monologue
A type of poem that presents a conversation between a speaker and an implied listener. Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is a perfect example.
Elegy
A poem that laments the dead or a loss. “Elegy for Jane” by Roethke is a specific example. Gray’s “Elegy in a Country Church Yard” is a general example.
Enjambment
A technique in poetry that involves the running on of a line or stanza. It enables the poem to move and to develop coherence as well as directing the reader with regard to form and meaning. Walt Whitman uses this continually.
Epic
A lengthy, elevated poem that celebrates the exploits of a hero. Beowulf is a prime example.
Epigram
A brief witty poem. Pope often utilizes this form for satiric commentary.
Euphony
The pleasant, mellifluous presentation of sounds in a literary work.
Exposition
Background information presented in a literary work.
Fable
A simple, symbolic story, usually employing animals as characters. Aesop and La Fontaine are authors who excel at this form.
Figurative Language
The body of devices that enables the writer to operate on levels other than the literal one. It includes metaphor, simile, symbol, motif, hyperbole, and others discussed in chapter eight.
Flashback
A device that enables a writer to refer to past thoughts, events, episodes.
Foot
A metrical unit in poetry; a syllabic measure of a line: iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, and spondee.
Foreshadowing
Hints of future events in a literary work.
Form
The shape or structure of a literary work.
Free Verse
Poetry without a defined form, meter, or rhyme scheme.
Hyperbole
Extreme exaggeration. In “MY Love is Like a Red, Red Rose,” Burns speaks of loving “until all the seas run dry.”
Iamb
A metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one; the most common poetic foot in the English language.
Idyll
A type of lyric poem which extols the virtues of an ideal place or time.
Image
A verbal approximation of a sensory impression, concept, or emotion.
Imagery
The total effect of related sensory images in a work of literature.
Impressionism
Writing that reflects a personal image of a character, event, or concept. The Secret Sharer is a fine example.
Irony
An unexpected twist or contrast between what happens and what was intended or expected to happen. It involves dialogue and situation, and it can be intentional or unplanned. Dramatic irony centers around the ignorance of those involved while the audience is aware of the circumstance.
Lyric Poetry
A type of poetry characterized by emotion, personal feelings, and brevity; a large and inclusive category of poetry that exhibits rhyme, meter, and reflective thought.
Magical Realism
A type of literature that explores narratives by and about characters who inhabit and experience their reality differently from what we term the objective world. Writers who are frequently placed in this category include Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gunter Grass, and Isabel Allende.
metaphor
a direct comparison between dissimilar things. “Your eyes are stars” is an example.
metaphysical poetry
refers to the work of poets like John Donne who explore highly complex, philosophical ideas through extended metaphors and paradox
meter
a pattern of beats in poetry
metonymy
a figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea. (“The pen is mightier than the sword.”)
monologue
a speech given by one character. (Hamlet’s “To be or not to be…”)
motif
the repetition or variations of an image or idea in a work which is used to develop theme or characters
narrative poem
a poem that tells a story
narrator
the speaker of a literary work
octave
an eight-line stanza, usually combined with a setset in a Petrarchan sonnet.
ode
a formal, lengthy poem that celebrates a particular subject
onomatopoeia
words that sound like the sound they represent (hiss, gurgle, bang)
oxymoron
an image of contradictory terms (bittersweet, pretty ugly, giant economy size)
parable
a story that operates on more than one level and usually teaches a moral lesson. (“The Pearl” by John Steinbeck in a fine example.)
paradox
a set of seemingly contradictory elements which nevertheless reflects an underlying truth. For example, in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” the Friar says to Hero, “Come, Lady, die to live.”
parallel plot
A secondary story line that mimics and reinforces the main plot. (Hamlet loses his father, as does Ophelia.)
parody
a comic imitation of a work that ridicules the original
pathos
the aspects of a literary work that elicit pity from the audience
personification
the assigning of human qualities to inanimate objects or concepts. (Wordsworth personifies “the sea that bares her bosom to the moon” in the poem “London, 1802.”)
plot
a sequence of events in a literary work
point of view
the method of narration in a work
protagonist
the hero or main character of a literary work, the character the audience sympathizes with
quatrain
a four-line stanza
resolution
the denouement of a literary work
rhetorical question
a question that does not expect an explicit answer. It is used to pose an idea to be considered by the speaker or audience. (Ernest Dowson asks, “Where are they now the days of wine and roses?”)
rhyme/rime
The duplication of final syllable sounds in two or more lines
rhyme scheme
the annotation of the pattern of the rhyme
rhythm
the repetitive pattern of beats in poetry.
romanticism
a style or movement of literature that has as its foundation an interest in freedom, adventure, idealism, and escape.
satire
a mode of writing based on ridicule, which criticizes the foibles and follies of society without necessarily offering a solution (Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” is a great satire that exposes mankind’s condition.)
scansion
analysis of a poem’s rhyme and meter
setset
a six-line stanza, usually paired with an octave to form a Petrarchan sonnet
sestina
a highly structured poetic form of 39 lines, written in iambic pentameter. It depends upon the repetition of six words from the first stanza in each of the six stanzas.
setting
the time and place of a literary work
simile
an indirect comparison that uses the word, “like” or “as” to link the differing items in the comparison. (“Your eyes are like the stars.”)
soliloquy
a speech in a play which is used to reveal the character’s inner thoughts to the audience. (Hamlet’s “To be or not to be…” is one of the most famous soliloquies in literature.)
sonnet
a 14-line poem with a prescribed rhyme scheme in iambic pentameter
spondee
a poetic foot consisting of two accented syllables, (‘ ‘)
stage directions
the specific instructions of a playwright includes concerning sets, characterization, delivery, etc.
stanza
a unit of a poem, similar in rhyme, meter, and length to other units in the poem
structure
the organization and form of a work
style
the unique way an author presents his ideas. Diction, syntax, imagery, structure, and content all contribute to a particular style
subplot
a secondary plot that explores ideas different from the main storyline (In Hamlet, the main storyline has Hamlet avenging the death of his father. The subplot has Hamlet dealing with his love for Ophelia.)
subtext
implied meaning of a work or section of a work
symbol
something in a literary work that stands for something else. (Plato has the light of the sun symbolize truth in “The Allegory of the Cave.”)
synecdoche
a figure of speech that utilizes a part as representative of the whole. (“All hands on deck” is an example.)
syntax
the grammatical structure of prose and poetry
tercet
a three-line stanza
theme
the underlying ideas that the author illustrates through characterization, motifs, language, plot, etc.
tone
the author’s attitude toward his subject
tragic hero
According to Aristotle, a basically good person of noble birth or exalted position who has a fatal flaw or commits an error in judgement which leads to his downfall. The tragic hero must have a moment of realization and live and suffer.
trochee
a single metrical foot consisting of one accented (stressed/long) syllable followed by one unaccented (unstressed/short) syllable
understatement
the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended
villanelle
a highly structured poetic form that comprises six stanzas: five tercets and a quatrain. The poem repeats the first and third lines throughout.
