Terms Flashcards
Peripeteia
reversal of fortune, the fall of a person
Anagnorisis
recognition, self-recognition
Ballad
form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Folk Songs
sonnet
14 line. uses iambic pentameter.
Shakespearean sonnet
three quatrains and a couplet
ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG.
Petrarchan sonnet
the octave (the first eight lines) followed by the answering sestet (the final six lines) ABBA ABBA CDDECE
sestina
A sestina is a poem written using a very specific, complex form. The form is French, and the poem includes six stanzas of six lines each, followed by a three-line stanza at the end, or a triplet.
Each stanza repeats the end rhymes of the first stanza
1 2 3 4 5 6 6 1 5 2 4 3 3 6 4 1 2 5 5 3 2 6 1 4 4 5 1 3 6 2 2 4 6 5 3 1 (6 2) (1 4) (5 3)
Elizabeth Bishop’s “A Miracle for Breakfast”
“Sestina” by Dante Alighieri
elegy
poem of serious reflection, usually a lament for the dead.
polysyndeton”””””””
Polysyndeton is a literary technique in which conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or) are used repeatedly in quick succession, often with no commas, even when the conjunctions could be removed.
ex- and gin and tea and coffee and what not
asyndeton”””””””””
the omission or absence of conjunction between parts of a sentence,
ex- I came, I saw, I conquered.
caesura
A caesura, also written cæsura and cesura, is a metrical pause or break in a verse where one phrase ends and another phrase begins.
epistrophe——
same word returns at the end of each sentence. Epistrophe is a stylistic device that can be defined as the repetition of phrases or words at the ends of the clauses or sentences. It is also called “epiphora.”
anapest””””””””
Unstressed + Unstressed + Stressed
dactylic””””””””””
Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed
iambic
Unstressed + Stressed, trochee- stress, unstress
spondaic
Stressed + Stressed
slant rhyme
similar, but not identical sounds. Worm” and “swarm” are examples of slant rhymes.
A slant rhyme is also called a half rhyme, near rhyme, sprung rhyme, off rhyme, lazy rhyme, oblique rhyme, or approximate rhyme.
masculine rhyme
the stress in on the final syllable in both words. Examples include support and report, dime and sublime, divulge and bulge.
internal rhyme
rhyming happens within a line of poetry.
epigram
ingenious or witty statements are considered as epigrams.
ex- To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wildflower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour. (blake, auguries of innocence)
examples of epigram used in common speech: “Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put and end to mankind.” – John F. Kennedy. “If we don’t end war, war will end us.” – G.
epitaph
An epitaph is a brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone or monument.
lyric poem
lyric uses a single speaker, who expresses personal emotions or thoughts. Lyrical poems, which are often popular for their musical quality and rhythm,
types- elegy, ode, sonnet, monologue.
ode
odes in which poets praise people, natural scenes, and abstract ideas.
panegyric’’’’’
rhetoric, public speech or published text in praise of someone or something
anecdote
short, sometimes amusing, story that is told to make a point. A short, amusing true story
enjambment”””””
enjambment is incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning runs over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation.
ex- donne- I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I / Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
anachronism
Anachronism is derived from the Greek word anachronous, which means “against time.” Therefore, an anachronism is an error of chronology or timeline in a literary piece. … Similarly, the presence of a wall clock in a stage setting that depicts the interior of a Roman fort is an anachronism.
Volta
The fourteen lines are divided into two sections, usually of eight lines and six. The break between the two parts is known as the volta.
volta is the turn of thought or argument:
epigraph
epigraph is a brief quotation set at the beginning of a text (a book, a chapter of a book, an essay, a poem) to suggest its theme.
Apostrophe””””””””””
Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses someone (or something) that is not present or cannot respond in reality.
Apostrophe appears most often in poetry and plays, though it can appear in prose literature as well.
Apostrophe always addresses its object in the second person.
conceit
Conceit develops a comparison which is exceedingly unlikely but is, nonetheless, intellectually imaginative. A comparison turns into a conceit when the writer tries to make us admit a similarity between two things of whose unlikeness we are strongly conscious. For this reason, conceits are often surprising.
Terza rima
rhyming verse stanza form that consists of an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme. It was first used by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
the first and third lines rhyming with one another and the second rhyming with the first and third of the following tercet.
ABA BCB CDC.. Ode to the west wind P B Shelley
heroic couplet
pair of rhyming iambic pentameters, much used by Chaucer
rhetoric
figure of speech
prosody
study of meter, or regular patterns of rhythm, especially in poetry.
rhetoric
figure of speech
prosody
study of meter, or regular patterns of rhythm, especially in poetry.
Epistolary novel
written in the form of letters
peripatetic
followers of aristotle
