2007: Sophmore: Sr: Semester Ii: English: Poetry Term

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alliteration

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: the repetition of the first letter in a group of adjacent or loosely connected words

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allusion

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a reference, direct or indirect, to something in previous literature, music, arts, or history

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analogy

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: the comparison between two things or circumstances based on similar structure or properties

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antagonist

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any force in a story that is in conflict with the protagonist; may be a person, an aspect of the physical or social environment, or a destructive element in the protagonist’s own nature

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atmosphere

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details of the setting which create a mood or a feeling

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blank verse

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a verse that doesn’t rhyme (in the form of iambic pentameter)

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dynamic character

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a character who during the course of a story undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of character

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flat character

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a character who can be summed up in one or two traits

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foil character

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: a minor character whose situation or actions parallel those of a major character, and thus by contrast sets off or illuminates the major character

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round character

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: a character whose personality is complex and many-sided

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static character

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a character who is the same sort of person at the end of the story as at the beginning

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Direct characterization

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the author tells us directly what a character is like, or has someone else in the story do so

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Indirect characterization

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the author shows us a character in action, compelling us to infer what the character is like from what is said or done by the character

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climax

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: the moment of greatest emotional intensity and the moment at which you can begin to see the story’s outcome

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conflict

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a clash of actions, desires, ideas, or goals in the plot of a story; conflict may exist between the main character and some other person or persons; between the main character and some external force – physical nature, society, or “fate;” or between the main character and some destructive element in his or her own nature

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character

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any of the persons involved in a story

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characterization

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: the author’s method of presenting a character

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conflict

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: a clash of actions, desires, ideas, or goals in the plot of a story; conflict may exist between the main character and some other person or persons; between the main character and some external force – physical nature, society, or “fate;” or between the main character and some destructive element in his or her own nature

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foreshadowing

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clues or hints about what is to come in the story

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hyperbole

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exaggerated statements or claims not to be taken literally

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imabic pentameter

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five feet; each foot contains one unstressed and stressed syllable respectively

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imagery

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: visually descriptive or figurative language

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interior monologue

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the representation of a character’s inner thoughts, impressions, and memories as if “overheard” by the reader, sometimes rendered in the style of “stream of consciousness”

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irony

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a situation, or use of language, involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy
o Dramatic irony: an incongruity or discrepancy between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true (or between what a character perceives and what the author intends for the reader to perceive)
o Verbal irony: a figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant
o Situational irony: a situation in which there is an incongruity between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between the actual situation and what would seem appropriate

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mood

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overall feeling

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tone

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the author's attitude toward the poem

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metaphor

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a comparison between two unlike things

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onomatopia

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words that sound like what they mean; phonetic spelling of sounds

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oxymoron

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a figure of speech which combines two usually contradictory terms in a compressed paradox

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paradox

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a statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements, which in another sense or context may be true

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plot

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sequence of events or incidents in a story

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senses

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the body’s mechanism for experiencing phenomena (hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch, internal, movement or tension in the muscles)

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setting

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the context of time and place in which the action of a story occurs

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simile

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a comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as”

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symbol

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something that means more than it is; an object, person, or situation that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meaning as well

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theme

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the central idea or unifying generalization implied or stated by a literary work; the author’s comment on life, some “universal truth” about human experience