Absurdist Drama

Front 1

Absurdist Drama

Back 1

Play that depicts life as meaningless, senseless,
uncertain. For example, an absurdist playwright's story
generally ends up where it started; nothing has been
accomplished and nothing gained. The characters may be
uncertain of time and place, and they are virtually the
same at the end of the play as they were at the beginning.
Here is how the genre came about: A group of dramatists in
1940's Paris believed life is without apparent meaning or
purpose; it is, in short, absurd, as French playwright and
novelist Albert Camus (1913-1960) wrote in a 1942 essay,
"The Myth of Sisyphus." Parodoxically, the only certainty
in life is uncertainty, the absurdists believed. For more
about absurdist drama, see Waiting for Godot.

Front 2

Absurd, Theater of the

Back 2

Term coined in 1965 by critic Martin Eslin to describe the
plays of Samuel Beckett and other writers who believed that
life is meaningless. For more information about this genre,
see “Waiting for Godot.”

Front 3

Act

Back 3

One of the main divisions of a play. Shakespeare's plays
each have five acts. Each act is subdivided into scenes. An
act generally focuses on one major aspect of the plot or
theme. Between acts, stagehands may change scenery, and the
setting may shift to another locale.

Front 4

Adage

Back 4

Wise saying; proverb; short, memorable saying that
expresses a truth and is handed down from one generation to
the next; short saying that expresses an observation or
experience about life; maxim; aphorism; apothegm. Examples
of adages are the following:
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy,
wealthy, and wise.–Unknown author, 16th Century.
Birds of a feather flock together [probably based on an
observation of Robert Burton (1577-1640) in The Anatomy of
Melancholy: "Birds of a feather will gather together."]
A great dowry is a bed full of brambles.–George Herbert,
Outlandish Proverbs, 1640.

Front 5

Alarum

Back 5

Stage direction in a Shakespeare play (or a play by another
author in Shakespeare's time) indicating the coming of a
battle; a call to arms.

Front 6

Alexandrine

Back 6

Verse form popularized in France in which each line
contains twelve syllables (and sometimes thirteen). Major
accents occur on the sixth and twelfth syllables; two minor
accents occur, one before the sixth syllable and one before
the twelfth syllable. A pause (caesura) occurs immediately
after the sixth syllable. Generally, there is no enjambment
in the French Alexandrine line. However, enjambment does
occur in English translations of Alexandrine verse. The
name Alexandrine derives from a twelfth-century work about
Alexander the Great that was written in this verse format.
Jean Baptiste Racine was one of the masters of this format.
Some English writers later adapted the format in their
poetry.

Front 7

Allegory

Back 7

Literary work in which characters, events, objects, and
ideas have secondary or symbolic meanings. One of the most
popular allegories of the twentieth century was George
Orwell's Animal Farm, about farm animals vying for power.
On the surface, it is an entertaining story that even
children can enjoy. Beneath the surface, it is the story of
ruthless Soviet totalitarianism. Other famous examples of
allegories are John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and the
fifteenth-century morality play, Everyman.

Front 8

Alliteration

Back 8

Repetition of consonant sounds. Examples: (1) But now I am
cabined, cribbed, confined, bound into saucy doubts and
fears.–Shakespeare. (2) Duncan is in his grave; after
life's fitful fever he sleeps well–Shakespeare. (3) When I
was one-and- twenty–A.E. Housman. (Note that "one" has a
"w" sound. (4) I sent thee late a rosy wreath–Ben Jonson.
(Note that "wr" has an "r" sound.)

Front 9

Allusion

Back 9

Reference to a historical event or to a mythical or
literary figure. Examples: (1) Sir Lancelot fought with
Herculean strength. (Reference to the mythological hero
Hercules). (2) "I have met my Waterloo," the mountain
climber said after returning from a failed attempt to
conquer Everest. (Reference to the Belgian town where
Napoleon lost a make-or-break battle). (3) Since my
elementary-school days, math has always been my Achilles
heel. (Reference to the weak spot of Achilles, the greatest
warrior to fight in the Trojan War. When his mother
submersed him in the River Styx after he was born, the
magical waters made him invulnerable. His flesh was
impervious to all harm–except for the heel of a foot. His
mother was grasping the heel when she dipped him into the
river. Because the river water did not touch his heel, it
was the only part of his body that could suffer harm. He
died when a poison-tipped arrow lodged in his heel. Hence,
writers over the ages have used the term Achilles heel to
refer to a person's most pronounced weakness.

Front 10

Anachronism

Back 10

A thing from a different period of history than that which
is under discussion; a thing that is out of place
historically. Suppose, for example, that a literary work
about World War I says that a wounded soldier is treated
with penicillin to prevent a bacterial infection. The
writer of the work would deserve criticism for committing
an anachronism, for penicillin and other antibiotics did
not come into use until 1941, twenty-three years after the
end of World War I.

Front 11

Anadiplosis (an uh dih PLOH sis)

Back 11

Figure of speech in which a word or phrase at the end of a
sentence, clause, or line of verse is repeated at or near
the beginning of the next sentence, clause, or line of
verse. Here are examples:
The peasant pledged the country his loyalty; loyalty was
his only possession.

Front 12

Anagnorisis

Back 12

In Greek drama, a startling discovery; moment of epiphany;
time of revelation when a character discovers his true
4
identity. In the Sophocles play Oedipus Rex, anagnorisis
occurs when Oedipus realizes who he is.

Front 13

Analogue

Back 13

Literary work, film, character, setting, etc. that
resembles another literary work, film, character, setting,
etc. The film West Side Story is an analogue of
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Stephen Spielberg's film
Jaws is an analogue of Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick.

Front 14

Anaphora

Back 14

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of
word groups occurring one after the other. Examples: (1)
Give me wine, give me women and give me song. (2) For
everything there is a season . . . a time to be born, and a
time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what
is planted.–Bible, Ecclesiastes. (3) To die, to sleep; to
sleep: perchance to dream.–Shakespeare, Hamlet. One of the
most famous examples of anaphora in Shakespeare occurs in
Act II, Scene I, Lines 40-68.

Front 15

Anastrophe (uh NAS truh fe)

Back 15

Inversion of the normal word order, as in a man forgotten
(instead of a forgotten man) or as in the opening lines of
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Kahn": In Xanada did Kubla
Kahn / A stately pleasure dome decree (instead of In
Xanadu, Kubla Kahn decreed a stately pleasure dome). Here
is another example, made up to demonstrate the inverted
word order of anastrophe:
In the garden green and dewy
A rose I plucked for Huey

Front 16

Anecdote

Back 16

A little story, often amusing, inserted in an essay or a
speech to help reinforce the thesis.

Front 17

Annotation

Back 17

Explanatory note that accompanies text; footnote; comment.

Front 18

Antagonist

Back 18

Character in a story or poem who opposes the main character
(protagonist). Sometimes the antagonist is an animal, an
idea, or a thing. Examples of such antagonists might
include illness, oppression, or the serpent in the biblical
story of Adam and Eve.

Front 19

Antonomasia

Back 19

Identification of a person by an appropriate substituted
phrase, such as her majesty for a queen or the Bard of Avon
for Shakespeare.

Front 20

Antithesis

Back 20

Placement of contrasting or opposing words, phrases,
clauses, or sentences side by side. Following are examples:
I am tall; you are short.
The world will little note nor long remember what we say
here, but it can never forget what they did here.–Abraham
Lincoln, "Gettysburg Address."
To err is human, to forgive divine.–Alexander Pope, "Essay
on Criticism."

Front 21

Apostrophe

Back 21

Addressing an abstraction or a thing, present or absent; addressing an absent entity or person; addressing a deceased person. Examples: (1) Frailty, thy name is woman.–William Shakespeare. (2) Hail, Holy Light, offspring of heaven firstborn!–John Milton. (3) God in heaven, please help me.

Front 22

Apprenticeship Novel (Bildungsroman)

Back 22

Novel that centers on the period in which a young person grows up. This type of novel was pioneered by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) in his novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship). An apprenticeship novel can also be identified by its German name, bildungsroman, meaning novel (roman) of educational development (bildungs).

Front 23

Archetype

Back 23

(1) Original model or models for persons appearing later in history or characters appearing later in literature; (2) the original model or models for places, things, or ideas appearing later in history or literature; (3) a primordial object, substance, or cycle of nature that always symbolizes or represents the same positive or negative qualities.

Front 24

Arras

Back 24

Tapestry hung on the stage to conceal scenery until the right moment. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, an arras played a crucial role. Polonius hid behind one to eavesdrop on a conversation between Hamlet and his mother, Queen Gertrude. When Hamlet saw the tapestry move, he stabbed at it, thinking King Claudius was behind it, and killed Polonius.

Front 25

Arthurian Romance

Back 25

Literary work in which a knight in the age of the legendary King Arthur goes on a quest.

Front 26

Aside

Back 26

Words an actor speaks to the audience which other actors on the stage cannot hear. Sometimes the actor cups his mouth toward the audience or turns away from the other actors. An aside serves to reveal a character's thoughts or concerns to the audience without revealing them to other characters in a play. Near the end of Hamlet, Queen Gertrude raises a cup of wine to her lips during the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes. King Claudius had poisoned the wine and intended it for Hamlet. In an aside, Claudius–unwilling to warn Gertrude in an effort to preserve his innocence–says, "It is the poison'd cup: it is too late."

Front 27

Assonance

Back 27

Repetition of vowel sounds preceded and followed by different consonant sounds. Use of "bite" and "like" in a line of poetry would constitute assonance. Examples: (1) There are no tricks in plain and simple faith.–Shakespeare. (2) But I am pigeon-livered, and lack gall to make oppression bitter. (3) John met his fate by the lake.

Front 28

Asyndeton

Back 28

Use of words or phrases in a series without connectives such as and or so. Examples (1) One cause, one country, one heart.–Daniel Webster. (2) Veni, vidi, vici (Latin: I came, I saw, I conquered).–Julius Caesar.

Front 29

Attica

Back 29

Peninsula in southeastern Greece that included Athens. According to legend, the King of Athens, Theseus, unified 12 states in Attica into a single state dominated by Athenian leadership and the Athenian dialect of the Greek language. The adjective Attic has long been associated with the culture, language and art of Athens. The great period of Greek drama, between the Sixth and Fourth Centuries, B.C., is known as the Attic Period. Drama itself was invented by an Attic actor, Thespis, who introduced speaking parts to accompany choral odes.

Front 30

Aubade [oh BAHD]

Back 30

Joyful song about dawn and its beauty; morning serenade. One of the finest aubades in literature occurs in Act II, Scene III, of Shakespeare's play Cymbeline. It begins with the the famous words "Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings" (Line 22).

Front 31

Ballad, Folk

Back 31

Poem that tells a story that centers on a theme popular with the common people of a particular culture or place. Generally of unknown authorship, a folk ballad passes by word of mouth from one generation to the next. One of its key characteristics is a candence that makes the poem easy to set to mustic and sing.

Front 32

Ballad, Literary

Back 32

Ballad that imitates a folk ballad. But unlike the folk ballad, the literary ballad has a known author who composes the poem with careful deliberation according to sophisticated conventions. Like the folk ballad, it tells a story with a popular theme.

Front 33

Ballade

Back 33

Lyric poem of French origin usually made up of three eight-line stanzas and a concluding four-line stanza called an envoi that offers parting advice or a summation. At the end of each stanza is a refrain. Each line of the poem contains about eight syllables. The rhyme scheme of the eight-line stanza is ababbcbc. The rhyme scheme of the envoi is bcbc. "Ballade des dames du temps jadis" is an excellent example of the genre.

Front 34

Bard

Back 34

Originally, a Celtic poet who sang epic poems while playing a harp. In time, bard was used to refer to any poet. Today, it is often used to refer to William Shakespeare (the Bard of Avon).

Front 35

Bombast

Back 35

Inflated, pretentious speech or writing that sounds important but is generally balderdash.

Front 36

Breton Lay

Back 36

Fourteenth Century English narrative poem in rhyme about courtly love. The poem contains elements of the supernatural. The English borrowed the Breton-lay format from storytellers in Brittany, France. A lay is a medieval narrative poem originally intended to be sung. Breton is an adjective describing anyone or anything from Brittany. "The Franklin's Tale," a story in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, is an example of a Breton lay.

Front 37

Burlesque

Back 37

Literary work, film, or stage production that mocks a person, a place, a thing, or an idea by using wit, irony, hyperbole, sarcasm, and/or understatement. For example, a burlesque may turn a supposedly distinguished person into a buffoon or a supposedly lofty subject into a trivial one. A hallmark of burlesque is its thoroughgoing exaggeration, often to the point of the absurd. Cervantes used burlesque in Don Quixote to poke fun at chivalry and other outdated romantic ideals. Among English writers who used burlesque were Samuel Butler (Hudibras) and John Gay (The Beggar’s Opera). Burlesque is a close kin of parody. The latter usually ridicules a specific literary work or artistic production.

Front 38

Caesura

Back 38

Pause in a line of verse shown in scansion by two vertical lines ( || ).

Front 39

Canon

Back 39

Complete works of an author. When reasonable doubt exists that an author wrote a work attributed to him, scholars generally exclude it from the author’s canon. Such doubt sometimes arises when a centuries-old work–for example, a play, poem, or novel–has survived intact to the present day without an author’s byline or other documentation proving that a particular author wrote it.

Front 40

Canto

Back 40

Major division division of an epic poem, such as Dante's Divine Comedy. The word is derived from the Latin cantus (song).

Front 41

Caricature

Back 41

Literary work or cartoon that exaggerates the physical features, dress, or mannerisms of an individual or derides the ideas and actions of an organization, institution, movement, etc. The word is derived from the Italian caricare, meaning load, exaggerate, surcharge, fill to excess. In literature, caricature is a form of burlesque.

Front 42

Carpe Diem

Back 42

Latin expression meaning seize the day. Literary works with a carpe diem theme tell readers to enjoy life while they can. In other words, they should eat, drink and be merry and not worry about dying. Sir John Falstaff, the fun-loving and hard-drinking knight in Shakespeare's Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, and The Merry Wives of Windsor believed in carpe diem. An example of a poem with a carpe diem theme is Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress."

Front 43

Catastasis

Back 43

Climax of a stage play.

Front 44

Catastrophe

Back 44

(1) Denouement, or conclusion, of a stage tragedy; (2) denouement of any literary work.

Front 45

Catchword

Back 45

In published Shakespeare plays in earlier times, a single word on the bottom of the right side of every page. This word was the first word appearing on the next page.

Front 46

Catharsis

Back 46

In literature and art, a purification of emotions. The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) used the term to describe the effect on the audience of a tragedy acted out on a theater stage. This effect consists in cleansing the audience of disturbing emotions, such as fear and pity, thereby releasing tension. This purgation occurs as a result of either of the following reactions: (1) Audience members resolve to avoid conflicts of the main character–for example, Oedipus in Oedipus Rex and Creon in Antigone–that arouse fear or pity or (2) audience members transfer their own pity and fear to the main character, thereby emptying themselves of these disquieting emotions. In either case, the audience members leave the theater as better persons intellectually, morally, or socially. They have either been cleansed of fear of pity or have vowed to avoid situations that arouse fear and pity. In modern usage, catharsis may refer to any experience, real or imagined, that purges a person of negative emotions.

Front 47

Chalmys

Back 47

In the drama of ancient Greece, sleeveless outer garment, or cloak, worn by some actors.

Front 48

Chantey

Back 48

(pronounced SHAN te; alternate spellings: chantey, shantey, shanty) In earlier times, a song sung by sailors that kept time with the work they were doing, such as tugging on a rope to hoist a sail. The length of chanteys varied in relation to the length of the tasks being performed.

Front 49

Character, Flat

Back 49

Character in story who has only one prominent trait, such as greed or cruelty.

Front 50

Character, Round

Back 50

Character in a story who has many aspects to his or her personality. The character may have a good side and a bad side; he or she may be unpredictable.

Front 51

Character, Static

Back 51

Character in a literary work who does not change his or her outlook in response to events taking place.

Front 52

Chivalric Romance

Back 52

Tale of courtly love. In such tales, nights exhibit nobility, courage, and respect for their ladies fair, and the ladies exhibit elegance, modesty, and fidelity. Although knights and ladies may fall passionately in love, they eschew immoral behavior. In conflicts between good and evil, justice prevails. Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale," the first story in The Canterbury Tales, is an example of a chivalric romance.

Front 53

Chiasmus

Back 53

Words in a second clause or phrase that invert or transpose the order of the first clause or phrase.

Front 54

Chorus (Greek Play)

Back 54

Bystanders in a Greek play who present odes on the action

Front 55

Chronicler

Back 55

recorder of medieval events; historian

Front 56

Chronique Scandaleuse

Back 56

Literary work centering on gossip and intrigue at the court of a king.

Front 57

Classicism

Back 57

In literature, a tradition espousing the ideals of ancient Greece and Rome: objectivity, emotional restraint, systematic thinking, simplicity, clarity, universality, dignity, acceptance of established social standards, promotion of the general welfare, and strict adherence to formal rules of composition.

Front 58

Cliché

Back 58

Overused expression

Front 59

Climax

Back 59

High point in a story.

Front 60

Closet Drama

Back 60

A drama written to be read rather than acted on a stage.

Front 61

Comedy

Back 61

(Stage) Play with a happy ending.

Front 62

Comedy of Manners

Back 62

Comedy that ridicules the manners (way of life, social customs, etc.) of the privileged and fashionable segment of society

Front 63

Concrete Poetry

Back 63

Poetry with lines arranged to resemble a familiar object, such as a Christmas tree.

Front 64

Conflict

Back 64

The struggle in a work of literature.

Front 65

Conte Philosophique

Back 65

Philosophical novel or philosophical story, a genre Voltaire is credited with inventing.

Front 66

Coronach

Back 66

Funeral song (dirge) in Scotland and Ireland

Front 67

Cothurni

Back 67

Boots worn by actors in ancient Greece to increase their height and, thus, visibility to theater audiences. Singular: cothurnus.

Front 68

Couplet

Back 68

Two successive lines of poetry with end rhyme

Front 69

Coup de Théâtre

Back 69

1) Startling development in a drama that is unforeseen and unmotivated; (2) a cheap plot development intended solely to create a sensation.

Front 70

Couplet, Heroic

Back 70

Two successive end-rhyming lines in iambic pentameter.

Front 71

Denouement

Back 71

The outcome or resolution of the plot, occurring after the climax.

Front 72

Deuteragonist

Back 72

In Greek drama, the character second in importance to the main character, or protagonist.

Front 73

Dialogue

Back 73

Conversation in a play, short story, or novel. A literary work on a single topic presented in the form of a conversation. Plato's Republic, Symposium, and Phaedo are examples of literary works that are dialogues.

Front 74

Diction

Back 74

Word choice; the quality of the sound of a speaker or singer. Good diction means that a writer pleases the eye of a reader or the ear of a listener.

Front 75

Didactic

Back 75

Adjective describing a literary work intended to teach a lesson or a moral principle.

Front 76

Dionysus

Back 76

Patron god of Greek drama; god of wine and vegetation

Front 77

Dithyramb

Back 77

In the drama of ancient Greece, a choral hymn that praised Dionysus, god of wine and revelry, and sometimes told a story.

Front 78

Doggerel

Back 78

Trivial or bad poetry.

Front 79

Domesday Book

Back 79

official census of the English people and their possessions, notably land, which was completed in 1086 at the behest of King William I (William the Conqueror).

Front 80

Doppelgänger

Back 80

In folklore, the spirit double of a living person. Among well-known writers who have used doppelgängers in their works are Fyodor Dostoevski and E.T.A. Hoffman. A doppelgänger is not the same as a ghost; the latter is an apparition of a dead person.

Front 81

Drama

Back 81

Literary work with dialogue written in verse and/or prose and spoken by actors playing characters experiencing conflict and tension. The English word drama comes from the Greek word "dran," meaning "to do."

Front 82

Dramatic Irony

Back 82

Failure of a character to see or understand what is obvious to the audience. The most notable example of dramatic irony in all of literature occurs in Oedipux Rex, by Sophocles, when Oedipus fails to realize what the audience knows–that he married his own mother.

Front 83

Dramatic Monologue

Back 83

Poem that presents a moment in which a narrator/speaker discusses a topic and, in so doing, reveals his feelings and state of mind to a listener or the reader.

Front 84

Dramatic Monologue

Back 84

Poem that presents a moment in which a narrator/speaker discusses a topic and, in so doing, reveals his feelings and state of mind to a listener or the reader.

Front 85

Dramatis Personae

Back 85

List of the characters in a play. Such a list is found at the beginning of each Shakespeare play, as well as the plays of other dramatists.

Front 86

Dumb Show

Back 86

Part of play performed in gestures, without speech; pantomime. In Shakespeare's plays, "dumb show" appears as a stage direction.

Front 87

Edition and Issue

Back 87

Terms describing published versions of newspapers and magazines.

Front 88

Egoism, Rational

Back 88

Acting in oneself’s best interests (that is, acting selfishly) by selecting what appears to be the most beneficial of all the choices available. Russian writer Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky (1828-1889) centered various writings on this subject.

Front 89

Elegy

Back 89

A somber poem or song that praises or laments the dead. Perhaps the finest elegy in English literature is Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."

Front 90

Elizabethan

Back 90

Pertaining to the time when Elizabeth I reigned as queen of England. Elizabeth, born in 1533, reigned from 1558 until her death in 1603.

Front 91

Encomium (Plural: Encomia)

Back 91

In ancient Greece, a poem in the form of a choral song praising a victor in the Olympic games. (2) In modern usage, any speech, essay, poem, etc., that praises a person.

Front 92

Enjambment.

Back 92

Carrying the sense of one line of verse over to the next line without a pause. In the first four lines of "My Last Duchess," by Robert Browning, enjambment joins the second and third lines (I call / That) and the third and fourth lines (Pandolf's hands / Worked):

Front 93

Enter

Back 93

Stage direction in a play manuscript indicating the entrance onto the stage of a character or characters

Front 94

Epic

Back 94

Long poem in a lofty style about the exploits of heroic figures. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, as well as the Old English poem Beowulf, are examples of epics.

Front 95

Epic Conventions

Back 95

Literary practices, rules, or devices that became commonplace in epic poetry.

Front 96

Epicedium

Back 96

Funeral hymn or ode; dirge

Front 97

Epigram

Back 97

Wise or witty saying expressing a universal truth in a few words.

Front 98

Epigraph

Back 98

Quotation inserted at the beginning of a poem, a novel, or any other literary work; (2) a dedication of a literary work or a work of art such as a painting; (3) words inscribed or painted on a monument, building, trophy, etc.

Front 99

Epilogue

Back 99

In Shakespeare, a short address spoken by an actor at the end of a play that comments on the meaning of the events in the play or looks ahead to expected events; an afterword in any literary work.

Front 100

Epinicion (Plural: Epinicia)

Back 100

In ancient Greece, a choral ode celebrating an athletic victory. For additional information, click here.
Episode Scene or incident in a literary work.

Front 101

Episode

Back 101

Scene or incident in a literary work.

Front 102

Epistle

Back 102

Letter written by an apostle in the New Testament of the Bible; any letter, especially an informal or instructive one

Front 103

Epistolary Novel

Back 103

Novel in which a character (or characters) tells the story through letters (epistles) sent to a friend, relative, etc. For example, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Captain Robert Walton writes letters to his sister to bring her up to date on his expedition in the Arctic. After his ship takes Victor Frankenstein aboard, he listens to Frankenstein’s story and writes it down in letter form.

Front 104

Epitaph

Back 104

Inscription on a tomb or a written work praising a dead person; any commemoration, eulogy, or remembrance.

Front 105

Epitasis

Back 105

The part of a stage play that develops the characters, plot, and theme. The epitasis follows the protasis.

Front 106

Epithalamion (or Epithalamium, Epithalamy)

Back 106

Poem or song honoring the bride and groom on the day of their wedding.

Front 107

Epithet

Back 107

a combination of a descriptive phrase and a noun. An epithet presents a miniature portrait that identifies a person or thing by highlighting a prominent characteristic of that person or thing. In English, the Homeric epithet usually consists of a noun modified by a compound adjective,

Front 108

Epitome

Back 108

(1) Statement summarizing the content of a book, essay, report, etc. (2) Person or object that embodies all the qualities of something

Front 109

Esprit d'escalier

Back 109

Slow wit. Used to characterize a person who thinks of the ideal reply or retort after leaving a conversation and going upstairs (escalier). On the stairs, the ideal reply occurs to him.

Front 110

Essay

Back 110

Short, nonfiction composition on a single topic. The typical essay contains 500 to 5,000 words,

Front 111

Eulogy

Back 111

peech or written work paying tribute to a person who has recently died; speech or written work praising a person (living, as well as dead), place, thing, or idea

Front 112

Euphemism

Back 112

Word or phrase that softens the hard reality of the truth, such as senior citizen for old person, passed away for died, misstatement for lie, previously owned car for used car, collateral damage for civilian deaths during war, and pleasingly plump for fat. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency once used the euphemism Health Evaluation Committee for assassination team. In general, good writers avoid euphemisms.

Front 113

Euphuism

Back 113

Ornate, high-flown style of speaking or writing.

Front 114

Excursion

Back 114

Stage direction in a play manuscript indicating that a military attack is taking place. The opening of Scene II in Act III of Shakespeare's King John contains such a stage direction.

Front 115

Exemplum.

Back 115

Short narrative in verse or prose that teaches a moral lesson or reinforces a doctrine or religious belief.

Front 116

Exeunt.

Back 116

Stage direction in a play manuscript indicating the departure of two or more characters from the stage.

Front 117

Exeunt Omnes

Back 117

Stage direction in a play manuscript indicating the departure of all the characters from the stage.

Front 118

Exit

Back 118

Stage direction in a play manuscript indicating the departure of a character from the stage.

Front 119

Exodos

Back 119

In a drama of ancient Greece, the exit scene; the final part of the play

Front 120

Expressionism

Back 120

In literature, expressionism is a writing approach, process, or technique in which a writer depicts a character’s feelings about a subject (or the writer’s own feelings about it) rather than the objective surface reality of the subject.

Front 121

Exposition

Back 121

In a story, the part of the plot that introduces the setting and characters and presents the events and situations that the story will focus on. Exposition also refers to an essay whose primary purpose is to inform readers rather than to argue a point.

Front 122

Fable

Back 122

Story that teaches a lesson or rule of living.

Front 123

Fabliau

Back 123

Short verse tale with coarse humor and earthy, realistic, and sometimes obscene descriptions that present an episode in the life of contemporary middle- and lower-class people.

Front 124

Fair Copy

Back 124

In Shakespeare's time, a play manuscript after it has been edited.

Front 125

Farce

Back 125

Type of comedy that relies on exaggeration, horseplay, and unrealistic or improbable situations to provoke laughter. In a farce, plotting takes precedence over characterization.

Front 126

Figure of Speech

Back 126

Word, phrase or sentence that (1) presents a “figure” to the mind of the reader, (2) presents an imaginative or unusual use of words that the reader is not to take literally, or (3) presents a special arrangement or use of words or word sounds that create an unusual effect. Ordinary language that does not contain a figure of speech is called literal language. Language that contains a figure of speech is called figurative language. Figurative language is also sometimes called imagery because it presents an image to the mind. Consider the following sentences:

Front 127

Flashback

Back 127

Device in which a writer describes significant events of an earlier time or actually returns the plot to an earlier time

Front 128

Flourish

Back 128

Stage direction in a play manuscript for music introducing the entrance or exit of a king or another important person. The music may consist of a short trumpet passage.

Front 129

Foil

Back 129

A secondary or minor character in a literary work who contrasts or clashes with the main character; (2) a secondary or minor character with personal qualities that are the opposite of, or markedly different from, those of another character; (3) the antagonist in a play or another literary work.

Front 130

Folio

Back 130

A folio is a sheet of printing paper folded once to form four separate pages for printing a book.

Front 131

Folklore

Back 131

Stories, songs, and sayings transmitted by memory (that is, orally) rather than by books or other printed documents, from one generation to the next.

Front 132

Fool

Back 132

In the courts of England in Shakespeare's time, a fool was a comic figure with a quick tongue who entertained the king, the queen, and their guests.

Front 133

Foreshadowing

Back 133

Device a writer uses to hint at a future course of action

Front 134

Foul Papers

Back 134

Story with a plot structure in which an author uses two or more narrators to present the action.

Front 135

Free Verse

Back 135

Form of poetry that ignores standard rules of meter in favor of the rhythms of ordinary conversation.

Front 136

Gasconade

Back 136

xcessive boasting; incessant bragging.

Front 137

Genre

Back 137

Type or kind, as applied to literature and film. Examples of genres are romance, horror, tragedy, adventure, suspense, science fiction, epic poem,

Front 138

Gleeman

Back 138

Anglo-Saxon minstrel who sang or recited poetry. Gleemen traveled from place to place but sometimes found employment in the court of a monarch.

Front 139

Gnomic

Back 139

Adjective describing writing that contains wise, witty sayings (aphorisms)

Front 140

Goliard

Back 140

Wandering student of Medieval Europe who made merry and wrote earthy or satiric verses in Latin. Goliards sometimes served as jesters or minstrels

Front 141

Gothic Fiction

Back 141

Literary genre focusing on dark, mysterious, terrifying events.

Front 142

Hagiography

Back 142

Book on the lives of saints; scholarly study of the lives of saints.

Front 143

Hamartia

Back 143

Serious character flaw of the main character (protagonist) of a Greek tragedy. Often, this flaw is great pride, or hubris. But it may also be prejudice, anger, zealotry, poor judgment, an inherited weakness, or any other serious shortcoming.

Front 144

Hautboys

Back 144

Stage direction in a play manuscript indicating that entering characters are playing hautboys, which are Elizabethan oboes.

Front 145

Heroic Couple

Back 145

Unit of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter.

Front 146

High Comedy

Back 146

Comedy that relies on wit and subtle irony or sarcasm. High comedy usually focuses on the everyday life of upper classes. It is generally verbal rather than physical.

Front 147

Homily

Back 147

A clergyman's talk that usually presents practical moral advice rather than a lesson on a scriptural passage, as in a sermon.

Front 148

Hubris or Hybris

Back 148

Great pride that brings about the downfall of a character in a Greek drama or in other works of literature

Front 149

Huitain

Back 149

Eight-line stanza (French)

Front 150

Hyperbole

Back 150

Exaggeration; overstatement.

Front 151

Idyll

Back 151

Poem focusing on the simplicity and tranquillity of rural life; prose work with a similar focus.

Front 152

Induction

Back 152

In a Shakespeare play, an introductory event that precedes Act 1

Front 153

In Medias Res

Back 153

Latin phrase for in the middle of things. It means that a story begins in the middle of the plot, usually at an exciting part.

Front 154

Invocation of the Muse

Back 154

In ancient Greece and Rome, poets generally requested a muse (goddess) to fire them with creative genius when they began long narrative poems, called epics, about godlike heroes and villains.

Front 155

Ipse Dixit

Back 155

Dogmatic or arbitrary statement made without supporting evidence.

Front 156

Irony

Back 156

Saying the opposite of what is meant, or verbal irony; (2) result or ending that is the opposite of what is expected, or situational irony; (3) situation in which the audience attending a dramatic presentation grasps the incongruity of a situation before the actors do, or dramatic irony.

Front 157

Jargon

Back 157

Vocabulary understood by members of a profession or trade but usually not by other members of the general public.

Front 158

Jeu d'esprit

Back 158

Witty writing; clever wording; jest; pun, ingenious turn of phrase

Front 159

Jeu de mots

Back 159

Pun; play on words.

Front 160

Jongleur

Back 160

Itinerant minstrel in medieval England and France who sang songs (his own or those written by others) and told stories.