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66 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Allegory |
A work that functions on a symbolic level. |
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Alliteration |
The repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." |
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Allusion |
A reference contained in a work |
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Anapest |
A metrical pattern of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable (á) |
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Antagonist |
The force or character that opposes the main character, the protagonist |
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Apostrophe |
Direct address in poetry. Yeats's line "Be with me Beauty, for the fire is dying" is a good example. |
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Aside |
Words spoken by an actor intended to be heard by the audience but not by the other characters on stage. |
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Aubade |
A love poem set at dawn which bids farewell to the beloved. |
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Ballad |
A simple narrative poem, often incorporating dialogue that is written in quatrains, generally with a rhyme scheme of a b c d. |
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Blank Verse |
Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Most of Shakespeare's plays are in this form. |
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Cacophony |
Harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage of a literary work. |
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Caesura |
A break or pause within a line of poetry indicated by punctuation and used to emphasize meaning |
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Catharsis |
According to Aristotle, the release of emotion that the audience or a tragedy experiences. |
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Character |
One who carries out the action of the plot in literature. Major, minor, static, and dynamic are types of characters. |
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Climax |
The turning point of action or character in a literary work, usually the highest moment of tension. |
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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. |
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Conflict |
A clash between opposing forces in a literary work, such as man vs. man; man vs. nature; man vs. God; man vs. self. |
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Connotation |
The interpretive level of a word based on it associated images rather than its literal meaning. |
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Convention |
A traditional aspect of a literary work, such as a soliloquy in a Shakespearean play or a tragic hero in a Greek tragedy. |
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Couplet |
Two lines of rhyming poetry; often used by Shakespeare to conclude a scene or an important passage. |
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Dactyl |
A foot of poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (á) |
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Denotation |
The literal or dictionary meaning of a word |
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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's Medea for an example of the sheriff at the end of Desire Under the Elms by O'Neill. |
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Diction |
The authors choice of words |
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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 |
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Elegy |
A poem that laments the dead or a loss |
"Elergy for Jane" by Roethke is a specific example. Gray's "Elegy in a country court yard" is a general example |
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Enjambment |
A technique in poetry that involves the running in of a line or stanza. It enables the poem to move and develop coherence as well as directing the leader with regard to form and meaning |
Walt Whitman uses this continually |
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Epic |
A lengthy; elevated poem that celebrates the exploits of a hero. |
Beowulf is a prime example |
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Epigram |
A brief witty poem |
Pope often utilizes this form for satiric commentary |
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Euphony |
The pleasant, mellifluous presentation of sounds in a literary work |
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Exposition |
Background information presented in a literary work |
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Fable |
A simple, symbolic story, usually employing animals as characters |
Aesop and La Fontaine are authors who excel at this form |
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Figurative language |
The body of devices that enables the writer to operate on levels other than the literal one. |
Includes metaphor, simile, symbol, motif, & hyperbole |
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Flashback |
A device that enables a writer to refer to past thoughts, events, episodes |
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Foot |
A metrical unit in poetry; a syllabic measure of a line: iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, & spondee |
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Foreshadowing |
Hints of future events in a literary work |
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Form |
The shape or structure of a literary work |
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Free verse |
Poetry without a defined formed, meter, or rhyme scheme |
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Hyperbole |
Extreme exaggeration |
"My love is like a red, red rose," Burns speaks of loving "until all the seas run dry." |
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Iamb |
A metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one; most common poetic foot in the English language |
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Idyll |
A type of lyric poem which extols the virtues of an ideal place or time |
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Image |
A verbal approximation of a sensory impression, concept, or emotion |
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Imagery |
The total effect of related sensory images in a work of literature |
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Impressionism |
Writing that reflects a personal image of a character, event, or concept |
The secret sharer is a fine example |
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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 |
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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 |
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Magical Realism |
A type of literature that explores narratives by and about characters who inhabit and experience the reality different from what we term the objective world. |
Writers who are frequently placed in this category include Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gunter Grass, and Isabel Allende |
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Metaphor |
A direct comparison between dissimilar things |
"Your eyes are stars" is an example |
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Metaphysical poetry |
Refers to the work of Poets like John Donne who explored highly complex, philosophical ideas through extended metaphors and paradox |
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Meter |
A pattern of beats in poetry |
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Metonymy |
A figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea |
The pen is mightier than the sword |
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Monologue |
A speech given by one character |
Hamlet's "to be or not to be" |
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Motif |
The repetition or variations of an image or idea in a work which is used to develop theme or characters |
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Narrative poem |
A poem that tells a story |
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Narrator |
The speaker of a literary work |
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Octave |
An 8 line stanza usually combined with a sestet in a Petrarchan and Sonnet |
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Ode |
A formal lengthy poem that celebrates a particular subject |
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Onomatopoeia |
Words that sound like the sound they represent |
Such as hiss, gurgle, and bang |
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Oxymoron |
An image of contradictory terms |
Bittersweet, pretty ugly, & Giant economy-size |
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Parable |
A story that operates on more than one level and usually teaches a moral lesson |
The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a fine example |
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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" |
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Parallel plot |
A secondary storyline that mimics and reinforces the main plot |
Hamlet loses his father as does Ophelia |
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Parody |
A comic imitation of a work that ridicules the original |
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Pathos |
The aspects of a literary work that elicit pity from the audience |
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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" |
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Plot |
A sequence of events in a literary work |
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