Eng 195 Literary Terms

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.Fish and visitors smell in three days.–Benjamin Franklin.
One tongue is enough for a woman.–J. Ray, English Proverbs
(1670).
A friend in need is a friend indeed.–Of Latin origin.
A barber learns to shave by shaving fools.–J. Ray, English
Proverbs (1670).

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.
.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.–Shakespeare,
Richard III.

Front 12

Anagnorisis (an ag NOR ih sis)

Back 12

In Greek drama, a startling discovery; moment of epiphany;
time of revelation when a character discovers his true
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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 (uh NAF uh ruh)

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 (an tihn uh MAY zha)

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

Antiphrasis (an TIF ruh sis)

Back 20

Saying the opposite of what is meant, or verbal irony;

Front 21

Anapest

Back 21

tri meter in Shakespear, Unstressed + Unstressed + Stressed
.........Three Syllables

Front 22

Antithesis

Back 22

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 23

Aphorism

Back 23

Short, often witty statement presenting an observation or a
universal truth; an adage. Examples: (1) Fish and visitors
smell in three days–Benjamin Franklin. (2) Many hands make
light work.–John Heywood. (3) In charity there is no
excess–Francis Bacon. (4) Uneasy lies the head that wears
the crown–William Shakespeare. (See also Epigram.)

Front 24

Apostrophe

Back 24

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 25

Apprenticeship Novel (Bildungsroman)

Back 25

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 26

Archetype

Back 26

(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
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object, substance, or cycle of nature that always
symbolizes or represents the same positive or negative
qualities.
Explanation of Definition 1: The mythical Hercules is an
original model of a strong man. Consequently, he is an
archetype. Exceptionally strong men who appear later in
history or literature are said to be archetypical Hercules
figures because they resemble the original Hercules.
Similarly, the biblical Eve is an original model of a woman
who tempts a man to commit sin. Thus, she is an archetype.
Temptresses who appear later in history or literature are
said to be archetypical Eve figures because they resemble
the original Eve. Examples of archetypical Eve figures
include the housewife who goads her husband to steal from
his employer and the prostitute who tempts a married man to
have illicit sex. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Lady
Macbeth is an archetypical Eve figure because she, like
Eve, urges her husband to commit sin–in the case of
Macbeth, to commit murder. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar,
Brutus is an archetypical Judas (the apostle who betrayed
Christ) because Brutus betrays Caesar.
Explanation of Definition 2: The biblical Sodom and
Gomorrah, as well as Babylon, are original examples of
cities corrupted by sin. Thus, they are archetypes.
Decadent cities–or cities perceived to be decadent–that
appear later in history or literature are said to be
archetypical sin cities. Hollywood and Las Vegas are
examples.
Explanation of Definition 3: Rivers, sunlight, serpents,
the color red and green, and winter are examples of
primordial things (existing since the beginning of time)
that are archetypes because they always symbolize the same
positive or negative qualities, according to Swiss
psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961). Rivers represent
the passage of time or life; sunlight represents happiness,
a new beginning, glory, truth, goodness, or God; the color
red represents passion, anger, blood, or war; the color
green represents new life, a new beginning, or hope; winter
represents death, dormancy, or atrophy.

Front 27

Arras

Back 27

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 28

Arthurian Romance

Back 28

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

Front 29

Aside

Back 29

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 30

Assonance

Back 30

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.
Asyndeton 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 31

Attica

Back 31

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 32

Aubade [oh BAHD]

Back 32

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 33

Ballad

Back 33

Folk 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.
Ballad, Literary 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 34

Ballade

Back 34

Ballade
Lyric poem of French origin usually made up of three eightline
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 35

Bard

Back 35

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 36

beast fable

Back 36

Story that teaches a lesson or rule of living. The
characters are usually animals that speak and act like
humans. The most famous fables are those attributed to
Aesop, a Greek, Thracian, Phrygian, Babylonian, or Lydian
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storyteller or a group of storytellers who assigned the
name Aesop to a collection of fables popularized in Greece.
Aesop's fables are sometimes referred to as beast fables.

Front 37

Bildungsroman
Coming of Age Novel or
Apprenticeship Novel

Back 37

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 38

Bombast

Back 38

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

Front 39

Breton

Back 39

Breton
Lay 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 40

Burlesque

Back 40

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 41

Caesura

Back 41

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

Front 42

Canon

Back 42

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 43

Canto

Back 43

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

Front 44

Caricature

Back 44

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 45

Carpe Diem

Back 45

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 fun10
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 46

Catalexis

Back 46

The
absence of the unstressed syllable is called catalexis, and
bright and night are called catalectic feet.

Front 47

Catastasis

Back 47

Climax of a stage play.

Front 48

Catastrophe

Back 48

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

Front 49

Catchword

Back 49

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 50

Catharsis

Back 50

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 51

Chalmys

Back 51

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

Front 52

Chantey (SSHAN te;)

Back 52

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
11
hoist a sail. The length of chanteys varied in relation to
the length of the tasks being performed.

Front 53

Character, Flat

Back 53

Character in story who has only one prominent trait, such
as greed or cruelty and who does not learn or change.

Front 54

Character, Round

Back 54

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. The Round Character
learns and changes behavior based upon what is learned.

Front 55

Character, Static

Back 55

Character in a literary work who does not change his or her
outlook in response to events taking place. The Static
Character is also a Flat Character.

Front 56

Chivalric Romance

Back 56

Tale of courtly love. In such tales, knights 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 57

Chiasmus (pronounced ki AZ mis)

Back 57

Words in a second clause or phrase that invert or transpose
the order of the first clause or phrase. Here are examples:
I come from the rural north, from the urban south comes
she.
John is a good worker, and a bright student is Mary.
A fop their passion, but their prize a sot.–Alexander Pope.
Flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike–Samuel Taylor
Coleridge.

Front 58

Chorus (Greek Play)

Back 58

Bystanders in a Greek play who present odes on the action.
A parode (or parados) is a song sung by the chorus when it
enters. A stasimon is a song sung during the play, between
episodes of action. The chorus generally had the following
roles in the plays of Sophocles and other Greek
playwrights: (1) to explain the action, (2) to interpret
the action in relation to the law of the state and the law
of the Olympian gods, (3) to foreshadow the future, (4) to
serve as an actor in the play, (5) too sing and/or dance,and (6) to give the author's views. In some ways, the
chorus is like the narrator of a modern film or like the
background music accompanying the action of the film. In
addition, it is like text on the film screen that provides
background information or identifies the time and place of
the action.

Front 59

Chronicler [KRON ih kler]

Back 59

Recorder of medieval events; historian

Front 60

Chronique Scandaleuse [kron EEK skan duH LOOZ]

Back 60

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

Front 61

Classicism

Back 61

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. A classical writer typically
restrained his emotions and his ego while writing in clear,
dignified language; he also presented stories in carefully
structured plots. Classicism remained a guiding force in
literature down through the ages. Writers in the 15th,
16th and 17th centuries, as well as the first half of the
18th Century, highly esteemed classical ideals. In the mid-
18th Century, writers began to rebel against classical
ideals in what came to be known as the Romantic Movement,
or romanticism, which advocated emotional freedom,
imaginative thinking, and individuality in writing.
However, neither classical nor romantic writing was always
entirely faithfully to its ideals. For example, a classical
writer may have exhibited emotional effusion from time to
time or expressed himself with language less than
dignified; conversely, a romantic writer may have exhibited
emotional restraint and cool objectivity on occasion.
Writers today continue to use many of the principles of
both the classical and romantic schools of writing.

Front 62

Cliché

Back 62

Overused expression. Examples: raining cats and dogs, snug
as a bug in a rug, chills running up and down my spine,
warm as toast, short and sweet. Writers should avoid using
clichés whenever possible.

Front 63

Climax

Back 63

The point in the plot at which the outcome is inevitable,
i.e., the turning point which must lead to the Denouement.
Often, the Climax removes all free-will choices for the
major character or characters.

Front 64

Closet Drama

Back 64

A drama written to be read rather than acted on a stage. An
example is Samson Agonistes, by John Milton, a 1671 tragedy
about the final days of the biblical hero Samson.

Front 65

Comedy (Stage)

Back 65

Play that ends with a “marriage,” sometimes actual,
sometimes symbolic (meaning that oppositions are
satisfactorily and happily resolved). The stage comedies in
ancient and Renaissance times did not always contain humor,
the staple of the modern stage and film comedy, but they
did end with a happy reconciliation. By contrast, a stage
tragedy ends with a “funeral,” either actual or symbolic
(meaning a separation without the happy solution of
opposition).

Front 66

Comedy of Manners

Back 66

Comedy that ridicules the manners (way of life, social
customs, etc.) of the privileged and fashionable segment of
society. An example is Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to
Conquer, in which Goldsmith pokes fun at the English upper
class. The play uses farce (including many mix-ups) to
ridicule the class-consciousness of 18th Century
Englishmen.

Front 67

Concrete Poetry

Back 67

Poetry with lines arranged to resemble a familiar object,
such as a Christmas tree. Concrete poetry is also called
shaped verse.

Front 68

Conflict

Back 68

The struggle in a work of literature. This struggle may be
between one person and another person or between a person
and an animal, an idea or a thing or between a person and
himself or herself (internal conflict). In Shakespeare's
Hamlet, the conflict is manifold. Hamlet struggles against
the villain Claudius, against the unbecoming conduct of his
mother, and against his conscience and indecision.

Front 69

Conte Philosophique

Back 69

Philosophical novel or philosophical story, a genre
Voltaire is credited with inventing. His contes
philosophiques (which include Micromégas and Zadig) are
characterized by a “swift-moving adventure story in which
characterization [counts] for little and the moral (or
sometimes immoral) lesson for much” (Brumfitt, J.H.
Voltaire: Candide. Oxford, England: Oxford University
Press, 1968, Page 9.)

Front 70

Coronach

Back 70

Coronach
Funeral song (dirge) in Scotland and Ireland. In addition
to being sung, it was sometimes played on bagpipes.

Front 71

Cothurni (singular, cothurnus)

Back 71

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

Front 72

Couplet

Back 72

Two successive lines of poetry with end rhyme.

Front 73

Coup de Théâtre (pronounced KOO duh tay AH truh)

Back 73

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

Front 74

Couplet, Heroic

Back 74

Two successive end-rhyming lines in iambic pentameter.
Following is an example:
What dire offence from am'rous causes springs,
What mighty contests rise from trivial things
(Lines 1 and 2, The Rape of the Lock, by Alexander Pope)

Front 75

Dactyl and Datylic

Back 75

Dactyl (Dactylic Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed
.........Three Syllables

Front 76

Dénouement

Back 76

The outcome or resolution of the plot, occurring after the
climax. In a murder mystery, the denouement may outline the
clues that led to the capture of a murderer. In a drama
about family discord, it may depict the reconciliation of
family members after a period of estrangment–or the
permanent dissolution of family ties if the drama reaches a
climax in which the discord worsens.

Front 77

Deus Ex Machina

Back 77

Armlike device in an ancient Greek theater that could lower
a "god" onto the stage from the "heavens." The Greek word
15
for machine, mechane, later gave rise to a pejorative Latin
term, deus ex machina (god from a machine), to describe a
contrived event in a literary work or film. A contrived
event is a plot weakness in which a writer makes up an
incident–such as a detective stumbling upon an important
clue or a hero arriving in the nick of time to save a
damsel in distress–to further the action. The audience
considers such events improbable, realizing that the writer
has failed to develop the plot and the characters in such a
way that their actions spring from their motivations. The
term (pronounced DAY oohs ex MAHK in ah or DE ihs ex MAHK
in uh) is usually used adverbially, as in “The policeman
arrived deus ex machina to overhear the murderer admit his
guilt to his hostage. However, it can also refer to a
character who becomes the "god from the machine."

Front 78

Deuteragonist

Back 78

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

Front 79

Dialogue

Back 79

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 80

Diction

Back 80

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 81

Didactic

Back 81

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

Front 82

Dimeter

Back 82

Two Feet

Front 83

Dionysia, Greater

Back 83

The
most prestigious of these festivals was the Greater
Dionysia, held in Athens for five days and participated in
by playwrights such as Sophocles, Aeschylus, Aristophanes,
and Euripides.

Front 84

Rural Dionysia.

Back 84

Festivals held in villages and small towns
were called the Rural Dionysia.

Front 85

Dionysus

Back 85

Patron god of Greek drama; god of wine and vegetation.
Dionysus, called Bacchus by the Romans, was the son of Zeus
and one of the most important of the Greek gods. Dionysus
16
died each winter and was reborn each spring, a cycle his
Greek devotees identified with the death and rebirth of
nature. He thus symbolized renewal and rejuvenation, and
each spring the Greeks celebrated his resurrection with
ceremonies that eventually included drama contests. The
most prestigious of these festivals was the Greater
Dionysia, held in Athens for five days and participated in
by playwrights such as Sophocles, Aeschylus, Aristophanes,
and Euripides. Festivals held in villages and small towns
were called the Rural Dionysia.

Front 86

Dithyramb

Back 86

In the drama of ancient Greece, a choral hymn that praised
Dionysus, god of wine and revelry, and sometimes told a
story. In his great work, Poetics, Aristotle wrote that
dithyrambs inspired the development of Greek tragic plays,
such as those of Sophocles. The first "play" supposedly
took place in the 6th Century B.C. when Thespis, a member
of a chorus, took the part of a character in a dithyramb.
The action shifted back and forth between him and the
chorus. See also Thespian.

Front 87

Doggerel

Back 87

Trivial or bad poetry.

Front 88

Domesday Book [DOOMS day book]

Back 88

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 89

Doppelgänger(pronounced DOP l gayng er)

Back 89

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 90

Drama

Back 90

Drama
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 91

Dramatic Irony

Back 91

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,
17
when Oedipus fails to realize what the audience knows–that
he married his own mother.

Front 92

Dramatic Monologue

Back 92

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. Only the
speaker, talks–hence the term monologue, meaning "single
(mono) discourse (logue)." During his discourse, the
speaker intentionally and unintentionally reveals
information about himself. The main focus of a dramatic
monologue is this personal information, not the speaker's
topic. A dramatic monologue is a type of character study.
Perhaps the most famous dramatic monologue in English
literature is Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess."

Front 93

Dramatis Personae [druh-mah-tiss pur-soh-nay]

Back 93

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 94

Dumb Show

Back 94

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

Front 95

Edition and Issue

Back 95

Edition and Issue
Terms describing published versions of newspapers and
magazines. A newspaper printed on a specific date, such as
August 22, is an issue. However, the August 22 issue of the
newspaper may go through several printings: one at 6 a.m.,
for example, and one at 2 p.m. and one at 10 p.m. The 2
p.m. version would update or revise news in the 6 a.m.
version--or add new stories; the 10 p.m. version would
update or revise news in the 2 p.m. version--or add new
stories. The newspapers printed at 6 a.m., 2 p.m., and 10
p.m. would all be editions of the August 22 issue.

Front 96

Egoism, Rational

Back 96

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. His great contemporary,
Fyodor Mikhailovitch Dostoevsky (1821-1881), attacked
rational egoism in his novel Notes From the Underground.
There are two types of rational egoism, which are as
follows:

Front 97

Psychological Egoism:

Back 97

Belief that a person’s nature, or
biological makeup, will always cause him to act in his own
self-interest. In other words, a person has no free will;
he will always end up choosing what he perceives is best
for him. Suppose, for example, that two persons each have a
toothache and a fear of dentists. After reviewing the
alternatives, the first person decides to go to the dentist
to have the tooth extracted because he perceives that the
latter course will cause him less pain and distress in the
long run. The second person, after reviewing the
alternatives, decides to pull the tooth himself because he
perceives that this course of action—despite the pain and
greater risk of complications that self-treatment poses—
will cause him less mental trauma than a dentist’s
treatment. In both cases, there is no real "decision." What
the persons do is dictated by their genetic makeup and
other determining factors, according to proponents of this
theory.

Front 98

Normative Egoism:

Back 98

Belief that a person will act in his own
best interests if he first thoroughly educates himself
about the choices available. In this type of egoism, the
second person in the example above would presumably decide
to go to a dentist because, after educating himself about
both alternatives, he would realize that professional
treatment is more likely to produce a positive outcome.
The rational egoists Dostoevsky criticizes—most notably
Chernyshevsky—maintained that one always acted in his own
self-interest, as in psychological egoism, but also ought
to investigate the available alternatives or options in
order to make the most informed choice. However, there is a
conflict here. On the one hand, psychological egoism
presumes that a person has no free will. On the other hand,
normative egoism implies that a person has at least a
modicum of free will and, after educating himself, acts
with "enlightened self-interest." Nevertheless,
Chernyshevsky believed that a person had no free will
regardless of how he went about making his choice.

Front 99

Elegy

Back 99

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 100

Elizabethan

Back 100

Pertaining to the time when Elizabeth I reigned as queen of
England. Elizabeth, born in 1533, reigned from 1558 until
her death in 1603. Elizabethan may be used to describe the
literature of the period (for example, Elizabethan poems
19
and Elizabethan plays) or anything else associated with the
age (such as Elizabethan costumes, Elizabethan customs,
Elizabethan music, and so on).

Front 101

Encomium (Plural: Encomia)

Back 101

(1) 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 102

Enjambment

Back 102

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):
That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.

Front 103

Enter

Back 103

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

Front 104

Epic

Back 104

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

Front 105

Epic Conventions

Back 105

Literary practices, rules, or devices that became
commonplace in epic poetry. Among the classical conventions
Milton used are the following:
.......(1) The invocation of the muse, in which a writer
requests divine help in composing his work.
.......(2) Telling a story with which readers or listeners
are already familiar; they know the characters, the plot,
and the outcome. Most of the great writers of the ancient
world–as well as many great writers in later times,
including Shakespeare–frequently told stories already known
to the public. Thus, in such stories, there were no
unexpected plot twists, no surprise endings. If this sounds
strange to you, the modern reader and theatergoer, consider
that many of the most popular motion pictures today are
about stories already known to the public. Examples are ThePassion of the Christ, Titanic, The Ten Commandments, Troy,
Spartacus, Pearl Harbor, and Gettysburg........(3) Beginning the story in the middle, a literary
convention known by its Latin term in media res (in the
middle of things). Such a convention allows a writer to
begin his story at an exciting part, then flash back to
fill the reader in on details leading up to that exciting
part.
.......(4) Announcing or introducing a list of characters
who play a major role in the story. They may speak at some
length about how to resolve a problem (as the followers of
Satan do early in Paradise Lost).
.......(5) Conflict in the celestial realm. Divine beings
fight and scheme against one another in the epics of Homer
and Vergil, and they do so in Paradise Lost on a grand
scale, with Satan and his forces opposing God and his
forces.
.......(6) Use of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is a
figure of speech in which a character in a story fails to
see or understand what is obvious to the audience. Dramatic
irony appears frequently in the plays of the ancient
Greeks. For example, in Oedipux Rex, by Sophocles, dramatic
irony occurs when Oedipus fails to realize what the
audience knows–that he married his own mother. In Paradise
Lost, dramatic irony occurs when Adam and Eve happily go
about daily life in the Garden of Eden unaware that they
will succumb to the devil's temptation and suffer the loss
of Paradise. Dramatic irony also occurs when Satan and his
followers fail to understand that it is impossible
ultimately to thwart or circumvent divine will and justice.

Front 106

Epicedium

Back 106

Funeral hymn or ode; dirge

Front 107

Epigram

Back 107

Wise or witty saying expressing a universal truth in a few
words. Following are examples of epigrams from Shakespeare:
There's small choice in rotten apples.–The Taming of the
Shrew: Act I, Scene I.
A goodly apple rotten at the heart, O, what a goodly
outside falsehood hath!–The Merchant of Venice: Act I,
Scene III.
They are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that
starve with nothing.–The Merchant of Venice: Act I, Scene
II.
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a
good deed in a naughty world.–The Merchant of Venice: Act
V, Scene I.Every cloud engenders not a storm.–Henry VI, Part III: Act
V, Scene III.
Words pay no debts.–Troilus and Cressida: Act III, Scene
II.
O! it is excellent to have a giant's strength, but it is
tyrannous to use it like a giant.–Measure for Measure: Act
II, Scene II.

Front 108

Epigraph

Back 108

(1) 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 109

Epilogue

Back 109

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 110

Epinicion (Plural: Epinicia)

Back 110

In ancient Greece, a choral ode celebrating an athletic
victory. For additional information, click here.

Front 111

Episode

Back 111

Scene or incident in a literary work.

Front 112

Epistle

Back 112

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

Front 113

Epistolary Novel

Back 113

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.
Epitaph
Inscription on a tomb or a written work praisi

Front 114

Epitaph

Back 114

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

Front 115

Epitasis

Back 115

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

Front 116

Epithalamion (or Epithalamium, Epithalamy) [eppi-tha-la-
MEE-um]

Back 116

Poem or song honoring the bride and groom on the day of
their wedding. The term is derived from Greek words
referring to the bedroom of a woman. In ancient times, an
epithalamion was performed in front of the bridal chamber.
However, epithalamion can also refer to a song performed
during the wedding ceremony. Surviving fragments of the
Greek poetess Saphho (610-580 B.C.) indicate that she wrote
wedding songs called epithalamia. In Rome, the great lyric
poet Catullus (84-54 B.C.) wrote epithalamions. In the
Renaissance, English poets such as John Donne, Sir Philip
Sydney, Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, and Richard Crashaw
wrote epithalamions. Many critics believe Edmund Spenser's
"Epithalamion"–written in 1595 on the occasion of his
second marriage–is the greatest English poem in this genre.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) wrote a famous
epithalamion, which used as its title the Latin word for
the term–epithalamium.

Front 117

Epithet

Back 117

One of the hallmarks of the style of the Greek epic poet
Homer is the epithet, 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, such as the following: fleet-footed
Achilles, rosy-fingered dawn, wine-dark sea, earth-shaking
Poseidon, and gray-eyed Athena. The Homeric epithet is an
ancient relative of such later epithets as Richard the
Lion-Hearted, Ivan the Terrible, and America the Beautiful.
Homer repeated his epithets often, presumably so the
listeners of his recited tales could easily remember and
picture the person or thing each time it was mentioned. In
this respect, the Homeric epithet resembles the leitmotiv
of opera composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883). The leitmotiv
was a repeated musical theme associated with a character, a
group of characters, an emotion, or an idea.

Front 118

Epitome

Back 118

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

Front 119

Esprit d'escalier (es PRE duh SKAL yay)

Back 119

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 120

Essay

Back 120

Short, nonfiction composition on a single topic. The
typical essay contains 500 to 5,000 words, although some
essays may contain only 300 words and others 10,000 or more
words. Examples of essays are newspaper or magazine
articles that inform readers about current events,
newspaper or magazine editorials that argue for or against
a point of view, movie reviews, research papers,
encyclopedia articles, articles in medical journals, and
articles in travel magazines. There are four types of
essays: those that inform the reader without taking a
position; those that argue for or against a point of view;
those that describe a person, place, thing, or idea; and
those that tell a true story. Essays often require
extensive research to support claims made by the writer of
the essay.

Front 121

Eulogy

Back 121

Speech 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.
Euphemism 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 122

Euphuism

Back 122

Ornate, high-flown style of speaking or writing.

Front 123

Excursion

Back 123

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 124

Exemplum

Back 124

Short narrative in verse or prose that teaches a moral
lesson or reinforces a doctrine or religious belief.
24
Exeunt..[EX e unt] Stage direction in a play manuscript
indicating the departure of two or more characters from the
stage.

Front 125

Exeunt Omnes..[EX e unt AHM-nez]

Back 125

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

Front 126

Exit

Back 126

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

Front 127

Exodos (EX uh doss)

Back 127

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

Front 128

Expressionism

Back 128

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. A writer, in effect, presents his
interpretation of what he sees. Often, the depiction is a
grotesque distortion or phantasmagoric representation of
reality, for the character or writer must reshape the
objective image into his mind's image. However, there is
logic to this approach for these reasons: (1) Not everybody
perceives the world in the same way. What one person may
see as beautiful or good another person may see as ugly or
bad. Sometimes a writer or his character suffers from a
mental debility, such as depression or paranoia, which
alters his perception of reality. Expressionism enables the
writer to present this altered perception. An example of a
character who sees reality through his mind's eye is Joseph
K., the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial.

Front 129

Exposition

Back 129

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 130

Fable

Back 130

Fable
Story that teaches a lesson or rule of living. The
characters are usually animals that speak and act like
humans. The most famous fables are those attributed to
Aesop, a Greek, Thracian, Phrygian, Babylonian, or Lydianstoryteller or a group of storytellers who assigned the
name Aesop to a collection of fables popularized in Greece.
Aesop's fables are sometimes referred to as beast fables.

Front 131

Fabliau

Back 131

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.
The fabliau uses satire and cynicism, along with vulgar
comedy, to mock one or several of its characters. Not
infrequently, the ridiculed character is a jealous husband,
a wayward wife, a braggart, a lover, a proud or greedy
tradesman, a doltish peasant, or a lustful or greedy
clergyman. Plot development often depends on a prank, a
pun, a mistaken identity, or an incident involving the
characters in intrigue. The fabliau was popular in France
from 1100 to 1300, then went out of fashion. Chaucer
revived the format in The Canterbury Tales to write “The
Miller’s Tale,” “The Reeve’s Tale,” “The Cook’s Tale,” “The
Shipman’s Tale,” and The Summoner’s Tale.” Not entirely
clear is whether the fabliau was a pastime of the upper
classes as a means to ridicule their social inferiors or of
the middle and lower classes as a means to poke fun at
themselves.

Front 132

Fair Copy

Back 132

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

Front 133

Farce

Back 133

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 134

Figure of Speech

Back 134

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:
The leaves blew across the lawn. (Literal language)The leaves danced across the lawn. (Figurative language)
Notice that the second sentence presents a figure to the
mind of the reader: The leaves are dancing as if they were
people. Obviously, the writer does not mean that the leaves
literally danced. However, they “figuratively” danced. Now
consider the following additional examples:
Mr. Piper harvested a bushel of green vegetables. (Literal
language)
Peter Piper picked four pecks of peppers. (Figurative
language)
The repetition of the "p" in the second sentence is
considered a figure of speech because it presents a sound
to the mind. This glossary contains definitions of various
figures of speech. The most common figures of speech are
Alliteration, Irony, Metaphor, Metonymy, Onomatopoeia,
Oxymoron, Paradox, Personification, Simile, and Synecdoche.

Front 135

Flashback

Back 135

Device in which a writer describes significant events of an
earlier time or actually returns the plot to an earlier
time. Flashback enables the author to inform the reader of
significant happenings that influence later action.
Vehicles that writers use to return to earlier times
include dreams, memories, and stories told by the narrator
or a character.

Front 136

Flourish

Back 136

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 137

Foil

Back 137

(1) 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. A foil sometimes resembles his or her
contrasting character in many respects, such as age, dress,
social class, and educational background. But he or she is
different in other respects, including personality, moral
outlook, and decisiveness. In Sophocles’ play Antigone,
Ismene is a foil of Antigone, her sister. Ismene is
easygoing, soft-spoken, and willing to keep her place.
Antigone, on the other hand, is headstrong, outspoken, and
unwilling to keep her place. Creon is also a foil of
Antigone, and Antigone is a foil of Creon. Creon represents
government law and male dominance; Antigone represents themoral law and female rights. They clash. In so doing, one
foil sets off the other. Their quarreling helps to reveal
their personality traits.

Front 138

Folio

Back 138

A folio is a sheet of printing paper folded once to form
four separate pages for printing a book. To better
visualize a folio, hold before you a standard sheet of
typing paper and fold it as you would a letter. You now
have a rectangular piece of paper. Hold it so it opens from
right to left. What you are looking at is Page 1. Now turn
the flap from right to left to open the rectangle. You are
now looking at Pages 2 and 3 separated by a crease. When
you close the right flap over the left, you will be looking
at Page 4. A folio was considerably larger than a quarto.In
1623, friends and admirers of Shakespeare compiled a
reasonably authentic collection of 36 of Shakespeare's
plays in a folio edition of more than 900 pages that was
entitled Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories &
Tragedies. The printer and publisher was William Jaggard,
assisted by his son Isaac. This edition became known as The
First Folio. Because of the authenticity of this
collection, later publishers used it to print copies of the
plays. Other folios were printed in 1632, 1663 and 1685. In
1664, a second printing of the 1663 folio included the
first publication of Pericles, Prince of Athens.

Front 139

Folklore

Back 139

Stories, songs, and sayings transmitted by memory (that is,
orally) rather than by books or other printed documents,
from one generation to the next. Folklore thrives
independently of polished, sophisticated literature in the
form of ballads, fairytales, superstitions, riddles,
legends, fables, plays, nursery rhymes, and proverbs.
Englishman William Thoms invented the term folklore in
1846. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, German scholars who studied
folklore in the early 1800's, compiled many tales based on
their research, including the stories of Briar-Rose
(Sleeping Beauty) and Rumpelstiltskin.

Front 140

Fool

Back 140

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. He was allowed to–and
even expected to–criticize anyone at court. Many fools were
dwarfs or cripples, their odd appearance enhancing their
appeal and, according to prevailing beliefs, bringing good
luck to the court. Actors William Kempe and Richard Armin
28
became London celebrities for their performances as fools
in Shakespeare's plays. Armin wrote a book about fools
entitled Foole Upon Foole; or Six Sortes of Sottes.Egypt's
pharaohs were the first rulers to use fools, notably
Pygmies from African territories to the south.

Front 141

foot (meter)

Back 141

Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a
unit called a foot.

Front 142

Foreshadowing

Back 142

Device a writer uses to hint at a future course of action.
The words “a heart trouble” in the first line of “The Story
of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, refer to a condition of the
main character, Mrs. Mallard, and foreshadow the story's
ironic ending, in which Mrs. Mallard dies from shock when
her husband–whom she thought dead–walks through the front
door. Because of foreshadowing in the opening paragraph of
the story, the ending becomes believable. Shirley Jackson
also uses foreshadowing in the second paragraph of her
outstanding short story “The Lottery” in the following
sentence: Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full
of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example,
selecting the smoothest and roundest stones. . . . This
sentence foreshadows the stoning scene at the end of the
story. Another example of foreshadowing occurs in the
prologue of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. An actor called
“the chorus” recites a sonnet in which he describes the
bitter hatred separating the Montagues and Capulets and
identifies Romeo and Juliet as lovers who had the
misfortune to be born into warring families: “From forth
the fatal loins of these two foes [the Montagues and the
Capulets] / A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life"
(Lines 5-6). Take their life appears to have a doublemeaning:
first, that they come into existence; second, in aa
foreshadowing of events to come, that they go out of
existence by taking their own lives.

Front 143

Foul Papers

Back 143

In Shakespeare's time, the original manuscript of a
playwright which was later edited.

Front 144

Frame Tale

Back 144

Story with a plot structure in which an author uses two or
more narrators to present the action. The first narrator
sets the scene and reports to the reader the details of a
story told by a character. (In some frame tales, the first
narrator reports the details of several stories told by
several narrators.) In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Captain
Robert Walton–a minor character–is the first narrator. He
29
sets the scene and listens to the story told by Victor
Frankenstein, the main character. All of the information
Walton reports to the reader is in the form of letters
written to his sister. Thus, Frankenstein is a frame tale
in that it is like a framed painting: Walton's story is the
frame, and Frankenstein's story is the painting. Some frame
tales–such as Chaucer's “Canterbury Tales” and Boccaccio's
“The Decameron”–have several narrators telling stories
"inside the frame." One famous frame tale–the “Arabian
Nights” (also called “The Thousand and One Nights”)–has
only one narrator, a sultan's bride named Scheherazade, who
tells many tales "inside the frame," including the wellknown
stories of Sindbad the Sailor, Aladdin and his magic
lamp, and Ali Baba and his magical command "Open sesame!

Front 145

Free Verse

Back 145

Form of poetry that ignores standard rules of meter in
favor of the rhythms of ordinary conversation. In effect,
free verse liberates poetry from conformity to rigid
metrical rules that dictate stress patterns and the number
of syllables per line. French poets originated free verse
(or vers libre) in the 1880s, but earlier poems of American
poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and other writers exhibited
characteristics of free verse. Although free verse
generally contains no metrical patterns it may contain
other types of patterns. For examples, see "When Lilacs
Last in the Door-Yard Bloom'd."

Front 146

Gasconade

Back 146

Excessive boasting; incessant bragging. Perhaps the most
famous braggart in all of literature is Sir John Falstaff,
the rotund knight (Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II) who
is brave in words but timid in deeds.

Front 147

Genre

Back 147

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

Front 148

Gleeman

Back 148

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 149

Gnomic (NO mik)

Back 149

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

Front 150

Goliard (GAWL yerd)

Back 150

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

Front 151

Gothic Fiction

Back 151

Literary genre focusing on dark, mysterious, terrifying
events. The story unfolds at one or more spooky sites, such
as a dimly lit castle, an old mansion on a hilltop, a misty
cemetery, a forlorn countryside, or the laboratory of a
scientist conducting frightful experiments. In some Gothic
novels and short stories, characters imagine that they see
ghosts and monsters. In others, the ghosts and monsters are
real. The weather in a Gothic story is often dreary or
foul: There may be high winds that rattle windowpanes,
electrical storms with lightning strikes, and gray skies
that brood over landscapes. The Gothic genre derives its
name from the Gothic architectural style popular in Europe
between the 12th and 16th centuries. Gothic structures–such
as cathedrals–featured cavernous interiors with deep
shadows, stone walls that echoed the footsteps of
worshippers, gargoyles looming on exterior ledges, and
soaring spires suggestive of a supernatural presence. See
also Southern Gothic.

Front 152

Hagiography

Back 152

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

Front 153

Hamartia

Back 153

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 154

Hautboys [OH bwah]

Back 154

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

Front 155

heptameter

Back 155

seven feet

Front 156

Heroic Couplet

Back 156

Unit of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter. Following
is an example:What dire offence from am'rous causes springs,
What mighty contests rise from trivial things
(Lines 1 and 2, The Rape of the Lock, by Alexander Pope)

Front 157

hexameter

Back 157

six feet

Front 158

High Comedy

Back 158

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. See
also Low Comedy.

Front 159

Homily

Back 159

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

Front 160

Hubris or Hybris

Back 160

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

Front 161

Huitain

Back 161

Eight-line stanza (French).

Front 162

Hyperbole

Back 162

Exaggeration; overstatement. Examples: (1) He [Julius
Caesar] doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, and
we petty men walk under his...huge legs.–Shakespeare.
(Caesar has become a giant.) (2) Ten thousand oceans cannot
wash away my guilt. (3) Oscar has the appetite of a
starving lion.

Front 163

Idyll

Back 163

Poem focusing on the simplicity and tranquillity of rural
life; prose work with a similar focus. Idyll is derived
from the Greek eidýllion (little picture or image). The
Greek poet Theocritus (300-260 B.C.) developed this genre.

Front 164

Iamb and Iambic

Back 164

.......A foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by
a stressed syllable (as above) is called an iamb

Front 165

Induction

Back 165

In a Shakespeare play, an introductory event that precedes
Act 1. For additional information, see The Taming of the
Shrew.

Front 166

In Medias Res

Back 166

Latin phrase for “in the middle of things,” meaning that a
story begins in the middle of the plot, usually at an
exciting part. The writer of the story later uses flashback
to inform the reader of preceding events. The Greek poet
Homer originated this technique in his two great epics,
“The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.”

Front 167

Internal Conflict

Back 167

between a person and
himself or herself

Front 168

Inversion

Back 168

Anastrophe (uh NAS truh fe)
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 169

Invocation of the Muse

Back 169

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. This request appeared in the opening
lines of their poems. In Greek mythology are nine muses,
all sisters, who were believed to inspire not only poets
but also historians, flutists, dancers, singers,
astronomers, philosophers, and other thinkers and artists.
If one wanted to write a great poem, play a musical
instrument with bravado, or develop a grand scientific or
philosophical theory, he would ask for help from a muse by
“invoking the muse.” The muse of epic poetry was named
Calliope [kuh LY uh pe].

Front 170

Ipse Dixit

Back 170

Dogmatic or arbitrary statement made without supporting
evidence. This Latin term means He said [it] himself.

Front 171

Irony

Back 171

(1) 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. Examples: (1) "What a beautiful day,"
Maxine said, opening her umbrella. (2) In the movie,
“Planet of the Apes,” an astronaut who lands on another
planet where intelligent apes rule discovers a startling
irony at the end of the movie: When looking over a vast
wasteland, he sees the head of the Statue of Liberty and
realizes he was on earth all the time. Apparently, a
nuclear war had destroyed humankind while he was timetraveling.
While in his Einsteinian time warp, the apeshad evolved to an almost human level. (3) In “Oedipus Rex,”
by Sophocles, Oedipus is unaware that he has married his
own mother even though the audience is well aware of the
incestuous union.

Front 172

Jargon

Back 172

Vocabulary understood by members of a profession or trade
but usually not by other members of the general public.
Cerebrovascular accident is medical jargon for stroke; perp
is police jargon for perpetrator, a person who commits a
crime. Jargon can also refer to writing or speech that
makes no sense–gibberish.

Front 173

Jeu d'esprit (Pronounce the eu like the oo in wood;
pronounce esprit as uh SPREE)

Back 173

Witty writing; clever wording; jest; pun, ingenious turn of
phrase. A literary work with jeu d'esprit is quick-witted
but not necessarily profound. The literal English
translation of this French term is play of the spirit or
play of intelligence.

Front 174

Jeu de mots (Pronounce the eu like the oo in wood;
pronounce de as duh; pronounce mots as moh)

Back 174

Pun; play on words.

Front 175

Jongleur

Back 175

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

Front 176

Kenning

Back 176

Compound expression, often hyphenated, representing a
single noun. For example, the Old English epic Beowulf uses
the two-word term whale-road to refer to the sea or ocean.
Other examples of kennings include devil's helper for
sinner and widow-maker for gun.

Front 177

Laurel Wreath

Back 177

Wreath woven of the large, glossy leaves of the laurel
tree. It was customary in ancient Greece to crown a
champion Olympic athlete, poet, or orator with a laurel
wreath for outstanding achievement. Over the years, other
nations and cultures adopted this custom. Today, the phrase
to win one's laurels is often used figuratively to indicate
that an athlete, scholar, or stage performer has earned
distinction in his or her field.

Front 178

Lay

Back 178

Lay
Medieval narrative poem, written in couplets, for singing
by a minstrel to the accompaniment. A lay had eight
syllables in each line.

Front 179

Leitmotiv

Back 179

Recurring theme in a literary work; motif, epithet, The leitmotiv
was a repeated musical theme associated with a character, a
group of characters, an emotion, or an idea.

Front 180

Lexis

Back 180

The complete vocabulary of a language or a field of study.

Front 181

Litotes

Back 181

Creation of a positive or opposite idea through negation.
Examples: (1) I am not unaware of your predicament. (2)
This is no small problem. (3) I'm not forgetful that you
served me well.–John Milton.

Front 182

Low Comedy

Back 182

Comedy that relies on slapstick and horseplay. It often
focuses on the everyday life of lower classes. Low comedy
is generally physical rather than verbal. See also High
Comedy

Front 183

Lyric Poetry

Back 183

(1) Poetry that presents the deep feelings and emotions of
the poet as opposed to poetry that tells a story or
presents a witty observation. Sonnets, odes, and elegies
are examples of lyric poems. William Wordsworth, John
Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Blake are among
the writers of lyric poetry. Shakespeare's sonnets are
lyric poems, although his verse plays are not; they tell a
story. Lyric poetry often has a pleasing musical quality.
(2) Poetry that can be set to music. The word lyric derives
from the Greek word for lyre, a stringed instrument in use
since ancient times.

Front 184

Macrocosm

Back 184

The world as a whole; the universe. See also Microcosm.

Front 185

Magnum Opus

Back 185

Great work; masterpiece; an author's most distinguished
work. Latin: magnum, great; opus, work.

Front 186

Malapropism

Back 186

Unintentional use of an inappropriate word similar in sound
to the appropriate word, often with humorous effect. The
word derives from the name Mrs. Malaprop, a character in
“The Rivals,” a 1775 play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.Sheridan invented her name from the French words mal à
propos, loosely translated as badly chosen, not right for
the occasion, or not appropriate. Mrs. Malaprop has the
habit of using near-miss words. For example, she observes
that she does not have much affluence over her niece and
refers to contiguous countries as contagious countries.
However, almost two centuries before Sheridan presented a
character who mixed up words in this way, Shakespeare
introduced characters who did so–most notably Dogberry in
“Much Ado About Nothing.” Examples of Dogberry's
malapropisms are the following:
Comparisons are odorous. (odious)
Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious
persons." (apprehended, suspicious)
O villain! thou wilt be condemned into everlasting
redemption for this. (perdition)

Front 187

Mask

Back 187

In the drama of ancient Greece, a face covering with
exaggerated features and a mouth device to project the
voice. Actors wore masks to reveal emotion or personality;
to depict the trade, social class or age of a character;
and to provide visual and audio aids for audience members
in the rear of the theater.

Front 188

Master of Revels

Back 188

In Shakespeare's time, a government censor who examined all
plays for offensive material.

Front 189

Melodrama

Back 189

Literary work or film that uses maudlin sentimentality and
stereotypical characters.

Front 190

Memoir

Back 190

Type of autobiography in which the writer focuses primarily
on the people (often famous personages) with whom he or she
came into contact.

Front 191

Metaphor

Back 191

Comparing one thing to an unlike thing without using like,
as or than. Examples: (1) The iron tongue of midnight hath
told twelve.–Shakespeare. (The striker or clapper of the
bell is being compared to the tongue of a speaking human
being.) (2) The sea being smooth, how many shallow bauble
boats dare sail upon her patient breast .–Shakespeare. (The
sea is being compared to a woman with a "patient breast.")
(3) I am a man whom Fortune hath cruelly scratched.–
Shakespeare. (Fortune is being compared to an entity thatcan be cruel.) (4) In battle, the soldier is a tiger. (5)
Michael Casey's face is a map of Ireland.

Front 192

Metaphysical Poetry

Back 192

Highly intellectualized poetry written chiefly in 17thcentury
England. Less concerned with expressing feeling
than with analyzing it, Metaphysical poetry is marked by
bold and ingenious conceits (e.g., metaphors drawing
sometimes forced parallels between apparently dissimilar
ideas or things), complex and subtle thought, frequent use
of paradox, and a dramatic directness of language, the
rhythm of which derives from living speech. John Donne was
the leading Metaphysical poet; others include George
Herbert, Henry Vaughan, Andrew Marvell, and Abraham Cowley.

Front 193

Meter

Back 193

In verse and poetry, meter is a recurring pattern of
stressed (accented, or long) and unstressed (unaccented, or
short) syllables in lines of a set length. For example,
suppose a line contains ten syllables (set length) in which
the first syllable is unstressed, the second is stressed,
the third is unstressed, the fourth is stressed, and so on
until the line reaches the tenth syllable. The line would
look like the following one (the opening line of
Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18") containing a pattern of
unstressed and stressed syllables. The unstressed syllables
are in blue and the stressed syllables in red.
Shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer’s DAY?
Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a
unit called a foot. The line contains five feet in all, as
shown next:
.....1..............2...............3.............4........
.......5
Shall I..|..comPARE..|..thee TO..|..a SUM..|..mer’s DAY?
.......A foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by
a stressed syllable (as above) is called an iamb. Because
there are five feet in the line, all iambic, the meter of
the line is iambic pentameter. The prefix pent in
pentameter means five (Greek: penta, five). Pent is joined
to words or word roots to form new words indicating five.
For example, the Pentagon in Washington has five sides, the
Pentateuch of the Bible consists of five books, and a
pentathlon in a sports event has five events. Thus, poetry
lines with five feet are in pentameter.
.......Some feet in verse and poetry have different stress
patterns. For example, one type of foot consists of two
unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one. Anothertype consists of a stressed one followed by an unstressed
one. In all, there are five types of feet:
.
...Iamb (Iambic) Unstressed + Stressed .........Two
Syllables
...Trochee (Trochaic) Stressed + Unstressed
.........Two Syllables
...Spondee (Spondaic) Stressed + Stressed .........Two
Syllables
...Anapest (Anapestic) Unstressed + Unstressed + Stressed
.........Three Syllables
...Dactyl (Dactylic Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed
.........Three Syllables
.
The length of lines–and thus the meter–can also vary.
Following are the types of meter and the line length:
.
..Monometer One Foot
..Dimeter Two Feet
..Trimeter Three Feet
..Tetrameter Four Feet
..Pentameter Five Feet
..Hexameter Six Feet
..Heptameter Seven Feet
..Octameter Eight Feet
.
.......Meter is determined by the type of foot and the
number of feet in a line. Thus, a line with three iambic
feet is known as iambic trimeter. A line with six dactylic
feet is known as dactylic hexameter. Consider now the
following two lines from William Blake’s poem “The Tyger”:
Tyger Tyger burning bright
In the forests of the night
These lines contain trochaic feet–stressed + unstressed, as
in TYger and BURNing–but the final foot of each line is
incomplete, containing only a stressed syllable. The
absence of the unstressed syllable is called catalexis, and
bright and night are called catalectic feet. The meter of
these lines is trochaic tetrameter–tetrameter because they
each contain three complete feet and one incomplete foot,
for a total of four feet.
Metonymy
Substitution of a word or phrase to stand for a word or
phrase similar in meaning. Examples: (1) In Shakespeare's
time, the crown was anti-Catholic. ("Crown" stands for
Queen Elizabeth I.) (2) The White House was severely..Heptameter Seven Feet
..Octameter Eight Feet
.
.......Meter is determined by the type of foot and the
number of feet in a line. Thus, a line with three iambic
feet is known as iambic trimeter. A line with six dactylic
feet is known as dactylic hexameter. Consider now the
following two lines from William Blake’s poem “The Tyger”:
Tyger Tyger burning bright
In the forests of the night
These lines contain trochaic feet–stressed + unstressed, as
in TYger and BURNing–but the final foot of each line is
incomplete, containing only a stressed syllable. The
absence of the unstressed syllable is called catalexis, and
bright and night are called catalectic feet. The meter of
these lines is trochaic tetrameter–tetrameter because they
each contain three complete feet and one incomplete foot,
for a total of four feet.

Front 194

Metonymy

Back 194

Substitution of a word or phrase to stand for a word or
phrase similar in meaning. Examples: (1) In Shakespeare's
time, the crown was anti-Catholic. ("Crown" stands for
Queen Elizabeth I.) (2) The White House was severely
38
criticized for its opposition to the tax increase. ("White
House" stands for the president or the president and his
advisers.) (3) Wall Street welcomes the reduction in
interest rates. ("Wall Street" represents investors.) (4)
Sweat, not wealth, earned her the respect of her peers.("Sweat" stands for hard work.)

Front 195

Microcosm

Back 195

A tiny world within the macrocosm. Often a microcosm
represents ideas and activities present in the macrocosm.
In Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick, the whaling ship The
Pequod is a microcosm. In William Golding's novel The Lord
of the Flies, the island on which children take on the
negative characteristics of adults in the world at large is
a microcosm. In Shirley Jackson's short story “The
Lottery,” the village is a microcosm representing backward
ideas in the world at large, or macrocosm. In the movie,
“Titanic,” the ship is a microcosm carrying the same kind
of people–heroes and cowards, saints and sinners–present in
the macrocosm.

Front 196

Minstrel

Back 196

Roving medieval musician who sang and recited poetry.

Front 197

Mise en Scène [meez on sen]

Back 197

In a stage play, the stage set (including the walls,
furniture, etc.) and the arrangement of the actors; the
process of arranging the set and the actors.

Front 198

Motif

Back 198

Recurring theme in a literary work; recurring theme in
literature in general. Maltreatment of women is a motif
that appears in “Hills Like White Elephants,” a short story
by Ernest Hemingway; “The Story of an Hour,” a short story
by Kate Chopin; and “The Chrysanthemums,” a short story by
John Steinbeck. The love of money as the root of evil is a
motif that occurs in many works of literature. See also
Epithet.

Front 199

Mock-Epic

Back 199

Work that parodies the serious, elevated style of the
classical epic poem–such as “The Iliad” or “The Odyssey,”
by Homer–to poke fun at human follies. Thus, a mock-epic is
a type of satire; it treats petty humans or insignificant
occurrences as if they were extraordinary or heroic, like the great heroes and events of Homer's epics. Alexander
Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" is generally considered the
finest example of the mock-epic in the English language.

Front 200

Morality Play

Back 200

Allegorical drama of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
that teaches a lesson about how Christians should live and
what they must do to save their souls. A morality play is,
in effect, a sermon that is acted out. The characters of a
typical morality play include personifications of virtues
(such as hope and charity), vices (such as pride and
sloth), or other qualities, as well as personifications of
objects (such as money) or activities (such as death or
fellowship). In addition, God and angels may appear as
characters. Everyman is generally considered the finest
work of this type.

Front 201

Motivation

Back 201

Reason or reasons behind a character's action; what induces
a character to do what he does; motives. In Shakespeare's
“Romeo and Juliet,” love motivates the title characters. In
Shakespeare's “Macbeth,” ambition (lust for power)
motivates the title character and his wife to murder the
king.

Front 202

Narrator

Back 202

One who tells a story.

Front 203

Naturalism

Back 203

In literature, an extreme form of realism that developed in
France in the 19th Century, inspired in part by the
scientific determinism of Charles Darwin, an Englishman,
and the economic determinism of Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels, both Germans. Four Frenchmen–Hippolyte Taine,
Edmond and Jules Goncourt, and Emile Zola–applied the
principles of scientific and economic determinism to
literature to create literary naturalism. According to its
followers, literary naturalism stresses the following
beliefs:
(1) Heredity and environment are the major forces that
shape human beings. In other words, like lower animals,
humans respond mainly to inborn instincts that influence
behavior in concert with–and sometimes in opposition to–
environmental influences, including economic, social,
cultural, and familial influences. For example, in August
Strindberg's play Miss Julie, the title character responds
partly to her inborn female instinct for male companionship
and partly to her environmentally induced hatred of men. Consequently, she both desires and despises Jean, causing
her deep internal conflict.
(2) Human beings have no free will, or very little of it,
because heredity and environment are so powerful in
determining the course of human action.
(3) Human beings, like lower animals, have no soul.
Religion and morality are irrelevant. (Strindberg, an
atheist when he wrote Miss Julie, later converted to
Christianity under the influence of the writings of Emanuel
Swedenborg.)
(4) A literary work should present life exactly as it is,
without preachment, judgment, or embellishment. In this
respect, naturalism is akin to realism. However, naturalism
goes further than realism in that it presents a more
detailed picture of everyday life. Whereas the realist
writer omits insignificant details when depicting a
particular scene, a naturalist writer generally includes
them. He wants the scene to be as “natural” as possible.
The naturalist writer also attempts to be painstakingly
objective and detached. Rather than manipulating characters
as if they were puppets, the naturalist writer prefers to
observe the characters as if they were animals in the wild
and then report on their activity. Finally, naturalism
attempts to present dialogue as spoken in everyday life.
Rather than putting “unnatural” wording in the mouth of a
character, the naturalist writer attempts to reproduce the
speech patterns of people in a particular time and place.
Naturalist writers generally achieve only limited success
in adhering to Tenet 4. The main problem is that it is next
to impossible for a writer to remain objective and
detached, like a scientist in a laboratory. After all, a
scientist analyzes existing natural objects and phenomena.
A naturalist writer, on the other hand, analyzes characters
he created; they may be based on real people, but they
themselves are not real. Thus, in bringing these characters
to the stage or the printed page, the naturalist writer
brings a part of himself–a subjective part. Also, in their
use of literary devices–such as Strindberg’s use of symbols
in Miss Julie to support his theme–naturalist writers again
inject their subjective selves into the play. In real life,
would Miss Julie own a dog that mates with a pug,
symbolizing and foreshadowing her brief sexual encounter
with Jean? Would she force her fiancé to jump over a
horsewhip that symbolizes her effort to dominate him?

Front 204

Neologism [ne ALL uh jizm]

Back 204

Word or phrase–or a new meaning for an existing word or
phrase–that is accepted into a dictionary. For example, the
41
word sandwich was a neologism in 1762 when John Montagu–a
British nobleman who had served as First Lord of the
Admiralty–placed slabs of meat between two pieces of bread
as a snack to sustain him while he was seated at a table in
a 24-hour gambling marathon. His snack caught on and,
because he held the rank of Earl of Sandwich, it was named
after him. Examples of neologisms that have entered the
dictionary in the last 50 years include designated hitter,
beatnik, nerd, e-mail, cyberspace, and 9/11. Thousands of
words and phrases enter the English language each year to
name an invention, a development, a process, a trend. For
example, the word parachute was coined upon the invention
of a device that enabled a person to jump from an airplane
and fall slowly to the earth. Cellular phone and cellphone
entered the dictionary after the invention of a telephone
that enabled a person to communicate over long distances
through a wireless device. Robot (from the Czech word
robota, meaning forced labor) was coined to describe
mechanical "beings" that could perform tasks normally
carried out by humans. In 2003, Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary accepted the word pleather to
describe a plastic material resembling plastic. William
Shakespeare has been credited with coining many words
because no word existed in his day to express what he
wanted to say. Among these words are dauntless,
fashionable, alligator, bedroom, pander, outbreak,
laughingstock, the naked truth, amazement, leapfrog,
madcap, frugal, articulate, immediacy, advertising,
investment, puke, and zany.

Front 205

New Comedy, Old Comedy

Back 205

In Greece of the Fifth Century, BC, a genre of comedy that
displayed great imagination and used cutthroat satire,
caricature, and sometimes vulgar dialogue to ridicule
public figures, politics, ideas, trends, and institutions.
Aristophanes was the unsurpassed master of old comedy. In
the Fourth Century, old comedy was succeeded by a lighter,
less caustic form of comedy that centered on fictional
characters drawn from everyday life rather than on public
figures, politics, and so on. This genre was appropriately
labeled new comedy.

Front 206

Nihilism

Back 206

Nihilism (a term derived from the Latin word nihil, meaning
nothing) is a philosophy that calls for the destruction of
existing traditions, customs, beliefs, and institutions and
requires its adherents to reject all values, including
religious and aesthetic principles, in favor of belief in
nothing. The term was coined in the Middle Ages to describe
religious heretics. It was resurrected in mid-19th Century
Russia to describe radicals and revolutionaries. Supporters
of this philosophy saw it as a stage in the struggle
against tyranny and injustice. Ivan Turgenev made nihilism
a household world in Russia with the publication of Fathers
and Sons in 1861. Its main character–the nihilist Bazarov–
became the most famous nihilist in the world, even though
he was fictional.

Front 207

Nine Worthies

Back 207

Mythological, legendary, biblical, or historical personages
alluded to in literature because of their heroic qualities.
The Nine Worthies include (1) Hector, the Trojan hero slain
by Achilles; (2) Alexander the Great, the Macedonian
general who conquered the Persians and marched through
Asia; (3) Joshua, the successor of Moses; (4) David, the
slayer of Goliath and second king of Israel and Judah; (5)
Judas Maccabeus, a great Jewish general who defeated Syrian
armies and purified and restored the temple in Jerusalem;
(6) Julius Caesar, the great Roman general and political
leader; (7) King Arthur, ruler of Camelot in the Arthurian
legends; (8) Charlemagne, king of the Franks and Holy Roman
Emperor; and (9) Godfrey of Bouillon, one of the leaders of
the First Crusade in the Holy Land. In “Love's Labour's
Lost,” Shakespeare presents an entertainment in which
characters take the parts of the Nine Worthies.

Front 208

Noble Savage

Back 208

Since ancient times, writers have often depicted aboriginal
or uncivilized people as untainted by the corrupt ways of
civilization. Greek and Latin authors, such as Homer and
Ovid, were sympathetic to some primitive peoples in their
writings. In 1672, the English poet, critic and dramatist
John Dryden coined the term noble savage in a play called
“The Conquest of Granada.” Between 1760 and 1780, the
French writer and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
popularized the concept of the noble savage in his
writings. In Moby-Dick, Herman Melville developed this
motif with three “noble savages”: the harpooners Queequeg,
Tashtego, and Daggoo. For example, he depicts Queequeg–a
tattooed savage who sells shrunken heads–as being more
tolerant and benevolent than the civilized Christian
whalers.

Front 209

Nom de Plume

Back 209

Pen name; pseudonym. Writers often use noms de plume to
hide their identity or their sex–or to simplify a hard-toremember
or hard-to-pronounce name. Among writers who used
noms de plume were Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain),
William Sydney Porter (O. Henry), Eric Blair (George
Orwell), Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (Q), François
Marie-Arouet (Voltaire), and Amandine-Aurore Lucile
Dudevant (George Sand).

Front 210

Novel

Back 210

Long fictional story told in prose. Novels typically have
more characters than a short story and a more complicated
plot that might take place in various settings, sometimes
over a period of months or years. Examples of novels are
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Moby Dick, The Great
Gatsby, David Copperfield, Babbitt, Crime and Punishment,
and The Scarlet Letter.

Front 211

Novella

Back 211

Short prose tale that often has satire and a moral.
Sometimes novellas were collected into a single work that
used a frame tale to establish a theme common to all of
them. The stories then were told "inside the frame" and
became part of it. Boccaccio's “Decameron” contains
novellas.

Front 212

Novelette

Back 212

Prose work shorter than a novel but longer than a short
story. Examples of novelettes are Robert Louis Stevenson's
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Joseph
Conrad's Heart of Darkness. In the 20th Century, the terms
Novella and Novelette were used as equivalents. Strictly
speaking, however, the terms have different meanings.

Front 213

Objectivity

Back 213

Ability of an author to keep his opinions and preachments
out of a poem, a play, a short story, a novel, or any other
literary work that he writes. Modern readers tend to admire
objectivity in an author.

Front 214

Ockham's Razor

Back 214

Principle expressed by William of Ockham (1285-1349), a
German Franciscan priest, that the simplest solution is the
best.

Front 215

Octave

Back 215

First eight lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet.
Petrarch's sonnets each consist of an eight-line stanza
(octave) and a six-line stanza (sestet). The first stanza
presents a theme, and the second stanza develops it. The
rhyme scheme is as follows: (1) first stanza (octave):
ABBA, ABBA; (2) second stanza (sestet): CDE, CDE.
Ode In ancient Greece, a lyric poem on a serious subject
that develops its theme with dignified language intended to
be sung.

Front 216

Ode, Romantic

Back 216

Dignified but highly lyrical (emotional) poem in which the
author speaks to a person or thing absent or present.

Front 217

Oeuvre (OO vrah)

Back 217

The complete works of an author, a composer, a painter,
etc. Oeuvre is a French word for work. See also Canon.

Front 218

Old Comedy

Back 218

In Greece of the Fifth Century, BC, a genre of comedy that
displayed great imagination and used cutthroat satire,
caricature, and sometimes vulgar dialogue to ridicule
public figures, politics, ideas, trends, and institutions.
Aristophanes was the unsurpassed master of old comedy. In
the Fourth Century, old comedy was succeeded by a lighter,
less caustic form of comedy that centered on fictional
characters drawn from everyday life rather than on public
figures, politics, and so on. This genre was appropriately
labeled new comedy.

Front 219

Old English Versification

Back 219

Unrhyming verse, without stanzas, with a caesura (pause) in
the middle of each line. The lines contain caesuras to
represent the pauses that speakers normally use in everyday
speech. Thus, each line is divided into two parts. Each
part is called a hemistich (HEM e stick), which is half a
line of verse. A complete line is called a stich. Each
hemistich contains two stressed (accented) syllables and a
varying number of unstressed (unaccented) syllables.
Following are the opening three lines of Beowulf in Old
English, with the space in the middle representing the
caesura.
.
Old English With a Space for the Caesura Translation
Hwæt! We Gar-Dena in geardagum, Lo. we have
heard of the glory in days of old
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, of the Spear-Danes,
of the kings of the people,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. how the athelings
did deeds of valor.

Front 220

Onkos

Back 220

Headdress worn by some actors in ancient Greece to increase
their height and, thus, visibility to theater audiences.

Front 221

Onomatopoeia

Back 221

Figure of speech in which (1) a word mimics a sound or (2)
an arrangement of words in a rhythmic pattern suggests a
sound or an image. Examples of No. 1: burp, varoom, oink,
crackle, moo, hiss, gong, thud, splash, zip, creak, boom,
slurp, crunch, quack, twitter, honk, hoot, squeak, buzz,
and zoom.

Front 222

Opera, Opus

Back 222

Plural of opus, Latin for work. An opera is a play set to
music. The words are sung and sometimes presented in
dialogue that resembles conversation but sounds like
singing.

Front 223

Oration

Back 223

Speech delivered with great emotion to spur listeners to
action.

Front 224

Otiose Writing [OH she ohss]

Back 224

Extremely wordy writing in which the author is too lazy to
edit for conciseness.

Front 225

Oxymoron

Back 225

Combining contradictory words to reveal a truth. Oxymoron
is a form of paradox. However, unlike paradox, oxymoron
places opposing words side by side. Examples: (1) Parting
is such sweet sorrow.–Shakespeare. (2) Working in a coal
mine is living death. (3) The hurricane turned the lush
island retreat into a hellish paradise.

Front 226

Pantomime

Back 226

Use of body movements and facial expressions by actors to
convey a message without speaking.
Papyrus See Quill.

Front 227

Parabasis (puh RAB uh sis)

Back 227

In the drama of ancient Greece, an ode in which the chorus
addresses the audience to express opinions of the author,
including his views on politics, social trends, and other
topics.

Front 228

Parodos (PAIR uh doss)

Back 228

In the drama of ancient Greece, a song sung by the chorus
when it enters; also, the moment when the chorus enters.
Paradox Contradictory statement that may actually be true.
Paradox is similar to oxymoron in that both figures of speech use contradictions to state a truth. However,
paradox does not place opposing words side by side, as
oxymoron does. Examples: (1) They called him a lion. But in
the boxing ring, the lion was a lamb. (2) For slaves, life
was death, and death was life.

Front 229

Paranomasia (PAIR uh no MAY zhuh)

Back 229

Pretentious term for pun.

Front 230

Parody

Back 230

Imitation of a literary work or film–or the style used by a
writer or filmmaker–in order to ridicule the work and its
writer or producer. The Austin Powers movies are parodies
of spy films.

Front 231

Pastoral

Back 231

Poem Poem focusing on some aspect of rural life. It may
center on the love of a shepherd for a maiden, on the death
of a friend, or on the quiet simplicity of rural life. The
writer of a pastoral poem may be a highly educated city
dweller who longs for the peace and quiet of the country or
who extolls the virtues of a shepherd girl. Pastoral is
derived from the Latin word pastor, meaning shepherd.

Front 232

Nom de Plume,

Back 232

Pen name; pseudonym. Writers often use noms de plume to
hide their identity or their sex–or to simplify a hard-toremember
or hard-to-pronounce name. Among writers who used
noms de plume were Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain),
William Sydney Porter (O. Henry), Eric Blair (George
Orwell), Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (Q), François
Marie-Arouet (Voltaire), and Amandine-Aurore Lucile
Dudevant (George Sand).

Front 233

Periakti

Back 233

In the drama of ancient Greece, a prism having surfaces
painted with pictures. When it revolved, it changed the
scenery on a stage.

Front 234

Peripeteia (also peripetia or peripety)

Back 234

In a stage tragedy in ancient Greece, a sudden reversal of
fortune from good to bad.

Front 235

Persona

Back 235

In a literary work, a narrator or speaker who presents the
work to the reader. The persona may be an active character
in the work, or he may be an unidentified narrator or
commentator. The persona may or may not represent the views
of the author. In the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe, the
persona--the person describing the action in first-person
point of view--is often a madman.
In some cases, the persona is not even human.

Front 236

Peroration

Back 236

(1) Concluion of a speech in which the speaker summarizes
the main points. (2) Long, pompous speech; bombastic
speech.

Front 237

Personification

Back 237

Giving humanlike qualities or human form to objects and
abstractions. Personification is a form of metaphor.
Examples: (1) Thou has done a deed whereat valor will
weep.–Shakespeare. (Notice that valor, an abstraction,
weeps.) (2) Fortune brings in some boats that are not
steered–Shakespeare. (3) Because I could not stop for
Death, He kindly stopped for me. –Emily Dickinson. (4) The
house pleaded for a new coat of paint.

Front 238

Philippic

Back 238

Speech that bitterly denounces, blames, accuses, or insults
a person; speech that viciously attacks a person or his
ideas. The word Philippic is derived from the Greek
Philippikos (belonging to Philip). In 351 BC, the Athenian
orator Demosthenes (384-322 BC) began making speeches
against the encroachment of King Philip of Macedon (382-
336) on Greek territory. These speeches became known as
"Philippics."

Front 239

Picaresque Novel

Back 239

Novel that presents the episodic adventures (each a story
in itself) of a roguish character as he travels from place
to place and meets a variety of other characters, some of
them also travelers. The episodes often center on feats of
derring-do and romantic escapades.

Front 240

Plaint

Back 240

Expression of grief or sorrow in a poem. Such an expression
is said to be plaintive, a word that is a cousin of the
word plaintiff, a legal term for a person who brings a
suit, or complaint, in a court of law against a defendant.
Plot The events that unfold in a story; the action and
direction of a story; the story line.

Front 241

Poetics

Back 241

Important work by Aristotle written about 335 B.C. It
analyzes Greek theater and outlines its origin and
development. One of its theses is that literature and other
forms of art imitate the activity of humans. Tragedy is the
higher form of the playwright's craft, Aristotle says,
because it imitates the action of noble persons and depicts
lofty events. Comedy, on the other hand, focuses on
ordinary humans and events.

Front 242

Poetry

Back 242

Language that expresses powerful emotions and ideas in a
stanza or stanzas that may use rhythm and rhyme, as well as
other rhetorical devices. For a full discussion of prose,
poetry, and verse, click here.

Front 243

Prolixity

Back 243

Wordiness, long-windedness.

Front 244

Prologue

Back 244

Introduction to a play or another literary work. In
Shakespeare's Henry V, a chorus (one person) speaks a
prologue that encourages the audience members to use their
imaginations to create what an Elizabethan stage cannot:
battlefields, clashing swords, the might of warriors.
Shakespeare writes, "Think when we talk of horses, that you
see them printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving
earth."

Front 245

Prologos

Back 245

In the drama of ancient Greece, a prologue that begins the
play with dialogue indicating the focus or theme of the
play.

Front 246

Promptbook or Prompt Copy

Back 246

In Shakespeare's time, the edited version of a play in
which an acting company inserted stage directions.

Front 247

Proscenium

Back 247

(1) The stage of a theater; (2) the part of the stage
extending out toward the audience; (3) the arch over the
stage that separates the stage from the audience. The
proscenium arch helps create the illusion that the audience
viewing a play is looking into real world just as the frame
around a television screen helps TV viewers do the same.

Front 248

Prose

Back 248

Language of everyday speech and writing.

Front 249

Protagonist (Greek Play)

Back 249

Main character in an ancient Greek play who usually
interacts with the chorus. In a tragedy, the protagonist is
traditionally a person of exalted status–such as a king, a
queen, a political leader, or a military hero–who has a
character flaw (inordinate pride, for example). This
character flaw causes the protagonist to make an error of
judgment. Additionally, the typical protagonist experiences
49
a moment of truth in which he or she recognizes and
acknowledges his or her mistakes, failures, or sins.

Front 250

Protagonist (Modern Sense)

Back 250

Main character of a novel, play, or film.

Front 251

Protasis

Back 251

Opening part of a stage drama that introduces the
characters and focus of the play.

Front 252

Pseudonym

Back 252

See Nom de Plume.

Front 253

Pun

Back 253

Play on words; using a word that sounds like another word
but has a different meaning. Examples: (1) Marriage is a
wife sentence. (2) They went and told the sexton and the
sexton tolled the bell.–Thomas Hood.

Front 254

Quarto

Back 254

A quarto is sheet of printing paper folded twice to form
eight separate pages for printing a book. To better
visualize a quarto, hold before you a standard sheet of
typing paper and fold it as you would a letter. You now
have a rectangular piece of paper. Fold the paper again to
form it into a square (or near square). Now unfold the
paper and lay it flat before you. Notice that the sheet of
paper now has four sections on one side and four on the
other. In Shakespeare's time, printing paper was folded in
this way. Each of the four sections on one side became a
page, and each of the .four sections on the other side
became page. Thus, there were eight pages in all. Each of
these pages was about a foot high. William Shakespeare's
plays were first published in quarto and folio texts. Some
of the quarto texts are based on inferior, unauthorized
copies of Shakespeare's plays. For example, an unscrupulous
publisher named John Danter, hoping to make money by
selling “Romeo and Juliet,” used notes taken during a
performance of the play to piece together a copy of it for
sale in a 1597 quarto edition. What resulted was
Shakespeare "as you hate him"–full of errors and
inconsistencies.

Front 255

Quatrain

Back 255

Stanza or poem of four lines. A quatrain usually has a
rhyme scheme, such as abab, abba, or abcb.

Front 256

Quill

Back 256

Writing instrument used before the invention of the
fountain pen, the ballpoint pen, and other writing
instruments. A quill was the hollow, rigid shaft of a
bird’s feather. The word “pen” is derived from the Latin
name for “feather”–“penna.” Shakespeare and other writers
of his day used a variety of quills that they dipped in an
ink container (inkwell) on a stand (standish) that held all
the writing materials. If a writer’s pocket lacked jingle,
he invested in a goose quill. If he could afford something
better, he invested in a swan quill. Writers or artists who
needed quills to produce fine lines purchased crow quills.
Quills from ducks, eagles, turkeys, hawks and owls also
served as “word processors,” producing plays, poems, and
sometimes revolution. Quills were the writing instruments
of choice between 500 A.D. and 1850 A.D. (In the ancient
world, writers used a variety of other instruments to write
history, literature, announcements, bureaucratic records,
and so on. These instruments included shaped twigs or
branches that impressed words into clay, mallet-driven
chisels that etched words in stone, brushes that wrote on
pottery and other smooth surfaces (such as plaster and
animal skins), sharpened bone or metal that inscribed words
on wax surfaces, and sharpened reed stems dipped in ink
that wrote on papyrus, an Egyptian water plant whose pith
(the soft center of a stem) was dried and pressed to make
thin sheets suitable for receiving impressions. The
introduction of the quill in the 500's (an event recorded
by St. Isidore, a Spanish theologian) greatly eased the
task of writers, much as personal computers did when they
replaced typewriters in the last half of the 20th Century.)

Front 257

Redundancy

Back 257

Writing flaw in which unnecessary wording is used.
Examples: Wrong: Her dress was green in color. Right: Her
dress was green. Wrong: The president will arrive at 3 p.m.
this afternoon. Right: The president will arrive at 3 p.m.
Wrong: Please repeat that statement again. Right: Please
repeat that statement.

Front 258

Re-Enter

Back 258

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

Front 259

Refrain

Back 259

Group of words repeated at key intervals in a poem, such as
Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."

Front 260

Realism

Back 260

In literature, a movement that stressed the presentation of
life as it is, without embellishment or idealization.
However, it was not as extreme in this presentation as
Naturalism.

Front 261

Repartee

Back 261

Quick, witty, often amusing reply; a conversation full of
witty replies; verbal fencing or sparring.

Front 262

Rhetoric

Back 262

Art of effectively using words in speech and writing; the
study of language and its rules. Rhetoric can also refer to
insincere or deceptive language, as in this sentence: The
senator promised to tell the truth, but in his news
conference he spouted nothing but political rhetoric.

Front 263

Rhyme, Consonant

Back 263

A special type of rhyme (consonance) in which pairs of
words with different vowel sounds have the same final
consonants. Example: best, first.

Front 264

Rhyme, End

Back 264

Rhyme in which the final syllable (or syllables) of one
line mimic the sound of the final syllable (or syllables)
of another line.

Front 265

Rhyme, Eye

Back 265

Form of rhyme in which the pronunciation of the last
syllable of one line is different from the pronunciation of
the last syllable of another line even though both
syllables are identical in spelling except for a preceding
consonant. For example, the following end-of-line word
pairs would constitute eye rhyme: cough, rough; cow, mow;
daughter, laughter; rummaging, raging.

Front 266

Rhyme, Feminine

Back 266

Rhyme in which the final two syllables of one line mimic
the sound of the final two syllables of another line.
Examples: repeat, deplete; farrow, narrow; scarlet; varlet.
Rhyme, Internal Rhyme that occurs inside a line. Example:
The knell of the bell saddened me.

Front 267

Rhyme, Masculine

Back 267

Rhyme in which the final syllable of one line mimics the
sound of the final syllable of another line. Examples:
black, back; hell, well; shack, black.

Front 268

Roman à Clef [ro MAH na KLEH]

Back 268

Novel in which real persons are thinly disguised as
fictional characters with fictional names. For example, if
an author wrote a roman à clef about the private lives of
movie stars, he would base the novel on the lifestyles of
real actors and actresses but give them fictitious names.

Front 269

Romance, Medieval

Back 269

Long poem resembling an epic in its focus on heroic deeds.
Unlike an epic, however, a medieval romance is light in
tone, and its content is at times fantastic and magical. In
a medieval romance, chivalrous knights pay homage to lovely
ladies. The knights are often pure in heart and soul,
although sorely tempted by the wiles of beautiful women.
Often, the romance has merriment and singing. An example of
a medieval romance is “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.”

Front 270

Romanticism

Back 270

In literature, a movement that championed imagination and
emotions as more powerful than reason and systematic
thinking. “What I feel about a person or thing,” a romantic
poet might have said, “is more important than what
scientific investigation, observation, and experience would
say about that person or thing.” Intuition–that voice
within that makes judgments and decisions without
the aid of reason–was a guiding force to the romantic poet.
So was nature. Romanticism began in the mid-1700's as a
rebellion against the principles of classicism. Whereas
classicism espoused the literary ideals of ancient Greece
and Rome–objectivity, emotional restraint, and formal rules
of composition that writers were expected to follow–
romanticism promoted subjectivity, emotional effusiveness,
and freedom of expression . “I want to write my way,” the
romantic poet might have said, “not the way that writers in
ancient times decreed that I should write.” In English
literature, Wordsworth and his friend, Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, were pioneers in the development of the Romantic
Movement. However, neither romantic nor classical writing
was always entirely faithfully to its ideals. For example,
a classical writer may have exhibited emotional effusion
from time to time whereas a romantic writer may have
exhibited emotional restraint on occasion. Writers today
continue to use many of the principles of both the
classical and romantic schools of writing.

Front 271

Rondeau

Back 271

Lyric poem consisting of three stanzas with a total of
fifteen lines. Lines 9 and 15 are the same--that is, they
make up a refrain. Line 9 occurs at the end of the second
53
stanza and line 15 at the end of the third stanza. These
lines are very short and rhyme only with each other and not
with any other lines. In a rondeau, all lines except 9 and
15 generally contain eight syllables each. Click here to
see an example of a rondeau.
Sarcasm
Form of verbal irony that insults a pe

Front 272

Sarcasm

Back 272

Form of verbal irony that insults a person with insincere
praise. For example, a cruel person might tell a homely
woman wearing dowdy clothes, "I see, Miss America, that you
are wearing the latest Dior ensemble."

Front 273

Satire

Back 273

Literary work that attacks or pokes fun at vices and
imperfections; political cartoon that does the same. Satire
may make the reader laugh at or feel disgust for the person
or thing satirized. The TV program, “Saturday Night Live,”
often uses satire to expose abuses and follies.

Front 274

Satyr

Back 274

Play In the drama of ancient Greece, a play that pokes fun
at a serious subject involving gods and myths; a parody of
stories about gods or myths. Fragments of Sophocles's satyr
play “Ichneutae” (“Trackers”) survive along with his seven
complete tragedies.

Front 275

Scenario

Back 275

Plot outline of a play, opera, motion picture, or TV
program.

Front 276

Scene

Back 276

(1) Part of an act of a play; (2) a settingin a literary
work, opera, or film; (3) a theater stage in ancient Greece
or Rome; (4) part of a literary work, opera, or film that
centers on one aspect of plot development.
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 277

Science Fiction

Back 277

Literary genre focusing on how scientific experiments,
discoveries, and technologies affect human beings for
better or worse. Science fiction differs from pure fantasy
in that it presents events that appear to be scientifically
plausible. Traveling to another galaxy in a spaceship is
54
scientifically plausible. Riding to the moon on a winged
horse is not scientifically plausible.

Front 278

Scop

Back 278

Old English poet often attached to a monarch's court. A
scop composed and recited his own poetry.

Front 279

Sennet

Back 279

Stage direction in a play manuscript to signal a trumpet
flourish that introduces the entrance of a character, such
as the entrance of King Lear (Act 1) in Shakespeare's play.

Front 280

Sentimentality

Back 280

A flaw in a literary work or film in which the author
relies on tear-jerking or heart-wrenching scenes rather
than writing talent or cinematic skill to evoke a response
in readers.

Front 281

Sermon

Back 281

A clergyman's talk centering on a scriptural passage.

Front 282

Sestet

Back 282

Final six lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet.
Petrarch's sonnets each consist of an eight-line stanza
(octave) and a six-line stanza (sestet). The first stanza
presents a theme, and the second stanza develops it. The
rhyme scheme is as follows: (1) first stanza (octave):
ABBA, ABBA; (2) second stanza (sestet): CDE, CDE.
Sestina Poem with six stanzas of six lines each, followed
by a stanza with three lines (tercet). A Provençal
troubadour, Arnaut Daniel, developed the sesinta, which was
written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Front 283

Setting

Back 283

Setting is the environment in which a story unfolds.
Setting includes (1) the time and period of history, (2)
the place, (3) the atmosphere, (4) the clothing, (5) the
living conditions, and (6) the social climate. Sometimes
the setting is extremely important. For example, the
atmosphere can influence characters in a ghost story; the
living conditions can influence characters in a story about
class conflicts or life in prison.

Front 284

Shaped Verse

Back 284

Concrete Poetry
Poetry with lines arranged to resemble a familiar object,
such as a Christmas tree. Concrete poetry is also called
shaped verse.

Front 285

Sic

Back 285

Latin word, meaning “thus,” inserted in a quoted statement
in a research work (essay, magazine article, doctoral
thesis, book, etc.) to indicate that the quotation contains
an error. Sic appears in brackets after the error.
Following is an example of the use of sic:
The president wrote in his diary that "my critics refuse to
acknowledge that the econommy [sic] is improving."

Front 286

Simile

Back 286

Comparing one thing to an unlike thing by using like, as,
or than. Examples: (1) The barge she sat in, like a
burnished throne, burned on the water.–Shakespeare. (2) And
the muscles of his brawny arms are strong as iron bands–
Longfellow. (3) His hand was small and cold; it felt like
wax.–Margaret Truman. (4) In the morning the dust hung like
fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood–John
Steinbeck.

Front 287

Soliloquy

Back 287

Recitation in a play in which a character reveals his
thoughts to the audience but not to other characters in the
play.

Front 288

Solus

Back 288

Stage direction in a play manuscript indicating a character
is alone on the stage.

Front 289

Sonnet

Back 289

Form of lyric poetry invented in Italy that has 14 lines
with a specific rhyme scheme. The Italian Petrarchan sonnet
consists of an eight-line stanza (octave) and a six-line
stanza (sestet). The first stanza presents a theme, and the
second stanza develops it. The rhyme scheme is as follows:
(1) first stanza (octave): ABBA, ABBA; (2) second stanza
(sestet): CDE, CDE. The Shakespearean sonnet (also called
the English sonnet) has three four-line stanzas (quatrains)
and a two-line unit called a couplet. A couplet is always
indented; both lines rhyme at the end. The meter of
Shakespeare's sonnets is iambic pentameter (except in
Sonnet 145). The rhyming lines in each stanza are the first
and third and the second and fourth. In the couplet ending
the poem, both lines rhyme. All of Shakespeare's sonnets
follow the same rhyming pattern.

Front 290

Sonnet, Curtal

Back 290

Shortened or contracted sonnet. A curtal sonnet consists of
eleven lines instead of the usual fourteen for the standard
Shakespearean or Petrarchan sonnet. An example of a curtal
sonnet is "Pied Beauty," by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Front 291

Soubrette

Back 291

In a comedy (a play or an opera), a maid or servant girl
involved in intrigue affecting the central characters. She
usually has a quick tongue, common sense, and a good sense
of humor. One of the most famous soubrettes in the history
of theater is Suzanne in “The Marriage of Figaro” (play by
Beaumarchais and opera by Mozart).

Front 292

Southern Gothic

Back 292

Fictional genre with a setting in the Southern United
States that vests its stories with foreboding and
grotesquerie. Begun in the twentieth century, Southern
Gothic replaces the romanticism of nineteenth-century
Gothic works with realism. However, southern Gothic retains
the disturbing elements of earlier Gothic works, whether in
the form of a deranged character, a forbidding forest, or a
sense of impending doom. Among the writers associated with
this genre are Flannery O'Connor, William Faulkner, Carson
McCullers, and Tennessee Williams.

Front 293

Spondee and Spondaic

Back 293

Stressed + Stressed .........Two
Syllables

Front 294

Spoonerism

Back 294

Slip of the tongue in which a speaker transposes the
letters of words. Pee little thrigs is a spoonerism for
three little pigs.

Front 295

Spenserian Stanza

Back 295

A stanza with eight lines in iambic pentameter and a ninth
line in iambic hexameter. Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
originated this format in his great allegorical poem The
Faerie Queene. The rhyme scheme of the stanza is ababbcbcc.

Front 296

Stasimon (pronunciation: STASS uh mon)

Back 296

In a Greek play, a scene in which the chorus sings a song,
uninterrupted by dialogue.

Front 297

Stationers' Register

Back 297

In Shakespeare's time, a book in which the English
government required printers to register the title of a
play before the play was published. The full official name
of the Stationers' Register was the Hall Book of the
Worshipful Company of Stationers.

Front 298

Stanza

Back 298

Lines that form a division or unit of a poem. Stanzas
generally have four lines.

Front 299

Stereotype

Back 299

Character in a literary work or film who thinks or acts
according to certain unvarying patterns simply because of
his or her racial, ethnic, religious, or social background.
A stereotype is usually an image that society projects or
imposes on every member of a group as a result of prejudice
or faulty information. Examples of stereotypes are the
Irish drunk, the Italian mobster, the dishonest car
salesman, the plain-Jane librarian, the shyster lawyer, the
Machiavellian politician, and the dumb blonde.
Stichomythia (stik uh MITH e uh)
In a stage play brief, alternating lines of dialogue spoken
in rapid-fire succession. It occurs frequently in Greek
drama, especially when characters are arguing or expressing
strong emotions. Following is an example of stichomythia in
“The Clouds,” by Aristophanes, in which two characters–
Unjust Cause and Just Cause–are insulting each other:
Unj. You are a dotard and absurd.
Just You are debauched and shameless.
Unj. You have spoken roses of me.
Just And a dirty lickspittle.
Unj. You crown me with lilies.
Just And a parricide.
Unj. You don't know that you are sprinkling me with
gold.
Just Certainly not so formerly, but with lead.
Unj. But now this is an ornament to me.
Just You are very impudent.
Unj. And you are antiquated.

Front 300

Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress)

Back 300

In Eighteenth Century Germany, a literary movement
characterized by a rejection of many classical literary
conventions (in particular the three classical unities
adhered to strictly by French writers but often ignored by
William Shakespeare), by great passion and enthusiasm, by
disquiet and impatience, and by an exposition of folk
themes.

Front 301

Style

Back 301

Style is the way an author writes a literary work. Style
manifests itself in the author’s choice of words and
phrases, the structure of sentences, the length of
58
paragraphs, the tone of the work, and so on. Just as
painters, singers, and dancers have different styles, so
too do authors. One author may use a great deal of dialogue
while another author uses little. Some authors use
difficult vocabulary; others use simple vocabulary. Ernest
Hemingway uses simple words, but the story they tell may be
complex. Charles Dickens describes people with unusual
names and memorable characteristics. Uriah Heep has slimy
hands; Mr. Murdstone, who is vicious and cruel, dresses in
black. To describe people and places, the author of Beowulf
uses a special figure of speech called a kenning. A kenning
combines two nouns, usually separated by a hyphen, to
create an image. Thus, sea becomes whale-road and boat
becomes wave-traveler.

Front 302

Subplot

Back 302

Secondary or minor plot in a story usually related to the
main plot.

Front 303

Suspense

Back 303

Anxiety about what will happen next in a story. In Poe's
short story "The Pit and the Pendulum," the main character
is strapped to a board in a dark cell while a pendulum in
the form of a steel blade swings over him. With each swing,
the pendulum descends closer to his body. The reader is
kept in suspense about how the character will free himself.

Front 304

Symbol

Back 304

In a literary work or film, a person, place, thing or idea
that represents something else. Writers often use a snake
as a symbol for evil, as in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young
Goodman Brown." Commonly used symbols include the eagle
(strength), a flag (patriotism), and the sea (life).

Front 305

Syncope

Back 305

Omitting letters or sounds within a word. The word bos'n as
a shortened version of boatswain (a naval officer) is an
example of syncope.

Front 306

Synecdoche

Back 306

Substitution of a part to stand for the whole, or the whole
to stand for a part. Examples: (1) The Confederates have
eyes in Lincoln's government. (The word "eyes" stands for
spies.) (2) Jack bought a new set of wheels. ("Wheels"
stands for a car.) (3) The law pursued the bank robbers
from Maine to Florida. ("Law" stands for police.)

Front 307

Synesthesia

Back 307

Use of an adjective associated with one sensation to
describe a noun referring to another sensation. Examples:
(1) a cold voice; (2) The closer the roses got to death,
the louder their scent (Toni Morrison, Beloved, Knopf,
1987).

Front 308

Tautology

Back 308

Wordiness, needless repetition. See also prolixity and
redundancy.

Front 309

Tercet

Back 309

In poetry, a unit of three lines that usually contain end
rhyme. (Examples of tercets are the three-line stanzas of
terza rima, defined below.)

Front 310

Terza Rima

Back 310

Italian verse form invented by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
that consists of a series of three-line stanzas in which
Line 2 of one stanza rhymes with Lines 1 and 3 of the next
stanza. The rhyme scheme progresses in the following
pattern: aba, bcb, cdc, ded, efe, ghg, and so on. The
following English translation of the first lines from the
Divine Comedy–with the original Dante lines on the right–
demonstrate the rhyme scheme:
Along the journey of our life half way.................Nel
mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
I found myself again in a dark wood.................mi
ritrovai per una selva oscura
Wherein the straight road no longer lay.............ché la
diritta via era smarrita.
Ah, tongue can never make it understood:........Ahi quanto
a dir qual era è cosa dura
So harsh and dense and savage to traverse.......esta selva
selvaggia e aspra e forte
That fear returns in thinking on that wood..........che nel
pensier rinova la paura!
It is so bitter death is hardly
worse....................Tant'è amara che poco è più morte;
But, for the good it was my chance to gain,........ma per
trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai,
The other things I saw there I'll rehearse.............dirò
de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte
English translation: Dale, Peter. The Divine Comedy.
London: Anvil Press, 1996.

Front 311

Tetralogy

Back 311

In the drama of ancient Greece, four plays (three tragedies
and one satyr play) staged by a playwright during a drama
competition. (See Dionysus.)

Front 312

Tetrameter

Back 312

Four Feet

Front 313

Theater, Greek

Back 313

Open-air structure in which plays were performed. The stage
faced the afternoon sunlight to illuminate a performance
while allowing the audience to view the action without
squinting. A Greek theater consisted of the following:
Skene: Building behind the stage. First used as a dressing
area for actors (and sometimes an
entrance or exit area for actors), the skene eventually
became a background showing appropriate scenery.
Paraskenia: Extensions or annexes on the sides of the
skene.

Front 314

Proscenium

Back 314

Acting area, or stage, in front of the skene.

Front 315

Orchestra

Back 315

Ground-level area where the chorus performed in front of
the proscenium.

Front 316

Parados

Back 316

Passage on the left or right through which the chorus
entered the orchestra. (Also, a song sung by the chorus
when it entered or the moment when the chorus enters.

Front 317

Thymele

Back 317

Altar in the center of the orchestra used to make
sacrifices to Dionysus.

Front 318

Theatron

Back 318

Tiered seating area built into a hillside in the shape of a
horseshoe.

Front 319

Machine

Back 319

Armlike device on the skene that could lower a "god" onto
the stage from the heavens.

Front 320

Theme

Back 320

Main idea of a literary work; the thesis.

Front 321

Thespian

Back 321

Actor or actress. Also, an adjective referring to any
person or thing pertaining to Greek drama or drama in
general. The word is derived from Thespis, the name of a
Greek of the 6th Century B.C. who was said to have been the
first actor on the Greek stage.

Front 322

Tone

Back 322

Prevailing mood or atmosphere in a literary work. One may
compare the tone of a poem, a novel, a play, or an essay to
the tone of the human voice as it projects the emotions of
the speaker or to the appearance of the sky as it dispenses
rain or sunlight. Thus, the tone of a literary work may be
joyful, sad, brooding, angry, playful, and so on. The tone
of Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is
somber; the tone of Voltaire's Candide is mocking and
sarcastic; the tone of Shakespeare's “The Merry Wives of
Windsor” is jocund and farcical.

Front 323

Tiring House

Back 323

In Shakespeare's time, dressing rooms of actors behind a
wall at the back of the stage. To tire means to dress–that
is, to attire oneself. Sometimes, the wall of the tiring
house could stand as the wall of a fortress under siege.

Front 324

Torches

Back 324

Stage direction in a Shakespeare play indicating that
entering characters are carrying lit torches.

Front 325

Tragedy (Greek)

Back 325

Verse drama written in elevated language in which a noble
protagonist falls to ruin during a struggle caused by a
flaw (hamartia) in his character or an error in his rulings
or judgments. Following are the characteristics of a
Sophocles tragedy: (1) It is based on events that already
took place and with which the audience is familiar. (2) The
protagonist is a person of noble stature. (3) The
protagonist has a weakness and, because of it, becomes
isolated and suffers a downfall. (4) Because the
protagonist's fall is not entirely his or her own fault,
the audience may end up pitying him or her. (5) The fallen
protagonist gains self-knowledge. He has a deeper insight
into himself and understands his weakness. (6) The audience
undergoes catharsis, a purging of emotions, after
experiencing pity, fear, shock and other strong feelings.
The people go away feeling better. (7) The drama usually
unfolds in one place in a short period of time, usually
about a day.

Front 326

Tragicomedy

Back 326

Play that has tragic events but ends happily. Examples are
Shakespeare's “The Merchant of Venice,” “The Two Noble
Kinsmen,” and “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.”

Front 327

Transcendentalism

Back 327

Belief that every human being has inborn knowledge that
enables him to recognize and understand moral truth without
benefit of knowledge obtained through the physical senses.
Using this inborn knowledge, an individual can make a moral
decision without relying on information gained through
everyday living, education, and experimentation. One may
liken this inborn knowledge to conscience or intuition.
American author Henry David Thoreau believed that this
inborn knowledge served as a moral guiding force–that this
inner knowledge was a higher, transcendent form of
knowledge than that which came through the senses. Because
Thoreau and his fellow transcendentalists trusted their own
inner light as a moral guiding force, they exhibited a
fierce spirit of self-reliance. They were individualists;
they liked to make decisions for themselves. If the
government adopted a policy or a law that offended their
consciences, they generally reacted strongly. Thoreau's
essay “Civil Disobedience” expresses his reaction and
measured response to government dictums that legitimized
slavery and the Mexican War. Transcendentalism did not
originate with Thoreau or his fellow American
transcendentalists but with the German philosopher Emanuel
Kant. He used the German word for transcendental to refer
to intuitive or innate knowledge–knowledge which is a
priori rather than a posteriori.

Front 328

Travesty

Back 328

(1) Play, novel, poem, skit, film, opera, etc., that
trivializes a serious subject or composition. Generally, a
travesty achieves its effect through broad humor and
through incongruous or distorted language and situations.
Examples of works that contain travesty are Cervantes’s Don
Quixote de La Mancha and Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream” (the Act V staging of “Pyramis and Thisbe” by the
bumbling tradesmen). Literary works that mock trivial or
unimportant subjects are not travesties; travesties mock
only serious, dignified, or noble subjects. (2) A work in
literature, music, or art that is so poorly done that it
fails to meet even the minimum standards for style,
technique, form, etc. (3) Any gross distortion or
misrepresentation of a procedure, a custom, an approach, a
method, a system, or a course of action. For example, a trial in which the judge is incompetent and the jury is
biased may be termed a travesty.

Front 329

Trimeter

Back 329

3 feet

Front 330

Trochee and Trochaic

Back 330

Stressed + Unstressed
.........Two Syllables
/U

Front 331

Trope

Back 331

Figure of speech; figurative language.

Front 332

Troubadour

Back 332

Lyric poet/musician of southern France or northern Italy;
minstrel.

Front 333

Ubi Sunt

Back 333

Ubi sunt is Latin for “where are.” The term is applied to
poetry that laments the passing of people, places, things,
or ideas by rhetorically asking where they are now in order
to call attention to the inexorable passage of time and the
inevitability of death, decay, and obsolescence. François
Villon's "Ballade des dames du temps jadis" is a fine
example of this genre.

Front 334

Unities

Back 334

Three key elements of dramatic structure: time, place, and
action. These unities, formulated in part by Aristotle in
his commentary on Greek drama and in part by the Italian
Renaissance humanist Lodovico Castelvetro, suggested that a
play should have one setting with a single plot thread that
unfolds in one short time period, about a day. However,
some playwrights began ignoring these ancient rules.
Shakespeare observed them in some of his plays but ignored
them in others. For example, in “The Winter's Tale,”
Shakespeare not only shifts the setting, but he also leaps
ahead 16 years.

Front 335

Universality

Back 335

Appealing to readers and audiences of any age or any
culture. For example, although Robert Louis Stevenson's The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is set in London of
the late 19th Century, its message–that each human being
has a good side and dark side–applies and appeals to people
today in every country. Likewise, the central conflict of
Sophocles’s “Antigone,” the individual vs the state (or
moral law vs man-made law), has remained relevant since its
first performance more than 2,400 years ago.

Front 336

Verisimilitude

Back 336

Having the appearance of truth; realism. In a fictional
work, a writer creates unreal characters and situations and
asks the reader to pretend that they are real. To help the
reader in this task, the writer tells his tale in such a
way that he makes it seem credible–that is, he gives it
“verisimilitude.” Verisimilitude is derived from the Latin
words veritas (truth) and similis (similar). Thus,
verisimilitude in a literary work confers on it the quality
of appearing true or similar to the truth.

Front 337

Verse

Back 337

Collection of lines (as in a Shakespeare play) that follow
a regular, rhythmic pattern. For a full discussion of
prose, poetry, and verse, click here.

Front 338

Villanelle

Back 338

Form of poetry popularized mainly in France in the 16th
Century. It usually expressed pastoral, idyllic sentiments
in imitation of the Italian villanella, a type of song for
singers and dancers that centered on rural, peasant themes.
When French writers such as Joachim du Bellay (1522-1560)
and Philipe Desportes (1546-1606) began writing
villanelles, these poems did not have a fixed format.
However, when Jean Passerat (1534-1602) wrote a villanelle
whose format caught the fancy of critics, that format
became the standard for all future villanelles. The format
is as follows:
Number of Stanzas: six
Lines in Each Stanza: three in each of the first five
stanzas, four in the last. A three-line stanza is called a
tercet; a four-line stanza, a quatrain.
Refrains: two lines, the first and third of the first
stanza, must be repeated in the other stanzas. Here is the
pattern: Line 1 of the first stanza is repeated as Line 3
of the second stanza, as Line 3 of the fourth stanza, and
as Line 3 of the sixth stanza. Line 3 of the first stanza
is repeated as Line 3 of the third stanza, Line 3 of the
fifth stanza, and Line 4 of the sixth stanza.
End Rhyme: aba in the first five stanzas; abaa in the last
stanza. "Do not Go Gentle into That Good Night," by Dylan
Thomas, is an example of a villanelle.

Front 339

Within

Back 339

Stage direction in a play manuscript indicating that a
person speaking or being spoken to is behind a door or
inside a room
65
Zeugma
Use of one word (usually an adjective or a verb) to serve
two or more other words with more than one meaning.
Example: The dance floor was square, and so was the
bandleader’s personality. Explanation: Square describes the
dance floor and the bandleader’s personality with different
meanings.
.

Front 340

Zeugma

Back 340

Use of one word (usually an adjective or a verb) to serve
two or more other words with more than one meaning.
Example: The dance floor was square, and so was the
bandleader’s personality. Explanation: Square describes the
dance floor and the bandleader’s personality with different
meanings.