Eng12 Lit Terms

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accent

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The emphasis or stress placed on a certain syllable

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allegory

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An extended narrative that carries a second meaning along with the surface story

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alliteration

Back 3

The repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters

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allusion

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A brief reference, explicit or implicit, to a person, event, or place, place, event, or to another literary work

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analogy

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A partial similarity of features on which a comparison may be based on

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antagonist

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An opponent, the character or force opposite to the protagonist

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anticlimax

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An abrupt shift form the important to the insignificant, with a disappointing or amusing effect

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antithesis

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Contrary ideas expressed in a balanced phrase

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apostrophe

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A person not present or a personified non-human object is addressed directly

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aside

Back 10

In the theatre, a short passage spoken in an undertone, usually directed to the audience.

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assonance

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The repetition of similar vowel sounds in words

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atmosphere

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The air or mood which prevails at any moment in a work

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ballad

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A song which tells a story, often a folklore, composed in stanzas and meant to be sung

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bland verse

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Lines of iambic pentameter which are unrhymed

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cacophony

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"Bad sounding". The opposite of euphony; it signifies discordant, jarring, inharmonious language

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catharsis

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The relief that comes after witnessing the catastrophe of a tragedy

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character, allegorical

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Found in an allegory; they do not have individual personalities but are representations of abstract ideas.

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character, consistent

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Continuing actions conform what the author has already revealed about him/her

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character, caricature

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Consisting of certain selected features exaggerated for comic effect

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character, dynamic/developing

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A permanent change in some aspect of his character, personality, or outlook as a result of experience

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character, flat

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Can be summed up in one or two statements; no depth

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character, round

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Complex, many sided, real and life-like

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character, static

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Does not change throughout the work

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character, stock

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A stereotyped figure, an easily recognized type

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cliche

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A timeworn expression which had lost its vitality and to some extent its meaning because of overuse

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climax

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The moment of highest interest or tension in a work

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colloquial language

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This is everyday speech and writing; it is relaxed, idiomatic, ordinary, and may contain slang or cliche

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colloquialism

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Word or phrase which would not be suitable for formal speech or writing

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conflict

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The underlying struggle which the action of a work expresses

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connotation

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Use of language to imply another meaning other than the actual words used

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consonance

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The repetition of similar consonant sounds usually found at the middle or the end of a word

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denotation

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The specific, exact, and concrete dictionary meaning of a word or phrase

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denouement (falling action, conclusion)

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The unraveling events that follow the climax of a plot

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dialect

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Speech patterns that display characteristics such as social class, level or education, nationality, race, gender, or age

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dialogue

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Conversation between two or more people

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dilemma

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A situation in which a character or person finds himself where all the options and choices are equally undesirable

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dissonance

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A combination of sounds that is not harmonious

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dramatic monologue

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A poetic form in which a single character, speaking to a silent listener at a critical moment, reveals both a dramatic situation and his or her own character

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epiphany

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A moment or realization, of deep insight, usually seen in a character

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euphemism

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Speaking in pleasing or favorable terms of an unpleasant or bad thing

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euphony

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Melodious sounding; the opposite of cacophony

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flashback

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Narrative technique where the chronological order of events in interrupted to relate an earlier event

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foreshadowing

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Events or dialogue that hint as to what is to come in the work

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free verse

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Verse that lacks regular meter and line length but relies upon natural rhythms

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genre

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A style or type of literary work

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hyperbole

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Obvious and deliberate exaggeration or overstatement

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iambic pentameter

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A line or five poetic feet of two syllables, the first unaccented, the second accented

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idiom

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A phrase of expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the ordinary meanings of its individual words

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imagery

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Forming of mental images or figures; use of language to appeal to senses

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imitative harmony

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A word whose sound seems to resemble the sound it denotes

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indeterminate ending

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A plot term for an ending in which no definitive conclusion is reached

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irony, dramatic

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The audience is aware of something of which the character is not (yet) aware

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irony, situational

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The opposite happens to what was originally expected; a twist of fate

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irony, verbal

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To mean the opposite of what is said

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lyric

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Any short, non-narrative poem presenting a single speaker who expresses a state of mind or a process of though and feeling

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metaphor

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Direct or implied comparison of two unlike things, station that one object is something else, without using the works such as "like", "as", or "than"

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meter

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A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

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metonymy

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Speaking of a thing by the name of some other thing closely connected to it

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mood

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The predominant emotion that a story arouses in a reader

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narrative

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A story; a spoken or written account of something

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near rhyme (half, slant, imperfect)

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Are not true rhymes; they may result from the poet's ineptitude or fomr his desire to create a particular effect

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octave

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An eight line poem or stanza

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ode

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A form of lyric poem which a dignified theme that is phrased in formal style to praise its object

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onomatopoeia

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A word whose sounds seems to resemble the sound it denotes

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oxymoron

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Two contrary words of phrases combined to produce a meaning or a rhetorical effect by means of concise paradox

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paradox

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A statement that may be true but seems to say two opposite things

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paraphrase

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To restate something that has been stated earlier, in other words

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personification

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Abstractions, animals, ideas, or inanimate objects are endowed with human form, character, traits, or sensibilities

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plot

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It is the sequence of incidents or events of which a story is composed, presented in a significant order

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point of view, first person

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From character/protagonist's point of view, in first person ("I" or "we")

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point of view, objective

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Narration, recorded events as observed, without bias or insight

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point of view, omniscient

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All knowing, "god-like" as told by the author, in third person ("he", "she", "it", "they")

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point of view, limited omniscient

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All knowing of one character, from whose view the story is told in third person

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prose

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Literary expression not marked by rhyme or by metrical regularity

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protagonist

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The central character(s); does not have to be "good"

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pun

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A play on words; words used in a double sense to create a humorous effect

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quatrain

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A stanza or poem of four lines

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refrain

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A line, or part of a line, or a group of lines that are repeated over the course of a poem or song

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repartée

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Dialogue characterized by clever and witty replies

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repetition

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The repeated use of a certain structure, phrase, theme, sentence, etc.

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rhyme

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Similarity of sound in words; two words rhyme when their accented vowels and all succeeding sounds are identical

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rhyme scheme

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The pattern of rhyme used in a poem, usually indicated by letter of the alphabet

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rhythm

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Resulting from uniform repetition of a beat or accent

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rising action

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The rising action preceded the climax of a work; during this stage, background information is give, conflicts are introduced, and suspense is built up

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sarcasm

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A cutting personal remark from the Greek sarkazein, "to tear flesh"

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satire

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Illustrating the discrepancy between what something is like and what something should be

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scapegoat

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A person who is made to bear blame or punishment that should rightly fall on others

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setting

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A place and time in which a play or story is set, as well as the mood and atmosphere that accompany them

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sestet

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A six line poem or stanza

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slang

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The special vocabulary of a class or group of people

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soliloquy

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An extended speech in which a character alone expresses his thoughts

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stanza

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The arrangement of lines of verse in a pattern; forms a division of poem

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stereotype

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A set of characteristics or a fixed idea considered to represent a particular kind of person

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stream of consciousness

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A technique for the depiction of the thoughts and feelings which flow, with no apparent logic, through the mind of a character

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symbol

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A concrete object representing an abstract idea

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synecdoche

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A part is used to represent a whole or a whole represents a part

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theme

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The central insight or controlling idea of a piece of literature

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thesis

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A statement or theory put forward and supported by arguments

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tone

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The attitude a writer takes toward his or her subject, characters, or audience

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understatement

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Presenting something as less significant than it really is

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universality

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Quality, not limited to a place or time, which gives significance and appeal to literature

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verisimilitude

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Appearance of truth or reality

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verse

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A single line or a poem

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wit

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A brilliance and quickness of perception combined with a cleverness of expression

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simile

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A direct comparison of two unlike things which have one or more points of resemblance using words such as "like, "as", or "than"