English Definitions

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Subplot

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a minor plot that intertwines through the main plot and connects with it in some way

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Plot

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the sequence of events in a literary work; the action line of the story

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Characterization

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the act of creating and developing a character

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Direct Characterization

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characterization in which the author directly states a character's traits

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Indirect Characterization

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characterization where the author tells what a character looks like, does, and says and how other characters react to him or her

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Conflict

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a struggle between opposing forces

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Dynamic Character

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a character who undergoes a change

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Epiphany

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a moment of revelation or insight in which a character recognizes some truth

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Flat Character

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a character who has one basic set of personality traits

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Round Character

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a character who has a complete personality with many aspects to it

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Static Character

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a character who does not undergo a change

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Theme

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the underlying meaning an author wants to get across to his readers; an insight into life

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Lyric Poetry

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poetry that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker

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Narrative Poetry

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poetry that tells a story

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Dramatic Poetry

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play written in poetry form

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Mood (or Atmosphere)

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the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage

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Tone

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the writer's attitude towards their audience or subject

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Humanism

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a philosophical and literary movement in which man and his capabilites are the central concern

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Pastoral Poetry

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lyric poetry that celebrates the beauties and pleasures of country life

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Verse

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a single line of poetry

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Stanza

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a group of lines in a poem seen as a unit; a group of related verses

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Apostrophe

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a figure of speech in which the speaker directly addresses an absent person or thing as if he/it was actually there

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Allusion

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a refrence to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, work of art, etc.

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Litany

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a term applied to a poem, chant, or recital that is repetitive

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Irony

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the literary technique that involves differences between appearance and reality, expectation and result, meaning and intention

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Sonnet

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a 14-line lyric poem written in iambic pentameter

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Sonnet Sequence

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a group of sonnets linked by subject and/or theme

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Rhyme

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the repetition of sounds at the ends of words

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End Rhyme

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occurs when rhyming words come at the end of lines

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Internal Rhyme

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ocurs when rhyming words appear in the same line

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Slant Rhyme (or Imperfect/Approximate/Half Rhyme)

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the use of sounds that are similar, but not identical

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Visual Rhyme

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occurs when words look like they should rhyme, but do not

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Meter

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the rhymithical pattern of a poem. Is determined by the number and types of stresses, or "beats", in each line

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Paraphrase

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restate in your own words

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Motif

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a literary convention or an element, such as a word, character, object, image, metaphor, or idea that repeats in a work or several works; a connecting thread throughout a piece or pieces of literature

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Parody

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a humerous imitation of a work of art, literature, music, etc

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Blazon

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a lyric poem that catalogs the physical characteristics and virtues of the beloved

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Epic

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a long narrative poem dealing with the adventures of a great hero, having a national, worldwide, or cosmic setting involving supernatural forces and written in a deliberately ceremonious style

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Epithet

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a word or phrase that states a quality or characteristic of a person or thing

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Kenning

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a metaphorical phrase in Anglo-Saxon poetry that replaces a concrete noun

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Stream of Consciousness

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a narrative technique that presents thoughts as if they were directly from a character's mind

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Point of View

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the author's choice of narrator

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Paradox

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a statement that appears contradictory but actually presents a truth

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Caesura

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a natural cause or break in a line of poetry

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Eulogy

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a solemn, formal, lyric poem that mourns the death of a person or the passing of a time period

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Blank Verse

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in poetry, are lines written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

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Antithesis

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a figure of speech in which contrasting or paradoxical ideas are presented in parallel form

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Shakespearean Tragedy

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essentially a tale of suffering and calamity that leads to the death of a man of high estate

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Parallelism

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the repetition of a grammatical pattern

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Juxtaposition

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placing two elements side-by-side so that one may comment on or reinforce a point in the other

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Foreshadowing

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the use of clues to suggest events that have yet to occur

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Aside

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a speech or comment, usually brief that, according to theatrical conventions, is heard only by the audience, or sometimes addressed privately to another character on stage

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Soliloquy

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a monologue delivered by a character who is alone on stage

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Symbol

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anything that stands for or repesents something else while representing itself

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Equivocation

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the use of words with shaded or double meanings in order to decieve

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Comic Relief

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a humorous scene wedged in between two serious scenes so that the audience can get the impact of both scenes

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Oxymoron

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a figure of speech that pairs opposite ideas

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Foil

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a character who provides a contrast to another character, thus intensifying the impact of that other character

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Romance

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a story that presents remote or imaginitive incidents, rather than ordinary realistic experiences, in the plotline

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Medieval Romance

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a story to which is added a love interest and strange wonders and marvels such as dragons, wizards, faeries, sprites, etc.

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Metonymy

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a figure of speech that substitutes something closely related to the thing actually meant

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Epitaph

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an inscription written on a tomb or buirial plot. Also, includes serious or humorous lines written as if intended for such use

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Romanticism

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a literary and artistic movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, emphasizing imagination, emotion, beauty of the natural world, and the rights of the individual

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Metaphor

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a figure of speech that compares two unlike things

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Similie

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a figure of speech using "like," "than," or "as"

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Heroic Couplet

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two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter

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Mysticism

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the belief that communion with God can be achieved through contemplation and love, without the use of human reason

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Extended Metaphor

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a metaphor developed at length and involves several points of comparison

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Alexandrine

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a line written in iambic hexameter

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Ode

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a long formal lyric poem with a serious theme