English Literary Terms Part 1

Front 1

Allegory

Back 1

Idea or a moral principle in which objects take on symbolic meaning.

Front 2

Alliteration

Back 2

A repetition of the initial sounds of several words in a group.

Ex. "I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet."

Front 3

Allusion

Back 3

A reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another work.

Ex. Usually references biblical people

Front 4

Ambiguity

Back 4

A statement which can contain two or more meanings.

Ex. An Oracle warned that if he went to war he would destroy any empire, he realized she mentioned his own.

Front 5

Analogue

Back 5

A comparison between two similar things.

Ex. A literature derived from another

Front 6

Anapest

Back 6

A line of poetry were two unstressed syllables are followed by one stressed syllable. Forming the pattern of the line or poem.

Front 7

Anecdote

Back 7

A short tale told by a character in a literary work.

Front 8

Antagonist

Back 8

A person or force which opposes the protagonist.

Ex. The cold in "to build a fire"

Front 9

Aphorism

Back 9

A brief statement which expresses an observation on life.

Front 10

Juxtaposition

Back 10

Comparing two things that are unlike.

Front 11

Apostrophe

Back 11

The speaker speaks directly to something non-human

Ex. Unruly sun, why dost thou thus?

Front 12

Aside

Back 12

A short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play

Front 13

Assonance

Back 13

The repetition of vowel sounds in a literary work

Ex. Hear the mellow wedding bells-//and// from the molten-golden notes

Front 14

Autobiography

Back 14

The story of a person's life written by himself or herself

Front 15

Autobiography

Back 15

The story of a person's life written by himself or herself

Front 16

Ballad

Back 16

A story in poetic form, often about tragic love and usually sung.

Front 17

Biography

Back 17

The story of a person's life written by someone other than the subject of the work.

Front 18

Blank Verse

Back 18

A poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Front 19

Cacophony

Back 19

Unpleasant combination of sounds.

Front 20

Euphony

Back 20

A pleasant combination of sounds.

Front 21

Caesura

Back 21

A pause within a line of poetry which may or may not affect the metrical count.

Front 22

Canto

Back 22

A subdivision of an epic poem.

Front 23

Carpe Diem

Back 23

Sieze (catch) the day

Front 24

Catastrophe

Back 24

The scene in a tragedy which includes the death or moral destruction of the protagonist.

Front 25

Character

Back 25

Any person, or any thing presented as a person.

Ex. Spirit, object, animal, or natural force.

Front 26

Characterization

Back 26

The method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work.

Ex. Characters actions, own words, others reveal

Front 27

Classicism

Back 27

A movement or tendency in art, music, literature to retain the characteristics found in work originating in classical Greece or Rome.

Front 28

Climax

Back 28

The decisive moment in a drama

Front 29

Comedy

Back 29

A literary work which is amusing and ends happily.

Front 30

Conceit

Back 30

A far-fetched simile or metaphor, the speaker compares two highly dissimilar things.

Front 31

Conclusion

Back 31

Also called the Resolution.

The point in a drama to which the entire play has been leading. It is the logical outcome.

Front 32

Concrete Poetry

Back 32

A poem that visually resembles something found in the physical world.

Ex. About an apple, shaped like an apple

Front 33

Conflict

Back 33

When the protagonist is opposed by some person or force in the play.

Front 34

Connotation

Back 34

Is the emotional content

Front 35

Denotation

Back 35

Is its dictionary definition.

Front 36

Consonance

Back 36

The repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry.

Front 37

Couplet

Back 37

A stanza of two lines, usually rhyming.

Front 38

Dactyl

Back 38

A metrical pattern consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. In poetry.

Front 39

Dialogue

Back 39

A conversation between characters in a drama.

Front 40

Diction

Back 40

An author's choice of words.

Front 41

Didactic Literature

Back 41

Literature designed explicitly to instruct

Front 42

Dramatic Monologue

Back 42

A single speaker saying something to a silent audience.

Front 43

Elegy

Back 43

A lyric poem lamenting death

Front 44

Epic

Back 44

Literature generally, a major work dealing with an important theme.

Front 45

Epigraph

Back 45

A brief quotation which appears at the beginning of a literary work.

Front 46

Epithet

Back 46

A word or phrase preceding or following a name which serves to describe the character.

Front 47

Euphemism

Back 47

A mild word of phrase which would be undesirable because it is too direct, unpleasant, or offensive.

Front 48

Exposition

Back 48

The presentation of essential information regarding what has occurred prior to the beginnings of the play.

Front 49

Fable

Back 49

A brief tale designed to illustrate a moral lesson.

Front 50

Falling action

Back 50

Series of events which will take place after the Climax.

Front 51

Farce

Back 51

A type of comedy based on a humorous situation.

Front 52

Figurative language

Back 52

A way of saying one thing and meaning something else.

Front 53

Figure of speech

Back 53

Ex. States something that is not literally true to create an effect.

Front 54

Flash back

Back 54

A reference to an event which took place prior to the beginning of a story or play.

Front 55

Foil

Back 55

A character in a play who sets off the main character or other characters by comparison

Front 56

Foot

Back 56

The basic unit of measurement in a line of a line of poetry

a line of poetry

Front 57

Foreshadowing

Back 57

A method used to build suspense by providing hints of what is to come

Front 58

Free verse

Back 58

Unrhymed poetry with lines of varying lengths, and containing no specific metrical pattern.

Front 59

Genre

Back 59

A literary type or form

Front 60

Haiku

Back 60

In Japanese language. Consists of three lines: 5-7-5 syllables

Front 61

Hyperbole

Back 61

Overstatement or exaggeration

Front 62

Iamb

Back 62

A metrical pattern of unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable

Front 63

Imagery

Back 63

A word or group of words in a literary work which appeal to one or more of the senses

Front 64

Inference

Back 64

A judgement based on reasoning rather than on direct or explicit statement

Front 65

Irony

Back 65

Takes many forms.

Irony of situation

Dramatic Irony

Verbal Irony