English Literary Terms A-D

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Absurd

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Irrational,ludicrous, nonsensical, ridiculous, preposterous; without reason or commonsense, illogical

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Aesthetic

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Artisticfocus on what is beautiful; what constitutes beauty

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Allegory

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Story in verse orprose with a primary or surface meaning; and a secondary or under-the-surfacemeaning.

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Alliteration

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Figure of speech inwhich the consonants or stressed syllables are repeated, at beginning of words

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allusion

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Usually an implicitreference to another work of literature or art, to a person or an event

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Ambiguity

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When something can betaken more than one way- there could be another meaning /alternative reaction

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Anachronism

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Placingan event, person, item, or verbal expression in the wrong historical period

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Anagnorisis

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Moment in play orother work when character makes critical discovery. Originally meant"recognition"

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Analogy

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The comparison of twopairs which have the same relationship.

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Anapest

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Metrical foot used inpoetry consisting of two short (unstressed) syllables followed by a long(stressed) one

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Anecdote

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A brief account of ora story about an individual or an incident

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Antagonist

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in drama or fictionthe antagonist opposes the hero or protagonist

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Anthropomorphism

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Attributing humanforms or qualities to entities (gods and goddesses), which are not human.

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Anti-climax

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The same as bathos.The last part of the sentence expresses something lower than the first. (Oftencomical)

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Anti-hero

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Type of character whois incompetent, unlucky, tactless, stupid, buffoonish (opposite ofold-fashioned hero)

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Antithesis

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Opposition orcontrast of ideas is expressed by paralleling opposites or contrasts

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Aphorism

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-Brief saying embodying a moral; a concise statement of a principle or preceptgiven in pointed words

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Apostrophe

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When a thing, place,abstract quality, idea, dead or absent person, is addressed as if present

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Archetype

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Usage of any objector situation as it was originally made; a universally recognized idea or type

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Aside

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In drama, wordsspoken in an undertone or to the audience. Words are presumed inaudible toother characters

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Assonance

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Sometimes called"vocalic rhyme", consists of the repetition of similar vowel sounds,usually close together

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Asyndeton

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When conjunctions aredeliberately omitted from a series of related clauses

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Attitude

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A manner of thinking,feeling, or behaving that reflects a state of mind or disposition

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Aubade

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Morninglove song (as opposed to serenade, which is in evening) or poem about loversseparating at dawn

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Ballad

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Form of verse, often anarrative set to music. From medieval French chanson or ballade ("dancingsongs")

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Bathos

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An effect ofanticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to thetrivial or ridiculous

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Bildungsroman

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Story whereprotagonist undergoes growth throughout the entire narrative; coming of agenarrative

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Blank verse

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Unrhymedfive-stress lines; properly, iambicpentameters... closest in rhythm to everyday English speech

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Byronic Hero

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A typicallyrebellious, arrogant, anti-social hero, perhaps in exile, and darkly,enticingly romantic

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Cacophony

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Oppositeof euphony. Deliberate use of harsh sounds to achieve a particular effect

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Cadence

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Refers to the melodicpattern preceding the end of a sentence; the rising and falling of language

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Caesura

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break or pause in aline of poetry, dictated, usually, by the natural rhythm of the language

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Caricature

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A portrait thatridicules a person by exaggerating or distorting his most prominent featuresand characteristics

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Catastrophe

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(FromGreek "overturning")... The tragic denouement or outcome of a play orstory

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Catharsis

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Purging or cleansingof emotions through fear and pity - from Aristotle in his definition of tragedy

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Chiasmus

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("Placingcrosswise") Reversal of grammatical structures or order to complement andbalance one another

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Cinquain

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Poetrythat employs a 5-line pattern. Describes any five-line form

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Cliché

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A trite over-usedexpression, which is lifeless. Many idioms have become clichés throughexcessive use.

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Climax

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Thatpoint of a story or play at which a crisis is reached and a resolutionachieved.

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Comic relief

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Comic episodes orinterludes aimed to relieve tension and heighten the tragic element by contrast

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Conceit

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Denotes fairlyelaborate figurative comparative device of a fanciful kind which is intended tosurprise and delight by its wit and ingenuity.Associated with the metaphysical poets

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Conflict

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Tension in asituation; character's moral dilemma or predicament (may be external orinternal)

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Connotation

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Suggestionor implication evoked by a word or phrase, over and above what it means or actuallydenotes

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Consonance

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Close repetition ofidentical consonant sounds before and after different vowels

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Conundrum

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Confusing anddifficult problem or question- often asked for amusement; a riddle

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Couplet

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Twosuccessive rhyming lines

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Crisis

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Stage in a sequenceof events at which future events are determined; the turning point

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Dactyl

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Poetic foot that hasa long (stressed) syllable followed by two short (unstressed) syllables (-uu)

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Denotation

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Most literal meaningof a word, regardless of suggestions and ideas it connotes

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Denouement

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(French-"unknotting")... the unraveling of a plot's complications at the end of a story or play

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Diction

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Writer's vocabularyusage and choice of words.

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Dissonance

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Arrangementof cacophonous sounds in words, or rhythmical patterns, for a particular effect

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Dogma

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Atenet, doctrine, law or principle. Something laid down as being so

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Dramatic irony

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When audience knowsimplication and meaning of situation or what is being said, but characters donot

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Dumb-show

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Mimed dramaticperformance that prepares audience for the main action of the play to follow

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Dystopia

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Imaginedplace or state where everything is unpleasant; typically totalitarian orenvironmentally degraded one