Ged Glossary Of Literary Terms

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ACCENT

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emphasis given to a syllable or to syllables of a word: used primarily with reference to poetry and also used for the mark (') that shows this emphasis

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ALLITERATION

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repetitian of the same consonant sound at the beginning of 2 or more words in close proximity ("The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew...")

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ALLUSION

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offhand reference to a famous figure or event in literature or history ("He opened a Pandora's box.")

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY

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story of a person's life written by him- or herself (Franklin's Autobiography)

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BALLAD

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verse form that presents in verse form that presents in simple story form a single dramatic or exciting episode and stresses such feelings as love, courage, patriotism, and loyalty ("Sir Patrick Spens")

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BIOGRAPHY

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story of a person's life written by someone else (Boswell's Life of Johnson)

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CLIMAX

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high point in the telling of a story, be it in fictional, poetic, or dramatic form (the appearance of Banquo's ghost in Macbeth)

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COMEDY

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light form of drama that aims to amuse and/or instruct us and that ends happily (All's Well That Ends Well)

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DIALOGUE

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conversation between people in a play

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ELEGY

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lyric poem expressing a poet's ideas concerning death (Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard")

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EPIC

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long poem that tells a story about noble people and their adventures centering around one character who is the hero

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EPITHET

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word, such as an adjective, or phrase that effectively identifies a significant quality of the noun it describes (Alexander the Great)

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ESSAY

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prose writing that can be recognized by its treatment of any topic, no matter how unimportant, and by its approach -- formal (containing an analysis with a moral) or informal (revealing the personality of the author through his or her humour, bias, and style

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FIGURE OF SPEECH

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expression used to appeal to the reader's emotions and imagination by presenting words in unusual meaning or context ("My love's like a red, red rose...")

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FOOT

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certain number of syllables making up a unit in a verse of poetry

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IMAGE

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figure of speech, especially a simile or a metaphor

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INVERSION

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reversal of the normal order of words in a sentence ("A king of men am I.")

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IRONY

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figure of speech in which the writer or speaker uses words meaning the exact opposite of what he really thinks (In Julius Caesar, Antony attacks Brutus with the words, "Brutus is an honorable man.")

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LIMERICK

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jingle in verse containing five lines, with lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyming and lines 3 and 4 rhyming

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LYRIC

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short poem expressing deep emotion in highly melodic and imaginative verse ("The Daffodils")

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METAPHOR

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figure of speech that compares two things, or a person and a thing, by using a quality of one applied to the other; "like" or "as" is omitted ("All the world's a stage.")

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METER

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rhythm patterns in verse

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MYTH

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story of unknown origin, religious in character, that tries to interpret the natural world, usually in terms of supernatural events (the story of Atlas)

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NARRATIVE

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story of events or experiences, true or fictitious; a poem may be narrative, as "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

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NOVEL

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lengthy prose story dealing with imaginary characters and settings that creates the illusion of real life (Scott's Ivanhoe)

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ODE

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lyric poem of particularly serious purpose written in language that is dignified and inspired (Keat's "Ode on a Grecian Urn)

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ONOMATOPOEIA

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use of words whose sounds resemble and/or suggest their meanings (buzz, hiss)

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PARADOX

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statement that seems contradictory, but that may, in fact, be true (In The Pirates of Penzance, the hero had only five birthdays although he was 21 years old. He was born on February 29th of a leap year!)

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PARODY

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writing that pokes fun at a serious work by using exaggeration or broad humor in imitation of the serious work

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POEM

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literature that has any or all of the following qualities to a high degree: deep emotion, highly imaginative language with figures of speech, distinctive rhythm, compression of thought, use of the familiar in a symbolic sense, rhyme scheme, words that mean more than they apparently say