Handbook Of Literary Terms

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accent

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when a syllable is given a greater amount of force in speaking than is given to another; also known as stress

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Alexandrine

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in English verse, a line of iambic hexameter usually having a caesura after the third foot

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allegory`

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narrative in either verse or prose in which characters, events, and in some cases setting, represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of the story

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alliteration

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repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or within them, especially accented syllables

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allusion

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an indirect reference to a person, place, or thing - fictitious, historical, actual

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analogy

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a comparison made between two objects, situations, or ideas that share something in common but are otherwise totally different

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anapest

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a metrical foot consisting of three syllables, two accented followed by one unaccented

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anaphora

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repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of several successive clauses, verses, or paragraphs

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antagonist

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a character in a story or play that opposes the protagonist

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apostrophe

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a figure of speech in which a character or narrator directly addresses an abstract concept, an inanimate object, or a person who is not present

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assonance

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the repetition of similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables or words; like alliteration, assonance may occur either initially or internally

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ballad

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narrative song or poem passed on orally

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blank verse

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unrhymed iambic pentameter

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caesura

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a light but definite pause within a line of poetry

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catharsis

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the purification of emotions by vicarious experience, especially through drama

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characterization

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the methods used by an author to develop the personality of a character in a literary work

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chiasmus

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a rhetorical device in which words or phrases initially presented are restated in reverse order: do not live to eat, eat to live

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chorus

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in ancient Greek drama, a group of actors who sang and danced in unison and provided commentary on the actions of the main characters

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cliché

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a trite or hackneyed expression, idea, plot, character development, etc.

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climax

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decisive moment that is the maximum intensity or is a major turning point in the plot; a point when the action changes course and begins to resolve itself in some manner

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comedy

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a play written primarily to amuse the audience, usually featuring a protagonist whose fortunes take a turn for the better

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comic relief

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an amusing scene, incident, character, or speech introduced into a serious or tragic work to relieve tension

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conceit

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an elaborate, extended, and often surprising comparison made between two very dissimilar things that exhibits the author's ingenuity and cleverness

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conflict

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struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem; a conflict may be internal or external; person v. person, person v. nature, person v. society, person v. himself

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connotation

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the emotional associations that surround a word as opposed to its denotation

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consonance

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the repetition of consonant sounds that are preceded by a different vowel

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couplet

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two successive lines of verse that have the same meter and in many cases rhyme

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dactyl

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a three-syllable metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables

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denotation

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literal meaning of a word

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denouement

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the resolution of the plot of a literary work

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didactic poetry

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poetry whose purpose is to teach the reader a lesson

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dramatic monologue

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lyric poem in which the speaker addresses someone whose replies are not recorded; in a dramatic monologue, the poet adopts the voice of a fictive or historical voice or some other persona

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dramatic situtation

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a situation that drives the plot of a drama and involves the dynamic relation between a character and a goal or objective and the obstacles that intervene between the character and the objective

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elegy

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a lament or a sadly meditative poem sometimes written on the occasion of death, usually formal in language and structure and solemn or melancholy in tone

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end-stopped line

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a line of poetry that contains a complete thought, usually ending with a period, colon, or semicolon, and therefore ends in a full pause; the opposite of a run-on line

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English or Shakespearean sonnet

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fourteen lines in iambic pentameter with rhyme scheme abab/cdcd/efef/gg; couplet

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enjambment

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the employment of run-on lines of poetry whereby the meaning of the statement is carried from one line to the next without pause

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epic

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a long narrative poem describing the deeds of a great hero, great adventures, and matters of national or global significance, and sometimes featuring supernatural forces

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epigram

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a short poem that ends in a witty or ingenious turn of though, to which the rest of the composition is intended to lead up

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epigraph

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a motto or quotation at the beginning of a book, poem, or chapter that usually indicates its theme

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epiphany

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a moment of enlightenment in which an underlying truth or essential nature of something is suddenly revealed or made clear to a character

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epistolary

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associated with letters or the writing of letters; for example, an epistolary poem is a letter written in verse

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eye rhyme

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"have" versus "grave"
also known as sight rhyme

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exposition

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in fiction, the narrative passages that establish the basic setting of the story

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falling action

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action that occurs after the climax and directly before the denouement or the resolution of the plot

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farce

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highly comic, light-hearted drama, usually involving stock situations and characters and based on a far-fetched humorous situation

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feminine ending

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an unaccented syllable at the end of a line of poetry

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feminine rhyme

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similarity in rhyme is found in the last two syllables: "weary" and "dreary"

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figurative language

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language used in a nonliteral way; figurative language uses figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, synecdoche, etc.

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foot

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a division of verse consisting of a number of syllables, one of which has the principal stress: the basic unit of meter in poetry

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framed story

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narrative device whereby a story or group of stories is presented within the framework of a larger narrative

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half-rhyme

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slant rhyme

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heroic couplet

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two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter

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high comedy

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comedy that appeals to the intellect using verbal wit, a clever plot, and visual elegance

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hyperbole

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a figure of speech in which exaggeration or overstatement is used for special effect

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iamb

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a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, the first unaccented, and the second accented

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in medias res

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narratives that begin in the middle of the action

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internal rhyme

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rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry

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Italian or Petrachan sonnet

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fourteen lines, two parts: octet followed by sestet w/ rhyme scheme abbaabba/cdecde

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limerick

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a five-line comic verse form with a rhyme scheme aabba with the 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines in trimeter and the 3rd and 4th in dimeter

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litotes

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a type of understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negation of its opposite

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low comedy

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comic actions based on broad physical humor, scatology, crude punning, and the argumentative behavior of ignorant and lower-class characters

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lyric

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a poem that expresses an emotion or state of mind, creating a single, highly personal impression upon the reader

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masculine ending

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an accented syllable that ends a line of verse

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masculine rhyme

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a rhyme of one-syllable words or of stressed final syllables

jail and bail
divorce and remorse

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melodrama

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a sensational 19th century play that featured a suspenseful, plot-oriented drama with all-good heroes, all-bad villains, simplistic dialogue, and soaring moral conclusions

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metonymy

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figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated

Washington: government

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novella

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story that is longer than a short story but is shorter than a novel

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ode

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a formal, ceremonious, and complexly organized form of lyric poetry; usually rather long and often commemorate an important event such as marriage

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pastoral

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a conventional form of lyric poetry that presents an idealized view of rural life