K-O

Front 1

Kenning

Back 1

Compound expression, often hyphenated, representing a single noun.

Front 2

Laurel Wreath

Back 2

Wreath woven of the large, glossy leaves of the laurel tree.

Front 3

Lay

Back 3

Medieval narrative poem, written in couplets, for singing by a minstrel to the accompaniment.

Front 4

Lexis

Back 4

The complete vocabulary of a language or a field of study.

Front 5

Litotes

Back 5

Creation of a positive or opposite idea through negation.

Front 6

Low Comedy

Back 6

Comedy that relies on slapstick and horseplay.

Front 7

Lyric Poetry

Back 7

Poetry that presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry that tells a story or presents a witty observation.

Front 8

Machine

Back 8

Armlike device in an ancient Greek theater that could lower a "god" onto the stage from the "heavens."

Front 9

Macrocosm

Back 9

The world as a whole; the universe.

Front 10

Magnum Opus

Back 10

Great work; masterpiece; an author's most distinguished work.

Front 11

Malapropism

Back 11

Unintentional use of an inappropriate word similar in sound to the appropriate word, often with humorous effect.

Front 12

Mask

Back 12

In the drama of ancient Greece, a face covering with exaggerated features and a mouth device to project the voice.

Front 13

Master of Revels

Back 13

In Shakespeare's time, a government censor who examined all plays for offensive material.

Front 14

Melodrama

Back 14

Literary work or film that uses maudlin sentimentality and stereotypical characters.

Front 15

Memoir

Back 15

Type of autobiography in which the writer focuses primarily on the people (often famous personages) with whom he or she came into contact.

Front 16

Metaphor

Back 16

Comparing one thing to an unlike thing without using like, as or than.

Front 17

Meter

Back 17

In verse and poetry, meter is a recurring pattern of stressed (accented, or long) and unstressed (unaccented, or short) syllables in lines of a set length.

Front 18

Metonymy

Back 18

Substitution of a word or phrase to stand for a word or phrase similar in meaning.

Front 19

Microcosm

Back 19

A tiny world within the macrocosm. Often a microcosm represents ideas and activities present in the macrocosm.

Front 20

Minstrel

Back 20

Roving medieval musician who sang and recited poetry.

Front 21

Mise en Scene

Back 21

In a stage play, the stage set (including the walls, furniture, etc.) and the arrangement of the actors; the process of arranging the set and the actors.

Front 22

Motif

Back 22

Recurring theme in a literary work; recurring theme in literature in general.

Front 23

Mock-Epic

Back 23

Work that parodies the serious, elevated style of the classical epic poem–such as The Iliad or The Odyssey, by Homer–to poke fun at human follies.

Front 24

Morality Play

Back 24

Allegorical drama of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It teaches a lesson about how Christians should live and what they must do to save their souls. Allegorical drama of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It teaches a lesson about how Christians should live and what they must do to save their souls.

Front 25

Motivation

Back 25

Reason or reasons behind a character's action; what induces a character to do what he does; motives.

Front 26

Narrator

Back 26

One who tells a story.

Front 27

Naturalism

Back 27

In literature, an extreme form of realism that developed in France in the 19th Century.

Front 28

Neologism

Back 28

Word or phrase–or a new meaning for an existing word or phrase–that is accepted into a dictionary.

Front 29

Nihilism

Back 29

Nihilism (a term derived from the Latin word nihil, meaning nothing) is a philosophy that calls for the destruction of existing traditions, customs, beliefs, and institutions and requires its adherents to reject all values, including religious and aesthetic principles, in favor of belief in nothing.

Front 30

Nine Worthies

Back 30

Mythological, legendary, biblical, or historical personages alluded to in literature because of their heroic qualities.

Front 31

Noble Savage

Back 31

Since ancient times, writers have often depicted aboriginal or uncivilized people as noble–untainted by the corrupt ways of civilization.

Front 32

Nom de Plum

Back 32

Pen name; pseudonym.

Front 33

Novel

Back 33

Long fictional story told in prose.

Front 34

Novella

Back 34

Short prose tale that often has satire and a moral.

Front 35

Novelette

Back 35

Prose work shorter than a novel but longer than a short story.

Front 36

Objectivity

Back 36

Ability of an author to keep his opinions and preachments out of a poem, a play, a short story, a novel, or any other literary work that he writes.

Front 37

Ockham's Razor

Back 37

Principle expressed by William of Ockham (1285-1349), a German Franciscan priest, that the simplest solution is the best.

Front 38

Octave

Back 38

First eight lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet. Petrarch's sonnets each consist of an eight-line stanza (octave) and a six-line stanza (sestet).

Front 39

Ode

Back 39

In ancient Greece, a lyric poem on a serious subject that develops its theme with dignified language intended to be sung.

Front 40

Ode, Romantic

Back 40

Dignified but highly lyrical (emotional) poem in which the author speaks to a person or thing absent or present.

Front 41

Oeuvre

Back 41

The complete works of an author, a composer, a painter, etc.

Front 42

Old Comedy

Back 42

In Greece of the Fifth Century, BC, a genre of comedy that displayed great imagination and used cutthroat satire, caricature, and sometimes vulgar dialogue to ridicule public figures, politics, ideas, trends, and institutions.

Front 43

Old English Versification

Back 43

Unrhyming verse, without stanzas, with a caesura (pause) in the middle of each line.

Front 44

Onkos

Back 44

Headdress worn by some actors in ancient Greece to increase their height and, thus, visibility to theater audiences.

Front 45

Onomatopoeia

Back 45

Figure of speech in which (1) a word mimics a sound or (2) an arrangement of words in a rhythmic pattern suggests a sound or an image.

Front 46

Opera

Back 46

Plural of opus, Latin for work. An opera is a play set to music.

Front 47

Oration

Back 47

Speech delivered with great emotion to spur listeners to action.

Front 48

Otiose Writing

Back 48

Extremely wordy writing in which the author is too lazy to edit for conciseness.

Front 49

Oxymoron

Back 49

Combining contradictory words to reveal a truth.