Lit Terms

Front 1

alliteration

Back 1

the commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter

Front 2

allegory

Back 2

A symbolic representation

Front 3

allusion

Back 3

passing reference or indirect mention

Front 4

assonance

Back 4

rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words

Front 5

ballad

Back 5

any light, simple song, esp. one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody

Front 6

blank verse

Back 6

Verse consisting of unrhymed lines, usually of iambic pentameter

Front 7

cacaphony

Back 7

harsh discordance of sound; dissonance

Front 8

connotation

Back 8

the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning

Front 9

consonance

Back 9

the use of the repetition of consonants or consonant patterns as a rhyming device

Front 10

couplet

Back 10

a pair of successive lines of verse, esp. a pair that rhyme and are of the same length

Front 11

denonation

Back 11

The most specific or direct meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings

Front 12

dramatic poetry

Back 12

Poetry in which one or more characters speak

Front 13

Elegy

Back 13

a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem

Front 14

epic

Back 14

noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style

Front 15

extended metaphor

Back 15

a metaphor that is extended through a stanza or entire poem, often by multiple comparisons of unlike objects or ideas

Front 16

free verse

Back 16

verse that does not follow a fixed metrical pattern

Front 17

haiku

Back 17

a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons

Front 18

Idyll

Back 18

A short poem or prose piece depicting a rural or pastoral scene, usually in idealized terms

Front 19

Imagery

Back 19

the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively

Front 20

lyric poem

Back 20

a short poem of songlike quality

Front 21

metaphor

Back 21

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison

Front 22

meter

Back 22

poetic measure; arrangement of words in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic lines or verses

Front 23

modernism

Back 23

The deliberate departure from tradition and the use of innovative forms of expression that distinguish many styles in the arts and literature of the 20th century

Front 24

mood

Back 24

a prevailing emotional tone or general attitude

Front 25

narrative poem

Back 25

poem that tells a story and has a plot

Front 26

naturalism

Back 26

Factual or realistic representation

Front 27

octave

Back 27

A poem or stanza containing eight lines

Front 28

ode

Back 28

a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion

Front 29

onomatopoeia

Back 29

using words that imitate the sound they denote

Front 30

personification

Back 30

the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions

Front 31

poetry

Back 31

the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts

Front 32

pun

Back 32

the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words

Front 33

realism

Back 33

a manner of treating subject matter that presents a careful description of everyday life, usually of the lower and middle classes

Front 34

repetition

Back 34

repeated utterance; reiteration

Front 35

rhyme

Back 35

A poem or verse having a regular correspondence of sounds, especially at the ends of lines

Front 36

masculine rhyme

Back 36

a rhyme of but a single stressed syllable, as is disdain/complain

Front 37

feminine rhyme

Back 37

A rhyme in which the final syllable is unstressed, as in feather/heather

Front 38

rhyme scheme

Back 38

the pattern of rhymes used in a poem, usually marked by letters to symbolize correspondences

Front 39

rhythm

Back 39

a regular, repeated pattern of sounds, stresses or beats

Front 40

romanticism

Back 40

characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions

Front 41

scansion

Back 41

Analysis of verse into metrical patterns

Front 42

sestet

Back 42

poem or stanza containing six lines

Front 43

setting

Back 43

the locale or period in which the action of a novel, play, film, etc., takes place

Front 44

similie

Back 44

A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as

Front 45

sonnet

Back 45

A 14-line verse form usually having one of several conventional rhyme schemes

Front 46

speaker

Back 46

a person who is or was speaking

Front 47

stanza

Back 47

One of the divisions of a poem composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines.

Front 48

surrealism

Back 48

stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery arrived at by automatism or the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected juxtapositions, etc

Front 49

tanka

Back 49

A Japanese verse form in five lines, the first and third composed of five syllables and the rest of seven.

Front 50

theme

Back 50

a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic

Front 51

tradgedy

Back 51

any literary composition, as a novel, dealing with a somber theme carried to a tragic conclusion

Front 52

villanelle

Back 52

A 19-line poem of fixed form consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeated alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain