Literary Terms

Front 1

abstract words

Back 1

words used to discuss intangible qualities like good and evil

Front 2

accent

Back 2

the stressed portion of a word in poetry

Front 3

ad hominem argument

Back 3

argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason; may attack the messenger rather than the message

Front 4

aesthetic

Back 4

appealing to the senses, a coherent sense of taste, the study of beauty

Front 5

aestehticism

Back 5

devotion to the idea of beauty in art

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aleatory

Back 6

an alogical poem, seems composed by chance

Front 7

allegory

Back 7

a story in which each aspect has symbolic meaning outside the story

Front 8

alliteration

Back 8

repetition of initial consonant sounds

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allusion

Back 9

reference to a famous work or figure outside the poem

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amplification

Back 10

repeating a word, and adding more modifiers each time

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anachronism

Back 11

an object misplaced in time

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anacoluthon

Back 12

finishing a sentence with different grammatical structure from that with which it began

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analogy

Back 13

a comparison, involving two or more symbolic parts, employed to clarify an action or a relationship

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anapestic

Back 14

metrical measurement of two unstressed syllables and then one stressed one

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anaphora

Back 15

repetition of the same words at the beginning of successive sentences or clauses

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anecdote

Back 16

a short story

Front 17

antagonist

Back 17

one that contends with or opposes another

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antecedent

Back 18

a word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to

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anthropomorphism

Back 19

inanimate objects are given human characteristics, but no human shape

Front 20

anticlimax

Back 20

an action produces far smaller results than one had led to expect, comic

Front 21

antihero

Back 21

a protagonist who is markedly unheroic

Front 22

antimetabole

Back 22

reversing the order of repeated words/clauses to intensify the sentence, present alternatives, or show contrast

Front 23

antiphrasis

Back 23

one word irony (calling a beautiful girl "ugly")

Front 24

antistrophe

Back 24

repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive lines

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antithesis

Back 25

juxtaposition of opposites

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aphorism

Back 26

a short and witty saying

Front 27

apocopated rhyme

Back 27

a cut-off rhyme; last syllable of one of the rhymes is missing

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apologia

Back 28

a defense of one's opinions, actions or life

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apologue

Back 29

moral fable using animals to comment on human condition

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aporia

Back 30

expression of doubt about conclusions

Front 31

aposiopesis

Back 31

stopping abruptly and leaving statement unfinished

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apostrophe

Back 32

speech is directed to a nonhuman object or one that is not present

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appositive

Back 33

a noun or phrase placed next to another noun, for the purpose of further describing

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archaism

Back 34

use of deliberately old-fashioned diction

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archetype

Back 35

the original pattern or model of which all things of a similar nature are copies

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ars poetica

Back 36

a poem written on the subjec tof poetic art, usually explaining poet's reasons for writing

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aside

Back 37

a speech made by an actor to the audience as though momentarily stepping outside the action on stage

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assonance

Back 38

the repeated use of internal vowel sounds

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atmosphere

Back 39

the emotional tone or background that surrounds a scence

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aubade

Back 40

a love song or poem greeting the dawn

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ballad

Back 41

a long narrative poem in regular meter and rhyme

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bathos

Back 42

writing that strains for grandeur it can't support

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blank verse

Back 43

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Front 44

bombast

Back 44

pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language

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burlesque

Back 45

broad parody that takes on a specific style and makes fun of it

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cacophony

Back 46

using deliberately harsh, awkward sounds

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cadence

Back 47

the beat or rhythm of poetry

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caesura

Back 48

a pause in a line of poetry (indicated or not)

Front 49

camera eye narrator

Back 49

third-person narrator who describes what would be visible to a camera; objective

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canto

Back 50

a section division in a long work of poetry

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caricature

Back 51

a portrait that exaggerates a facet of personality

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carpe diem

Back 52

the enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future

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catalogue

Back 53

a complete enumeration of items, arranged systematically, with descrptive details

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catharsis

Back 54

cleansing of emotion an audience member experiences, having lived through the experiences

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Chaucerian stanza

Back 55

7-lines, rhyme ababbcc

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chorus

Back 56

the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it

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classicism

Back 57

a tendency to reflect the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome

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climax

Back 58

the point of highest tension, or a major turning point in a play

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coinage

Back 59

a new word, usually invented on the spot

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colloquialism

Back 60

a word or phrase used in everyday conversational English

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conceit

Back 61

an extended metaphor, developed and expanded upon over several lines

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concrete poetry

Back 62

a poem wherein shape of words and lines conveys the meaning

Front 63

confessional poetry

Back 63

makes frank, explicit use of incidents in the poet's life

Front 64

connotation

Back 64

the association with a word; the word suggests/implies meaning beyond the literal

Front 65

consonance

Back 65

repetition of consonant sounds within words

Front 66

continuous form

Back 66

a poem in which lines follow each other without stanza breaks

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couplet

Back 67

a pair of lines ending in rhyme

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dactylic

Back 68

a metrical measurement of one accented syllable and two unaccented

Front 69

decorum

Back 69

the attitude one should display according to his social/economic status

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denotation

Back 70

a word's literal meaning

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denouement

Back 71

conclusion; the outcome of a plot

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determinism

Back 72

belief that man is fated to defeat under indifferent natural forces; emphasizes vanity of free will

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deus ex machina

Back 73

"god from the machine" -conflicts quickly resolved at end, often by sudden introduction of a power who solves all

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diacope

Back 74

repetition of words before and after syntactical break (We will do it, I tell you, we will do it)

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dialect

Back 75

the characteristic speech of a particular region or group

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diction

Back 76

the author's choice of words

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didactic

Back 77

primary purpose is to teach

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dirge

Back 78

a song for the dead

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dissonance

Back 79

the grating of incompatible sounds

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doggerel

Back 80

crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme

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dramaatic monologue

Back 81

single speaking in literature talks to silent audience

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dramatic poem

Back 82

a poem that has a conflict

Front 83

dualistic

Back 83

two-valued, eg. good/evil

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dystopia

Back 84

opposite of utopia, society where social and technological advances have serve dto aid corruption

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elegy

Back 85

poem on death or mortality

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encomium

Back 86

a laudatory poem for a legendary or real person

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enjambment

Back 87

continuation of syntax over line break

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enumeratio

Back 88

listing parts, cause, effect, for added emphasis

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epic

Back 89

a long narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style; often describes glorious or pround subject

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epigram

Back 90

a short poem intended to impart wisdom

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epigraph

Back 91

a quotation that is placed at the start of a work or section that expresses what will be said

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epiphany

Back 92

a sudden realization or comprehension of the meaning of something

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epistle

Back 93

a letter directed or sent to a group of people

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epistrophe

Back 94

repeat of same word(s) at the end of sentences

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epitaph

Back 95

lines that commemorate the dead at the burial place

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epithalamium

Back 96

a peom that is written for the bride; celebration of a wedding

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epithet

Back 97

a word preceding or following a name which serves to describe

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epizeuxis

Back 98

repetition of the same word for emphasis

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eponym

Back 99

substituting the name of a famous person for a description

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eulogy

Back 100

formal expression of praise, usually given a a funeral

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euphemism

Back 101

a word that takes the place of a more harsh or inappropriate word

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euphony

Back 102

sounds blending harmoniously

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euphuism

Back 103

elegant Victorian prose sytle (filled with alliteration and similes)

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exemplum

Back 104

citing an example

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expletive

Back 105

word interrupting syntax to give emphasis to words around it

Front 106

expressionism

Back 106

emphasizes the life of the mind and feelings rather than the realistic external details of everyday life

Front 107

eye of the poem

Back 107

the central focus of the poem

Front 108

falling rhyme

Back 108

feminine rhyme; ending with unaccented last syllable

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farce

Back 109

a comedy of unlikely, but possible, situations

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feminine rhyme

Back 110

falling rhyme, ending with unaccented last syllable

Front 111

figurative image

Back 111

representation of one thing by another

Front 112

first person narrator

Back 112

a character in the story who tells the tale from his/her point of view

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flashback

Back 113

a scene that interrupts the action to show an event that happened earlier

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foil

Back 114

a secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character

Front 115

foot

Back 115

basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry, formed by two or three syllables, stressed or not

Front 116

foreshadowing

Back 116

an event or statement that, in minature, suggests a larger event that comes later

Front 117

free verse

Back 117

poetry without regular rhyme or meter

Front 118

genre

Back 118

a sub-category of literature; categorizes literature by types

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gothic

Back 119

use of eerie themes and images

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haiku

Back 120

Japanese poetry with 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables

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half rhyme

Back 121

words that almost rhyme; slant rhyme

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hamartia

Back 122

tragic flaw or error which brings down the protagonist of a tragedy

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Harlem Renaissance

Back 123

flowering of African American art and music in the 1920s; center was in Harlem, New York

Front 124

head rhyme

Back 124

another word for alliteration

Front 125

heptameter

Back 125

poem of seven metrical feet

Front 126

heroic couplet

Back 126

a rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter

Front 127

hexameter

Back 127

poetic form of six metrical feet

Front 128

homonyms

Back 128

words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings

Front 129

hubris

Back 129

excessive pride/ambition which leads to character's downfall

Front 130

hyperbaton

Back 130

departure from normal word order; a form of inversion

Front 131

hyperbole

Back 131

exaggeration or deliberate overstatement

Front 132

hypophora

Back 132

raising a question then proceeding to answer it

Front 133

iambic

Back 133

a metrical foot with an unstressed first syllable and a stressed second syllable

Front 134

in media res

Back 134

a piece of writing that begins in the middle of the action

Front 135

incongruity

Back 135

the joining of opposites to create an unexpected situation

Front 136

interior monologue

Back 136

recording of mental talk in character's head

Front 137

invective

Back 137

speech/writing that abuses, denounces, attacks

Front 138

inversion

Back 138

switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase

Front 139

irony

Back 139

events turn out exactly the opposite of how they might be expected; saying the opposite of what is meant

Front 140

lament

Back 140

a peom of sadness or grief over the death of a loved one or some intense loss

Front 141

lampoon

Back 141

a satire

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linked rhyme

Back 142

first syllable of a line echoes the last syllable of the previous line (on the rooftop/ stops the light)

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literal image

Back 143

concrete replication in words of an object or experience

Front 144

litotes

Back 144

type of understatement achieved by denying the opposite (i am not unkind)

Front 145

local color

Back 145

use of specific details describing dialect, dress, customs, and scenery associated with a particular region

Front 146

loose sentence

Back 146

a sentence complete before its end

Front 147

lyric

Back 147

poetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world

Front 148

madrigal

Back 148

a short lyric on love or pastoral themes

Front 149

masculine rhyme

Back 149

rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable

Front 150

melodrama

Back 150

cheesy theater; often emphasizes plot and action over character development

Front 151

metabasis

Back 151

brief summary of what has been said and what will follow

Front 152

metanoia

Back 152

modifies a statement by recalling it and expressing it in a better way

Front 153

metaphor

Back 153

comparison or analogy that states that one thing is anotehr

Front 154

meter

Back 154

rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up feet

Front 155

metonymy

Back 155

a single characteristic used to describe something outside itself

Front 156

mixed metaphor

Back 156

combination of incompatible comparisons; trying to compare objects too dissimilar to carry off a comparison

Front 157

mood

Back 157

prevailing atmosphere created by language, tone, setting

Front 158

motif

Back 158

a recurring feature in a work of literature

Front 159

narrative

Back 159

a story peom

Front 160

naturalism

Back 160

emphaisis on man as animal, behaving strictly according to dictates of nature; emphasizes lack of free will and the sordid

Front 161

neo-classicism

Back 161

sees man as flawed w/flawed institutions; nature neither good nor evil; man need sto seek harmony with what is

Front 162

neologism

Back 162

coinage; forming a new word, usually spontaneously

Front 163

nonce

Back 163

open form poem (shape is unique to peom) written for a special occasion

Front 164

novel of manners

Back 164

novel describing social habits/customs of a social group

Front 165

octave

Back 165

eight line stanza

Front 166

ode

Back 166

long poem on a serious subject that develops its theme with dignified lanuage, intended to be sung

Front 167

omniscient narrator

Back 167

a third-person narrator who sees into character's heads

Front 168

onomatopoeia

Back 168

words that sound like what they mean

Front 169

opposition

Back 169

a pair of elements that constrast sharply

Front 170

oxymoron

Back 170

a phrase composed of opposites; a contradiction

Front 171

palinode

Back 171

a poem retracting a regretted derogatory statement

Front 172

parable

Back 172

a story told in prose or verse that illustrates a religious or ethical idea

Front 173

paradigm

Back 173

a formal plan or sequence of changes which acts as a model

Front 174

paradox

Back 174

a statement that seems contradictory, but is not

Front 175

parallelism

Back 175

repeated syntactical similarities used for effect

Front 176

parenthetical

Back 176

a phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence

Front 177

parody

Back 177

exaggering a specific work so that it appears ridiculous

Front 178

pastoral

Back 178

a poem set in a tranquil nature (ideally around shepherds)

Front 179

pathetic fallacy

Back 179

a cliched personification of nature (rain weeds)

Front 180

pentameter

Back 180

a line of verse containing five metrical feet

Front 181

periodic sentence

Back 181

a sentence that is grammatically incomplete until its final phrase

Front 182

persona

Back 182

the character created by the author to narrate

Front 183

personification

Back 183

inanimate objects or animals take on human shape

Front 184

Petrarchan sonnet

Back 184

14 lines/abba abba cde cde

Front 185

picaresque novel

Back 185

novel about a picara or rogue and vagabond

Front 186

prelude

Back 186

an introductory poem to a longer work of verse

Front 187

private symbol

Back 187

an author's personal symbol that the reader understands through the context

Front 188

protagonist

Back 188

the main character of a novel or play

Front 189

public voice

Back 189

a writer who is speaking for all people

Front 190

pun

Back 190

humorous use of a word in a way to suggest two or more meanings

Front 191

pure rhyme

Back 191

initial sounds of a word differ and the rest of the sound is identical

Front 192

pyrrhic

Back 192

a metrical foot with two unstressed syllables

Front 193

quatrain

Back 193

four-line stanza

Front 194

quintet

Back 194

five lines of poetry with no prescribed rhyme

Front 195

realism

Back 195

nature is benign and there is optimism that man can rise above his own animal nature if he wills

Front 196

refrain

Back 196

a line or set of lines repeated several times in a poem

Front 197

requiem

Back 197

a song of prayer for the dead

Front 198

rhapsody

Back 198

passionate verse or section of verse, usually addresssing love or praise

Front 199

rhetorical question

Back 199

a question that suggests an answer, and therefore doesn't need to be answered

Front 200

rhetorical shift

Back 200

a change in tone or attitude; key words include "but", etc

Front 201

rhyme royal

Back 201

ababbcc: sounds are staggered (abab) in first lines, then closely linked (bcc)

Front 202

ridicule

Back 202

words intended to belittle or generate contempt/laughter

Front 203

rising rhyme

Back 203

masculine rhyme; rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable

Front 204

romanticism

Back 204

man is good but institutions and their imposed orders are evil; nature is good; man can live in harmony w/nature

Front 205

saga

Back 205

generally long novels, often about several generations

Front 206

sarcasm

Back 206

ridicule expressed in ironic praise

Front 207

satire

Back 207

work in which human vice or folly is attacked with irony, derision or wit

Front 208

scansion

Back 208

analysis of a peoms's rhythm and meter

Front 209

second intensity

Back 209

weak poems that could have been better

Front 210

septet

Back 210

7 lines of poetry

Front 211

sestet

Back 211

a stanza or poem of six lines

Front 212

sestina

Back 212

a 6 line stanza ending with tercet; last words of each line in 1st stanza are repeated as last words in next stanza

Front 213

Shakespearean sonnet

Back 213

14 lines in iambic pentameter, abab cdcd efef gg

Front 214

simile

Back 214

comparison using as or like

Front 215

slant rhyme

Back 215

half rhyme

Front 216

soliloquy

Back 216

speech spoken by single character on stage

Front 217

sonnet

Back 217

14 rhymed lines of verse in iambic pentameter

Front 218

Spenserian sonenct

Back 218

14 lines, abab bcbc cdcd ee

Front 219

spondee

Back 219

a metrical foot with two stresed syllables

Front 220

stanza

Back 220

a unit within a longer poem

Front 221

stock character

Back 221

standard or cliched character types

Front 222

stream of consciousness

Back 222

reading sees inside main character's head and is privy to all character's conscious, random thoughts

Front 223

subjunctive

Back 223

setting up a hypothetical situation

Front 224

surrealism

Back 224

allowing the subconscious or dream-like imagery to guide the poem; leaps from image to image

Front 225

suspension of disbelief

Back 225

demand of audience to accept stage limitations and believe

Front 226

syllogism

Back 226

deductive reasoning

Front 227

synecdoche

Back 227

a type of metaphor wherein a part stands for the whole

Front 228

synesthesia

Back 228

a mixing of senses

Front 229

tautology

Back 229

a repetition so redundant as to be frozen with obvious foolishness

Front 230

technique

Back 230

styles, devices and diction used by author

Front 231

tetrameter

Back 231

a poetic line with four metrical feet

Front 232

texture of poem

Back 232

the sound of the poetic words in a piece

Front 233

theme

Back 233

general idea or insight about life that writer wishes to convey

Front 234

tone

Back 234

the attitude of the poet

Front 235

transcendentalism

Back 235

holds that basic truths can be reache dthrough intuition; transcends reason; the divine is in nature and people

Front 236

travesty

Back 236

grotesque parody

Front 237

trochaic

Back 237

a metrical measurement of one stressed syllable and one unstressed

Front 238

trope

Back 238

any figurative language

Front 239

truism

Back 239

a way too obvious truth

Front 240

understatement

Back 240

ironic minimalizing of fact

Front 241

unreliable narrator

Back 241

first person narrator is carzy, very young, or not entirely credible

Front 242

utopia

Back 242

an idealized place

Front 243

verisimilitude

Back 243

how precisely the characters/events in fiction match reality

Front 244

vernacular

Back 244

everyday spoken langugage of people in a particular region

Front 245

villanelle

Back 245

19 lines: 5 tercets (aba) + a quatran (abaa)

Front 246

voice

Back 246

associated with the basic vision of a writer, her general attitude toward the world

Front 247

weak specification

Back 247

imprecise, abstract language

Front 248

wit

Back 248

words that are intellectually amusing; delight that surprises

Front 249

zeugma

Back 249

word modifies two or more words for different meanings (the dance floor was square as was his personality)