Literary Terms

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The Absurd

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In modernist drama, the seemingly meaningless and irrational plots, characters and images that stress the theme that human existence is inexplicable and incoherent.

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Act

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a major division in a play. most plays have between one and five of these. and most of these are divided into one or more scenes.

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allegory

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A narrative in which characters, settings and events stand for abstract ideas or moral qualities.

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Alliteration

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the repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together

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Allusion

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a reference to a statement, a person, a place, an idea, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or the arts.

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ambiguity

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an element of uncertainty in a text, in which something can be interpreted in a number of different ways.

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Analogy

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A comparison made between two things to show their similarities or to clarify the meaning of a statement or idea.

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Anecdote

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A very brief account of a particular incident, frequently used to illustrate a point.

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Antagonist

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A character in fiction who opposes or struggles against the protagonist. In some cases this can be a force in nature or a group of people

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Anticlimax

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Something less than what is expected. An author can use this for humor, lightening a serious topic by referring to something trivial.

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Antithesis

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A figure of speech using contrasting words, sentences, or ideas. these are usually presented in grammatically parallel structures.

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Aphorism

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A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.

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Apostrophe

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a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman as if it were present and capable of responding.

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Archetype

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An old imaginative pattern that appears cross cultures and is repeated throughout the ages. these are universal actions, characters, and images.

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Aside

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In drama words spoken by a character directly to the audience or to another character but that are not meant to be overhead by other onstage characters.

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Assonance

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The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words that are close together.

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Atmosphere

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The overall mood or tone of a work of literature. this can be described in one or two adjectives.

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Attitiude

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This in a poem is often revealed through the poets choice of details

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Bathos

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The effect created when a writer attempts at evoking pity or compassion are overdone, creating an unintentionally comedic effect.

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Blank Verse

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Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. each line of a poem written in this consists of five iambs. Each iamb consists of a single unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable.

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Cacophony

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A harsh, discordant combination of sounds.

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Cadence

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The natural rhythm of spoken language, created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.

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Caesura

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A pause or break within a line of poetry

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Catharsis

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An emotional release said to be experienced by an audience following powerful feelings evoked by tragedy.

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Character

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An individual who takes part in the action of a story, poem, or play.

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Chiasmus

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A type of parallelism in which the order of words or ideas in the first part of parallelism is reversed in the second part

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Climax

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The moment of greatest emotional intensity or suspense in a plot. This in a story or play usually marks the moment in which the conflict is resolved.

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Colloquial

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This writing uses words, phrases or sentences to reflect informal conversation. Dialogue in literature often relies on this writing to convey the everyday speech of characters.

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Comedy

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In general, a story that ends happily.

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Comic relief

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A comic scene that relieves tension in a serious play or narrative. it allows writers to lighten the tone of a work and show the humorous side of a dramatic theme.

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Conceit

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An elaborate figure of speech that often includes metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or analogy. there are two main types of this: petrarchan and metaphysical.

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Conflict

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a struggle or clash between opposing characters or opposing forces.

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connotation

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All the meanings, associations, or emotions that have to be attached to some words, in addition to their literal definitions.

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Consonance

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The close repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after differing vowel sounds

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Contradiction

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a person, thing, statement, or situation that is in opposition to another, or one that has opposing qualities.

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contrast

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the placement of dissimilar or opposed images, ideas, or both next to each other.

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Controlling image

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a dominant image or metaphor that is sustained throughout all or part of a literary work, especially with respect to structure or theme.

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Couplet

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two consecutive end-rhymed lines of poetry.

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Crisis

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In a narrative plot,the high point of tension, after which follows a resolution. Some stories have more than one of these

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Denotation

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The literal meaning of a word, without its emotional associations.

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Denouement

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The resolution a play, short story, or novel. usually follows the the narratives climax and includes resolution of the conflict and answers to questions

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Details

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The pieces of information an author chooses to include in a work

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Deus ex machina

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an unexpected force or event that suddenly appears and resolves a seemingly irresolvable problem.

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Dialect

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A way of speaking characteristic of a particular region or group of people

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Dialogue

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A conversation between characters in a story or play

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Diction

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A writer or speaker's choice of words.

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Dirge

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a song of grief or lament

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Dissonance

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A harsh discordant combination of sounds

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Double-entendre

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A word or expression that can have two meanings, one of which is usually risque.

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Dramatic monologue

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a poem in which a speaker addresses one or more silent listeners, often reflecting on a specific problem or situation.

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Duality

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The idea that human beings have two forms-- a physical and a spiritual self.

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Elegy

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A poem mourning the dead or with a sorrowful reflective mood.

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End-stopped Line

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a line of poetry in which the grammar, meaning, and meter end at the end of the line.

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Enjambment

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In poetry, the continuation of a sentence fro one line to another.

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Epic

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a long narrative poem, written in elevated language, that relates the great deeds of a larger than life hero

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Epigram

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A short clever statement in poetry or prose.

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Epilogue

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A brief concluding section added to a literary work.

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Epiphany

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A moment of profound insight into the true meaning of a situation.

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Episode

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An event that consists of a single action but is also part of a longer narrative.

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Epithet

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An adjective or descriptive phrase that is used regularly to characterize a person, place, or thing.

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Euphemism

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A mild or neutral expression substituted for a more blunt one.

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Euphony

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a pleasant harmonious combination of sounds

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Evocation

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The summoning of a memory or spirit

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Evocative

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Brining about strong emotions through the use of images, feelings, or memories

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Exposition

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A type of writing that explains, gives information, defines, or clarifies

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Fable

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A very brief story in prose or verse that teaches a moral, or a practical lesson about how to get along in life

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Falling action

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The action in a literary work that follows the climax

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Farce

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A mostly visual comedy designed to appeal through exaggerated physical action, stereotyped characters, and ridiculous situations

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Figure of speech/ figurative language

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a word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and that is not meant to be understood on a literal level

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Flashback

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A scene that interrupts the present action of the plot to show events that happened at an earlier time

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Foil

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a character who serves as a contrast to another character.

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Foot

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a group of syllables forming the basic unit of measurement in a line of poetry

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Foreshadowing

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the use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in a plot

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Form

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The structure shape and style of a piece of work

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Free verse

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Poetry that does not have regular meter or rhyme scheme

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Genre

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the category under which a work of literature is classified

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Hero

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The central character in a literary work

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Hubris

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An excess of pride or self confidence.

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Hyperbole

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A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or to create a comic effect.

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Iambic pentameter

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a line of poetry made up of five iambs

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Imagery

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Language that appeals to the senses.

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Incident

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In narrative literature, any plot or event that contributes to the plot.

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In medias res

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The technique of starting a story in the middle and then using flashback to tell what happened earlier.

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Invective

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Abusive or condemnatory speech or writing

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Irony

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A contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality or between what is said and what is meant

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Juxtaposition

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The placement of ideas, characters, images, or actions close together to create an effect,such as a comparison, a contrast, a rhetorical point, or a characterization.

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litotes

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A figure of speech that uses understatement to create an effect, often making an affirmative statement by negating its opposite.

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Lyric Poetry

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Poetry that expresses a speaker's emotions or thoughts and does not tell a story.

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Maxim

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A brief, direct statement that expresses a basic rule of human conduct or a general truth about human behavior

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Measure

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In poetry, a metrical grouping, such as a foot.

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meiosis

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A figure of speech that uses understatement for emphasis

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Melodramatic

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indicative of a type of extravagant drama that pits excessively "good" characters against "evil" ones in a thrilling plot replete with dire events and near disasters

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Metaphor

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A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without using a connective word.

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meter

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A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

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Metonymy

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A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it.

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monologue

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An extended speech presented by one character in a play to other characters or the audience.

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Mood

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A literary works atmosphere or the feeling it evokes

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Motif

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In literature anything with the real thematic importance that occurs in a work

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Motivation

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The justification for a characters actions thoughts or feelings

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Narrator

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In fiction, the one who tells the story

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Novella

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a short prose narrative, usually longer or more complex than a short story but less complex or shorter than a novel

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octave

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In literature an eight line poem or the first eight lines of a petrarchan or italian sonnet

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Ode

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A long and elaborate lyric poem

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Onamatopoeia

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The use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning.

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oxymoron

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A figure of speech in which two contradictory words or phrases are combined

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Pace

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The rate at which the action of a literary work proceeds

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Parable

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A brief story that teaches a moral or religious lesson

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Paradox

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A statement that appears self-contradictory but reveals a kind of truth.

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parallelism

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The repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure or that state a similar idea.

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Parody

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A humorous imitation a literary work

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Passivity

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Submissiveness or acting under the control of an outside force, often a trait held by an anti-hero

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pathetic fallacy

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a figure of speech that attributes human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects nature or animals

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persona

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the mask or voice assumed by a writer

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personification

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A type of figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract qualities are granted human characteristsics.

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Point of view

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The vantage point from which a writer narrates

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prologue

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An introduction usually to a play

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prose

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Most writing and speech that does not have a regular rhythmic pattern

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protagonist

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the main character in a literary work

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proverb

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A brief saying that expresses a truth about life

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Pun

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A play on the multiple meanings of a word or on two words that sound alike but have different meanings

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quatrain

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A stanza or poem that is four lines long

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Refrain

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A repeated sound, word, phrase, line, or group of lines in a poem song or speech

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Repartee

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A witty response or exchange

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Repetition

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The recurrence of a word sound phrase or idea

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Rhyme

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The repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem

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Rising action

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The portion of the plot leading to the climax

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Romance

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Historically a medieval verse narrative about the adventures of a hero who undertakes a quest for a high ideal

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Sarcasm

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a harsh bitter kind of irony

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Satire

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A work that mixes humor and wit with criticism to ridicule human shortcomings

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Scansion

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The analysis of meter in lines of poetry

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Scene

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A subdivision of an act in a dramatic work

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Self-effacement

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The act of making oneself inconspicuous

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Sestet

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six lines of poetry especially the last six lines of a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet

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Shift

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In poetry a change in thought or feeling often expressed as the speaker reveals the significance of a poetic experience

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Simile

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A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things by using a connective word like "like" or "as"

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soliloquy

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A long speech in which a character who is alone expresses private thoughts or feelings

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Sonnet

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A fourteen line lyric poem usually written in iambic pentameter

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speaker

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The voice that addresses the reader in a poem

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stanza

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a group of consecutive lines that form a single unit in a poem

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stream of consciousness

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a style of writing that portrays the inner workings of a narrator or characters mind

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Stress

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In poetry syllables that revieve emphasis indicated by a symbol

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subplot

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a minor story within a fictional work

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suspense

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a feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a story

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symbol

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a person place thing or event that stands both for itself and something beyond itself

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synecdoche

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a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole

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synesthesia

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the juxtaposition of one sensory detail with an image that appeals to an unrelated sense

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theme

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the central idea or insight about life revealed by a work of literature

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Tone

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the attitude a writer takes toward a subject a character or the reader

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tragedy/ tragic flaw

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a play novel or other narrative usually depicting serious and important events in which the protagonist through a flaw in character or an error in judgement comes to an unhappy end

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transformation

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in narrative literature dynamic characters undergo change as a result of the stories action.

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Trochee

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a metrical foot made up of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable

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Understatement

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A statement that says less than what is meant

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Verse

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Another term for poetry, for a single line of poetry or a stanza of poetry

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Villain

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A bad or evil character or sometimes force that opposes a storys hero or protagonist

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voice

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The writers or speakers distinctive use of language in a text

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Volta

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in a petrarchan sonnet the change in thought or feeling between the octave and sestet

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Wit

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a quality of speech or writing that combines verbal cleverness with keen perception especially of the incongruous

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Word Choice

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An element of a writers style

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Zeugma

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A figure of speech in which a word often a verb or adjective is syntactically related to more than one other word but in different ways