Literary Terms From Fast Track To A 5

Front 1

An extended narrative (in poetry or prose) in which characters and actions--and sometimes the setting as well--are contrived to make sense on the literal level and at the same time to signify a second, correlated order of characters, concepts, and events.

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allegory

Front 2

The repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of several words in a sentence or a line of poetry.

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alliteration

Front 3

A reference to another person, another historical event, another work, and the like.

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allusion

Front 4

A term that signifies a comparison of or similarity between two objects or ideas.

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analogy

Front 5

The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive poetic lines, prose sentences, clauses, or paragraphs.

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anaphora

Front 6

A brief statement of an opinion or elemental truth.

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aphorism

Front 7

This is a direct address to someone who is not present, to a deity or muse, or to some other power.

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apostrophe

Front 8

Repetition of a vowel sound within a group of words or lines.

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assonance

Front 9

Consists of lines of iambic pentameter, which of all verse forms is closest to the natural rhythms of English speech.

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blank verse

Front 10

A pause within a line of poetry in order to make the meaning clear or to follow the natural pattern of speech.

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caesura

Front 11

Latin for "Seize the day."

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carpe diem

Front 12

The associations or moods attached to a word.

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connotation

Front 13

The repetition of a sequence of two or more consonants but with a change in the intervening vowel.

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consonance

examples: live-love, lean-alone, pitter-patter

Front 14

A pair of rhymed lines.

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couplet

Front 15

The dictionary definition of a word.

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denotation

Front 16

A regional speech pattern.

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dialect

Front 17

Word choice; the specific words an author uses in his or her writing.

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diction

Front 18

A formal meditative poem or lament for the dead.

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elegy

Front 19

Three dots that indicate words have been left out of a quotation.

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ellipses

Front 20

The ending of a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words.

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epistrophe

Front 21

The substitution of an inoffensive or more socially accepted word for something that could be inappropriate or offensive to some.

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euphemism

Front 22

A minor character whose situation or actions parallel those of a major character and thus by contrast set off or illuminate the major character.

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foil

Front 23

The combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up the metric unit of a line of poetry.

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foot

Front 24

Poetry that doesn't follow a prescribed form but is characterized by irregularity in the length of lines and a lack of a regular metric pattern and rhyme.

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free verse

Front 25

Exaggeration of an event or feeling.

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hyperbole

Front 26

Language that appeals to one or another of the five senses.

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imagery

Front 27

The use of words to express something other than--and often the opposite of--the literal meaning.

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irony

Front 28

The contrast between what is said and what is meant.

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verbal irony

Front 29

The contrast between what happens and what was expected to happen.

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situational irony

Front 30

The contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what the reader knows to be true.

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dramatic irony

Front 31

A pattern of speech and vocabulary associated with a particular group of people in a profession.

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jargon

Front 32

The placement of one idea next to its opposite to make it more dramatic.

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juxtaposition

Front 33

Any poem in which a speaker expresses intensely personal emotion or thoughts.

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lyric

Front 34

A wonderful form of comic wordplay in which one word is mistakenly substituted for another that sounds similar.

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malapropism

Front 35

A figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two things that are essentially dissimilar.

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metaphor

Front 36

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables or the units of stress patterns.

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meter

Front 37

A figure of speech in which the name of one thing is substituted for another with which it is closely associated.

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metonymy

Front 38

A line named according to the number of feet composing it.

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metric line

Front 39

A lyric poem that is serious in subject and treatment, elevated in style, and elaborate in its stanzaic structure.

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ode

Front 40

A figure of speech in which a word when spoken imitates the sound associated with the word.

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onomatopoeia

Front 41

A figure of speech that seeks to create mental ambiguity, which then forces the reader to pause and seek clarity.

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paradox

Front 42

A pattern of language that creates a rhythm of repetition often combined with some other language of repetition

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parallelism

Front 43

A literary expression of praise.

Example: "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman

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panegyric

Front 44

The opposite of active voice.

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passive voice

Front 45

A reference to or a description of simple country life.

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pastoral

Front 46

Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things.

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personification

Front 47

One of the most commonly used figures of speech, it means repeating a word within the same line or clause.

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ploce

Front 48

The perspective from which the writer chooses to tell his or her story.

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point of view

Front 49

A play on words used to create humor or comic relief.

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pun

Front 50

A line, part of a line, or group of lines repeated in the course of a poem, sometimes with slight changes.

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refrain

Front 51

The repeating of a word or phrase for emphasis.

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repetition

Front 52

The echo or imitation of a sound.

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rhyme

Front 53

The sense of movement attributable to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

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rhythm

Front 54

A form of writing in which a subject (usually a human vice) is made fun of or scorned, eliciting amusement, contempt, or indignation.

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satire

Front 55

A change in setting (place or time), tone, or speakers.

Back 55

shift

Front 56

A figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made using "like," "as," or "than" between two very different things in order to express an idea that is more familiar or understandable.

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simile

Front 57

A speech in which a character in a play, alone on stage, expresses his or her thoughts.

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soliloquy

Front 58

A fixed form of fourteen lines, normally in iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme conforming to or approximating one of two main types.

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sonnet

Front 59

A group of lines that forms one division of a poem.

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stanza

Front 60

An object that signifies something greater than itself.

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symbol

Front 61

A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole.

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synecdoche

Front 62

An insight into life conveyed by a poem or story.

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theme

Front 63

Lines of poetry or metrical language in general, in contrast to prose.

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verse