Short Glossary Of Literary Terms: Prosody And Rhetoric

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prosody

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the general field for the study of the technical aspects of versification: meter, rhyme schemes, stanzas, and rhythm.

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rhythm

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the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a text

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meter

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regularly structured rhythm, in Germanic languages; the repetition of a clear pattern of accented andunaccented syllables (=metricalfeet) .In Greek and Latin versification the quantity or length (long/short) of the syllables determines the meter. Quantitative meter tries to imitate Greek and Latin versification.

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scansion

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To scan a verse is to determine its meter by indicating the stresses in each foot.

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foot

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a combination of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables that gets repeated within a verse .(-­‐=stressed syllable;v=unstressed syllable)

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iamb (iambic meter)

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To be /or not/to be/(v­‐)

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trochee(trochaicmeter)

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-­‐revers al of accent(w/cesura=emphasis)

Richard(-­v)

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anapest(anapesticm.)

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-­‐midline,extra-­‐-­‐-­‐syllable forlightness and speed

inthehouse

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dactyl(dactylicmeter)

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Marian(­‐v)

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amphibrach (amphibrachic)

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uncommon(v-­v)

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spondee (spondaicm.)

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-­‐used to strengthen syllable PeteBurke(-­‐)pyrrhic-­‐weakens syllable

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verse

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Lines of a poem, named in Greek after the number of feet (or stresses) they contain (1 foot: monometer, 2 feet: dimeter, 3 feet: trimeter, 4 feet: tetrameter, 5 feet: pentameter, 6 feet: hexameter, 7 feet: heptameter, 8 feet: octameter). Iambic pentameter (five iambic feet per line) is the most common verse in Elizabethan drama and poetry: “Shall I /compare /thee to / a sum / mer’s day/” Sometimes syllables instead of feet are counted: An octosyllabic verse has eight syllables, a decasyllabic verse has ten, hendecasyl--‐ labic lines have eleven syllables. Verses can be “end--‐stopped” or “enjambed”.

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end-­‐stopped

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The ending of the verse coincides with a pause in speaking, every verse expresses a complete idea (lines end with period or comma)

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enjambement

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The ending of the verse does not coincide with a pause in speaking, the phrase goes on over the end of the verse. ( no punctuation at end of line)

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caesura

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a pause within a verse or even within a foot ( punctuation in middle of line)

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free verse

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strongly rhythmical verse with no regular metrical pattern, often unrhymed

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blank verse

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verse iambic pentameter without rhyme (common in drama), free from enjambment

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doggerel verse

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rough or bad versification, used for satiric or comic effect

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stanza

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stanza a number of verses arranged as a unit, the equivalent of a paragraph in prose.

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couplet

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couplet a pair of verses; heroic couplets are iambic pentameters which rhyme in pairs: aa, bb, cc. The distich is also a couplet, but usually not rhymed. AKA sistich

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tercet/triplet

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tercet / triplet a stanza of three lines; terza rima is a poem consisting of tercets which are interlinked by their rhymes, e.g. aba, bcb, cdc etc. p

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quatrain

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quatrain a four--‐line stanza; the ballad stanza is a quatrain in which iambic trimeter and tetrameter alternate. The Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet.

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sestet

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sestet a six--‐line stanza (e.g. the second part of a Petrarchan sonnet)

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octave

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octave a stanza of eight lines (e.g. the first part of a Petrarchan sonnet)

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refrain

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refrain phrases, lines or stanzas that are repeated in a poem

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rhyme

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rhyme the repetition of a similar sound in similar positions

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rhymescheme

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rhyme scheme diagram of end rhymes in astanza, using the same letters of the alphabet for each rhyme

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alliteration

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alliteration stressed syllables begin with the same or a similar consonant (“When to the sessions of sweet silent thought”)

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consonance

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consonance repetition of the same patternof consonants but with different vowels (hearer --‐ horror)

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assonance

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assonance repetition of similar vowel sounds (please --‐ neat)

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endrhyme

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end rhyme identical sounds after theinitial consonant of the final accented syllable of two words (n--‐otion / p--‐otion / l--‐otion)

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Feminine rhyme

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Feminine rhyme These are rhymes that usea feminine ending (extra syllable ending, adding an extra foot to the meter) asopposed to a masculine ending, where only the final syllable rhymes (portray --‐ obey).Instead, the last two syllables rhyme (nation --‐ station).There is also a triple (or polysyllabic) rhyme,where three (or more) syllables rhyme (opportunity --‐ impunity)

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internal rhyme

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internal rhyme rhymes within a line (Sister, my sister, O fleet sweet swallow)

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visual rhyme

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visual rhyme the printed words look as if they rhyme: bear --‐ near

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historic rhyme

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historic rhyme words rhyme no longer because their pronunciation has changed (obey --‐ tea)

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lyric

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originally a song rendered to the accompaniment of a lyre.

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persona

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persona the “speaker” or the “I” in a poem --‐ not identicalwith the author (in German: “lyrisches Ich”)

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lyric poem

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a poem in which a personaexpresses a state of mind or a process of perception, thought and feeling

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narrative poem

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a poem that tells a story(e.g. a ballad)

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dramatic poem AKA dramatic monologue.

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The persona is a fictitious or historical character and utters the entire poem in a specific situation, addressing other people and revealing his or her own temperament and character

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didactic poem

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a treatise in verse form(topics can range from philosophy to natural sciences), but also shorter mnemotechnicpoems

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ode

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long lyric poem in elevatedstyle, serious in subject, mostly in praise of somebody or something, originallysung by a chorus on a stage. While moving to the left, the Greek chorus sung thestrophe; moving to the right, the antistrophe, standing still, the epode. Duringthe Renaissance and subsequent periods, the Stanzaic form remained “Strophe,” “Antistrophe,”and “Epode” but more in the form of an argument (thesis, antithesis, synthesis)~|+%

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elegy

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elegya lyric poem that laments somebody’s death. Shorterforms: lament, dirge.

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ballad

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ballada narrative poem (folk ballad), transmitted as song.The literary ballad is a narrative poem that imitates a folk ballad.

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sonnet

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sonnetlyric poem consisting of fourteen lines, usuallyin iambic pentameter. In a Petrarchan sonnet the fourteen lines consist of an octaverhyming abbaabba, followed by a sestet with three rhymes (e.g. cde, cde, or cdd, cee) The English or Shakespeareansonnet consists of three quatrains and a heroic couplet: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Aseries of sonnets that are linked together is a sonnet sequence

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emblem poetry

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emblempoetry poems arranged typographically in a form that resemblesthe topic of the poem (e.g. a butterfly or a tree or a glass). [Olson]

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alphabet verse

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alphabetverse In acrostic poems the initial letters form a wordor a phrase. The text of a lipogram avoids one or more vowels or consonants

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trope

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a figure of speech in which the words are not to be taken literally

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symbol

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any thing that stands (or may stand) for something else (e.g. the colour red may stand for love). Private symbols have meaning only among a group or in the work of one author.

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simile

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simile an explicit comparison of two things (“John eats like a pig“) using like or as metaphor

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metaphor

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metaphor A comparison that implies that two things are similar or identical without using like or as. The subject of the metaphor is called the tenor, the object to which the tenor is compared is the vehicle: In “John is a pig”,“John” is the tenor, “pig” the vehicle, the ground is what they have in common.

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conceit

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conceit A Petrarchan conceit is an exaggerated metaphor appliedto the coldness of the beloved and the agony of the persona as suffering lover (“I burn and freeze in ice”).A metaphysical conceit uses dis--‐ similar things in an even more exaggerated way.

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allegory

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allegory An abstract principle illustrated by a story or image(John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress).

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personification

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personification personified objects act like human beings (e.g. “thesky weeps”). Also: pathetic fallacy.

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metonymy

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metonymy substitution of one word for another that is closelyassociated with it (“the pen is mightier than the sword”)

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synecdoche

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synecdochea metonymy in which a part stands for the whole (parspro toto: “all hands on deck”) or vice versa (“England won the game”)

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hyperbole

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hyperbole overstatement, exaggeration (“A kingdom for a horse”)

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litotes

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litotes understatement (“not too bad”)

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euphemism

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euphemism substitution of an unpleasant word or phrase fora less offensive one (“He passed away” instead of “he died”)

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verbal irony

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verbalirony the implied meaning differs from what is actuallysaid

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scheme

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scheme unusual syntactic or stylistic form

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paradox

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paradoxa statement whose parts seem at first contradictorybut make sense: “Deep down he’s really shallow”

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oxymoron

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oxymoron a combination of two contradictory words: “thesound of silence”, “darkness visible”

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tautology

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tautology redundancy, repetition of the same thing in differentwords; in logic a statement that is true by its own definition (“the circle is round”,“It will rain or it won’t”)

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pleonasm

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redundancy, using more words thann ecessary(“actual experience”,“regular routine”)

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rhetorical question

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rhetoricalquestion a question that needs no answer: “Are we not thebest?”)

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chiasmus

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chiasmusin imitation of the Greek letter X (“chi”), the arrangementof corresponding elements (parts of speech, words, sounds, meanings) in two phrasesor verses in a crosswise manner: “Ask not what yourcountry can do for you, but what youcan do for yourcountry.”

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synaesthesia

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synaesthesia mixing of sensual impressions: “A moist, green smell”

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asyndeton

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asyndeton words (e.g. conjunctions, articles) are omitted foremphasis: “He received medals, honors, treasures, titles, fame.”

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polysyndeton

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polysyndeton more words (conjunctions etc.) than necessary areused for emphasis: “He received medals, and honors, and treasures, and titles, andfame.”

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anaphora

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anaphora a number of phrases or lines begin with the same

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epiphora

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epiphorain a number of phrases or lines the same words areused at the end

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apostrophe

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apostrophe formal invocation, directand explicit address, usually at the beginning of a poem or a stanza (“O Muse”)

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trikolon in membris crescentibus

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Ein Trikolon in membris crescentibus (griech. kolon: "Glied") oder eine Dreierfigur in ansteigenden Gliedern ist ein rhetorisches Stilmittel. Es ist mit dem Trikolon verwandt, zeichnet sich jedoch auch durch eine inhaltlich Steigerung (Klimax) aus.

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Hyperbaton

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Hyperbaton /haɪˈpɜːrbətɒn/ is a figure of speech that consists of an alteration of the syntactic order of the words in a sentence, or in which normally associated words are separated.[1][2] The term may also be used more generally for all different figures of speech which transpose natural word order in sentences