Literary Terms

• A narration or description usually restricted to
• a single meaning because its events, actions, characters, settings, and objects
• represent specific abstractions or ideas

• The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a
• sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable

a brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or idea in history orliterature.

• Allows for two or more simultaneous
• interpretations of a word, phrase, action, or situation, all of which can be
• supported by the context of a work

• for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word, phrase, action, or
• situation, all of which can be supported by the context of a work.

• a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In
• classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a
• long one; in accentual stress meters it consists of two unstressed syllables
• followed by one stressed syllable

An address, either to someone who is absent and therefore cannot hear the speaker or to something nonhuman that cannot comprehend.

The repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same.

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Language that is discordant and difficult to pronounce.

• A pause within a line of poetry that contributes
• to the rhythm of the line. Can occur anywhere within a line and need not be
• indicates by punctuation.

meaning “purgation” catharsis describes the release of the emotions of pity andfear by the audience at the end of a tragedy.

• embodies one or two qualities that can be
• readily describe in a brief summary

• more complex and often display inconsistencies and
• internal conflicts.

the moment of greatest emotional tension in a narrative usually marking aturning point in the plot at which the rising action reverses to becomethe falling action.

• an approach to literature and the other arts
• that stresses reason, balance, clarity, ideal beauty, and orderly form in imitation of the arts of ancient Greece and Rome.

• A series of difficulties forming the central
• action in a narrative

• Two consecutive line of poetry that usually
• rhyme and have the same meter

a turning point in the action of a story that has a powerful effect on theprotagonist. Opposing forces come together decisively to lead to theclimax of the plot.

• One stressed syllable followed by two unstressed
• ones

• A French term meaning “unraveling” or
• “unknotting,” used to describe the resolution of the plot following the climax

• A mournful, contemplative lyric poem written to
• commemorate someone who is dead, often ending in a consolation

• deliberate omission of a word or of words which
• are readily implied by the context

• A poetic line that has a pause at the end. They
• reflect normal speech patterns and are often marked by punctuation

• A brief, pointed, and witty poem that usually
• makes a satiric or humorous point

• Refers to language that is smooth and musically
• pleasant to the ear

attempt to make meaning in a chaotic world

• A brief story or poem that is told to present a
• moral, or practical lesson

• The third part of the plot, characterized by
• diminishing tensions and resolution of the plot’s conflicts and complications

• imagination, especially when extravagant and
• unrestrained

• of the nature of or involving a figure of
• speech, especially a metaphor; metaphorical and not literal, as in figurative
• language

• A character whose behavior and values contrast
• with those of another in order to highlight the distinctive temperament of that
• character (usually the protagonist)

• a tale or legend originating and traditional
• among a people especially one forming part of the oral tradition of
• the common people

• The metrical unit by which poetry is measured. A
• foot normally consists of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables

• consists of one unstressed syllable followed by
• one stressed syllable

• foot consists of one stressed syllable followed
• by an unstressed syllable

a couplet written in rhymed iambicpentamete

• a foot consisting of two
• stressed syllables

• The overall structure of a work, which
• frequently follows an established design

• A narrative structure that provides a setting
• and exposition for the main narrative in a novel

• to poems characterized by their nonconformity to
• established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza

• noting or pertaining to a style of literature
• characterized by a gloomy setting, grotesque, mysterious, or violent events,
• and an atmosphere of degeneration and decay

• A term coined by Aristotle to describe “some
• error or fraility” that brings about misfortune for a tragic hero

• Excessive pride or self-confidence that leads a
• protagonist to disregard a divine warning or to violate an important moral law

• a foot of two syllables, a short followed by a
• long in quantitative meter, or an unstressed followed by a stressed in
• accentual meter

• A word or phrase or figure of speech that
• addresses the senses

• a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed
• down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical

• a piece of cloth, silk, or plastic material
• covering the face of an actor to symbolize the character being represented

• A term applied to any literary work that relies
• on implausible event and sensational action for its effect

highly abstract, subtle, or abstruse

• When a rhythmic pattern of stresses occur in a
• poem

• metrical feet which move from unstressed to
• stressed sounds

• to metrical feet which move from stressed to
• unstressed sounds

• A type of metaphor in which something closely
• associated with a subject substituted for it

• a traditional or legendary story, usually
• concerning some being or hero or event

• a deterministic theory of writing in which it is
• held that a writer should adopt an objective view toward the material written
• about, be free of preconceived ideas as to form and content, and represent with
• clinical accuracy and frankness the details of life

• based on the imitation of surviving classical
• models and types

• a fictitious prose narrative of considerable
• length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a
• sequential organization of action and scenes

• A poetic stanza of eight lines, usually
• forming one part of a sonnet

• A relatively lengthy lyric poem that often
• expresses lofty emotions in a dignified style

• the ordinary form of spoken or written language,
• without metrical structure

• a metrical foot consisting of two short or
• unaccented syllables

• a representation of daily reality with a lack of
• romantic idealization or dramatization

• the recurrence of stressed and unstressed sounds
• in poetry

the pattern of end rhymes

• a related series of incidents in a literary plot
• that build toward the point of greatest interest; starts with the introduction
• of conflict

• a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that
• was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern
• Europe

• in poetry, when one line ends without a pause
• and continues into the next line for its meaning

• strong form of verbal irony that is calculated
• to hurt someone through, for example, false praise

• the process of measuring the stresses in a line
• of verse in order to determine the metrical patter of the line

• a pejorative term used to describe the effort by
• an author to induce emotional responses in the reader that exceed what the
• situation warrants

a stanza consisting of exactly six lines

• a phrase describing the use of mundane realism
• depicting everyday experiences in art and entertainment

• in poetry, a group of lines, set off by a space
• that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme

• when the author takes a reader in a character’s
• mind to reveal perceptions, thoughts, and feelings on a conscious or
• unconscious level

• the relationship or organization of the
• component parts of a work of literature

• the distinctive and unique manner in which a
• writer arranges words to achieve particular effects

• the secondary action of a story, complete and
• interesting in its own right

• a kind of metaphor in which a part of
• something is used to signify the whole

• ordering of words into meaningful verbal
• patterns such as phrases, clauses, and sentences

• the central meaning or dominant idea in a
• literary work

• the author’s implicit attitude toward the reader or
• the people, places, and events in a work as revealed by the elements of the
• author’s style

• a story that prevents courageous individuals
• who confront powerful forces within or outside themselves with a dignity that
• reveals the breadth and depth of the human spirit in the face of failure,
• defeat, and even death

• an error or defect in the tragic hero that leads
• to his downfall, such as greed, pride, or ambition

• a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable
• followed by an unstressed one

• the usage of figurative language in literature,
• or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their
• literal meaning

• the opposite of hyperbole, refers to a figure of
• speech that says less than is intended

a likeness or resemblance of the truth, reality or a fact's probability

• a generic term used to describe poetic lines
• composed in a measured rhythmical pattern