Lit. Terms
Terms
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- soliloquy
- a dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener.
- denouement
- the final resolution of the conflicts and complications of a play
- euphemism
- the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive or harsh
- verisimilitude
- the appearance of truth, actuality, or reality; what seems to be true in fiction
- antagonist
- the character who stands in direct opposition to or in conflict with the central character
- satire
- a work that uses ridicule, humor, and wit to criticize and provoke change in human nature and institutions
- round character
- a character in fiction whose personality, background, motives, and other features are fully delineated
- verse
- metrical and rhymed composition (poetry) or a single line of poetry
- limited omniscient narrator
- type of 3rd person where the narrator relates the story through the senses and thoughts of a single character
- flat character
- literary character who's personality can be defined by one or two traits and does not change in the course of the story
- quatrain
- a unit or group of four lines of verse
- syntax
- the ordering of words into a meaningful, verbal pattern such as phrases or clauses
- alliteration
- the use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stress syllable in a line of verse or prose
- connotation
- the associations, images, or impressions carried by a word as opposed to the word's literal meaning
- iamb
- a metrical pattern of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
- stanza
- one of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines.
- oxymoron
- a figure of speech in which two contradictory words or phrases are combined in a single expression giving the effect of a condense paradox
- enjambment
- carrying of sense and gramatical structure in a poem beyond the end of one line and into the next
- diction
- the style of speaking or writing as depended upon choice of words
- symbol
- anything that signifies or stands for something else
- metaphor
- the comparison of one thing to another without using "like" or "as"
- personification
- figure of speech in which human characteristics and sensibilities are attributed to animals, plants, inanimate objects, natural forces, or abstract ideas
- denotation
- the precise literal meaning of a word without emotional associations or overtones
- stream of consciousness
- a literary technique that presents the thoughts and feelings of a character as they occur.
- conceit
- an elaborate figure of speech comparing two very dissimilar things; develops an analogy or metaphor to its logical limits and beyond; extended metaphor
- synecdoche
- a figure of speech in which part of something stands for the whole thing
- sonnet
- a 14-line verse form usually having one of several conventional rhyme schemes.
- paradox
- statement that, while apparently self-contradictory, is nonetheless true
- refrain
- a phrase, verse, or group of verses repeated at intervals throughout a song or poem especially at the end of each stanza
- blank verse
- verse without rhyme written in iambic pentameter or another meter
- motif
- a recurrent, thematic element in an artistic or literary work
- simile
- a comparison that uses "like" or "as"
- first person narration
- the vantage point assumed by a writer from which I, the narrator, experiences the story that he or she is telling
- foreshadowing
- literary device in which an author drops subtle hints about plot developments to come later in the story
- parody
- a composition that ridicules another composition by imitating and exaggerating aspects of its content, structure, and style, accomplishing in words what the caricature achieves in drawing
- prose
- all forms of ordinary writing and speech lacking the sustained and regular rhythmic patterns found in poetry
- understatement
- type of verbal irony in which something is purposefully represented as being far less important than it actually is
- assonance
- the closed repetition of middle vowel sounds between different consonant sounds
- elegy
- a lyrics poem lamenting death
- tone
- the writer's attitude towards his readers and his subject, his mood, or moral view
- epigram
- short, often satirical poem, dealing with a single subject and usually ending with a witty or ingenious turn of thought
- foil
- usually a character who by contrast points out the qualities or characteristics of another character
- hyperbole
- figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated
- setting
- the locale or period in which the action of a novel, play, film, etc. takes place
- dissonance
- a harsh, discordant, unpleasant sounding choice in arrangement of sounds, similar to cacophony
- heroic couplet
- poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameters lines; the rhyme is always masculine
- internal rhyme
- rhyme which occurs in a single line of verse; occurs in the middle of a line
- consonance
- close repetition of consonant sounds before or after differing vowel sounds
- subtext
- the implicit meaning or theme of a literary text.
- free verse
- a term describing various styles of poetry that are written without using strict measure or rhyme and it's still considered poetry by patterns that the reader can consider conherent
- cacophony
- harsh, clashing, or dissonant sounds, often produced by combination of words that require a clipped, explosive delivery or words that contain a number of plosive
- end rhyme
- repetition of similar sounds at the end of two or more lines
- imagery
- descriptive language that allows the reader to have a sensory experience
- apostrophe
- the device usually in poetry of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or a personified abstraction
- onomontopoeia
- the use of words who's sound imitates the sound of the thing being named
- allegory
- a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms
- omniscient narrator
- narrator who moves freely about in time and space and into character's thoughts and feelings
- lyric poetry
- a short poem with one speaker who expresses thought and feeling
- parable
- a short tale illustrating a moral lesson
- foot
- the basic unit of rhythmic measurement in a line of poetry and normally it consists of one accented or stressed syllable and one or more unaccented or unstressed syllable
- irony
- a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated
- protagonist
- the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work
- didactic
- teaching or intending to bring a moral lesson
- comic relief
- in a tragedy or other serious work, a humorous incident, action, or remark that relieves emotional tension
- stock character
- a stereotyped character easily recognized by readers or audiences from recurrent appearances in literary or folk tradition
- aubade
- a song or lyric poem lamenting the arrival of dawn to separate two lovers
- allusion
- a passing reference or indirect mention of characters, places, or events that the writer assumes the reader will recognize
- couplet
- two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme and that are written to the same meter or pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
- metonymy
- a figure of speech in which one word or phrase represents a specific thing
- rhetorical question
- a question to which no answer is expected