AP Lit

Meter

Pattern of stressed (accented) and unstressed (unaccented) syllables in a line of poetry.

Foot

A unit of meter, having two or three syllables usually having one stressed and one or more unstressed syllables

Iamb

A two-syllable foot with the stress on the second syllable

Trochee

A foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable

Anapest

Foot with three syllables and the stress on the last syllable

Spondee

Foot of two stressed syllables

Dactyl

Three syllables with the stress on the first syllable

Pyrrhic

Two unsterssed syllables, rare

Monometer

One foot line

Dimeter

Two foot line

Trimeter

Three foot line

Tetrameter

Four foot line

Pentameter

Five foot line

Hexameter

Six foot line

Heptameter

Seven foot line

Octometer

Eight foot line

Verse forms

Rhymed verse, blank verse, and free verse

Rhymed verse

Verse with end rhymes and usually with a regular meter

Blank verse

Lines of iambic pentameter without end rhyme

Free verse

Lines that do not have a regular meter and do not contain rhyme

End rhyme

Consists of the similarity occurring at the end of two or more lines of verse

Internal Rhyme

Consists of the similarity occurring between two or more words in the same line of verse

Masculine rhyme

Occurs when one syllable of a word rhymes with another word (bend and send(

Feminine Rhyme

Occurs when the last two syllables of a word rhyme with another word (lighting and fighting)

Triple rhyme

Occurs when the last three syllables of a word or line rhyme (victorious and glorious)

Assonance

The similarity or repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words (lake and fate)

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within a line of verse (such a tide as moving seems asleep)

Refrain

The repetition of one or more phrases or lines at intervals in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza

Synecdoche

The technique of mentioning a part of something to represent the whole (“All hands on deck)

Metonymy

The substitution of a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it (pay tribute to the crown”

Allegory

A narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface one

Overstatement

An exaggeration for the sake of emphasis not to be taken literally (rivers of blood)

Understatement

Consists of saying less than one means, or saying what one means with less force than the occasion warrants

Antithesis

A balancing or contrasting of one term against another (Man proposes, God disposes)

Apostrophe

The addressing of someone or something usually not present, as through present “Oh Captain, My Captain!)

Dramatic irony

A device by which the author implies a different meaning from that intended by the speaker (or by a speaker) in a literary work. An incongruity or discrepancy between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true (or between what a character perceives and what the author intends the reader to perceive)

Irony of situation

A situation in which there is an incongruity between actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate or between what is anticipated and what actually comes to pass

Verbal irony

A figure of speech in which what is meant is opposite of what is said

Oxymoron

A compact paradox - a figure of speech that combines two contradictory words, placed side by side (bitter sweet)

Stanza

A division of a poem based on thought or form, marked by their rhyme scheme and number of lines they contain

Heroic couplet

Two successive rhyming verses that contain a complete thought within the two lines, usually iambic pentameter

Couplet

Two line stanza

Triplet

Three line stanza

Quatrain

Four line stanza

Sestet

Six line stanza

Septet

Seven line stanza

Octave

Eight line stanza

Terza rima

Three line stanza form with an interlaced or interwoven rhyme scheme (a-b-a, b-cb, etc.) usually in iambic pentameter

Limerick

A five line nonsense poem with an anapestic meter; Rhyme scheme is usually a-a-b-b-a’ The first, second, and fifth lines have three stresses, and the third and fourth have two stresses

Ballad stanza

Consists of four lines with a rhyme scheme of a-b-c-b; the first and third lines are tetrameter and the second and fourth are trimeter

Rime Royal

A stanza consisting of seven lines in iambic pentameter rhyming a-b-a-b-b-c-c used by King James I

Ottava rima

Consists of eight iambic pentameter lines with a rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c borrowed from the Italians

Spenserian stanza

A nine-line stanza consisting of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by an alexandrine, a line of iambic hexameter; rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-b-c-c; name from Edmund Spenser who initiated the form for his Faerie Queene

Sonnet

A fourteen line stanza form consisting of iambic pentameter lines

Petrarchan/Italian sonnet

Divided between 8 lines called the octave and 6 lines called the sestet’ division between octave and sestet usually corresponds to a division of thought

Italian sonnet octave

Uses two rimes arranged a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a

Italian sonnet sestet

Uses any arrangement of two or three rimes, c-d-c-d-c-d and c-d-e-c-d-e are common patterns

English/Shakespearean sonnet

Composed of three quatrains and a concluding couplet riming a-b-a-b c-d-c-d e-f-e-f g-g; units marked off by rimes and the development of the thought often correspond

Villanelle

Consists of five tercets and a quatrain in which the first and third lines of the opening tercet recur alternately at the end of the other tercets and together as the last two lines of the quatrain

Elegy

Usually a poem that mourns the death of an individual, the absence of something deeply loved, or the transience of mankind

Lyric

The most widely used type of poem, so diverse in its format that a rigid definition is impossible. Contains: limited length, intensely subjective, personal expression of personal emotion, expression of thoughts and feelings of one speaker, highly imaginative, and regular rhyme scheme

Ode

An exalted, complex rapturous lyric poem written about a dignified, lofty subject

Anachronism

An element in a story that is out of its time frame; sometimes used to create a humorous or jarring effect and sometimes the result of an author’s poor research

Antecedent

The word or phrase to which a pronoun refers (sometimes after the pronoun in poetry)

Aphorism

A terse statement that expresses a general truth or moral principle; sometimes considered a folk proverb

Archetype

A character, situation, or symbol that is familiar to people from all cultures because it occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore

Conceit

A far-fetched comparison between two seemingly unlike things; an extended metaphor that gains appeal from its unusual or extraordinary comparison

Enjambment

In poetry, the running over of a sentence from one verse or stanza into the next without stopping at the end line of the first

End stopped line

When the sentence or meaning doers stop at the end of the line

Narrative poem

A poem that tells a story

Parable

A short story illustrating a moral or religious lesson

Parody

A comical imitation of a serious piece with the intent of ridiculing the author or his work

Pastoral

A poem, play, or story that celebrates and idealizes the simple life of shepherds and shepherdesses; the term has also come to refer to an artistic work that portrays rural ilfe in an idyllic or idealistic way

Pathos

The quality of a literary work or passage which appeals to the reader’s or viewer’s emotions, especially pity, compassion, and sympathy

Satire

The use of humor to ridicule and expose the shortcomings and failings of society, individuals, and institutions often in the hope that change and reform are possible