Literary Analysis: Terminology

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering literary terms, metrical feet, and narrative devices found in the provided lecture notes.

Adjective

A word that adds definition to a noun.

Allegory

A story in which events, characters or relationships are used to represent something else - often moral, religious or political idea.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same sound at the start of a series of words in succession.

Anapest/ic

A metrical foot in which $2$ unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in close succession.

Allusion

An implied or indirect reference to another text, person or event.

Ambiguity

When the meaning of something is not made clear, making a variety of different interpretations possible. There are different types of ambiguity, for example 'Semantic Ambiguity' refers to particular words or phrases that could mean different things; 'Syntactic Ambiguity' refers to sentence.

Analogy

A comparison made between two or more unconnected things.

Anaphora

A figure of speech in which the same word is repeated at the beginning of successive lines, phrases, clauses.

Antithesis

When diametrically opposite ideas are juxtaposed against each other.

Atmosphere

The overall mood of a scene, a story or a poem. Not to be confused with 'Tone', Atmosphere relates to the thing being described, not the attitude of the narrator towards it.

Ballad

A poem that tells a story, usually written in stanzas of $4$ lines with a regular metre and rhyme scheme.

Bathos

A sudden change in tone, often from the serious to the comic, or from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Blank Verse

Poetry that is written in unrhymed lines with a clear metre - normally iambic pentameter.

Character

Refers to a person, animal or thing in a story.

Characterisation

Refers to the ways in which characters are presented; it is HOW they are portrayed.

Charactonym

Literary device in which a character's name reflects their personality.

Chiasmus

A figure of speech in which the syntax or grammar of one line is inverted in the next.

Chorus

Deriving from Ancient Greek Theatre, the Chorus is a group of actors who are both part of the action of the story, as well as a bridge between the events and the audience.

Cliché

An over used phrase, idea or opinion.

Colloquial

The use of informal language, often specific to a place or time.

Complex Sentence

A sentence that includes one main clause and one or more dependent clauses.

Compound Sentence

A sentence consisting of $2$ or more main clauses, joined together by a conjunction such as 'and', 'then' or 'but'.

Conjunction

A word used to connect words, phrases or clauses.

Conceit

A type of extended metaphor in which $2$ (or more) very different things are brought into comparison.

Concrete

A term used to describe anything physical or tangible - something we encounter through our senses.

Abstract

A term used to describe an idea, concept or theme.

Connotation

The associated or implied meaning/s of a particular word.

Dactyl/ic

A metrical foot in which $1$ stressed syllable is followed by $2$ that are unstressed.

Denotation

The single, literal meaning of a word.

Denouement

The final part of the novel, play or story in which the central conflict is resolved. This takes place after the climax.

Diction

The author's choice of words or vocabulary, which could be abstract or concrete, simple or complex, formal or informal, literal or figurative.

Didactic

A work that is designed to teach something, to be morally instructive.

Dramatic monologue

A literary form in which the author writes in an extended manner in the voice of a particular character.

Dramatic irony

When the reader or the audience has information that one or more character does not.

Elegy

A poem of mourning or reflection on someone who has died.

End-stopped line

In poetry, when a sentence comes to a close at the end of a line.

Enjambment

In poetry, when a clause or a sentence continues across the line break.

Epigram

A short, often pithy or insightful saying - often expressed humorously or through paradox.

Epigraph

A short, stand alone quote that appears at the beginning of a book.

Epiphany

The moment when a character is struck with a life-changing moment of insight or understanding.

Epithet

A descriptive device that enables a character or a thing to seem more marked and prominent, often using adjectives.

Euphemism

A word or phrase used in place of one that is taboo or socially awkward e.g. 'Pass away' instead of 'die'.

Euphony

Sound patterns, typically in poetry, that are harmonious and pleasing.

Cacophony

Sound patterns, typically in poetry, that are harsh and discordant.

Figurative Language

Non-literal uses of language designed to create a particular effect, such as metaphor, simile, symbol, or personification.

First-person point of view

When a writer tells the story from the point of view of a particular character, using pronouns such as 'I', 'Me', 'We' or 'Us'.

Form

Describes the text type and its associated attributes (e.g., poetry, prose, drama) and the techniques or conventions associated with a text.

Free indirect speech

Third person narration that feels like first person when the narrator momentarily 'disappears' inside the head of a character.

Free Verse

A form of poetry that does not make use of consistent patterns of rhyme or metre.

Genre

Types or classes of literature, such as the Novel, Poetry, or Drama, and sub-genres like tragedy and comedy.

Haiku

A Japanese form of poetry consisting of $3$ unrhymed lines of $5$, $7$, and $5$ syllables respectively.

Half rhyme

Also known as 'imperfect rhyme', it happens when the stressed syllables of final consonants match, but not the preceding vowels.

Hamartia

A character's tragic flaw, a weakness that ultimately leads to their downfall.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used to create a particular effect.

lamb/ic

A metrical foot in which an unstressed syllable is followed by one that is stressed.

Idiom

A figure of speech that is particular to a group of speakers within a certain language.

Imagery

Refers to all objects of sense perception including visual, tactile, olfactory, auditory, and gustatory.

Indirect narration/speech

When speech is reported without quotation marks and is not recorded word for word.

Internal rhyme

Rhyme that occurs in the middle of a line, rather than at the end.

Intertextuality

Explicit or implicit references made in a literary work to another.

Irony

A difference between appearance and reality; types include verbal, dramatic, and situational.

Juxtaposition

Placing $2$ contrasting things side by side in a way that mutually highlights differences.

Lyric/al

A poem focusing on individual state of feeling or emotion, deriving from the word 'lyric' meaning 'song'.

Malapropism

A verbal mistake where one word is substituted for another with a similar sound but different meaning.

Meiosis

Deliberate understatement.

Metaphor

A word or phrase that denotes one thing being used to describe another without the comparison being made explicit.

Metonymy

A figurative expression in which the name of an object is replaced with a word associated with it, e.g., 'The kettle is boiling'.

Metre

The presentation of a regular rhythm or discernible pattern in the beats or stresses of syllables.

Monologue

An extended speech delivered by one person.

Motif

A recurring idea, symbol, or object in a literary work, distinguished from 'theme'.

Narrative voice

The perspective, tone and type of voice telling the story, such as first or third person or (un)reliable voices.

Naturalism

A type of realism exploring how background, society and culture play a role in shaping human character.

Neologism

A word or phrase that is invented by a particular writer.

Omniscient

An 'all seeing' narrative voice.

Ode

A type of poem that is formal and expresses praise for a person, idea or object.

Onomatopoeia

A device that uses the sounds of a word to imitate the object being described.

Oxymoron

The pairing together of opposite or contradictory words.

Olfactory imagery

Imagery used to represent or convey the sensory experience of smell.

Paradox

A statement that appears to be contradictory but in fact turns out to express a truth.

Pathetic fallacy

The use of human emotions to describe inanimate natural objects such as weather or animals.

Pathos

Aspects of literary writing that evoke feelings of tenderness, sorrow or sympathy.

Persona

Typically, the first person speaker of a narrative story or poem.

Plot

The way in which events of a story are deliberately presented and ordered.

Poetic Diction

Use of language particular to poetry, typically 'heightened' through rich metaphor and complex syntax.

Point of View

The perspective maintained by the narrator, typically either first or third person.

Prosody

A term to describe the use of metre, rhythm, tone, sound devices and pauses in poetry.

Pun

A play on words occurring when words are spelled/pronounced similarly but have different meanings.

Realism

Fiction that faithfully describes ordinary or everyday life, which could be social, psychological, or physical.

Rhetoric

Any linguistic or literary feature designed to deliberately create an emotional impact.

Rhyme

Repeating particular syllables typically at the end of a line; can be full or half, masculine or feminine.

Roman clef

A work of prose fiction in which real people or events are 'hidden' beneath a fictional story.

Satire

A genre making deliberate fun of a subject by making it seem ridiculous to invite laughter and contempt.

Setting

The place or time in which a text takes place, including physical, temporal, geographical, social or cultural aspects.

Simile

A figure of speech in which $2$ unconnected things are compared using words such as 'like' or 'as'.

Soliloquy

A speech made by a character, usually alone on stage, in which they express feelings and thoughts.

Sonnet

A lyrical poem usually consisting of $14$ lines and structured according to a strict rhyme scheme.

Spondee/Spondaic

A metrical foot consisting of $2$ stressed syllables.

Stanza

A group of lines within a poem separated by white space; examples include couplet, quatrain ($4$ lines), and sestet ($6$ lines).

Stock Character

A character used in a fictional narrative that is instantly recognisable as a type.