Literary Devices, Poetry Terms, and Miscellaneous Literary Concepts

Vocabulary flashcards covering all literary devices, poetry terms, and miscellaneous elements listed in the lecture notes.

Allegory

A literary device where characters, figures, and events represent abstract ideas or principles to convey a deeper moral or political meaning.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.

Allusion

An indirect reference to a person, event, statement, or work of art outside the text.

Analogy

A comparison between two different things to explain or clarify a complex idea.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person, an abstract concept, or an inanimate object.

Approximate Rhyme/slant rhyme

A rhyme in which the sounds are similar but not exact, sharing partial vowels or consonants.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds within non-rhyming words in close proximity.

Conceit

An extended, highly elaborate metaphor comparing two strikingly different things.

Connotation

The emotional, cultural, or implied meaning attached to a word beyond its literal definition.

Denotation

The explicit, direct, dictionary definition of a word.

Diction

The author's specific choice and use of words and phrasing in speech or writing.

Elegy

A serious, reflective poem typically written to mourn the dead.

Eulogy

A speech or piece of writing that praises someone highly, typically someone who has recently died.

Euphemism

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered too harsh, blunt, or offensive.

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor that unfolds over multiple lines, stanzas, or an entire work to draw a detailed comparison.

Extended Simile

A detailed, lengthy simile using like or as that is developed across multiple lines.

Foil

A character created to contrast with another character, usually the protagonist, to highlight specific traits.

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or comedic effect.

Imagery

Descriptive, sensory language that appeals to sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch.

Irony (Verbal, Dramatic, Situational)

A contrast between expectation and reality, occurring verbally, dramatically, or situationally.

Juxtaposition

Placing two concepts, characters, or ideas side by side to highlight their contrast or relationship.

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two unlike things without using like or as.

Metonymy

A figure of speech where a related concept or object stands in for the thing itself.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate the natural sound associated with the object or action they describe.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech pairing two contradictory terms together.

Paradox

A statement that appears self-contradictory but reveals a deeper truth upon closer examination.

Parallelism

The repetition of similar grammatical structures, phrasing, or sentence patterns.

Point-of-view

The perspective or position from which a story is narrated.

Personification

Giving human characteristics, emotions, or behaviors to non-human entities or inanimate objects.

Satire

The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize human folly or vice.

Setting

The time, geographic location, and social environment in which a story takes place.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two different things using like or as.

Symbol

An object, person, or situation that represents a deeper meaning beyond its literal representation.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part of something represents the whole, or vice versa.

Synesthesia

A technique presenting an idea using sensory terms that appeal to more than one sense simultaneously.

Syntax

The arrangement and order of words and phrases to form well-constructed sentences.

Tone

The speaker or author's attitude toward the subject matter or audience.

Understatement

Intentional presentation of a situation as less important, smaller, or less severe than it actually is.

Ballad

A narrative poem composed of short stanzas, often meant to be sung, telling a popular or folk story.

Blank verse

Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter.

Cacophony

A harsh, jarring, or discordant combination of sounds in literary language.

Consonance

The repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds in nearby words with differing vowel sounds.

Couplet

A unit of two consecutive lines of poetry that typically rhyme and share the same meter.

Dimeter

A line of verse consisting of two metrical feet.

Dramatic Poem

A poem written in the form of a dramatic monologue or scene, designed to present a character's voice.

English(Shakespearean) Sonnet

A 14-line poem consisting of three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Euphony

The use of pleasant, harmonious, and pleasing sounds in language.

Free Verse

Poetry that does not follow a fixed rhyme scheme, meter, or stanzaic structure.

Hexameter

A line of verse consisting of six metrical feet.

Iamb

A metrical foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.

Internal Rhyme

A rhyme occurring within a single line of poetry rather than at the end of lines.

Lyric Poem

A short, expressive poem expressing personal feelings and emotions of a single speaker.

Meter

The regular rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

Monometer

A line of verse consisting of a single metrical foot.

Narrative Poem

A poem that tells a story containing characters, plot, and setting.

Ode

A formal, elaborately structured lyric poem dedicated to praising a person, event, or object.

Pentameter

A line of poetry containing five metrical feet.

Quatrain

A stanza or poem consisting of four lines.

Rhyme Scheme

The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem.

Sestet

A stanza or section of a poem consisting of six lines.

Soliloquy

A speech delivered by a character alone on stage to reveal their inner thoughts to the audience.

Sonnet

A 14-line poem typically written in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme.

Stanza

A grouped set of lines within a poem, separated by a space and functioning like a paragraph in prose.

Tercet

A stanza or group of three lines of poetry.

Terza Rima

An Italian form of poetry composed of tercets with an interlocking rhyme scheme ABA BCB CDC.

Tetrameter

A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet.

Trimeter

A line of verse consisting of three metrical feet.

Trochee

A metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable.

Stream-of-consciousness

A narrative method that depicts the continuous flow of thoughts and feelings in a character's mind.

Tragedy

A genre of drama depicting serious events that lead to the downfall or ruin of the protagonist.

Plot

The sequence of events and actions that make up a story.

Conflict

The central struggle or tension between opposing forces in a literary work.