literary terms #1

Anastrophe

The inversion of the usual order of words.

Anaphora

A word or phrase is intentionally repeated in successive lines.

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound.

Aubade

Poem or music appropriate to the dawn or early morning.

Augustan Age

A style of literature in Britain written in the first half of the 1700s to the 1740s; characterized by emulation of Roman forms, particularly the epistle and satire.

Avant-garde

New and unusual or experimental ideas or works.

Ballad

Poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas.

Ballad Stanza

Four-line stanza with the first and third lines not rhyming, and the second and fourth lines rhyming.

Baroque

Extravagant and complex writing style.

Bathos

Anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood.

Blank Verse

Verse without rhyme, especially iambic pentameter.

Bucolic

Relating to the countryside and country life.

Burlesque

An absurd or exaggerated imitation of something; a parody.

Cacophony

Combination of words or sounds that are unpleasant to the ear, conveying chaos.

Caesura

Break between words in a metrical foot; breath pause.

Canon

An accepted principle or rule.

Canto

Division or section within a long narrative poem.

Affect

Relating to emotions and feelings.

Alexandrine

A line of poetry containing six iambic feet.

Allegory

A literary or visual work that can be interpreted to have a hidden meaning.

Alliteration

The repetition of a letter or sound at the beginning of consecutive words.

Allusion

Referencing a separate literary work as an artistic device in a literary work.

Anachronism

A thing belonging to a separate time than it is depicted.

Anadiplosis

A literary device where the ending word or phrase of one sentence is repeated at the beginning of the next sentence, adding emphasis.

Analogy

A descriptive comparison between two things.

Anapest

A foot of poetry consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable.

Antithesis

One object or subject being the direct opposite of another.

Aphorism

A concise observation that contains a universal truth.

Apostrophe

Addressing an inanimate object or a person who is deceased.

Archaism

The use of old-fashioned or archaic styles in literature.

Archetype

A recurrent symbol or motif that is portrayed across literature.

Aporia

An expression of doubt (real or pretended) for rhetorical effect.

Asyndeton

Omission of the usual conjunctions between words or clauses.

Auxesis

Listing things in order of importance.

Brachylogia

Leaving out words to shorten an expression.

Dialogical

When writing is characterized by the use of dialogue.

Diction

The words or phrases an author chooses to use in speech or writing.

Didactic

Designed or intended for teaching, typically involving moral lessons.

Dimeter

A single line of verse containing two metrical feet.

Diphthong

A gliding speech sound between two vowels in the same syllable.

Dirge

A solemn, mournful piece of music, often accompanying a funeral.

Dissonance

An inharmonious grouping of sounds that is harsh to the ear.

Doggerel

A text that is irregular in measure, emphasizing comic or satirical effect.

Double Entendre

A word or phrase with two possible interpretations, often sexual.

Dramatic Monologue

A speech where a character reveals their situation through their own words.

Eclogue

A short poem containing dialogue between shepherds.

Elegy

A song or poem expressing sorrow, usually toward the dead.

Elision

The omission or slurring over of a vowel or syllable in pronunciation.

Ellipsis

The omission of necessary words understood within the context.

Encomium

A reference to a person or idea, usually in prose poems.

End-stopped

The end of a line where a pause is intended.

English (Shakespearean) Sonnet

A sonnet with three quatrains ending in a couplet.

Enjambment

A line ending that runs on to the next without punctuation.

Enlightenment, The

A period of increased intellect in the late 17th to early 19th centuries.

Epideictic

Poems used for public occasions, often funerals.

Epigram

A short poem with wit and expression.

Epigraph

A quote that indicates the theme of the writing.

Epitaph

A writing describing a dead person's life.

Epithalamion

A poem or song sung for the bride on the wedding night.

Epithet

A descriptive phrase for a person or phrase.

Eponymous

A term for something named after a person.

Euphemism

Figurative language replacing harsh phrasing.

Euphony

Words creating a pleasing sound with their use.

Exordium

An introduction section of a piece of work.

Explication

A close reading or analysis of written work.

Homophone

Words pronounced the same but with different meanings.

Hyperbaton

A rhetorical device changing the typical word order.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration for emphasis, not meant literally.

Iamb

A two-syllable metrical pattern of unstressed followed by stressed.

Idiom

An expression with a figurative meaning different from the literal.

Idyll

A short work depicting rural life or a pastoral scene.

Imagery

Figurative language evoking sensory experience.

Invocation

Addressing a deity to seek inspiration.

Invective

Abusive language used to attack someone.

Irony

A contradiction between appearance and reality.

Isocolon

Repeats grammatical structures in phrases or sentences.

Jeremiad

A literary work expressing deep lamentation, often societal critique.

Kitsch

A literary device conveying irony, often characterized by bad taste.

Lacuna

An absent part in a piece of writing.

Lai

A medieval lyric poem in couplets, often set to music.

Lampoon

A form of satire making fun of something by imitation.

Latinate

English words derived from Latin.

Leitmotif

A recurring theme or symbol with significance.

Limerick

A five-line poem with a rhyme scheme of ABBA, often humorous.

Literature

A body of written works on a subject matter.

Lyric

A short poem expressing personal mood or feeling.

Madrigal

A short lyric poem of love or pastoral life, often set to music.

Malapropism

A confused use of a long word comically.

Masculine Rhyme

Common rhyme between stressed syllables at verse lines' ends.

Masque or Mask

An indoor performance combining poetry, music, and dance.

Maxim

A short, memorable statement of a general principle.

Meditation

Expresses author's reflections.

Metaphor

Referring to something by a different word suggesting a common quality.

Metaphysical Poets

17th-century English poets notable for intellectual and theological concepts.

Meter

The pattern of measured sound-units in lines of verse.

Mnemonic Device

Words or letters that assist memory.

Mock-epic

A poem mimicking epic style for trivial events, satirizing its subject.

Modernism

Experimental trends in early 20th-century literature.

Monologue

An extended speech by one speaker.

Motif

An element that elaborates into a broader theme.