AP Literature - Summer Vocab

ALEXANDRINE

An iambic hexameter line- that is, a poetic line consisting of six iambic feet. The last line of a Spenserian stanza is an alex- andrine. The following alexandrine is from a stanza of John Keats's "The Eve of St. Agnes": She sighed for Agnes' dreams, the sweetest of the year. See Scansion, Spenserian Stanza. See also page 125.

ALLEGORY

A tale in verse or prose in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities. Thus, an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. The most famous allegory in English literature is John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Bunyan's hero, Christian, makes a jour- Progress Bunyana the Celestial City, during which he meets such characters as Hope, Shame, and Despair. See pages 282, 973.

ALLITERATION

The repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters, in a group of words. Sometimes the term is limited to the repetition of initial consonant sounds. When alliteration occurs at the beginning of words, it is called initial alliteration; when it occurs within words, it is called internal or hidden alliteration. It usually occurs on stressed syllables.

Although alliteration sometimes appears in prose, it is is main mainly a poetic device. Like other forms of sound repetition, alliteration in poetry serves two important purposes: it is pleasing to the ear, and it emphasizes the words in which it occurs. A well- known example of alliteration is this line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan": "Five miles meandering with a mazy motion."

Alliteration is an important poetic device in Anglo-Saxon poetry where it generally occurs on three of the four four stressed syllables in in a a line. Some- thing of the alliterative effect can be seen in this line from Beowulf: "And the heathen's only hope, Hell." See pages 21, 280, 796, 821.

ALLUSION

A reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to. An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion. In Act One of Macbeth, Ross praises Macbeth's valor and skill in battle battle by referring to him as "Bellona's bridegroom." In Roman mythol- ogy Bellona was the goddess of war. The title of Elizabeth Bowen's story "Tears, Idle Tears" alludes to a poem of the same title by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. See page 754.

ANALOGY

A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them. Analogies are often used for illustration (to explain something unfamiliar by comparing it to some- thing familiar) or for argument (to persuade that what holds true for one thing holds true for the thing to which it is compared). Samuel Johnson draws an analogy for the sake of argument in his Preface to Shakespeare when he compares a work of art to a work of nature: As among the works of nature no man can properly call a river deep or a mountain high, without the knowledge of many mountains and many rivers; so in the productions of genius, nothing can be styled excellent till it has been compared with other works of the same kind. In "Notes on the English Character," E. M. Forster develops an analogy between the sea and the English character. See pages 709, 713

ANTAGONIST

A person or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative; a rival of the hero or heroine. Famous antagonists in literature include Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes's antagonist in Arthur Conan Doyle's detective stories, and the monster Grendel, Beowulf's antagonist in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. See Protagonist.

ANTIPASTORAL

A literary mode that subverts the traditional pastoral (see pastoral).

ANTI-PETRARCHAN

A work that directly subverts the idealized, hyperbolic conventions of Renaissance love poetry (see sonnet).

ANTISTROPHE

A literary and rhetorical device featuring the repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of consecutive clauses or sentences (see ode).

ANTITHESIS

The balancing of two contrasting ideas, words, phrases, or sentences. An antithesis is often expressed in a balanced sentence, that is, a sentence in which identical or similar grammatical structure is used to express contrasting ideas. A famous example of antithesis is this line from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism: "To err is human, to forgive divine." See pages 317, 360.

APHORISM

A concise, pointed statement ex- pressing a wise or clever observation about life. For example:

“Silence is the virtue of fools.” - Francis Bacon

“For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” - Alexander Pope

APOSTROPHE

A figure of speech in which an absent or a dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman is addressed directly. George Gordon, Lord Byron uses apostrophe in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage when he addresses the ocean: "Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean - roll!" See pages 130, 392, 479, 488.

ASIDE

In drama, lines spoken by a character in an undertone or directly to the audience. An aside is meant to be heard by by the t audience, but it is sup- posedly not heard by the other characters onstage. Here is an aside from Macbeth: Macbeth. [Aside] If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir. (I, 3, 143-144)

ASSONANCE

The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in poetry. Here is an example of assonance from John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn": "Thou foster child of silence and slow time." See pages 464, 796, 821.

ATMOSPHERE

The prevailing mood or feeling of a literary work. Atmosphere is often developed, at least in part, through descriptions of setting. Such descriptions help to create an emotional cli- mate for the work that serves to establish the read- er's expectations and attitudes. For example, in "Across the Bridge," Graham Greene develops an atmosphere of decay and boredom with descrip- tions of the dusty, shabby town in which the story is set. See Setting. See also pages 219, 769.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A person's account of his or her own life. An autobiography is generally written in narrative form and includes some introspection. Autobiographies are distinct from diaries, journals, and letters, which are not unified life stories writ- ten for publication. Autobiographies are also different from memoirs, which often deal, at least in part, with public events and important persons other than the author.

An example of an autobiographical essay is George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant." See pages 380, 763.

BALLAD

A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung. In many countries, the folk ballad was one of the earliest forms of literature. Folk ballads have no known authors. They were transmitted orally from generation to generation and were not set down in writing until centuries after they were first sung. The subject matter of folk ballads stems from the everyday life of the common people.

The most popular subjects; often tragic, are disappointed love, jealousy, revenge, sudden disaster, and deeds of adventure and daring. Devices commonly used in ballads are the refrain. incremental repetition, and code language. A later form of ballad is the literary ballad, which imi- tates the style of the folk ballad. The most famous English literary ballad is Samuel Taylor Cole- ridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. See Incremental Repetition, Refrain. See also pages 43, 48.

BALLAD STANZA

A type of four-line stanza, The first and third lines have four stressed words or syllables;
the second and fourth lines have three stresses. Ballad meter is usually iambic. The number of unstressed syllables in each line may vary. The second and fourth lines rhyme. Here is a ballad stanza from the Scottish folk ballad "Get Up and Bar the Door": Then by there came two gentlemen, At twelve o'clock at night, And they could neither see house nor Nor coal nor candlelight. hall, See pages 48, 823.

BIOGRAPHY

A detailed account of a person's life written by another person. Biographies in English have taken many different forms since they were first written in medieval times to praise the virtue of saints and to celebrate the feats of heroes. The modern biographer aims at accuracy and usually makes an attempt to interpret the the personality of the subject. Details of the social and historical circumstances in which the subject lived are often included. A famous example of English biography e is James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson. See pages 374, 380.

BLANK VERSE

Verse written in unrhymed iam- bic pentameter. Blank verse is the verse form used in some of the greatest English poetry, including that of William Shakespeare and John Milton. Here is an example from Shakespeare's Macbeth: 1 1 If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not, Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear Your favors nor your hate. (I, 3, 58-61) See pages 165, 217.

CAESURA

A break or pause in a line of poetry. In these lines from Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time," the caesuras are indicated by double lines (||): Then be not coy, but use your time; And while ye may, || go marry See pages 21, 814.

CANTO

A section or division of a long poem. The most famous cantos in literature are those that make up Dante's Divine Comedy, a fourteenth-century epic. In English poetry, Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock and George Gordon, Lord Byron's Don Juan are divided into cantos. See pages 351, 481.

CARICATURE

The use of exaggeration or distortion to make a figure appear comic or ridiculous. A physical characteristic, an eccentricity, a personality trait, or an act may be exaggerated, Thomas Gradgrind, in Charles Dickens' Hard Times, is such a figure. See page 611.

CARPE DIEM TRADITION

A tradition dating back to classical Greek and Latin poetry and particularly popular among English Cavalier poets. Carpe diem means, literally, "seize the day"- that is, "live for today." The carpe diem theme is epitomized in a line from Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time": "Gather ye rose- buds while ye may." See page 260.

CHARACTERIZATION

The personality a character displays; also, the means by which a writer reveals that personality. Generally, a writer develops a character in one or more of the following ways:

(1) through the character's actions

(2) through the the char character's thoughts and speeches

(3) through a physical description of the character

(4) through the opinions others have about the character

(5) through a direct statement about the character telling what the writer thinks of him or her.

CLASSICISM

A movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Classicism emphasizes the traditional and the universal, and places value on reason, clarity, balance, and order. Classicism, with its concern for reason and universal themes, is traditionally opposed to Romanticism, which is concerned with emotions and personal themes. See pages 116, 252.

CLIMAX

The point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative. The climax usually marks a story's turning point. The action leading to the climax and the simultaneous increase of ten- sion in the plot are known as the rising action. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the climax occurs during the banquet scene in Act Three. Масbeth, overcome by guilt and nervousness over the murders of Duncan and Banquo, sees the ghost of Banquo in the banquet hall. This tense moment is the play's turning point. After t After this moment, events turn against Macbeth and Macbeth and lead to his final down- fall. All action after the climax is referred to as the falling action, or resolution. The term crisis is sometimes used interchangeably with climax. See Plot. See also page 190.

COMEDY

In general, a literary work that ends happily with a healthy, amicable armistice be- tween the protagonist and society. Comedy is distinct from tragedy, which is generally concerned with a protagonist who meets an unhappy or disastrous end. Also, the comic protagonist may be a person of ordinary character and ability, and need not achieve the heroic stature of the protagonist in a tragedy, Comedies are often concerned, at least in part, with exposing human folly, and frequently depict the overthrow of rigid social fashions and customs. Wit, humor, and a sense of festivity are found in many comedies. See Farce, Satire. See also pages 304, 631, 644, 659, 668, 934.

CONCEIT

A kind of metaphor that makes a comparison between two startlingly different things. A conceit may be a brief metaphor, but it usually provides the framework for an entire poem. An especially unusual and intellectual kind of conceit is the metaphysical conceit, used by certain seventeenth-century poets, such as John Donne. In "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," Donne compares the souls of lovers to compasses in an ex- tended simile that begins with these lines: If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two, Thy soul the fixed foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th'other do. (lines 25-28) See pages 235, 242, 363.

CONFLICT

A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem. Conflict can be external or internal, and it can take one of these forms:

(1) a person against another person

(2) a person against society

(3) a person against nature

(4) two elements within a person struggling for mastery. Many works contain more than one form of conflict. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, for example, there is a conflict within Macbeth (his wish to murder Dun- can and become king versus his loyalty to Dun- can), and conflicts between Macbeth and other individuals in the play (Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff), Conflict is often an important element in plot development and provides, among other things, the basis for suspense.

CONNOTATION

All the emotions and associations that a word or phrase may arouse. Connotation is distinct from denotation, which is the literal or "dictionary" meaning of a word or phrase. For example, the word springtime literally means the season between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, but the word usually makes most people think of such things as youth, rebirth, and romance. The word shroud literally means a cloth used for burial purposes, or anything that covers or protects. However, most people associate the word with death, gloom, darkness, and other shadowy, mysterious things.

CONSONANCE

The repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words. Sometimes the term refers to the repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of words, as in this line from Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard": "And all the air a solemn stillness holds." Sometimes the term is used for slant rhyme (or partial rhyme) in which initial and final consonants are the same but the vowels different: litter/letter, green/groan. See Alliteration. See also page 814.

COUPLET

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. Shakespeare frequently closes a scene with a couplet. Here are some examples from Macbeth: Away, and mock the time with fairest show; False face must hide what the false heart doth know. (I, 7) Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell. (II, 1) Make all our trumpets speak; give them all breath. Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death. (V, 6) A heroic couplet is an iambic pentameter couplet. During the Restoration period and the eighteenth century it was a popular verse form. Alexander Pope perfected the closed couplet-that is, a couplet in which the two lines form a complete unit of thought. Here is an example from The Rape of the Lock: But when to mischief mortals bend their will, How soon they find fit instruments of ill! (III, 125-126) See pages 50, 122, 311, 359, 363.

DACTYL

See Scansion. A three-syllable metrical foot used in poetry

DENOTATION

The literal meaning of a word. For example, a denotation, or or "dictionary" dictionary definition, of the word star (as in "movie star") is "an eminent actor or actress," but the connotation is that of an actor or actress who is adored by fans and who leads a fascinating and glamorous life.

DÉNOUEMENT

(dā-noo-män') The outcome of a plot. The dénouement is that part of a play, short story, novel, or narrative poem in which conflicts are resolved, or unraveled, and mysteries and secrets connected with the plot are explained.

DICTION

A writer's choice of words, particularly for clarity, effectiveness, and precision. A writer's diction can be formal or informal, abstract or concrete, right word," writers must think of their subject, simple or ornate. In choosing "the and their audience. Words that are appropriate in informal dialogue would not always be appropriate in a piece of formal writing. See pages 218, 306, 359.

DISSONANCE

A harsh or disagreeable combination of sounds discord.

DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE

A kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or more listeners whose replies are not given in the poem. The occasion is usually a crucial one in the speaker's life, and the dramatic monologue reveals the speaker's personality as well as the incident that is the subject of the poem. An example of a dramatic monologue is "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning. See pages 563, 571, 572, 574.

ELEGY

A poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual. It may also be a lament over the passing of life and beauty or a meditation on the nature of death. An elegy is a type of lyric poem, usually formal in language and structure, and solemn or even melancholy in tone. One of the greatest elegies in English is Alfred, Lord Tennyson's In Memoriam. See pages 7, 25, 381, 567.

EMBLEMATIC IMAGE

A verbal picture or figure with a long tradition of moral or religious meaning attached to it. George Herbert's "Easter Wings" is an emblematic poem in which the verse takes the shape of wings. See page 245.

EPIC

A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated. Many epics were drawn from an oral tradition and were transmitted by song and recitation before they were written down. Two of the most famous epics of Western civilization are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The great epic of the Middle Ages is the Divine Comedy by the Italian poet Dante. The two most famous English epics are the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and John Milton's Paradise Lost, which employs some of the conventions of the classical epic. See Mock Epic. See also pages 7, 10, 124, 268, 349, 361.

EPIGRAM

A short, witty, pointed statement often in the form of a poem. Here is an example from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside. (II, 135-136) See page 360.

EPIGRAPH

A quotation or motto at the beginning of a chapter, book, short story, or poem that makes some point about the work. One of the epigraphs preceding T. S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" is a is a reference to Guy Fawkes Day, when English children carry stuffed effigies, or likenesses, of the traitor Fawkes. The epigraph serves as a motif throughout the poem for the ineffectuality Eliot identifies with his generation of "stuffed men." See page 810.

EPILOGUE

A short addition or conclusion at the end of a literary work. In the Epilogue to Pygmalion, Bernard Shaw tells his readers what happened to his characters after the conclusion of the play. See page 906.

EPIPHANY

A moment of illumination, usually occurring at or near the end of a work. In James Joyce's story "Araby," the epiphany occurs when the narrator realizes, with sudden clarity, that his dream of visiting the splendid bazaar has resulted only in frustration and disillusion.

EPITAPH

An inscription on a gravestone or a short poem written in memory of someone who has died. Many epitaphs are actually epigrams, or short witty sayings, and are not intended for serious use as monument inscriptions. Here is an example: Life is a jest, and all things show it. I thought so once; but now I know it. -John Gay, "My Own Epitaph" See pages 381, 385, 606.

EPITHET

A descriptive name or phrase used to characterize someone or something, such as "America the Beautiful" or "Catherine the Great." The Odyssey, Homer's epic, contains many epithets, such as "wine-dark sea" and "keen-edged sword." See Kenning.

EPODE

See Ode. The third and final part of a traditional ancient Greek choral ode (following the strophe and antistrophe),

ESSAY

A piece of prose writing, usually short, that deals with a subject in a limited way and expresses a particular point of view. An essay is never a comprehensive treatment of a subject (the word comes from a French word, essai, meaning "attempt" or "try"). An essay may be serious or humorous, tightly organized or rambling, re- strained or emotional. The two general classifications of essay are the in- formal essay (also called the familiar or personal essay) and the formal essay. An informal essay is usually brief and is written as if the writer is talk- ing informally to the reader about some topic, using a conversational style and a personal or humorous tone. In an informal essay, the writer might digress from the topic at hand, or express some amusing, startling, or absurd opinions. In general, an informal essay reveals as much about the personality of its author as it does about its subject. By contrast, a formal essay is tightly organ- ized, dignified in style, and serious in tone. Francis Bacon's "Of Studies" is an example of a formal essay. See pages 225, 341, 348, 468.

EXEMPLUM

A tale, usually inserted into the text of a sermon, that illustrates a moral principle. "The Pardoner's Tale" from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is an exemplum; its moral is "Greed is the root of all evil." See pages 74, 80.

EXPOSITION

That part of a narrative or drama in which important background information is revealed.

FABLE

A brief story that is told to present a moral, or practical lesson. The characters of fables are often animals who speak and act like human beings.

FALLING ACTION

See Plot. The sequence of events that occurs immediately after the climax of a story

FARCE

A type of comedy based on a ridiculous situation, often with stereotyped characters. The humor in a farce is largely slapstick that is, it often involves crude physical action. The characters in a farce are often the butts of practical jokes: flying cream-pies hit them in the face and beds cave in on them.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Language that is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. William Shakespeare uses figurative language in these lines from Macbeth's famous soliloquy at the end of Macbeth: Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. (V, 5, 23-26) Shakespeare is not saying that life is actually a flickering candle, a shadow, or a nervous actor moving about on a stage. Rather, he is making comparisons between life and these other things, pointing out special similarities between them. By appealing to the imagination, figurative language provides new ways of looking at the world. Figurative language consists of such figures of speech as hyperbole, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, personification, simile, and synecdoche. See terms noted above. See also page 219.

FIGURE OF SPEECH

A word or an expression that is not meant to be interpreted in a literal sense. The most common kinds of figures of speech-simile, metaphor, personification, and metonymy-involve a comparison between unlike things. Figures of speech are found in many familiar expressions, such as "It's raining cats and dogs" and "You're the apple of my eye."

FLASHBACK

A scene in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem that interrupts the action to show an event that happened earlier. Most narratives present events in chronological order - that is, as they occur in time. Sometimes, however, a writer interrupts this natural sequence of events and "flashes back" to tell the reader what happened earlier in the story or in a character's life. Often a flashback takes the form of a character's recollection. Katherine Mansfield, in "A Dill Pickle," Pickle," and and Elizabeth Bowen, in "Tears, Idle Tears," both use this technique. See pages 740, 749.

FOIL

A character who sets off another character by contrast. In Macbeth Banquo is a foil for Macbeth. Banquo is present when the Witches deliver their prophecy to Macbeth, and he is told that his descendants will be kings. Yet, unlike Macbeth, his ambitions are not stirred and he remains loyal to the king.

FOOT

See Scansion. The fundamental unit of rhythmic measurement in poetry

FORESHADOWING

The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest what will happen later. Writers use foreshadowing to create interest and to build suspense. Sometimes foreshadowing also repares the reader for the ending of the story. In Graham Greene's "Across the Bridge," the ending of the story is foreshadowed in the fifth paragraph when the narrator refers to Mr. Calloway's story as a tragedy. See page 769.

FREE VERSE

Verse that has either no metrical pattern or an irregular pattern. Although most free verse belongs to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it can be found in earlier literature, particularly in the Psalms of the Bible.

HEROIC COUPLET

See Couplet. A traditional form of English poetry consisting of two rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter

HYPERBOLE

A figure of speech using exaggeration, or overstatement, for special effect. Shakespeare uses hyperbole in these lines from Macbeth: Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? (II,6,60-61) See page 501.

IAMB

See Scansion. A rhythmic unit (metrical foot) used in poetry.

IAMBIC PENTAMETER

A poetic line consisting of five verse feet (penta- is from a Greek word meaning "five"), with each foot an iamb-that is, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Iambic pentameter is the most common verse line in English poetry. The following lines from Paradise Lost are written in blank verse- unrhymed iambic pentameter: At once as far as angels ken he views The dismal situation waste and wild: A dungeon horrible on all sides round As one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible (lines 59-63) See Scansion. See also pages 165, 574.

IMAGERY

Words or phrases that create pictures, or images, in the reader's mind. Images are primarily visual, as in these lines from William Wordsworth's "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey": Once again I see These hedgerows, hardly hedgerows, little lines of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms, Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke Sent up, in silence, from among the trees! (lines 14-18) Images can appeal to other senses as well: touch, taste, smell, and hearing. See pages 219-222, 230, 517.

INCREMENTAL REPETITION

The repetition of a previous line, or lines, but with a slight variation each time, that advances the narrative stanza by stanza. This device is commonly used in ballads. See page 43.

IN MEDIAS RES

A technique of plunging into the middle of a story and only later using a flash- back to tell what has happened previously. In medias res is Latin for "in the middle of things." Some famous examples of this technique are found in epics. Book I of Homer's Odyssey, for example, opens ten years after the Trojan War has ended. The goddess Athena instructs Odysseus' son to go to Sparta to inquire about his father, who should have returned home from the war ten years before. Only later, in Book IX, do we hear Odysseus tell about his adventures of the previous ten years. An English epic that begins in medias res is John Mil- ton's Paradise Lost. See page 268.

INTERLOCKING RHYME

See Rhyme. The poet repeats the last syllable of a line as the first syllable of the following line

INTERLUDE

In the late fifteenth century, a play with a nonreligious plot and characters. See page 108.

INTERNAL RHYME

See Rhyme. A rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines

INVERSION

The technique of reversing, or inverting, the normal word order (subject, verb, object) of of a sentence. For example, an inversion of "I went to the park" is "To the park went I." Writers may use inversion to create a certain tone or to emphasize a particular word or idea. A poet may invert a line so that it fits into a particular meter or rhyme scheme. See page 386.

INVOCATION

At the beginning of an epic (or other poem) a call to a muse, god, or spirit for inspiration. At the opening of Paradise Lost, Milton invokes Urania, the muse of sacred poetry, to inspire him. See page 268.

IRONY

A contrast or an incongruity between what is stated and what is really meant, or be- tween what is expected to happen and what actually happens. Three kinds of irony are:

(1) verbal irony, in which a writer or speaker says one thing and means something entirely different

(2) dramatic irony, in which a reader or an audience perceives something that a character in the story or play does not know

(3) irony of situation, in which the writer shows a discrepancy between the expected results of some action or situation and its actual results. An example of verbal irony occurs in this speech from Macbeth. Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, tells another Lord how Macbeth responded to Duncan's murder by killing the two grooms: How it did grieve Macbeth! Did he not straight In pious rage the two delinquents tear, That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep? Was not that nobly done? (III, 6, 11-14) The real meaning of this speech, of course, is that Macbeth acted to cover his own crimes. An example of dramatic irony can be found in Scene 6 of Act One. We know that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are plotting to murder Duncan, but Duncan does not know that he is walking into a trap. The irony is intensified by the opening lines of the scene in which Duncan and Banquo remark on the serenity and loveliness of the setting. In Thomas Hardy's. "The Three Strangers," an irony of situation occurs when the two strangers at the chimney corner turn out to be the hangman and his intended victim. See pages 176, 190, 332.

KENNING

In Old English poetry, an elaborate phrase that describes persons, things, or events in a metaphorical and indirect way. The Anglo- Saxon poem "The Seafarer" contains kennings, such as "whales' home" for the sea. See page 21.

LYRIC

A poem, usually a short one, that expresses a speaker's personal thoughts or feelings. The elegy, ode, and sonnet are all forms of the lyric. As its Greek name indicates, a lyric was originally a poem sung to the accompaniment of a lyre, and lyrics to this day have retained a melodic quality. Lyrics may express a range of emotions and reflections: Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" reflects on the brevity of life and the need to live for the moment, while T. S. Eliot's "Preludes" observes the sordidness and de- pression of modern life. See page 500.

MASQUE

An elaborate and spectacular dramatic entertainment that was popular among the English aristocracy in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Masques were written as dramatic poems and made use of songs, dances, colorful costumes, and startling stage effects. See pages 115, 253.

MAXIM

A concise statement expressing a principle or rule of conduct. See page 380.

MELODRAMA

A drama that has stereotyped characters, exaggerated emotions, and a conflict that pits an all-good hero or heroine against an allevil villain. The good characters always win and the evil ones are always punished. Originally, melodramas were so called because melodies ac- companied certain actions (melos means "song" in Greek). Also, each character in a melodrama had a theme melody, which was played each time he or she made an appearance on stage.

METAPHOR

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar. "Life is a dream," dream," "Life is a vale of tears," and "Life is a hard road" are all examples of metaphor. Unlike a simile, a metaphor does not use a connective word such as like, as, or resembles in making the comparison. Many metaphors are implied, or suggested. An implied metaphor does not directly state that one thing is another, different thing. Alfred, Lord Tennyson uses an implied metaphor in these lines from "Crossing the Bar'': I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar. By capitalizing the word Pilot, the poet implies a comparison between God and the pilot of his ship. An extended metaphor is a metaphor that is ex- tended throughout a poem. In "Crossing the Bar," Tennyson compares death to a voyage at sea, at the end of which he will meet the "Pilot," or God. A dead metaphor is a metaphor that has become so commonplace that it seems literal rather than figurative. Some examples are the foot of a hill, the head of the class, a point in time, and the leg of a chair. A mixed metaphor is the use of two or more inconsistent metaphors in one expression. When they are examined, mixed metaphors make no sense. Mixed metaphors are often unintentionally humorous: "The storm of protest was nipped in the bud" or "To hold the fort, he'd have to shake a leg." See page 569.

METAPHYSICAL CONCEIT

See Conceit. An elaborate, highly intellectual, and extended metaphor that compares two drastically different, seemingly unrelated things

METAPHYSICAL POETRY

The poetry of John Donne and other seventeenth-century poets who wrote in a similar style. Metaphysical poetry is characterized by verbal wit and structure, irregular meter, colloquial language, and excess, ingenious elaborate imagery, and a drawing together of dis- similar ideas. See pages 116, 235.

METER

A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. In these lines from Robert Burns's poem "O, My Luve's like a Red, Red, Rose," the stressed syllables are marked (') and the unstressed syllables are marked (): As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am am í; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry. See Scansion.

METONYMY

(mə-ton'əmē) A figure of speech in which something very closely associated with a thing is used to stand for or suggest the thing itself. "Three sails came into the harbor" is an example of metonymy; the word sails stands for the ships themselves. Other common examples of me- tonymy are crown to mean a king, hardhat to mean a construction worker, and White House to mean the President. William Shakespeare uses metonymy in the following lines from his play Cymbeline: The scepter, learning, and physic, must All follow this, and come to dust. The words scepter, learning, and physic stand for the king, the scholar, and the doctor.

MIRACLE PLAY

A popular religious drama of medieval England. Miracle plays were based on stories of the saints or on sacred history. See page 108.

MOCK EPIC

A comic literary form that treats a trivial subject in the grand, heroic style of the epic. A mock epic is also referred to as a mock-heroic poem. Perhaps the greatest mock epic in English is Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock. See pages 350-351, 481

MONOMETER

See Scansion. A line of verse consisting of exactly one metrical foot (a single unit of rhythm)

MOOD

The gloomy atmosphere or climate of a literary work. The mood of a work is often established, at least in part, by the setting. For example, in "Across the Bridge," Graham Greene develops a mood of decay and boredom with descriptions of the dusty, shabby town in which the story is set. See Atmosphere, Setting.

MOTIF

(mo-tef') A character, an incident, a idea, or a graphic element that recurs in various works or in various parts of a single work. In literature, a motif may be an unvarying element, such as a phrase or a situation, that is repeated within a particular work. T.S. Eliot uses the term "stuffed men" as a motif throughout his poem "The Hollow Men." See pages 21, 230, 810.

MYTH

A story, often about gods or supernatural beings, that explains a natural phenomenon or a cultural practice. Many myths were drawn from an oral tradition and were transmitted by song and recitation before they were written down. Myths are found in the literature of almost all cultures. See Epic.

NARRATIVE

A story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious. A narrative can be written in prose or verse, and it can take many different forms, including the short story, novel, play, or narrative poem. See Plot.

NATURALISM

A literary movement that began in the late nineteenth century and was shaped by the theories of evolution and environmental determinism. Naturalism is characterized by a detached, objective tone and a focus on the harsh realities of life, often depicting characters who are controlled by forces beyond their command, such as heredity and environment. See Realism.

NEO-CLASSICISM

A movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects a revival of the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Neo-classicism emphasizes the traditional and the universal, and places value on reason, clarity, balance, and order. Neo-classicism was particularly popular in England during the Restoration period and the eighteenth century. See Classicism.

NOVEL

A long fictional prose narrative. The novel is a relatively modern literary form (the word comes from an Italian word, novella, meaning "new"). The novel allows for a more extended and detailed development of characters, plot, and setting than is possible in a short story. Novels can take many different forms, including the historical novel, the psychological novel, and the epistolary novel. See Short Story.

OCTAVE

An eight-line poem or stanza. The first eight lines of a Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet are called the octave. The octave usually presents a problem or raises a question, which is then resolved or answered in the remaining six lines, called the sestet. See Sonnet. See also page 122.

ODE

A complex and often lengthy lyric poem written in a dignified, formal style on a serious subject. Odes are often written to praise or celebrate a person, an event, or an abstract idea. The classical ode, or Pindaric ode, was originally sung by a chorus in ancient Greek drama and was divided into three parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. The Horatian ode, named after the Roman poet Horace, is more personal and reflective. Famous English odes include John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind." See Lyric. See also pages 464, 479.

ONOMATOPOEIA

(on'ǝ-mat'ǝ-pē'ǝ) The use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning. Examples of onomatopoeia include buzz, hiss, clang, and boom. In poetry, onomatopoeia can be used to create a particular sound effect or to reinforce the meaning of a line. For example, in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Samuel Taylor Coleridge uses onomatopoeia to describe the sound of ice cracking: "It cracked and growled, and roared and howled." See pages 464, 796.

OXYMORON

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. Examples of oxymoron include "sweet sorrow," "wise fool," "living death," and "cruel kindness." Shakespeare uses oxymoron in Romeo and Juliet when Romeo describes his conflicted feelings about love: "O brawling love! O loving hate!" See Figurative Language. See also page 219.

PARABLE

A brief story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. Unlike a fable, a parable features human characters rather than animals. The most famous parables are those told by Jesus in the New Testament of the Bible, such as the parable of the Prodigal Son or the parable of the Good Samaritan. See Fable.