Key Terms of Lit Survey

Fate

The principle, power, or agency by which events are predetermined; destiny.

Feud

Hostile relations between groups of people, often related to family honor.

Fealty

The loyalty of a vassal to his lord, typically in exchange for gifts and protection.

Fame

Reputation derived from great achievements; celebrity or renown.

Alliteration

The repetition of an initial consonant sound in closely positioned words.

Epic

An extended narrative poem celebrating martial heroes, written in a high style.

Epithet

An adjective or phrase used to express a characteristic of a person or thing.

Invocation

An appeal for aid made to a muse or deity, usually at the beginning of a work.

Kenning

A metaphorical compound word used in Old English and Old Norse poetry.

Scop

An Anglo-Saxon minstrel or poet, often a historian and preserver of oral tradition.

Chivalry

The code of conduct associated with the medieval institution of knighthood.

Romance

A medieval narrative relating the extraordinary adventures of a hero of chivalry.

Pilgrimage

A devotional practice of a prolonged journey toward a significant destination.

Three Estates

The three classes of medieval society: nobility, clergy, and laborers.

Frame Narrative

A story that contains another story, creating a tale within a tale.

iambic

The basic foot of English verse, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Pentameter

A line of verse consisting of five metrical feet, common in English poetry.

Gentilesse

The notion of gentleness and the expected behaviors from a noble birth.

Gloss (noun)

A word inserted between lines to explain a difficult word; a comment or interpretation.

Gloss (verb)

To comment on or interpret a word or passage; to explain away.

Fabliau

A short, comic narrative that often parodies the values of the clerical class.

Affective Piety

Emotionally charged devotion to Christ’s humanity, popular in medieval spirituality.

Anchoress/Anchorite

A religious recluse who has vowed to remain enclosed and not leave.

Apocryphal

Books not regarded as canonical by certain sects of Christianity.

Courtly Love

A conventionalized code governing the behavior of lovers in the Middle Ages.

Eucharist

A Christian ceremony celebrating communion with Christ through bread and wine.

Trinity

The unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead.

Lai (lay)

A short narrative poem dealing with love and adventure, popular in medieval literature.

Conceit

An often unconventional metaphor whose delight is more intellectual than sensual.

Couplet

A pair of successive rhyming lines in poetry.

Quatrain

A stanza of four lines in poetry.

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of rhyme in a poem, typically denoted using letters.

Sonnet

A lyric poem consisting of fourteen lines, typically in a specific rhyme scheme.

Volta

The turn of thought or argument in a sonnet.

Hellmouth

A prop in medieval plays representing the entrance to hell.

Seven Deadly Sins

The cardinal sins of pride, wrath, envy, avarice, lust, gluttony, and sloth.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter, a common English verse form.

Chorus

A group of people who provide commentary in a play, often in verse.

Soliloquy

A monologue delivered by a character alone on stage, revealing inner thoughts.

Tragedy

A serious drama typically ending in disaster, focusing on a character's reversal.

Restoration

The return of monarchy in England in 1660, marking a period of change.

Masquerade

A social gathering where attendees wear masks, often associated with extravagance.

Abolition/Abolitionist

The movement to end the slave trade and slavery, prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Slave Narrative

A narrative written by a former slave recounting their experiences.

The Gothic

Referring to medieval architecture characterized by intricate details and verticality.

Shakespearean Sonnet

fourteen lines, is divided into three quatrains and a couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.

Petrarchan sonnet

has fourteen lines and consists of two parts: the octave, eight lines with the rhyme scheme abbaabba, and the sestet, six lines usually rhyming cdecde or cdcdcd.