APLIT

Enjambment

A continuation of a sentence or phrase beyond the end of a line or stanza in poetry.

Volta/Turn

A shift in tone, mood, or argument in a poem, often occurring in sonnets.

Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet

A 14-line poem with an octave (ABBAABBA) and a sestet (CDECDE or similar), often with a volta between them.

Shakespearean/English Sonnet

A 14-line poem with three quatrains and a final couplet (ABABCDCDEFEFGG), usually in iambic pentameter.

Iambic Pentameter

A metrical line with five iambs (unstressed-stressed syllables), totaling ten syllables.

Octave

An eight-line stanza, especially the first part of an Italian sonnet.

Sestet

A six-line stanza, especially the final part of an Italian sonnet.

Quatrain

A stanza or group of four lines, often with a rhyme scheme.

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that usually rhyme.

Caesura

A natural pause or break within a line of poetry, often marked by punctuation.

Haiku

A three-line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable structure, usually about nature.

Archetype

A universally recognized symbol, theme, or character that recurs across literature and cultures.

Tragic Hero

A protagonist with a fatal flaw that leads to their downfall, typical in tragedies.

Romanticism

A literary movement emphasizing emotion, nature, imagination, and individualism.

Allusion

A brief, indirect reference to a person, event, or literary work.

Allegory

A story in which characters and events symbolically represent abstract ideas or moral qualities.

Satire

A literary work that uses humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize human flaws or society.

Irony

A contrast between expectations and reality, often revealing the opposite of what is meant.

Tragedy

A literary genre featuring serious themes and the downfall of the protagonist.

Point of View

The perspective from which a story is told (e.g., first-person, third-person).

Blank Verse

Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter.

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces that drives the plot.

Slant Rhyme

A near rhyme in which the sounds are similar but not identical.

Foreshadowing

Hints or clues about what will happen later in the story.

Setting

The time and place in which a story occurs.

Epistolary

A narrative told through letters, diary entries, or documents.

Protagonist

The main character of a story, typically facing the central conflict.

Antagonist

A character or force that opposes the protagonist.

Flashback

A scene that interrupts the present to show something from the past.

Soliloquy

A speech in which a character speaks thoughts aloud, often alone on stage.

Gender Criticism

Analyzes literature based on gender roles, identity, and power.

Social Class Criticism

Focuses on how class, wealth, and social structure affect characters and themes.

Biographical/Historical Criticism

Analyzes a text through the lens of the author's life or historical events.

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor developed over several lines or throughout a work.

Rhythm

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

Rhyme

The repetition of similar sounds at the ends of lines or within lines.

Antithesis

A rhetorical contrast of opposing ideas (e.g., “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”)