Literary Terms

Allegory

A narrative either in verse or prose, in which characters, actions, and sometimes setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of the story

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

Allusion

A brief reference to a person, event, or place in history, or to a work of art/literature

Analogy

A comparison made between two items, situations, or ideas that are somewhat alike but unlike in most respects

Anaphora

Figure of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases

Antagonist

A character in a story or play who opposes the chief character or protagonist

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality, object, or idea

Archetype

A character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life. Often include a symbol, a theme, a setting, or a character that have a common meaning in an entire culture, or even the entire human race

Aside

In drama, a few words or a short passage spoken by a character to the audience while the other actors on stage pretend their characters cannot hear the speaker's words

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in stressed syllables or words

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used

Atmosphere(mood)

The mood/feeling of the literary work created for the reader by the writer

Ballad

A narrative poem that usually includes a repeated refrain

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter, a line of five feet

Cacophony

The use of words in poetry that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sounds

Caesura

A pause of break within a line of poetry

Carpe diem

Latin for "seize the day," the name applied to a theme frequently found in lyric poetry: enjoy life's pleasures while you are able

Catharsis

Purification or purging of emotions (pity or fear)

Character

An imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (described as a round/flat, protagonist/antagonist, etc)

Characterization

The method an author uses to acquaint the reader with his or her characters

Chiasmus

A scheme in which the author introduces words or concepts in a particular order then later repeats those terms or similar ones in reversed or backwards order. It involves taking parallelism and deliberately turning it inside out, creating a "crisscross" pattern.

Cliché

An expression or phrase that is over-used as to become trite and meaningless.

Climax

As a term of dramatic structure, the decisive or turning point in a story or play when the action changes course and, as a result, begins to resolve itself.

Conceit

Elaborate figure of speech combining possible metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or oxymoron.

Conflict

The struggle between two opposing forces (man v. man, man v. nature, man v. self, man v. society)

Connotation

The emotional associations surrounding a word, as opposed to its literal meaning or denotation

Couplet

A pair of rhyming lines with identical meter

Denotation

The strict, literal meaning of a word

Denouement

The resolution of the plot

Dialogue

The conversation between two or more people in a literary work

Diction

The author's choice of words or phrases in a literary work

Dramatic irony

Refers to a situation in which events or facts not known to a character on stage or in a fictional work are known to another character, the audience, or the reader

Dramatic monologue

A lyric poem in which the speaker addresses someone whose replies are not recorded

Elegy

A mourning poem of lament for an individual or tragic event.

Enjambment

The continuation of a complete idea from one line of poetry to another, without pause.

Epiphany

A revealing scene or moment in which a character experiences a deep realization about him/ himself.

Epistrophe

Repetition of a concluding word or word endings.

Euphemism

Using a mild or gentle phrase instead of a blunt, embarrassing, or painful one.

Euphony

Attempting to group words together harmoniously, so that the consonants permit an easy and pleasing flow of sound when spoken.

Exposition

The opening section of a narrative or dramatic structure in which characters, setting, theme, and conflict can be revealed.

Flashback

Interruption of the narrative to show an episode that happened before that particular point in the story.

Foot

A group of syllables in verse usually consisting of one accented syllable and the unaccented syllables associated with it.

Foreshadowing

A hint given to the reader of what is to come.

Free verse

A type of poetry that differs from conventional verse forms in being "free" from a fixed pattern of meter and rhyme.

Hamarita

A tragic flaw, especially a misperception, a lack of some important insight, or some blindness that ironically results from one's own strengths and abilities.

Hubris

In a hero, _______ refers to arrogant, excessive self-pride or self-confidence or a lack of some important perception or insight due to pride in one’s abilities.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech involving great exaggeration.

Iambic pentameter

A line of verse having five metrical feet (Shakespeare’s most frequent writing pattern).

Imagery

The sensory details that provide vividness in a literary work and tend to arouse emotions or feeling in a reader which abstract language does not.

In medias res

Latin for “in the middle of things”; used to describe a plot that begins in the middle of events and then reveals past through flashbacks.

Irony

The term used to describe a contrast between what appears to be and what really is.

Justaposition

Placing two ideas, words, or images side by side so that their closeness creates and original, ironic, or insightful meaning.

Litotes

A figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite (ex. Not a bad idea).

Metaphor

A figure of speech involving an implied comparison.

Meter(rhythm)

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which a specific term naming an object is substituted for another word with which it is closely associated.

Motif

A recurrent word, image, theme, object, or phrase that tends to unify a literary work or that may be elaborated into a theme.

Narrator(persona/point of view)

The teller of the story.

Onomatopoeia

Words sued in such a way that the sound of the words imitates the sound of the thing being spoken of.

Paradox

A statement, often metaphorical, that seems to be self-contradictory but which has valid meaning.

Allegory(confirmed)

In a story warning against laziness, the main character might encounter figures such as Sloth and Perseverance. Also, the medieval plays Mankind and Everyman are examples of a(n) ______________

Alliteration(confirmed)

"Buckets of big blue berries" and Coleridge describes the sacred river Alph in Kubla Khan as "Five miles meandering with a mazy motion"

Allusion(confirmed)

In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses knitters as a(n) _____________ to the Fates of classical mythology

Analogy(confirmed)

Anne Bradstreet's "The Author of Her Book" contains a(n) ________________ the compare a book to a child

Anaphora(confirmed)

Churchill declared, "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island..."

Antagonist(confirmed)

A(n) _______________ in the story of Genesis is the serpent. He convinces Eve to disobey God, setting off a chain of events that leads to Adam and Eve being banished from paradise. Also, in the play Othello by William Shakespeare, this role is filled by Iago. Throughout the play, he instigates conflicts and sows distrust among the main characters, Othello and Desdemona, two lovers who have risked their livelihood in order to elope. Iago is determined to break up their marriage due to his suspicions that Othello has taken certain liberties with his wife.

Apostrophe(confirmed)

Thomas Hardy addresses "Love" in his cynical poem "I said to Love":
I said to Love,
It is not now as in old days
When men adored thee and thy ways...
Who spread a heaven beneath the sun,
I said to Love.

Archetype(confirmed)

Recurring characters (such as witches as ugly crones who cannibalize children, lame blacksmiths of preternatural skill, womanizing Don Juans, the hunted man, the femme fatale, the snob, the social, climber, the wise old man as mentor or teacher, star-crossed lovers; the caring mother-figure, the helpless little old lady, the stern father-figure, the guilt-ridden figures searching for redemption, the braggart, the young star-crossed lovers, the bully, the villain in black, the oracle or prophet, the mad scientist, the underdog who emerges victorious, the mourning widow or women in lamentation) are examples of a(n) ___________________.

Aside(confirmed)

In Othello, Iago gives a(n) ____________, informing the audience of his plans and how he will try to achieve his goals. The purpose of using this technique is to increase an audience's involvement in a play by giving them vital information pertaining what is happening, both inside of a character's mind and in the plot of the play.

Assonance(confirmed)

From Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells": "the molten golden notes"

Asyndeton(confirmed)

"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman!" and "The infantry plodded forward, tanks rattled into position, the big guns swung their snouts towards the rims of the hills, planes raked the underbrush with gunfire."

Atmosphere(confirmed)

Poe's The Fall of the House of Ushers establishes a(n) _______________ of gloom and emotional decay.

Ballad(confirmed)

The following is an example of this type of poem: ______________
Oh the ocean waves may roll,
And the storm winds may blow,
While we poor sailors go skipping aloft
And the land lubbers lay down below, below, below
And the land lubbers lay down below.

Blank verse(confirmed)

Shakespeare's sonnets are written in this form, and in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Theseus' speech to Hippolyta appears in __________:
The poet's eyes, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name. (5.1.12-17)

Cacophony(confirmed)

Words like "snarky," "lanky," "snarl," and "growl."

Caesura(example)

"To be, or not to be - that is the question."

Carpe Diem(confirmed)

Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," and Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" are both examples of poems that display the theme of __________ because they urge readers to make each moment count, like it's their last.

Catharsis(example)

Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and "Romeo & Juliet"
"Romeo & Juliet"-"Here's to my love! [Drinks] O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. [Falls]"

Character(confirmed)

Every _____________ has his or her own personality, which a creative author uses to assist in forming the plot of a story or creating a mood

Characterization(example)

"The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered and did not disobey their mother."

Chiasmus(confirmed)

Genesis 9:6- "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed," and "You can take the girl out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the girl."

Cliché(example)

"Better Late Than Never"

Climax(confirmed)

The _____________ of the Great Gatsby is when George kills Gatsby then himself. In the Heart of Darkness, it's when Kurtz dies and utters his famous last words.

Conceit(example)

"A broken heart is like a damaged clock."

Conflict(confirmed)

______________ is the engine that drives plot. Different texts that illustrate this term are: Jack London's "To Build a Fire" (in which the Californian struggles to save himself from freezing to death in Alaska) and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat" (in which shipwrecked men in a lifeboat struggle to stay alive and get to shore). Mallory's Le Morte D'arthur, in which King Arthur faces off against his evil son Mordred, each representing civilization and barbarism respectively. Daniel Scott Keyes' "Flowers of Algernon," in which the hero struggles with the lost of his own intelligence to congenital mental retardation, and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," in which the protagonist ends up struggling with his own guilt after committing a murder. Shakespeare's Othello, the unseen struggle between Othello and the machinations of Iago, who seeks to destroy him, and Othello's struggle with his own jealous insecurities and his suspicions that Desdemona is cheating on him. All of these are examples of this term.

Connotation(confirmed)

Rebellion, for many English speakers has a ___________ of an improper uprising against a legitimate authority (thus we speak about "rebellious teenagers" rather than "revolutionary teenagers"). In the same way, the words house and home both refer to a domicile, but home connotes certain singular emotional qualities and personal possession in a way that house doesn't.

Couplet(confirmed)

One of William Shakespeare's trademarks was to end a sonnet with a ____________, as in the poem "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day": So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long as live this, and this gives life to thee.

Denotation(confirmed)

= dictionary definition of a word

Denouement(confirmed)

In the drama Othello, there is a plot to deceive Othello into believing that his wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful to him. As a result of this plot, Othello kills his wife out of jealousy, the climax of the play. The __________ occurs soon after, when Emilia, who was Desdemona's mistress, proves to Othello that his wife was in fact honest, true, and faithful to him. Emilia reveals to Othello that her husband, Iago, has plotted against Desdemona and tricked Othello into believing that she has been unfaithful.

Dialogue(example)

"I don't want to go home," said Julia. "I like it here at the zoo. The animals are all so funny." She began to cry and then wailed, "I didn't even get to see the elephants!"

Diction(confirmed)

Metonymy, personification, and metaphors are tropes, which are techniques of an author’s _________.

Dramatic irony(confirmed)

The audience knows that Edmund is plotting to take down his brother and become the sole heir to his father’s land, but Gloucester is unaware of Edmund’s Machiavellian plan of action to gain power.

Dramatic monologue(example)

Robert Browning's “My Last Duchess,” T.S. Eliot's “The Love Song of J.

Elegy(example)

For example, Walt Whitman's _______ "O Captain! My Captain!" memorialized President Abraham Lincoln shortly after his assassination:
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

Enjambment(confirmed)

One of the features of blank verse is ________, as seen in Goneril’s speech to Lear (1.4) here:

The admiration sir, is much of the savor

Of other your new pranks. I do beseech you

To understand my purpose aright.

Men so disordered, so debauched and bold,

That this our court, infected with their manner,

Shows like a riotous inn…

Epiphany(example)

Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is an ________ that uses animals on a farm to describe the overthrow of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, and the Communist Revolution of Russia before WWI. The actions of the animals on the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the revolution. It also describes how powerful people can change the ideology of a society. One of the cardinal rules on the farm is this:
"All Animals are Equal but a few are more equal than others."

Epistrophe(confirmed)

I’ll have my bond!/ Speak not against my bond!/ I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond.---The Merchant of Venice, 3.3.4

Euphemism(confirmed)

Instead of saying, “She’s dead,” you say, “She passed on to a better place.”

Euphony(example)

"Success is counted sweetest. By those who ne'er succeed.To comprehend a nectarRequires sorest need. Not one of all the purple host. Who took the flag to-dayCan tell the definition,So clear, of victory,
As he, defeated, dying, On whose forbidden ear. The distant strains of triumph. Break, agonized and clear!"

Exposition(confirmed)

In the ________ of King Lear, Shakespeare establishes the characters, the natural order theme, and stresses the importance of money, land, and property.