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Act (scene)
A main division in a play.
Alliteration
The repetition of initial sounds in words near each other in a line of poetry.
Allusion
Reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature, often without explicit identification.
Analogy
A comparison in which the subject is compared point by point to something far different, usually with the idea of clarifying the subject by comparing it to something familiar.
Antagonist
The character or force against whom the protagonist struggles or contends.
Aphorism
A brief, pithy, usually concise statement or observation of a doctrine, principle, truth, or sentiment. Also called an epigram, axiom, or maxim.
Apostrophe
The act of addressing some abstraction or personification that is not physically present.
Archaic language
Words or phrases that were commonly used in the past but are no longer in current usage. Recognizing these words and phrases can help a reader identify the time period in which a work was written. Contemporary writers use such words or phrases to create an historical setting.
Aside
A few words or a short passage spoken by one character in a drama while the other actors on stage pretend their characters cannot hear the speaker’s words.
Blank verse
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Catharsis
The feeling of pity and fear in an audience brought about by a tragedy.
Chiaroscuro
The juxtaposition of dark and light imagery to create a stark contrast (often between good and evil or knowledge and ignorance).
Chiasmus
Rhetorical device in which words, phrases, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form. EXAMPLE: “I lead the life I love; I love the life I lead.”
Climax
The turning point in the story; marks a change for main characters as conflict reaches a new height of suspense and uncertainty.
Colloquialism (idiom)
Informal words, phrases, or expressions common in everyday speech rather than in formal writing.
Comic relief
The inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Denouement (epilogue)
Concluding part or addendum to a novel, play, or long poem. In a drama, it is often a speech by one of the actors at the end of a play asking for the indulgence of the audience.
Dialogue
Conversation spoken aloud between two or more characters.
Diction
Word choice.
Dirge (elegy)
A somber song or poem written to express grief, often for a funeral.
Dramatic irony
Occurs when the audience has knowledge that the characters lack. The actions of the characters take on a different meaning for the reader because of this knowledge.
Dynamic character
A character that changes in some important way due to the events of the narrative.
Ellipsis
Deliberate omission of a word or of words which are readily implied by context.
English sonnet
-A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter that consists of three four-line quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet and has the following rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg.
Enjambment
A line of poetry which has no natural speech pause at its end (such as marks of punctuation or completion of phrases or clauses), allowing the sense to flow without interruption into the next line of poetry.
Euphemism
An indirect, less offensive way of saying something unpleasant.
Exposition
Portion of the narrative that provides background information and setting to the story.
Foil
A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character.
Hamartia (tragic flaw)
A character defect which brings about one’s own ultimate demise.
Heroic couplet
Two successive rhyming lines of iambic pentameter.
Hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.
Iambic pentameter
Poetic metrical pattern consisting of five pairs of unaccented/accented syllables.
Inciting incident
Moment in the story in which the main conflict is introduced.
Indirect characterization
Revelation of character traits through actions or speech requiring the reader tomake his or her own analysis of the character.
Internal conflict
Struggle that takes place within the character’s mind where they are pulled by two courses of action or differing emotions.
Invective
An intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack.
Italian sonnet
A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter that consists of one eight-line octave with the rhyme scheme abbaabba followed by a six-line sestet arranged in two or three rhymes, usually cdcdcd or cdecde.
Litotes
Deliberate understatement, in which the writer uses a statement in the negative to create an effect.
Metonymy
The substitution of one object with another closely associated object, such as the use of “crown” to mean “king.”
Monologue
A long speech given by a character in a play or a poem. Other characters may be able to hear this speech.
Non sequitur
A statement that is not connected in a logical or clear way to anything said immediately before it.
Paradox
A statement that is seemingly contradictory but proves to be true or profoundly logical.
Personification
Figurative language that gives human characteristics to animals, ideas, or inanimate objects.
Prop
An object used by actors in a play or film.
Protagonist
The character considered to be the main or lead figure in a novel, play, story, or poem.
Pun
Form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words or similar-sounding words.
Rhetorical question
Question posed for its persuasive effect without the expectation of a reply.
Round character
A character who is fully developed with the complexities of a real person.
Setting
The time and place in which a narrative occurs.
Simile
Comparison of two different objects that employs the use of “like” or “as.”
Soliloquy
A speech given by a character alone on stage that reveals his or her inner thoughtsand emotions.
Stock character
A stereotyped character, or one whose nature is familiar from prototypes in other works.
Symbol
Word, place, character, or other object that has a meaning beyond its literal role; a concrete representation of an abstract concept that is at once literal and figurative.
Synecdoche
Rhetorical device which uses a “part” of something to represent the whole of an object, such as the use of “hand” to represent to entire person in the marriage ceremony.
Theme
The meaning of the work as a whole.
Thespian
A fancy word for “actor.”
Tragedy
Dramatic composition often expressing a serious or somber theme; it typically features a hero who falls from a position of power or success due to their own personal flaw, ending in ruin and destruction for multiple characters.
Tone
The attitude, usually implied, of the author or speaker towards the subject or audience.
Verbal irony
Occurs when a speaker’s words do not convey his true meaning. His words contrast with his intent.
Zeugma (syllepsis)
A rhetorical strategy where a single word (usually a verb or an adjective) applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas to add a creative or dramatic effect, as in “She lost her keys and her temper.”
