Lit Terms

accent

the stressed syllable of a polysyllabic word

allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning

allusion

a reference to another work of art or literature without mentioning it explicitly

annotation

a note of explanation or comment added to a text or diagram

antagonist

A character or force in conflict with the main character

apostrophe

A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply

archetype

A character, situation, or symbol that is familiar to people from all cultures because it occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore.

aside

A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage.

assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity

bildungsroman

A coming of age novel

blank verse

verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter

caesura

a pause near the middle of a line; any interruption or break

carpe diem

seize the day

catharsis

A relief (purging) of tension the audience experiences, usually after the climax of the story.

character

a person in a novel

dynamic character

a literary character who undergoes an important inner change, as a change in personality or attitude

static character

a literary character who undergoes little or no inner change; a character who does not grow or develop

flat character

relatively uncomplicated characters who do not change throughout the course of a work

round character

complex characters who undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to surprise the reader

chorus

A group of characters in Greek tragedy (and in later forms of drama), who comment on the action of a play without participating in it.

cliché

A worn-out idea or overused expression.

colloquial

Characteristic of ordinary conversation rather than formal speech or writing

conflict

A struggle between opposing forces. Man vs. Man, Man vs. society, Man vs. self and Man vs. nature.

connotation

An idea or feeling that a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.

convention

Customary; ordinary; in line with accepted ideas or standards

couplet

A pair of lines that end in rhyme

crisis

A turning point in the action of a story that has a powerful effect on the protagonist; A highly emotional temporary state in which an individual's feelings of anxiety, grief, confusion or pain impair his or her ability to act.

denotation

Literal meaning of a word

dialect

A particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group

diction

Author's choice of words

dramatic monologue

A poem written as a speech made by a character at some decisive moment. The speaker is usually addressing a silent listener.

elegy

a sorrowful poem or speech

end-stopped line

line of poetry that has a full pause at the end, typically indicated by a period or semicolon

enjambment

line of poetry that ends with no punctuation and consequently runs over into the next line

epic

A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society

epigram

A brief witty poem, often satirical.

epiphany

A moment of sudden revelation or insight

fixed form

A poem that may be categorized by the pattern of its lines, meter, rhythm, or stanzas.

flashback

A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events

foil

A character who acts as a contrast to the protagonist

foot

A unit of rhythm or meter; the division in verse of a group of syllables, one of which is long or accented.

foreshadowing

A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.

form

The "shape", or organizational mode, of a particular poem

free verse

Poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme

genre

a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

hamartia

tragic flaw which causes a character's downfall

hubris

Excessive pride

hyperbole

purposeful exaggeration for effect

iambic pentameter

a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet where each foot consists of an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable. Examples. William Shakespeare was famous for using iambic pentameter in his sonnets.

imagery

Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)

irony

a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result; a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character

dramatic irony

(theater) irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

tragic irony

the words and actions of the characters contradict the real situation, which the spectators fully realize.

sarcasm

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt

juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

line

A group of words together on one line of the poem

Metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable

controlling metaphor

A metaphor that is central to and runs through an entire work.

extended metaphor

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

implied metaphor

Implies or suggests the comparison between the two thing without stating it directly

metonymy

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty").

snecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning "Cleveland's baseball team")

metaphysical conceit

A type of simile which establishes a striking parallel between startlingly dissimilar things e. g. in John Donne's "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning", two lovers, absent from one another, are compared to the two points of a mathematical compass.

meter

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

mood

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

narrative frame

inserting one or more small stories within the body of a larger story

narrative poem

A poem that tells a story

first-person narrator

a narrator within the story who tells the story from the "I" perspective

omniscient narrator

A narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters

unreliable narrator

A narrator whose account of events appears to be faulty, misleadingly biased, or otherwise distorted

Octave

8 line stanza

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms

Paradox

A statement that appears to be self-contradictory but contains some degree of truth

Parallel Structure

the repetition of phrases, clauses, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure

anaphora

when the exact repetition of words or phrases is at the beginning of successive lines or sentences

personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Freytag's Triangle

Also: Plot Structure. The general plot structure of a story: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution.

exposition

Background information

rising action

The series of conflicts or struggles that build a story toward a climax

climax

The point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest; usually the changing point in the story

falling action

Events after the climax, leading to the resolution

resolution

End of the story where loose ends are tied up

denouement

the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

point of view

the perspective from which a story is told

objective point of view

the narrator does not enter the mind of any character but describes events from the outside

prose poem

No lines that divide, or capital letters

protagonist

Main Character

quatrain

4 line stanza

reversal

Occurs when the opposite of what the hero intends is what happens

romanticism

a movement in literature and art during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that celebrated nature rather than civilization

rhyme

Repetition of sounds at the end of words

eye rhyme

Depends on spelling rather than sound; words that look like they should rhyme, but do not

end rhyme

A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line

internal rhyme

A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line

near rhyme

sounds are almost but not exactly alike

rhyme scheme

A pattern of end rhymes that occurs consistently throughout a stanza or poem.

rhythm

A pattern of long and short sounds and silence