English Literary Terms Semester 2

autobiography

An account of a person's life written by that person. It may contain dual perspective.

Satire

literary device in which people, customs, or institutions are made fun of with the goal of improving society.

Iamb

an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

iambic pentameter

lines of poetry are made up of five iambs

Blank verse

lines of poetry that have no rhyme scheme but are written in iambic pentameter.

Enjambment

one line of poetry ends without a pause and continues to the next line.

Stanza

a unit of poetry, often characterized by a repeated pattern of rhyme and number of lines, and generally conveying a single idea or image.

Rhyme scheme

the pattern of end rhyme in that stanza or poem.

Meter

the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in that poem.

Foot

unit of meter made up of one stressed syllable and one or two unstressed syllables.

Trochee

a type of foot made up of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. It is the opposite of an iamb.

Mood

the feeling or atmosphere that the writer creates for the reader.

Figurative language

words and phrases not meant to be taken literally.

Imagery

descriptive words and phrases which appeal to the senses of a reader.

Rhyme

repetition of the final vowel sound of two or more words, plus any following consonant sounds.

Essay

a non fiction work that shares the authors view on a particular topic

Tone

Attitude of the author towards his subject matter and/ or readers

Figurative language

Language that is not meant to be taken literally and used to make abstract ideas easier to understand.

Anecdote

Short account of a personal incident

Imagery

Words or descriptions which create vivid impressions for the reader

Debate

Exchange of opinions on a specific issue

Author's perspective

Distinct combination of opinions, values and beliefs that influences the way a writer looks at the topic.

Rhetorical Techniques

Methods an author employs to influence readers and convey ideas. Include writers tone, details the writer chooses or emphasizes.

Unity of Effect

All elements of the story - the plot, characters, setting and imagery - helping to create a single effect

Sound devices

Patterens of word sounds used to create musical effects

Internal rhyme

When the word at the end of a line of poetry rhymes with a word in the middle of the line

Repetition

When the same sound, word, or phrase is used more than once close together to draw attention to it

Alliteration

Repetition of the initial sounds(usually consonant sounds) of two or more words close together

Onomatopoeia

Use of words that sound like what they mean

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds at the end of two or more words close together when preceding vowel sounds are not the same

Assonance

Reptition of vowel sounds in two or more words close together, when the final consonant sounds are not the same

Transcendentalism

An intellectual and literary movement in New England in the mid 1800s which was a subsection of Romanticism and which stressed the importance of self-reliance, the ability to discover truth through one's intuition and the close relationship between mankind, nature and God.

Parody

A comic imitation of another work or type of literature

Allegory

Literary work in which the characters, setting and or object stand for abstract ideas such as good or evil

Suspense

The combination of excitement and anxiety that a reader feels about the upcoming events in a plot.

Symbol

Something concrete,(person, place or object) That represents itself and something abstract an idea or feeling

Plot

Events of the story in the order in which they occur

Free Verse

Poetry that does not have regular patterns of rhyme and meter

Cataloging

The frequent use of lists of people, things, and/or attributes

Conflict

in a story is the struggle between opposing forces. It can be internal or external.

Internal Conflict

is a struggle within a person between opposing desires or needs.

External Conflict

is a struggle between man and man, man and nature, or man and an outside force, such as God.

Speech

A talk or public address

Proclamation

a legal document that announces official state business. It generally is created by a person with authority and the text displays clear reasoning and precise, technical language.

Primary Source

a document or other source giving information about an event that is created either by people who participated in an event or who witnessed that event.

Realism

a literary movement that emerged in the U.S. in the second half of the 1800s as a reaction against Romanticism. It focused on giving an accurate and detailed portrayal of actual life, describing ordinary people and situations in a detached and impersonal way.

Point of View

the vantage point from which a story is told - whether the narrator is a character inside the story or someone outside the story. The two main types are first-person and third-person.

Objective Narrator

narrator that shares only what can be seen and does not share any of the thoughts and feelings of the characters.

Third-Person Omniscient Narrator

narrator that knows and can reveal the thoughts and feelings of multiple, and maybe all, characters in a story.

Third-Person Limited Narrator

a narrator outside the story who knows and reveals the thoughts and feelings of only one of the characters.

Situational Irony

the contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.

Dramatic Irony

the contrast between what a character in a work knows and what the reader or viewer of the work knows, when the character knows less than the reader / viewer.

Verbal Irony

the contrast between what appears to be stated by someone and what that person actually means.

Overstatement

the use of exaggeration to emphasize something or to be humorous and is also known as hyperbole.

Epigram

a pithy saying or remark that expresses an idea in a clever and amusing way.

Voice

a writer's unique use of language, which is established through his diction and tone.

Diction

the word choice - whether formal or informal, abstract or concrete - and the word order of that work.

Tone

the attitude of the writer towards his subject matter or readers.

Tall Tale

a story that has outlandish characters and events and is usually humorous and aims to trick or impress the listener / reader.

Hyperbole

a type of figure of speech that involves exaggeration or overstatement of a claim or point.

Understatement

the downplaying of the significance of the outlandish, often to create an ironic or humorous effect.

Local Color

a genre of writing that brings a region alive by portraying that region's dress, mannerisms, customs, character types, and speech.

Colloquial Language

words and phrases which are non-standard and used generally when speaking, but not in regular writing.

Regionalism

was a literary movement of the Nineteenth Century that focused on the speech, habits, history, and beliefs of people in a specific geographic area.

Character Types

characters that have a specific set of traits and who show up in many literary works.

Setting

the time and place of the events of the story.

Symbol

a person, place, or thing that represents both itself and something beyond itself.

Naturalism

a subsection of Realism which portrays people as being at the mercy of their environment and their own instincts, unable to control their futures.

Theme

the message about life that that work conveys.