A-Z

Abstract Language

Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

Ambiguity

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

Analogy

A device to describe something unfamiliar through a comparison with something more familiar.

Analysis

A detailed examination of the elements or structure of something.

Anaphora

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences

Antagonist

A character or force in conflict with the main character

Antecedent Action

Events that preceded the starting point of the piece of literature.

Anticlimax

a disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events

Antithesis

the direct opposite, a sharp contrast

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction.

Archetype

A detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature

Argument

The thesis of a poem.

Aside

a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds

Atmosphere

The prevailing mood of a literary work.

Authorial Voice

a discernible authorial presence, distinct from that of the narrator or speaker, revealing a particular perspective

Ballad

A narrative poem written in four-line stanzas, characterized by swift action and narrated in a direct style.

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Cacophony

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

Caesura

A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.

Caricature

an exaggerated portrayal of one's features

Carpe Diem poetry

poetry that stresses the brevity of life and living life to its fullest

Catalog

A device which lists people, things, or attributes, used in epics.

Character

the distinctive qualities that describe how a person thinks, feels, and behaves

Characterization

the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character

Cliche

a worn-out idea or overused expression

Climax

the turning point, highest interest in a story.

Comedy

Literatures with wit and humor that provides amusements.

Common meter

a closed poetic quatrain, rhyming abab, in which lines of iambic tetrameter alternate with iambic trimeter

Complaint

A lyric poem of lament, regret, and sadness used to explain the speaker's mood.

Conceit

A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.

Concrete Language

Language that describes specific, observable things, people, or places, rather than ideas or qualities.

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces

Connotation

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

Consonance

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

Context

Continuous form

Poetry not divided into stanzas

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Denouncement

conclusion; resolution; the falling action of a story after its climax

Dialect

a form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group

Dialogue

Conversation between two or more characters

Diction

A writer's or speaker's choice of words

Direct Characterization

Author directly describes character

Double Rhyme

a rhyme in which the repeated vowel is in the second last syllable of the words involved

Dramatic Irony

when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't

Dramatic Monologue

a poem in which a speaker addresses a silent listener

Elegy

a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.

Elizabethan Sonnet

a type of sonnet much used by Shakespeare, written in iambic pentameter and consisting of three quatrains and a final couplet with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg.

Emphasis

special importance or significance

End-stopped line

A line ending in a full pause, usually indicated with a period or semicolon.

Enjambment

the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

Envoy

A conventionalized stanza at the close of a poem.

Epic

A long narrative poem which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society

Epigram

a witty saying expressing a single thought or observation

Epiphany

sudden realization

Epithet

A descriptive name or phrase used to characterize someone or something

Euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Euphony

pleasant, harmonious sound

Explication

The close interpretation or analysis of a text.

Exposition

A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances.

Figurative Language

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

Flashback

A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time

Foil

A character who acts as a contrast to another character

Foreshadowing

A warning or indication of a future event

Form

The organization of parts of literature in relation to the total effect.

Frame Story

a story within a story

Free Verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme

Grounds

Heroic Couplet

a pair of rhyming iambic pentameters

Horatian Satire

Satire in which the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty.

Humor

Anything that causes laughter or amusement

Hyperbole

extreme exaggeration

Iambic

a metrical foot in poetry that consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Imagery

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

Incongruity

The linking of two incompatible things.

Indirect Characterization

Author subtly reveals the character through actions and interactions.

Inference

A guess or surmise; in the absence of explicit statement.

Interior Monologue

A recording of internal emotional experience on a non-verbalized level.

Irony of situation

refers to an occurrence that is contrary to what is expected or intended

Italian Sonnet

a sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd

Irony

The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

Juvenalian Satire

This mode of satire attacks vice and error with contempt and indignation. It is realistic and harsh in tone.

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Line Length

The terms for different line lengths. (i.e., trimeter, pentameter)

Literal Language

language that means exactly what it says

Literary present tense

By convention, the present tense is used when writing about imaginative literature, except when discussing antecedent action.

Lyric Verse

a shorter poem expressing an emotional state in a single, unified impression

Metaphor

An implied comparison in which two unlike things are linked by a surprising similarity.

Meter

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

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which an associated word rather than the literal word is used, as using a part to stand as a whole.

Metrical Substitutions

Variations on the basic metrical pattern.

Mock Heroic

A satiric mode that applies the lofty style of the epic to a trivial subject, giving underserved dignity and thus ridiculing it.

Mood

The atmosphere suggested by the setting and diction of the piece, emotional response on the reader's part.

Motif

A dominant theme or central idea. Recurring images, words, objects, or actions help unify the work.

Motivation

The combination of a character's moral nature and the circumstances he or she is in.

Narrator

the teller of a story; it may be a character from the story, the author himself, or an anonymous voice outside the story

Nonce form

a poetic work that has only one stanza