Finals Lit Terms

Alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Aside

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

Comedy

A literary work which ends happily because the hero or heroine is able to overcome obstacles and get what he or she wants.

Comic Relief

A humorous scene or speech intended to lighten the mood

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces

Connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Couplet

two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.

Denotation

the literal / dictionary definition meaning of a word

Dumb Show

Performed at the beginning of a performance, showing the audience through actions, and no words, a parody of what they are about to see.

Elizabethan Age

The period of the rule of Queen Elizabeth I in England, from 1558 to 1603.

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

Epilogue (Play)

Concluding section or a speech delivered by an actor. Provides closure, revisits moral or summary, or leaves a final thought.

Figurative Language

Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling.

Foot (Poem)

the basic rhythmic unit that divides a line of verse

for example iamb; unstressed, stressed, would be one foot

Globe Theater

Built in 1599, this is a famous theater in London where many of William Shakespeare's best-known plays were first performed

Greek Hospitality

the generosity and courtesy shown to those who are far from home and/or associates of the person bestowing guest-friendship.

Groundlings

Audience members who stood on the main floor (and therefore paid the least for their tickets) in an Elizabethan theatre.

Heroic Epithet

A descriptive phrase or title given in praise of a character's key traits

For example, Poseidon "Earth-Shaker"

Heroic Simile

Also known as Homeric or epic simile, this figure of speech compares a heroic or supernatural image or action to a more common, everyday image or action with which the audience would be more familiar

For example: "Generations of men are like the leaves. one generation grows, another dies away."

Heroism

the qualities of a hero or heroine

Heroic Journey

According to Joseph Campbell, the monomyth or heroic journey describes the archetypal steps the hero follows in pursuit of his/her goal. The three main categories are the Departure, Initiation, and Return.

High Comedy

characterized by grace, elegance and wit; intellectual comedy

Low Comedy

crude, boisterous comedy; slapstick and crude jokes; physical comedy

Iamb

a metrical foot consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.

Iambic Pentameter

a poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable

In Media Res

a phrase which means in the middle of things.

For example, applicable to the Odyssey; it begins in a mess

Metaphor

An implied analogy (comparison) in which one thing is imaginatively compared to another unlike thing

Monologue

a long speech by one actor in a play or movie, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast program.

many times has thematic significance

Paraphrase

express the meaning of (the writer or speaker or something written or spoken) using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity.

Prologue

a separate introductory section of a literary or musical work

Prose

written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.

For example: how the Mechanicals speak

Simile

uses like, as, or if to compare two different objects, actions or attributes that share some similar aspect. Compares directly

Soliloquy

an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.

Sonnet

a poem that consists of 14 lines. Rhyming in a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. The last 2 lines usually summarize and tell the lesson or contradict.

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Tragedy

a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.

Verse

A single line of poetry