A-Level English Literature Literary Terms

anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

assonance

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, often in the middle of words.

ballad

A narrative poem (song) which usually has a repeated verse or line. In the English tradition, it usually follows a form of rhymed (abcb) quatrains.

blank verse

Unrhymed verse having a regular meter, usually of iambic pentametre.

caesura

A pause in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural speech rhythm rather than by metrics. middle line

elegy

a sad or mournful poem, reflecting on loss and often linked to the natural environment

enjambment

The running of one line of verse into another, with the absence of punctuation.

monosyllabic

Words or phrases that contain a single syllable.

plosives

Consonant sounds that form a small explosion when spoken eg 'b', 'p', 't', 'd'

refrain

A phrase or line repeated at intervals within a poem, especially at the end of a stanza.

sonnet

A poetic form consisting of 14 lines of iambic pentametre and a strict rhyme scheme.

trochee

a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable

Epizeuxis

repetition of the same word for emphasis directly after one another “Help me, help me“

Edenic Imagery

a description in a story that relates to the story of the Garden of Eden

symploce

repeating words at the beginning and end of successive phrases or sentences.

aporia

repetition of questions

polyptoton

repetition of words derived from the same root

chiasmus

phrase or concept is repeated in the same sentence but in the opposite order

antimetabole

exact words are repeated in opposite order

asyndeton

repetition without conjunctions

compound adjective

two words being hyphenated

dysphemism

words which refer to sensitive or rude topics in a rude way “he croaked it“

epiphora

words or phrases are repeated at the end of successive lines

heteroglossia

multiple voices in a poem

litotes

underestimation

polysydeton

uses conjunctions in a list

prosaic

full prose

liquid alliteration

l and r alliteration

fricative alliteration

f ph v

guttural alliteration

g r and c

Anthropomorphism

animal is given human qualities

Envoy

shorter final stanza, usually in a ballad to address another person

free verse

Poetry written with lines of irregular verse and often without rhyme

apostrophe

address an unknown person or object

diacope

repetition separated by one word

didactic

gives a moral lesson

verisimilitude

the appearance of being true or real

Williams uses plastic theatre devices to give the play some…

anadiplosis

repetition of same phrase at beginning of a line and then at the start of the next line

Aptronym

when names reflect characters