Literary Terms 76-100

Imagery

Anything that affects or appeals to the reader’s senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell.

In Medias Res

In literature, a work that begins in the middle of the story. (E.g.: The Odyssey, Medea, and Oedipus Rex all begin in medias res.)

Interior Monologue

A literary technique used in poetry and prose that reveals a character’s unspoken thoughts and feelings. An ___ may be presented directly by the character or through a narrator. 

Internal Rhyme

A rhyme that is within the line, rather than at the end. The rhyming may also be within two lines, but again, each rhyming word will be within its line, rather than at the beginning or end.

Inversion

A switch in the normal word order, often used for emphasis or for rhyme scheme. (E.g.: Strong he was. Think Yoda!)

Litotes

A figure of speech and form of verbal irony consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite; especially popular in Old English poetry, it is a type of meiosis in which the writer uses a statement in the negative to create the effect (E.g. This is no small problem. He was not averse to taking a drink. She is no saint.)

Lyric Poem

A fairly short, emotionally expressive poem that conveys the feelings and observations of a single speaker.

Meiosis

A euphemistic figure of speech that intentionally understates something or implies that it is lesser in significance or size than it really is; the opposite of exaggeration; E.g.: "I felt somewhat worried when the psychopath ran toward me with a chainsaw." (I felt terrified!!!) 

Metamorphosis

A radical change in a character, either physical or emotional. (E.g. In Franz Kafka’s aptly titled The Metamorphosis, a man transforms overnight into a large vermin.)

Metaphor

A figure of speech which compares two dissimilar things, asserting that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. (E.g.: “Life’s but a walking shadow” from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth)

Meter

The rhythmical pattern of a poem. Just as all words are pronounced with accented (or stressed) syllables and unaccented (or unstressed) syllables, lines of poetry are assigned similar rhythms. English poetry uses five basic metric feet.

iamb- unstressed, stressed: before

trochee-stressed, unstressed: weather

anapest- unstressed, unstressed, stressed: contradict

dactyl-stressed, unstressed, unstressed: satisfy

spondee: stressed, stressed: true-blue

Metonymy

A figure of speech that replaces the name of something with a word or phrase closely associated with it. This is similar to synecdoche and many authors do not distinguish between the two. (E.g.: “the White House” instead of “the President” or “the presidency”; “brass” to mean “military officers”; “suits” instead of “supervisors”)

Monologue

A long speech made by one person, often monopolizing a conversation.

Myth

A story usually with supernatural significance, that explains the origins of gods, heroes, or natural phenomena. Although ___ are fictional stories, they contain deeper truths, particularly about the nature of humankind. 

Narrative Poem

A poem that tells a story.

Near off, or slant rhyme

A rhyme based on an imperfect or incomplete correspondence of end syllable sounds.

Octave

An eight-line stanza; the first eight lines of a sonnet, especially one structured as an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet.

Ode

Usually a lyric poem of praise written in moderate length with a serious subject, an elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern. The ___ often praises people, poetry, natural scenes, abstract concepts, etc.. The Romantic poets used the ___ to explore both personal and general problems, and they often started with a meditation on something in nature.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate sounds. Ex: meow, clip-clop, whirr, clang, pop, bang

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines two contradictory words, placed side by side: bitter sweet, wise fool, living death.

Paean

A hymn sung in ancient Greece in invocation of or thanksgiving to a deity; any song of praise

Parable

A short story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.

Paradox

Two contradictory ideas that seemingly reveal a truth. (E.g.: “Fair is foul and foul is fair” from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth)

Parallelism

The repeated use of the same grammatical structure in a sentence or a series of sentences. This device tends to emphasize what is said and thus underscores the meaning. This can also refer to two or more stories within a literary work that are told simultaneously and that reinforce one another. (E.g.:  In a sentence “I came, I saw, I conquered.” (Plutarch) We went to school, to the mall, and then to movie. In a literary work Presented alternately within William Shakespeare’s King Lear are the stories of both King Lear and his daughters, and Gloucester and his sons.

Parody

A comical imitation of a serious piece of literature with the intent of ridiculing the author or his work. (E.g. Space Balls and Star Wars; Scary Movie and Scream)