English - Literary Terms

Sonnet

14-lined poem with a specific rhyme scheme, Shakespeare vs. Petrarchan

Soliloquy

a characters speech out loud TO THEMSELF when no other characters are around

Monologue

long speech to other characters

Aside

direct address to audience without other characters hearing

Alliteration

repeating letters or sounds next to or close to each other

Personification

giving human-like qualities to something that isn’t human

Iambic Pentameter

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5 metrical feet: each with one short/unstressed syllable followed by one long/stressed syllable

Volta

turn of thought or argument:

Petrarchan in between octave and sestet

Shakespearean: before final couplet

End Rhyme

rhyme that occurs in the last syllables of verses

Vignettes

brief yet detailed descriptions of side stories

Magical Realism

realistic view of world with magical elements → blurring fantasy and reality

Couplet

two lines of verse in a poem in the same meter and usually joined by rhyme

Metaphor & Extended Metaphor

comparing two things, not using “like” or “as” DIRECT COMPARISON,

extended: metaphor extends over multiple lines or stanzas → continuously developed

Consonance

repetition of the same consonant sound in a line

Assonance

repetition of vowels without the repetition of consonants

Simile

comparing two things using “like” or “as”

Apostrophe

showing possession

Allusion

indirect or passing reference to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly

Internal Rhyme

rhyme between words at the end of a line or between different lines

Rhyme Scheme

pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse

Imagery

descriptive language in literary work

Paradox

statement that seems to go against common sense

Pun

words that sound alike but have different meanings

Onomatopoeia

formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (wolf howling, bee buzzing)

Meter

pattern of beats in a line of poetry

Iamb

one short/unstressed syllable followed by one long/stressed syllable

Petrarchan Sonnet

8 & 6 lines following ABBA rhyme scheme

Shakespearean Sonnet

“ abab cdcd efef gg” rhyme pattern IAMBIC PENTAMETER stanza structure with a volta