English Lit. Terms

Verbal Irony

Involves using language in an indirect, non-literal manner, with an intended meaning that is different from (and often opposite to) the literal meanings of the words.

Monologue

 A long speech given by a single character to another in a story.

Charcterization

The process an author uses to reveal a character's personality through their traits, motivations, and actions. 

Pun

A form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term or similar-sounding words for humorous effect.

Irony

A literary technique where the intended meaning is different from the actual meaning, often highlighting contradictions or unexpected outcomes.

Tragedy

“branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual.

Situational Irony

A form of irony in which an event’s outcome is the complete opposite of what is expected.

Embedded Narrative

A story within a story, where one narrative is contained within a larger, main one.

Sonnets

 a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and meter

Shakespearean Comedy

 A comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity.

Dramatic Irony

when the audience’s awareness of a situation differs from that of the characters in the story

Aside

when a character in a work of fiction addresses the audience directly for a moment to either express a truth, reveal a feeling, or comment on the events of the story.

Soliloquy

A large speech spoken aloud to oneself

Iambic Pentameter

A line in poetry with 5 pairs of syllables, where each one consists of one unstressed syllable then one stressed syllable.