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Enjambment

I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.

Caesura

To err is human; || to forgive, divine.

Meter

Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter: 'Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?'

Foot

An iamb is 'de-LIGHT'.

Rhyme Scheme

ABAB in 'Roses are red, / Violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, / And so are you.'

Volta

In a sonnet: 'But then my state…'

Sonnet

Shakespearean sonnets like Sonnet 18.

Couplet

'So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.'

Quatrain

First four lines of a Shakespearean sonnet.

Sibilance

'Softly sighing silver seas.'

Alliteration

'Peter Piper picked a peck…'

Assonance

'Try to light the fire.'

Consonance

'Pitter-patter.'

Refrain

'Nevermore' in Poe’s 'The Raven.'

Persona

Browning’s 'My Last Duchess.'

Elegy

'O Captain! My Captain!' by Whitman.

Ode

'Ode to a Nightingale' by Keats.

Imagery

'A host, of golden daffodils…'

Symbolism

A rose for love.

Allegory

'The Faerie Queene' by Spenser.

Metaphor

'Time is a thief.'

Simile

'As brave as a lion.'

Hyperbole

'I’ve told you a million times.'

Irony

A fire station burns down.

Personification

'The wind whispered through trees.'

Anaphora

'I have a dream…' repeated in MLK’s speech.

Epiphora

'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.'

Free Verse

Many poems by Walt Whitman.

Blank Verse

Much of Shakespeare’s plays.

Apostrophe

'O Death, where is thy sting?'

Conceit

Comparing love to a compass in Donne’s poetry.

Ekphrasis

Keats’ 'Ode on a Grecian Urn.'

Soliloquy

Hamlet’s 'To be, or not to be…'

Aside

Iago’s asides in Othello.

Monologue

Portia’s speech in 'The Merchant of Venice.'

Dramatic Irony

Oedipus doesn’t know his true identity.

Stage Directions

[Exit pursued by a bear] in 'The Winter’s Tale.'

Chorus

The chorus in Greek tragedy.

Prologue

Chorus in 'Romeo and Juliet.'

Epilogue

Puck’s speech in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream.'

Dénouement

Fortinbras arriving at the end of 'Hamlet.'

Catharsis

Audience feels pity for Willy Loman in 'Death of a Salesman.'

Foil

Laertes as a foil to Hamlet.

Conflict

Macbeth’s ambition vs. morality.

Tragic Flaw (Hamartia)

Othello’s jealousy.

Exposition

Opening scene of 'The Crucible.'

Rising Action

Macbeth’s rise to power.

Climax

Caesar’s assassination in 'Julius Caesar.'

Falling Action

Antony and Octavius’s takeover post-assassination.

Comic Relief

The Porter in 'Macbeth.'

Blocking

Strategic movement during arguments in 'A Doll’s House.'

Breaking the Fourth Wall

Characters in 'Our Town.'

Gesture

Nora slamming the door in 'A Doll’s House.'

Motif

Blood in 'Macbeth.'

Symbolism

The glass unicorn in 'The Glass Menagerie.'

Lighting

Spotlight on Blanche in 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'

Sound Effects

Thunder in 'King Lear.'

Props

The letter in 'The Importance of Being Earnest.'

Costume

Period dress in 'Antigone.'

Pacing

Tension building in courtroom scenes.

Subtext

Polite words with hostile intentions in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'

Tone

Sarcastic tone in Wilde’s plays.

Dialogue

Banter in Shakespeare’s comedies.

Silence

Pregnant silences in Pinter’s plays.

Narrative Voice

First-person in 'The Catcher in the Rye.'

Unreliable Narrator

The narrator in 'The Tell-Tale Heart.'

Free Indirect Discourse

Used in Jane Austen’s novels.

Stream of Consciousness

'Ulysses' by James Joyce.

Foreshadowing

The witches’ prophecies in 'Macbeth.'

Flashback

'Beloved' by Toni Morrison.

Setting

1920s New York in 'The Great Gatsby.'

Mood

Gloomy in 'Wuthering Heights.'

Tone

Satirical tone in 'Animal Farm.'

Characterization

Scout’s growth in 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'

Direct Characterization

'She was kind and generous.'

Indirect Characterization

'She gave her last dollar to the beggar.'

Protagonist

Harry Potter in the 'Harry Potter' series.

Antagonist

Voldemort in 'Harry Potter.'

Internal Conflict

Hamlet’s indecision.

External Conflict

Man vs. society in 'The Handmaid’s Tale.'

Allegory

'Animal Farm' as a political allegory.

Motif

Eyes in 'The Great Gatsby.'

Symbolism

The conch in 'Lord of the Flies.'

Imagery

'The sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the sky in crimson.'

Irony

A lifeguard drowning.

Theme

Isolation in 'Frankenstein.'

Diction

Formal vs. colloquial diction in 'Pride and Prejudice.'

Syntax

Long, winding sentences in Faulkner’s writing.

Juxtaposition

Beauty and decay in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray.'

Epiphany

Stephen in 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.'

Pathetic Fallacy

Storm during a character’s turmoil.

Pacing

Fast pacing in thrillers like 'The Da Vinci Code.'

Suspense

'Gone Girl' maintains suspense throughout.

Dialogue

Realistic and revealing in 'Of Mice and Men.'

Foil Character

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Archetype

The Hero’s Journey in 'The Hobbit.'

Anecdote

Orwell uses personal anecdotes in 'Shooting an Elephant.'

Rhetorical Question

'Is this the kind of world we want to live in?'

Statistics

'70% of readers agree with this statement.'

Ethos

Referencing expert opinions or credentials.