100 Literary Terms to Know

Vocabulary flashcards covering 100 key literary terms from the lecture notes.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds or letters for tonal effect.

ex sclyf, son of sceaf, snatched from the forces of savage foes

Allegory

A story whose characters, actions, and settings symbolically represent abstract ideas or real-life parallels.

Ambiguity

A statement or situation with more than one possible meaning, leaving intent unclear.

Anaphora

Repetition of the same words at the beginnings of several consecutive sentences or clauses.

Anastrophe

the natural order of words is inverted to emphasize the phrase that is displaced

Analogy

A sustained comparison used to clarify a complex or abstract idea.

Anglo-Saxon

Old English; a low Germanic language.

Anecdote

A very short, simple narrative illustrating character or personality.

Antithesis

Parallel arrangement of contrasting ideas for emphasis. “ be not the first by whom the new is tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside”

Antihero

Central character lacking traditional heroic qualities of bravery, nobility, or morality.

Aphorism

Concise, pointed statement expressing a truth or principle, credited to a SPECIFIC author. A rose by any otther name would smell at sweet- shakespeare

Aposiopesis

Deliberate breaking off of a sentence, leaving the rest unstated but implied.

Apostrophe

Direct address to an absent, dead, or imaginary person or to an object or idea.

Apotheosis

Elevation to divine status; the perfect example.

Apposition

Placement of two elements side by side, the second defining or modifying the first.

Archetype

Universal character type, image, or plot pattern recurring in myth and literature. ex. quest utopia, hero, king…

Aristeia

A series of heroic exploits centered on a single hero.

Assonance

Repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words.

Aside

Stage remark directed to the audience, unheard by other characters.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions(and, but or ) to quicken pace and heighten impact.

Atmosphere

Prevailing emotional tone or mood of a work or place.

Aubade

Short lyric poem expressing feelings at daybreak.

Ballad

Folk song or poem that tells a story in simple language, often with a refrain.

Bildungsroman

Novel tracing a protagonist’s growth from childhood to maturity, often through crisis.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Caesura

A pause within a line of poetry, marked in scansion by //.It creates a rhythmic break that can enhance meaning and emotion in the verse.

Canto

A major division or chapter of a long poem.

Caricature

Exaggerated portrayal of traits for humorous or satirical effect.

Chronicle Plays

Renaissance dramas depicting historical scenes and figures.

Conceit

Elaborate, extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things.

Comedy of Manners

Restoration satire mocking the sophisticated habits and love intrigues of high society.

Connotation

Associations and emotional overtones a word carries beyond its dictionary meaning.

Consonance

Repetition of final consonant sounds following different vowels.

Couplet

Two successive lines of rhymed verse.

Denotation

The literal dictionary meaning of a word.

Denouement

Events after the climax that resolve conflict; French for “unknotting.”

Deus ex machina

“god from a machine” Sudden intervention of an external force to resolve an apparently irresolvable conflict.

Dialect

Regional or social variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Diction

Author’s choice of words.

Double entendre

Ambiguous remark, often with a sexual second meaning.

Dystopia

Futuristic depiction of a disastrous or terrifying society; opposite of utopia.

Elegy

Formal poem lamenting the dead or meditating on death.

Elegiac

Expressing sorrow or lament; characteristic of an elegy.

Epic

Long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds of national or cultural importance in elevated language.

Epithet

Descriptive adjective or phrase highlighting a characteristic, e.g., “wine-dark sea.”

Epiphany

Moment of sudden insight or revelation experienced by a character.

End Rhyme

Rhyme occurring at the ends of lines of poetry.

Enjambment

Continuation of a poetic statement beyond the end of a line without pause.

Epistolary Novel

Narrative told through letters written by one or more characters.

Farce

Comic play with improbable events where social order is threatened and ordinary people face absurd situations.

Foil

Character whose contrast with the protagonist highlights the latter’s traits.

Foot

Basic metrical unit in a line of verse.

Framed Narrative

Story within a story; outer narrative enclosing an inner tale.

Free Verse

Poetry without fixed meter or rhyme but using other poetic devices.

Genre

Category of literature defined by content, form, or technique.

Heroic Couplet

Two consecutive rhymed lines in iambic pentameter.

Hubris

Excessive pride that brings a character into conflict with the gods; tragic arrogance.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for effect, not meant literally.

Iamb

Metrical foot of two syllables: unstressed followed by stressed. (be- LOW)

Iambic Pentameter

Line of verse consisting of five iambs. most common in english poetry

Imagery

Descriptive language appealing to the senses to create mental pictures.

In medias res

Beginning a narrative in the middle of the action, and postpone previous events to later in the story.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme occurring within a single line of poetry. “whilst i at ispwich lie

Irony( and 3 kinds)

Use of language to convey meaning opposite to the literal (

verbal-writer says one thing and means another” the best substitutte for experience is being sixteen

dramatic- audience is aeare of somethign and the characters in the text are not

situtational- a great difference between the purpose of an action and its result

Juxtaposition

Placement of two or more elements side by side

Kenning

Anglo-Saxon metaphorical compound noun, e.g., “whale-road” for sea.

Local color

Detailed use of features distinctive to a particular region.

Lyric

Short poem expressing personal thoughts and feelings of a single speaker.

Melodrama

Drama emphasizing sensational conflict between good and evil with improbable events.

Metonymy

Figure of speech substituting one term with another closely associated with it, e.g., “suits” for businessmen.

Meter

Patterned arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

Mood

Emotional atmosphere a text evokes in the reader.

Momento mori

Symbolic reminder of death urging reflection and spiritual readiness.

Monologue

Speech by one actor not part of dialogue or chorus.

Motif

Recurrent element or theme in a literary work.

Onomatopoeia

Words whose sound imitates their meaning. pop, buzz hiss

Oxymoron

Combination of contradictory terms, e.g., “wise fool.”

Paradox

Seemingly self-contradictory statement that reveals a deeper truth.

Parody

Humorous imitation of a specific work or author’s style.

Pathos

Evocation of strong emotion, often pity or sorrow.

Persona

Voice or identity an author adopts in a work.

Personification

Attributing human qualities to non-human entities.

Picaresque Novel

Episodic narrative of a roguish hero’s adventures.

Poetic Justice

Concept that virtue is rewarded and vice punished within a narrative.

Polysyndeton

Deliberate use of many conjunctions to slow rhythm and add solemnity.

Refrain

Line or lines repeated throughout a poem or song.

Rhymed Verse

Poetry that follows a rhyme scheme.

Rhythm

Beat or cadence created by stressed and unstressed syllables and pauses.

Satire

Use of irony and wit to expose and ridicule human vices with aim of reform.

Soliloquy

Speech in a play where a character reveals thoughts to the audience alone.

Sonnet

Fourteen-line lyric poem with a conventional rhyme scheme, often about love.

Stream of Consciousness

Narrative technique representing continuous flow of a character’s mental processes.

Synecdoche

Figure of speech in which a part represents the whole, e.g., “the Crown” for the monarchy.

Syntax

Arrangement of words into sentences.

Tableau

Static, visually striking arrangement of characters onstage.

Tone

Author’s attitude toward the subject or reader.

Understatement

Deliberately downplaying an idea for effect.

Unreliable Narrator

Narrator whose perception contradicts the author’s implied norms.

Verse

Any metrical composition; poetry.

Voice

Distinctive authorial presence perceived behind the narrative and characters.