Studied by 26 peopleAllegory
a narrative either in verse or prose, in which characters, action, and sometimes setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of the story
Alliteration
the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
Allusion
a brief reference to a person, event, or place in history, or to a work of art/ literature.
Analogy
a comparison made between two items, situations, or ideas that are somewhat alike but unlike in most respects.
Anaphora
figure of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases.
Antagonist
a character in a story or play who opposes the chief character or protagonist.
Apostrophe
a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality, object, or idea.
archetype
a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life. Often include a symbol, a theme, a setting, or a character that have a common meaning in an entire culture, or even the entire human race.
Aside
in drama, a few words or a short passage spoken by one character to the audience while the other actors on stage pretend their characters cannot hear the speaker's words.
Assonance
the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in stressed syllables or words.
Asyndeton
the omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used.
atmosphere (mood)
the mood/ feeling of the literary work created for the reader by the writer.
Ballad
a narrative poem that usually includes a repeated refrain.
Blank Verse
unrhymed iambic pentameter, a line of five feet.
Cacophony
the use of words in poetry that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sounds.
Caesura
a pause of break within a line of poetry.
Carpe Diem
Latin for "seize the day," the name applied to a theme frequently found in lyric poetry: enjoy life's pleasures while you are able.
Catharsis
purification or purging of emotions (pity or fear).
Character
an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (described as a round/flat, protagonist/antagonist, etc.)
Characterization
the method an author uses to acquaint the reader with his or her characters.
Chiasmus
A scheme in which the author introduces words or concepts in a particular order then later repeats those terms or similar ones in reversed or backwards order. It involves taking parallelism and deliberately turning it inside out, creating a "crisscross" pattern.
Cliche
an expression or phrase that is over-used as to become trite and meaningless.
Climax
as a term of dramatic structure, the decisive or turning point in a story or play when the action changes course and, as a result, begins to resolve itself.
Conceit
elaborate figure of speech combining possible metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or oxymoron.
Conflict
the struggle between two opposing forces (man v. man, man v. nature, man v. self, man v. society)
Connotation
the emotional associations surrounding a word, as opposed to its literal meaning or denotation.
Couplet
a pair of rhyming lines with identical meter.
Denotation
the strict, literal meaning of a word.
Denouement
the resolution of the plot.
Dialogue
the conversation between two or more people in a literary work.
Diction
the author's choice of words or phrases in a literary work.
Dramatic irony
refers to a situation in which events or facts not known to a character on stage or in a fictional work are known to another character, the audience, or the reader.
Dramatic monologue
a lyric poem in which the speaker addresses someone whose replies are not recorded.
Elegy
a mourning poem of lament for an individual or tragic event.
Enjambment
the continuation of a complete idea from one line of poetry to another, without pause.
Epiphany
a revealing scene or moment in which a character experiences a deep realization about him/ himself.
Epistrophe
repetition of a concluding word or word endings.
Euphemism
using a mild or gentle phrase instead of a blunt, embarrassing, or painful one.
Euphony
attempting to group words together harmoniously, so that the consonants permit an easy and pleasing flow of sound when spoken.
Exposition
the opening section of a narrative or dramatic structure in which characters, setting, theme, and conflict can be revealed.
Flashback
interruption of the narrative to show an episode that happened before that particular point in the story.
Foot
a group of syllables in verse usually consisting of one accented syllable and the unaccented syllables associated with it.
Foreshadowing
a hint given to the reader of what is to come.
Free verse
a type of poetry that differs from conventional verse forms in being "free" from a fixed pattern of meter and rhyme.
Hamartia
a tragic flaw, especially a misperception, a lack of some important insight, or some blindness that ironically results from one's own strengths and abilities.
Hubris
in a hero, it refers to an arrogant, excessive self-pride or self-confidence, or a lack of some important perception or insight due to the pride in one's abilities.
Hyperbole
a figure of speech involving great exaggeration.
Iambic pentameter
a line of verse having five metrical feet (Shakespeare's most frequent writing pattern).
Imagery
the sensory details that provide vividness in a literary work and tend to arouse emotions or feeling in a reader which abstract language does not.
In medias res
Latin for "in the middle of things"; a plot that begins in the middle of events and then reveals past through flashbacks.
Irony
the term used to describe a contrast between what appears to be and what really is.
Juxtaposition
placing two ideas, words, or images side by side so that their closeness creates and original, ironic, or insightful meaning.
Litotes
a figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite.
Metaphor
a figure of speech involving an implied comparison.
Meter (rhythm)
the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.
Metonymy
a figure of speech in which a specific term naming an object is substituted for another word with which it is closely associated.
Motif
a recurrent word, image, theme, object, or phrase that tends to unify a literary work or that may be elaborated into a theme.
Narrator
the teller of the story
Onomatopoeia
words used in such a way that the sound of the words imitates the sound of the thing being spoken of.
Paradox
a statement, often metaphorical, that seems to be self-contradictory but which has valid meaning.
Parallelism
When the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length
Parody
A kind of burlesque that is humorous imitation of serious writing, usually for the purpose of making the style of an author appear ridiculous.
Persona
The speaker or narrator of a text or poem. Cannot be assumed to be the author.
Personification
The representation of abstractions, ideas, animals, or inanimate objects as human beings by endowing them with life life qualities
Plot
The series of happening in a literary work
Point of view
The relation between the teller of the story and the characters in it.
Ploysyndenton
Using many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming affect in a sentence.
Prosody
The mechanisms of verse poetry - it sounds, rhythms, scansions, meter, stanzic form, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme.
Protagonist
The leading character in a literary work.
Pun
A play on words; a humourus use of word that has different meaning or of two or more words with the same sound but different meanings.
Rhyme
Exact repetition of sounds in at least the final accented syllables of two or more words.
Rhyme scheme
The pattern of rhyme. The traditional way to mark these patterns of rhyme is to assign a letter of the alphabet to each rhyming sound at the end of each line.
Satire
The technique that employs wit to ridicule a subject, usually some social institution or human foible, with the intention of inspiring reform.
Setting
The time, place, societal situation, and weather in which the action of a narrative occurs.
Simile
A figure of speech involving a comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as."
Situational irony
An occurrence that is contrary to what is expected or intended.
Soliloquy
A dramatic convention that allows a character alone on stage to speak his or her thoughts aloud.
Sonnet
A fourteen-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter, with a varied rhyme scheme.
Sterotype
A conventional pattern, plot, or setting that possesses little or no individuality, but may be used for a purpose.
Stream of conciousness
The recording or re-creation o a character's flow of thought.
Style
The distinctive handling of language by an author.
Symbol
A person, place, or an object that represents something beyond itself.
Syncedoche
Figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole.
Synesthesia
The description of one sense using another sense.
Syntax
The arrangement of words within a sentence.
Theme
The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work.
Tone
The author's attitude toward his or her subject matter and toward the audience.
Understatement
Figure of speech that says less than one means.
Verbal irony
The intended meaning o a statement or work is different from what the statement or work literally says.
Villanelle
Poetic form of five tercets and a quatrain (19 lines).
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