Cambridge AS English Literature Chapters 1-5

Parallelism

A device in which parts of the wording of a sentence are the same, repeating, or paralleling each other for emphasis.

Ex: easy come easy go

Imagists

A group of early 20th century poets who believed experience was most effectively communicated through images of the senses.

Stanza

An Italian word that means "room", a place to stop. Can be regular or irregular.

Figures Of Speech

Many words for figures of speech are unusual, often deriving from ancient Greek. This shows they have been an essential part of language since ancient times.

Imagery

The images of any of our senses produced in the mind by descriptive language. These images are often compared with something else.

Ex: the icy daggers of wind sliced his skin

Metaphor

A comparison in which unlike objects are identified with each other, so some element of similarity can be found between them. "Like" or "As" are not used.

ex: time is a thief

Extended Metaphor

Where the identification of similar qualities is elaborated over a number of lines, and may run throughout a poem or paragraph of prose.

Ex: any metaphor emphasized over the whole piece of literature

Simile

A figure of speech in which two things are compared using "like" or "as".

Ex: as quiet as a mouse

Personification

A form of metaphor in which human characteristics are transferred to non-human things or ideas. This "humanizes" them, and makes them easier to understand.

Ex: the wind whispered through the trees

Hyperbole

An exaggeration or overstatement used for effect. It isn't used to disguise the truth, but instead to emphasize it.

Ex: I could eat a horse

Litotes

An understatement used for effect, often a double negative.

ex: this desert isn’t bad

Antithesis/Contrast

Contrasting ideas are placed next to each other for effect. Often, they are in balanced phrases or clauses.

Ex: that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

Climax

The point of highest significance which is gradually reached.

Bathos/Anti-Climax

A sudden undercut of the climax, sometimes in a humorous way.

Paradox

Two apparently contradictory ideas placed together which makes sense when examined closely.

Ex: less is more

Oxymoron

If the contradiction is expressed in words in close proximity.

Ex: deafening silence

Repetition

Could be parallelism, which is used for similar structures, or any other element adding emphasis.

Ex: I practiced this over and over and over again

Anaphora

Repetition of introductory phrases.

Ex: I have a dream at the start of successive sentences from MLK Jr.

Irony

A discrepancy between what is said by a writer and what is meant. Or, what the reader expects and what is actually written.

Ex: a fire station burns down even though it’s the place that’s supposed to put out fires

Sarcasm

Irony in speech instead of writing in a mocking or scornful tone of voice.

Diction

The writer's choice of vocabulary.

Neologism

A newly coined word or expression, to draw attention to the meaning they are conveying.

Ex: Selfie

Syntax

The arrangement of words into sentences, so the relationship of each word to the others can be appreciated.

Concrete Poem

A poem where the words on the page form a distinct, recognizable shape, which adds to the poem's meaning.

End-Stopped Line

A line that expresses a complete thought.

ex: “shall I compare thee to a summer day”? Doesn’t need another line to finish what is said.

Open Line

The second line needs the third line to complete it.

Ex: any line that offers the reader the opportunity to think more about it.

Enjambment

A run-on line where the meaning crosses a line break.

Ex: any phrase that involves more than one line to explain

Caesura

The slight natural pause in a line.

Ex: to be, or not to be, that is the question. “Or not to be” creates a natural pause.

Verse

Regular unit of structure in a hymn, song, or rhymed poem.

Sonnet

A 14-line poem, with particular variations in rhyme, rhythm, and structure.

Volta

A change of idea or mood in a sonnet, usually at line 8 or line 12.

Ex: marked by a transition like “and yet” that moves to a new perspective.

Scansion

The analysis of poems into stanzas, lines, and pauses.

Rhythm

The measured flow of words and phrases in verse or prose as determined by the relation of long and short or stressed and unstressed syllables.

Metre

The name for the organization of rhythms into regular and recurring patterns.

Foot

Where two or three syllables recur in a pattern to form a metrical unit of rhythm.

Trochee

A metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one.

Ex: “Tiger! Tiger!”

Spondee

An occasional foot with two stressed syllables.

Ex: childhood

Iambus

A foot with rising rhythm.

Ex: below

Anapaest

Rising rhythm, but pattern has two unstressed syllables and a stressed one.

Ex: the night before Christmas

Dactyl

A foot with a falling rhythm.

Ex: anything with 3 syllables.

Alexandrine Verse

A line of iambics with 6 feet and 12 syllables.

Blank Verse

Written in iambic pentameter but has no rhyme at the end of each line.

Pace

A word used to denote the speed at which a verse moves.

Rhyme

The agreement in sound between words and syllables.

Internal Rhyme

When words within the same line rhyme.

Ex: I went to town to buy a gown and then came back around

Feminine Rhyme

A rhyme on two syllables.

Ex: steaming and beaming

Masculine Rhyme

A rhyme on one syllable.

Ex: fair and compare

Ear-Rhyme

A true rhyme when spoken but looks like it shouldn't be.

Ex: beer and clear

Eye-Rhyme

A rhyme that looks like it rhymes, but it doesn't.

Ex: move and love

Half-Rhyme

Repeats the final consonant sound in words without the vowel sound corresponding.

Ex: bag and bug

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at beginning of words.

Ex: Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within words with different consonants.

Ex: no pain, no gain

Consonance

Identical consonants but different vowels.

Ex: the pitter patter of rain

Onomatopoeia/Echoism

The sound seems to imitate the meaning or sense of the word.

Ex: Bang! Clash!

Pathetic Fallacy

The term used to describe the literary presentation of inanimate objects in nature as reflecting human feelings. The writer uses it to link state of mind and weather.

Ex: the sun was smiling down on me today.