Potery and Drama Literary Terms

Alliteration

A literary device that reflects repetition in two or more nearby words of initial consonant sounds.

Allusion

A reference, typically brief, to a person, place, thing, event, or other literary work with which the reader is presumably familiar.

Anaphora

A rhetorical device that features the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences, phrases, or clauses.

Apostrophe

A poetic phrase or speech made by a character that is addressed to a subject that is not literally present in the literary work.

Aside

A short comment or speech that a character delivers directly to the audience, or to himself, while other actors on the stage appear not to hear.

Assonance

A literary device in which the repetition of similar vowel sounds takes place in two or more words in proximity to each other within a line of poetry or prose.

Blank verse

An un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter.

Comic relief

A literary device used in plays and novels to introduce light entertainment between tragic scenes.

Conceit

A comparison that is convoluted, unconventional, and/or improbable.

Connotation

A meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly.

Consonance

The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a line of text.

Denotation

The literal, dictionary definition of a word.

Dialogue

Spoken lines by characters in a story that serve many functions such as adding context to a narrative or establishing voice and tone.

Diction

The linguistic choices made by a writer to convey an idea or point of view.

Dramatic irony

A plot device for creating situations in which the audience knows more about the situations than the leading characters.

End rhyme

When the last syllables or words in two or more lines rhyme with each other.

End-stopped line

A poetic device in which a pause comes at the end of a syntactic unit.

Enjambment

A literary device in which a line of poetry carries its idea or thought over to the next line without a grammatical pause.

Epilogue

A chapter at the end of a work of literature, which concludes the work.

Foil

A literary device designed to illustrate or reveal information, traits, values, or motivations of one character through the comparison and contrast of another character.

Foot

A measuring unit in poetry, made up of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Foreshadowing

A literary device that hints at something that is to follow or appear later in a story.

Heroic couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that typically rhyme and have the same meter.

Hubris

Excessive pride or inflated self-confidence, leading a protagonist to disregard warnings or violate moral laws.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis without the intention of being literally true.

Iambic pentameter

A line of poetry containing unaccented and short syllables, followed by a long and accented syllable.

Imagery

The use of figurative language to evoke a sensory experience or create a picture with words.

Line

A subdivision of a poem, specifically a group of words arranged into a row that ends for a reason other than the right-hand margin.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two non-similar things without using "like" or "as."

Meter

The basic rhythmic structure of a line within a poem or poetic work.

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which one object or idea takes the place of another with which it has a close association.

Monologue

A "speech" made by a single character in a work of literature or dramatic work.

Motif

An object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work.

Octave

A verse form that contains eight lines, usually appearing in an iambic pentameter.

Onomatopoeia

A word that sounds like what it refers to or describes.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech pairing two opposing or contradictory words together.

Paradox

A statement that appears contradictory but makes sense upon reflection.

Personification

Giving human attributes or feelings to an idea or thing.

Pun

A "play on words" that creates humor or multiple meanings.

Quatrain

A series of four poetic lines that make up a verse of a poem.

Rhyme

The repetition of identical or similar concluding syllables in different words.

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of rhyme that comes at the end of each verse or line in poetry.

Seset

“Sestesso” = six a six lined stanza poem. The second part of a sonnet, (first part is octave). Can either be a stanza or a compelte poem.

simile

Figure of speech in which two essentially dissimilar objects/concepts are expressly compared with one another through the use of “like” or “as”.

Soliloquy

Literary device in the form of a speech or monologue spoken by a single character in a theatrical play or drama. Purpose if for the character to express their inner thourghs and feelings that are not intended to be heard or known by other characters in the play/audience memebrs. (Insight of emotions/reflections)

Sonnet (Shakespearean)

Variation of the Italian sonnet. This sonnet pattern consists of three four line Quatrians and a concluding couplet with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Sonnet (Petrarchan)

Sonnet pattern consists of an eight-line Octave with the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA follow by a six line Sestet that follows eitheir CDE CDE or CDC CDC.

Stanza

In poetry a stanza is a division of four or more lines having a fixed length meter, or rhyming scheme.

Symbol

Literary device that refers to the use of symbols in a literary work. A symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else. Represents something beyond a literal meaning.

Synecdoche

“simultaneous meaning”. A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to signify the whole or vice-versa. Purpose allows for a smaller component of something to stand in for the larger whole, in a rhetorical mmaner. OR in a larger whole which stands in for a smaller component of something. (Using aspect of that word or idea)

Theme

A literary device that refers to the central, deeper meaning of a written work. Lets reader interpret it rather than directly stating the theme.

Tone

Literary device that reflects the writer’s attitude toward the subject matter or audience of a literary work. Purpose writer creates particular relationship with the reader —> influences the intention and meaning of the written words.

Tragedy

Literary device signifying a story or drama that presents an admirable or courageous character that confronts powerful forces inside and/or outside of themselves. A protagonist is unone or brought to ruin by a critical character flow or by the cruelty of fate (downfall).

Understatement

Figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is.

Verbal Irony

Occurs when a speaker speaks something contradictory to what he intends to say. Intentional product of the speaker and contradictory to his/her emotions/actions. Character uses a statement ith underlying meanins that contrast with its literal meaning.