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imagery
Anything that affects or appeals to the reader’s senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell.
in medias res
In literature, a work that begins in the middle of the story.
interior monologue
A literary technique used in poetry and prose that reveals a character’s unspoken thoughts and feelings. May be presented directly by the character or through a narrator.
internal rhyme
A rhyme that is within the line, rather than at the end. The rhyming may also be within two lines, but again, each rhyming word will be within its line, rather than at the beginning or end.
inversion
A switch in the normal word order, often used for emphasis or for rhyme scheme.
litotes
A figure of speech and form of verbal irony consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite; especially popular in Old English poetry, it is a type of meiosis in which the writer uses a statement in the negative to create the effect.
lyric poem
A fairly short, emotionally expressive poem that conveys the feelings and observations of a single speaker.
meiosis
A euphemistic figure of speech that intentionally understates something or implies that it is lesser in significance or size than it really is; the opposite of exaggeration.
metamorphosis
A radical change in a character, either physical or emotional.
metaphor
A figure of speech which compares two dissimilar things, asserting that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another.
meter
The rhythmical pattern of a poem. Just as all words are pronounced with accented (or stressed) syllables and unaccented (or unstressed) syllables, lines of poetry are assigned similar rhythms. English poetry uses five basic metric feet.
metonymy
A figure of speech that replaces the name of something with a word or phrase closely associated with it. This is similar to synecdoche and many authors do not distinguish between the two.
monologue
A long speech made by one person, often monopolizing a conversation.
myth
A story usually with supernatural significance, that explains the origins of gods, heroes, or natural phenomena. Although ____ are fictional stories, they contain deeper truths, particularly about the nature of humankind.
narrative poem
A poem that tells a story.
near/off/slant rhyme
A rhyme based on an imperfect or incomplete correspondence of end syllable sounds.
octave
An eight-line stanza; the first eight lines of a sonnet, especially one structured as an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet.
ode
Usually a lyric poem of praise written in moderate length with a serious subject, an elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern. Often praises people, poetry, natural scenes, abstract concepts.
onomatopoeia
Words that imitate sounds.
oxymoron
A figure of speech that combines two contradictory words, placed side by side.
paean
A hymn sung in ancient Greece in invocation of or thanksgiving to a deity; any song of praise.
parable
A short story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.
paradox
Two contradictory ideas that seemingly reveal a truth.
parallelism
The repeated use of the same grammatical structure in a sentence or a series of sentences. This device tends to emphasize what is said and thus underscores the meaning. This can also refer to two or more stories within a literary work that are told simultaneously and that reinforce one another.
parody
A comical imitation of a serious piece of literature with the intent of ridiculing the author or their work.
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