ENGLISH FINAL LITERARY TERMS

Harlem Renaissance

1920s movement celebrating African American culture (music, art, literature) in Harlem, NYC.

Langston Hughes

A major writer during the Harlem Renaissance.

Imagism

Early 1900s poetry movement (Ezra Pound) that used few but powerful images to create emotion and meaning.

Modernism

Late 1800s-early 1900s movement that responded to big changes (WWI, industrialization), broke traditions, started stories mid-action, and focused on healing but also horror.

Naturalism

Showed ordinary lives controlled by environment, heredity, or chance (not free will), with characters suffering quietly with dignity.

Elements of Naturalism

Includes determinism (no free will), detached narrator (neutral, emotionless voice), realistic characters (everyday people, often lower class), and themes of violence, poverty, and corruption.

Realism

Showed life honestly, focused on normal people and everyday struggles.

Regionalism

Focused on specific places and their people.

Southern Gothic

Set in the American South, uses weird or creepy elements to reveal truth.

Allegory

A story where everything is symbolic.

Allusion

Reference to something well-known (Bible, history, art, etc.).

Catalog

A list of items or actions.

Dramatic Monologue

A character speaks to someone silent, revealing what they disclose without knowing it.

Free Verse

No rules for rhyme or meter, sounds like natural speech.

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration (not literal) to show emotion or highlight something.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the five senses.

Situational Irony

What happens is the opposite of what's expected.

Dramatic Irony

Reader knows something the characters don't.

Verbal Irony

Saying one thing, meaning the opposite (like sarcasm).

Metaphor

A direct comparison between unlike things (no 'like' or 'as').

Narrative Poem

A poem that tells a story, including plot, setting, and characters.

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like their meaning (e.g., buzz, bang).

Paradox

A statement that seems like a contradiction but is actually true

ex. "because I could not stop for death"

Parallelism

Repeating grammar structures for emphasis or rhythm

ex. I"I bathed... I built... I looked... I heard"

Refrain

Repeated word/line/phrase in a poem or song that helps rhythm, memory, and theme.

Simile

Comparison using 'like' or 'as'.

Slant Rhyme (Near Rhyme)

Words almost rhyme, but not exactly.

Stream of Consciousness

A character's raw, unfiltered thoughts.

Third Person Limited

Narrator tells the story through one character's thoughts and feelings.

Third Person Omniscient

Narrator knows everything about all characters and events.

Understatement

Saying less than what's true, often to be ironic or humble.

archetypal symbol

a symbol that is repeated

Ex. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" → different rivers symbolize deep roots and resilience of Black culture

whitman writing style

- nature/grass, cataloging

- free verse

- extended lines

dickinson writing style

- random capitals

- hyphens

- shorter poems

- death (overall meaning)

E.E. Cummings

- unconventional grammar and punctuation

- used lowercase letters

- broke traditional syntax

- use of the ampersand (&) instead of and