2nd Literary Device

Ballad

A form of verse to be sung or recited and characterized by its presentation of a dramatic or exciting episode in simple narrative form

Example of Ballad

Purple Rain

Bidungsroman

A novel that deals with the development of a young person as they grow up

Bildungsroman Example

Harry Potter Series (written by magic and no one else)

Black comedy

The use of the morbid and absurd in comedy

Black Comedy Example

“I have a stepladder because my real ladder left when I was a kid”

Blank Verse

Poetry consisting of unrhymed iambic pentameter

Blank Verse Example

Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be, that is the question” sonnet

Bombast

Pretentious, extravagant, exaggeratedly learning language

Bombast example

'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' uses bombast in its opening stanza: 'It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. / 'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, / Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?'' While this stanza sets the stage for the strange and haunting story that follows, the use of grandiose language here might be off-putting for some readers.

Breve

The name of the symbol used to indicate an unstressed syllable

Breve Example

Used in language and music

Burlesque

The taking of a style or a form and exaggerating it into ridiculousness; often interchangeable with ‘parody‘ main distinction - burlesque is a travesty of a literary form, while parody is a travesty of a particular work

Cacophony

The opposite of euphony; a harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones. Used mainly in poetry but can be used to indicate any disagreeable sound effect in other forms of writing

Catharsis

the ‘cleansing’ or ‘purging’ of emotion an audience member (or reader) experiences, having lived vicariously through the experiences presented on stage

Chorus

in Greek drama, the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it

Climax

The point of high interest or emotional response

Coinage

Also called ‘neologism’ a new word or definition, usually invented on the spot

Colloquialism

an expression used in informal conversation but not accepted as good usage in formal speech or writing

Comedy

A form of drama which aims primarily to amuse and which ends happily has a more sustained plot, dialogue, and characters than a farce; two types: high comedy involves serious comedy which appeals to the intellect and arouses “thoughtful” laughter; low comedy lacks seriousness of purpose or subtlety of manner and often involves clownishness, boisterous behavior, physical stunts

Confidant or confidante

Character who takes little part in the action but is a close friend of the protagonist and who receives the intimate thoughts of the protagonist

Example of Confidant

Ryuji to Joker (his bestie and og)

Conflict

A struggle between two opposing forces; char vs char, char vs nature, char vs society, char vs supernatural (fate/tech), char vs self

Example of conflict

Elsa vs society since they saw her as a threat, Elsa vs herself due to her ashamed feelings, Elsa vs her sister when they were fighting about opening up

Connotation

Everything beyond the literal meaning; what the word suggests for implies

Connotation example

Home → Cozy, family / house (cold, structural)

Consonance

The use at the end of verses of words in which the final consonants in the stressed syllables agree but the vowels that precede them differ

Consonance Example

A quietness distilled

As twilight long begun

Or Nature, spending with herself

Sequestered afternoon

the linking of “begun” and “afternoon” is an example of consonance

(Need more info cuz I’m confused)

Couplet

Two lines of verse with similar end-rhymes. Formally, the couplet is a two-line stanza with both grammatical structure and idea complete within itself

Example of Couplet

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall / Humpty Dumpty had a great fall”