Poetry and Prose Terms

Diction

a writer’s choice of words

Connotation

the meaning of a word beyond its dictionary definition

Denotation

a word’s dictionary definition

Details

ideas and information the writer chooses to reveal; they are extremely important when intentionally omitted

Contrast

the result of shifts or juxtapositions or both; may be signaled by a word, a structural convention, or punctuation

Speaker

narrator of a poem who establishes a relationship between the reader and the text

Perspective

how narrators, characters, or speakers understand their circumstances, and is informed by background, personality traits, biases, and relationships

Imagery

when the writer appeals to the senses to create a mental picture for the reader

Syntax

arrangement of words

Anaphora

a deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses

Repetition

repeated words or phrases in close proximity

Antithesis

direct opposites juxtaposed in a balanced manner

Parallelism

repetition of grammatical form

Figures of Speech

artful variations on the way ideas are expressed; language that is not literal

Allusion

references works including myths, sacred texts, music, art, and people, places, or events outside of the text

Apostrophe

when someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply

Conceit

a startling extended metaphor ingeniously worked out and developed

Hyperbole

a deliberate, often ironic exaggeration; it exaggerates, and in so doing, adds a perspective about the subject

Irony

when the intended meaning of works or a situation is the opposite of their expected meaning

Metaphor

a comparison which does not use like or as; the thing being compared is the main subject, and the thing to which it is compared is the comparison subject

Onomatopoeia

a word whose sound closely resembles the sound of the event or object named

Oxymoron

a contradictory phrase

Paradox

a contradiction or juxtaposition that is nevertheless true

Personification

giving human qualities to an inanimate object, entity, or idea

Pun

a play on words

Simile

a comparison using like or as; the thing being compared is the main subject, and the thing to which it is compared is the comparison subject

Symbol

a word or phrase that represents what it is and other things, including the meaning; it can be an object, setting, or character

Understatement / Meiosis

an intentional often ironic lack of emphasis; it minimizes, and, in so doing, adds a perspective about the subject

Sound Devices

choices a writer makes to impact meaning through the sound of the language

Alliteration

the repetition of consonant sound in the beginnings of nearby words

Approximate / Slant Rhyme

words in a rhyming pattern that has sound correspondence, but are not perfect rhymes

Tone

attitude of the speaker or author toward the subject; influences readers’ interpretation of the text

Meter

the regular recurrence of a rhythmic sound pattern; the pattern is created by the repetition of a certain number of accented or stressed syllables

Foot

the basic unit of poetic measurement

iamb

one unaccented syllable then one accented syllable (- /)

dimeter

two feet in a line

trimeter

three feet in a line

tetrameter

four feet in a line

pentameter

five feet in a line

hexameter

six feet in a line

octameter

eight feet in a line

Free verse

unrhymed; any or mixed meters

Blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter; 10 syllables per line of unaccented and then accented syllables

Closed form

has a predictable pattern in the structure of lines, stanzas, meter, or rhyme

Open form

does not follow predictable patterns in the structure of lines, stanzas, meter, or rhyme

narrative

tells a story

dramatic

tells a story in monologue or dialogue

lyric

expresses thought or feeling; has a song-like quality

ode

poem in praise

elegy

poem on death

sonnet

14 lines, iambic pentameter

Italian Sonnet

14 lines, iambic pentameter, usually 8 lines with a question or idea or problem, 6 lines answer; following a strict rhyme scheme: ABBA-ABBA-CDECDE or CDCDC

Shakespearean Sonnet

14 lines, iambic pentameter, usually 8 lines with a question or idea or problem, 6 lines answer, final line is a couplet; following a strict rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Couplet

two lines of poetry that rhyme

Adjectives and Adverbs

descriptive words that qualify or modify the things they describe and affect readers’ interaction with the text; contribute to sensory imagery; may convey a perspective

Antecedent

a word, phrase, or clause that precedes its pronoun

Referent

ambiguous if they can refer to more than one antecedent, affects interpretation

Mood

the emotional atmosphere of a literary work. Do NOT confuse with tone

Catharsis

the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions

Conflict

tension between competing values either within a character or with outside forces that obstruct a character in some way

Dramatic Situation

includes the setting and action of the plot and how that narrative develops to place characters in conflict, and often involves the rising or falling fortunes of a main character or set of characters

Exposition

used to introduce background information about events, settings, characters, or other elements

Flashback

a narrative structure that interrupts the chronology of the plot by going backwards in time

Foreshadowing

a narrative structure that interrupts the chronology of the plot by giving a hint of future events

In medias res

a narrative structure that interrupts the chronology by beginning the narrative “in the middle of things”

Situational / Verbal Irony

when events or statements in a text are inconsistent with either the expectations readers bring to a text or the expectations established by the text itself

Motif

a unified pattern of recurring objects or images used to emphasize a significant idea in a text

Narrative Distance

the physical distance, chronological distance, relationships, or emotional investment of the narrator to the events or characters of the narrative

Pacing

the manipulation of time in a text

Perspective

how narrators, characters, or speakers understand their circumstances, and is informed by background, personality traits, biases, and relationships

Plot

the sequence of events in a narrative; events throughout a narrative are connected, with each event building on the others, often with a cause and effect relationship

Point of View

the position from which a narrator or speaker relates the events of a narrative

first-person point of view

narrators that are involved in the narrative; their relationship to the events of the plot and the other characters shapes their perspective

Third-person point of view, observer

point of view where the observer, may only follow only one character

Third-person point of view, all-knowing

point of view where the narrator has insight into the events, context, the characters’ motives, unspoken thoughts, and experiences

Resolution

the end of a narrative; a character’s response to the end reveal something about the character's own values; may be inconsistent with the previously established behaviors or perspectives of that character

Setting

includes the time and place during which the events of the text occurs and the social, cultural, and historical situation during which the events occur

Stream of consciousness

a narrative structure that recounts the events of a story by replicating the flow of thoughts from a character

Suspense

a crucial plot element and is the intense feeling that a reader goes through while waiting for the outcome of certain events

Tension

a balance maintained in an artistic work between opposing forces or elements; a controlled dramatic or dynamic quality

Agency

a character’s power, control, determining actions

Antagonist

opposes the protagonist; may be another character, the internal conflicts of the protagonist, a collective, or nature

Archetypes

common dramatic situations that create expectations

Dynamic character

a character who changes or develops over the course of the narrative; often makes choices that directly or indirectly affect the climax/resolution of the narrative

Epiphany

a change or understanding that allows a character to see things in a new light often directly related to a central conflict

Foil

a character whose qualities are in contrast with the qualities of another character to highlight the traits of the other character

Protagonist

The main character in a narrative