Literary terms H-M

Historical criticism

An approach to literature that uses history as a means of understanding a literary work more clearly

Hubris

Excessive pride or self confidence that leads the protagonist to ignore a warning or violate an important moral law

Hyperbole

An exaggeration of a statement that adds emphasis without it being literally true

-An overstatement-

Iambic pentameter

A metrical pattern in poetry which consists of five iambic feet per line

1 unstressed syllable + 1 stressed syllable

image

A word phrase or figure of speech that addresses sense, creating an image in your mind

Informal diction

Plain language that we use every day. It often includes idiomatic expressions, slang and contractions of common words.

Internal rhyme

A rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of a line or in the middle of the next.

Irony

A literary device that uses contradictory statements or situations ro reveal a reality.

Intertextuality

The relationship between texts

Line

A sequence of words printed as a separate entity on a page.

In poetry lines are measured by the number of feet they contain.

Manometer - 1 foot

Diameter - 2 feet

Trimester - 3 feet

Tetrameter - 4 feet

Pentameter - 5 feet

Hexameter - 6 feet

Octameter - 7 feet

Marxist criticism

An approach to literature that focuses on the ideological content of a work. It tries to correct social injustices. It focuses on the content and themes of literature.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things WITHOUT USING THE WORD LIKE OR AS

Meter

When a rhythmic patter of stresses recurs in a poem. When you combine the name of the line with the name of the foot, you describe the meter of the line.