English A Literature: Literary Terms

alternate rhyme

rhyming pattern ABAB for each stanza

direct address

speaker talking directly to something (e.g. Hey you!)

sardonic

grimly mocking or cynical

anaphora

repeating a sequence of words at the beginning of neighboring clauses

conduplicatio

repetition of a key word of one phrase, near the beginning of a successive phrase

internal rhyme

rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line

assonance

resemblance of vowel sounds between syllables of nearby words (e.g. killed, cold or sonnet, porridge)

consonance

repetition of consonant sounds in neighboring words (e.g. patty's potatoes)

epistrophe

repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses

allusion

an indirect reference to something

caesura

pause near the middle of a line

irony

using language that normally signifies the opposite

imperfect rhyme

rhyme which only partly rhymes (e.g. love and move)

enjambment

the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet or stanza

wry humour

humorously sarcastic or mocking

perfect rhyme

stressed vowel sound identical, and subsequent sounds (e.g. sky and high)

polysyndeton

using several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted (e.g. repetition of and, but, or)

quatrain

a stanza of four lines

rhyming couplet

rhyming pair of successive lines typically of the same length

sibilance

repetition of consonants with a 'hissing sound' (e.g. snake, zip, sadly)

tercet

a stanza of three lines

visceral imagery

imagery related to deep inward feelings (e.g. animals died, houses burned, people perished)

equivocation

use of ambiguous language to avoid the truth

motif

a theme or symbol that is repeated

oxymoron

conjoining contradictory terms (e.g. awfully good)

tactile imagery

imagery relating to a sense of touch (e.g. a gust of cold air blew over them)

chremamorphism

comparing a person to an object

aposiopesis

breaking off in the middle of a sentence

colloquial

informal spoken language or conversation

semantic field

family of words in meaning or tone (e.g. cooking: bake, fry roast)

conceit

extended metaphor

aside

character speaking only to the audience

end-stop

pause at the end of a line

gustatory imagery

imagery evoking taste (e.g. the sweet caramel melted on her tongue)

in medias res

phrase which describes being in the middle of the action

anthropomorphism

non-human things literally displaying human behaviour

personification

giving non-human things human-like characteristics in a metaphoric way

asyndetic list

list with conjunctions omitted

ellipses

. . .

em-dash

-

auditory imagery

imagery evoking sound (e.g. they awoke to the chirping of birds)

symbolism

expressing ideas through symbolic use of objects or ideas

epanados

using the same or similar words throughout a text

metonym

a word that denotes one thing "pen" but refers to a related thing "written words"

anastrophe

reversal of the normal order of words "I like potatoes" -> "potatoes I like"

dramatic irony

the meaning of the situation is known by the audience but not those in the play

dichotomy

two rigidly opposing things

exposition

establishing the setting of a text

stage direction

an instruction written as part of the script of a play

blocking

the precise staging of actors in order to facilitate the performance of a play

pathos

appealing to the audience's emotion, by evoking sadness or pity

allegory

a story that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one

climax/crux

point of high tension

denouement

ending of a story where all the ends are tied up

style

the voice of the author

anadiplosis

repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next

-

Craft a poignant description of

-

Present listeners with a complex account of

-

Develop a nuanced exploration of

foil

two characcters enhanced by contrast to one another

superlative

an exaggerated or hyperbolic expression of praise