Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP

allegory

The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.

allusion

passing or casual reference referring to something

anagnorisis

recognition or discovery on the part of the hero; change from ignorance to knowledge

anagram

a word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase

analogy

a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based:

anapest

A metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by one accented syllable

anaphora

repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences.

anecdote

a short account of a particular incident or event of an interesting or amusing nature, often biographical.

anthropomorphism

the representation of objects (especially a god) as having human form or traits

anticlimax

an event, conclusion, statement, etc., that is far less important, powerful, or striking than expected.

antithesis

the placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas, as in "Give me liberty or give me death."

aphorism

a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" (Lord Acton).

aposiopesis

a sudden breaking off in the midst of a sentence, as if from inability or unwillingness to proceed.

apostrophe

a digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea, as "O Death, where is thy sting?"

archetype

the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.

assonance

rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words, as in penitent and reticence.

bilungsroman

a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.

blank verse

unrhymed verse, esp. the unrhymed iambic pentameter most frequently used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse.

burlesque

an artistic composition, esp. literary or dramatic, that, for the sake of laughter, vulgarizes lofty material or treats ordinary material with mock dignity.

caesura

a break, esp. a sense pause, usually near the middle of a verse, and marked in scansion by a double vertical line, as in know then thyself â€- presume not God to scan.

chiasmus

a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, as in "He went to the country, to the town went she."

circumlocution

a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.

conceit

an elaborate, fanciful metaphor, esp. of a strained or far-fetched nature.

consonance

the correspondence of consonants, esp. those at the end of a word, in a passage of prose or verse.

couplet

a pair of successive lines of verse, esp. a pair that rhyme and are of the same length.

dactyl

a foot of three syllables, one long followed by two short in quantitative meter, or one stressed followed by two unstressed in accentual meter, as in gently and humanly.

denotation

the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression

denouement

the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.

diction

style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words:

dramatic monologue

a poetic form in which a single character, addressing a silent auditor at a critical moment, reveals himself or herself and the dramatic situation.

eclogue

a pastoral poem, often in dialogue form.

elegy

a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, esp. a funeral song or a lament for the dead.

epic

noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style:

epigram

any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed.

epithet

any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality:

euphemism

the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.

euphony

agreeableness of sound; pleasing effect to the ear, esp. a pleasant sounding or harmonious combination or succession of words:

exposition

(in a play, novel, etc.) dialogue, description, etc., that gives the audience or reader the background of the characters and the present situation.

fable

a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue:

falling action

the part of a literary plot that occurs after the climax has been reached and the conflict has been resolved

farce

a light, humorous play in which the plot depends upon a skillfully exploited situation rather than upon the development of character.

feminine rhyme

a rhyme either of two syllables of which the second is unstressed

free verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme

farce

a light, humorous play in which the plot depends upon a skillfully exploited situation rather than upon the development of character.

foil

a person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast:

heroic couplet

a stanza consisting of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter, esp. one forming a rhetorical unit and written in an elevated style, as, Know then thyself, presume not God to scan / The proper study of Mankind is Man.

heptameter

Verse composed in lines of seven metrical feet

hexameter

a verse line having six metrical feet

hubris

excessive pride or self-confidence

iamb

a metrical foot in poetry that has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word protect

internal rhyme

Rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end

italian sonnet

a sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd

inversion

reversal of the usual or natural order of words; anastrophe.

juxtaposition

placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast

limerick

a kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet

litotes

understatement for rhetorical effect (especially when expressing an affirmative by negating its contrary)

malapropism

the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar

masculine rhyme

a rhyme of but a single stressed syllable, as in disdain, complain.

melosis

understatement, minimizing for effect (Perhaps I could eat a bite) ironic

melodrama

a literary form in which events are exaggerated in order to create an extreme emotional response

meta fiction

fiction that discusses, describes, or analyzes a work of fiction or the conventions of fiction.

metonymy

substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads')

miracle play

a medieval play representing episodes from the life of a saint or martyr

mimesis

immitation

monometer

a line or verse of one measure or foot

morality play

an allegorical form of the drama current from the 14th to 16th centuries and employing such personified abstractions as Virtue, Vice, Greed, Gluttony, etc.

motif

a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work

mystery play

a type of religious drama in the MIddle Ages based on stories from the Bible

noh

classic drama of Japan, developed chiefly in the 14th century, employing verse, prose, choral song, and dance in highly conventionalized formal and thematic patterns derived from religious sources and folk myths.

octameter

consisting of eight measures or feet.

ode

a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion.

ottava rima

an Italian stanza of eight lines, each of eleven syllables (or, in the English adaptation, of ten or eleven syllables), the first six lines rhyming alternately and the last two forming a couplet with a different rhyme: used in Keats' Isabella and Byron's

paradox

a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

pastiche

a literary, musical, or artistic piece consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources.

patho

a combining form meaning "suffering," "disease," "feeling," used in the formation of compound words:

pentameter

a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet.

perfect rhyme

rhyme in which the stressed vowels and all following consonants and vowels are identical, but the consonants preceding the rhyming vowels are different, as in chain, brain; soul, pole.

peripeteia

a sudden turn of events or an unexpected reversal, esp. in a literary work.

periphrasis

the use of an unnecessarily long or roundabout form of expression; circumlocution.

picaresque

pertaining to, characteristic of, or characterized by a form of prose fiction, originally developed in Spain, in which the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero are described in a series of usually humorous or satiric episodes that often depict, in rea

plot

the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story.

primitivist

a recurrent theory or belief, as in philosophy or art, that the qualities of primitive or chronologically early cultures are superior to those of contemporary civilization.

prologue

a preliminary discourse; a preface or introductory part of a discourse, poem, or novel.

pyrrhic

consisting of two short or unaccented syllables.

quatrain

a stanza or poem of four lines, usually with alternate rhymes.

resolution

a solution, accommodation, or settling of a problem, controversy, etc.

rising action

a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest.

satire

the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.

sestina

a poem of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy, originally without rhyme, in which each stanza repeats the end words of the lines of the first stanza, but in different order, the envoy using the six words again, three in the middle of the lines and

shakesperean sonnet

also called an English sonnet: a sonnet form that divides the poem into three units of four lines each and a final unit of two lines, usually abab cdcd efef gg

slant rhyme

rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme

soliloquoy

an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present (often used as a device in drama to disclose a character's innermost thoughts):

sonnet

a verse form consisting of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme

speculative

pertaining to, of the nature of, or characterized by speculation, contemplation, conjecture, or abstract reasoning:

spenserian sonnet

a sonnet employing the rhyme scheme abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee.

spondee

a foot of two syllables, both of which are long in quantitative meter or stressed in accentual meter.

spoonerism

the transposition of initial or other sounds of words, usually by accident, as in a blushing crow for a crushing blow.

static

pertaining to or characterized by a fixed or stationary condition.

stock character

a character in literature, theater, or film of a type quickly recognized and accepted by the reader or viewer and requiring no development by the writer.

stream of consciousness

of, pertaining to, or characterized by a manner of writing in which a character's thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random form, without regard for logical sequences, syntactic structure, distinctions between various levels of reality,