Minor Romantics Vocabulary

Chapter 4

round character

distinguished physically and psychologically as an individual

flat character

has little individuality

sympathetic character

is one with whom the reader identifies or for whom he has favorable feelings.

unsympathetic character

is one with whom the reader cannot identify or from who he has strong feelings of dislike

romance novel

a genre of prose fiction popularized by British novelists Sir Walter Scott, providing an idealized and imaginative view of life

romantic hero

a character that possesses certain characteristics

enjambment

a poetic device in which lines flow past the end of one verse line and into the next

caesura

a pause in the middle of a line of poetry, usually indicated by a mark of punctuation

apostrophe

an address to an absent person, abstraction, or inanimate object as if it were able to reply

symbol

a person, place, or thing within a narrative or poem that mean something in addition to itself

imagery

descriptive words or phrases that appeal to sense perception to create an impression

metaphor

an imaginative comparison consisting of the stated or implied equivalence of two dissimilar things.

lyric

a brief poem expressing the personal views of a single speaker on a particular topic

sonnet

a lyric poem consisting of 14 lines in a specific rhyme pattern

dirge

a short poem consisting of lament or mourning on someone’s death, frequently intended to be sung (elegy)

biblical allusion

refers to people, places, events, or passages from the Bible

satire

corrective ridicule in literature, or in a work that is designed to correct an evil by means or ridicule

dialect

the manner of speech characteristic of a certain area or class

occasional verse

poetry written to enhance or make memorable a particular occasion, normally public and contemporary

verbal irony

occurs when speaker’s meanig differs from what he expresses in words.

conceit

an unusually striking comparison carried out in a considerable detail.