accismus
a form of irony in which a person feigns indifference to or pretends to refusesomething he or she desires
acronym
a word formed from the initial letters of words and pronounced as a separate word
acrostic
verse in which certain letters such as the first in each line form a word or message
Agrarians
person who favors an agricultural way of life and government policies that support agricultural interests
agroikos
Rustic
alliteration
Repetition of initial consonant sounds
allusion
A reference to another work of literature
alterity
the state of being other or different
otherness
ambiguity
An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way.
anaphora
A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines
Anglo-Norman Period
the period in English literature between 1100 and 1350
anthology
A collection of various writings
apostrophe
A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply
auditory
Having to do with the sense of hearing
Augustan Age
is a style of English literature produced during the reigns of Queen Anne
ballad
A narrative poem written in four-line stanzas
baroque
An artistic style of the seventeenth century characterized by complex forms
bathos
Insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity
Beat Generation
Group highlighted by writers and artist who stressed spontaneity and spirituality instead of apathy and conformity.
Dead Sea Scrolls
A collection of written scrolls (containing nearly all of the Old Testament) found in a cave near the Dead Sea in the late 1940s.
dactylic
A 3 syllable foot
1st syllable is stressed. next 2 are unstressed. ex. "merrily
": MER - ri - ly
couplet
A pair of rhymed lines that may or may not constitute a separate stanza in a poem.
controlling image
an image or metaphor that runs throughout and determines the form or nature of a literary work
consonance
Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.
connotation
All the meanings
concrete poetry
poetry that is visually arranged to represent a topic
concordance
An alphabetical list of the most pertinent works in a given text and a notation of where the words might be found within that text
conceit
A fanciful expression
chiasmus
A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in
chiaroscuro
An Italian word designating the contrast of dark and light in a painting
carpe diem
"Seize the day"
a Latin phrase implying that one must live for the present moment
for tomorrow may be too late.
caesura
A natural pause or break in a line of poetry
bowdlerize
(v.) to remove material considered offensive (from a book
blood and thunder
A class of work specializing in bloodshed and violence. Many of these have to do with crime and high emotion. Sometimes abbr. to "blood
Bildungsroman
A German word referring to a novel structured as a series of events that take place as the hero travels in quest of a goal
biblical allusion
reference from the Bible
denotation
Literal meaning of a word
dénouement
In a plot
Early Tudor Period
War of the Roses ends in English with Henry VII claiming the throne - Martin Luther's split with roman Catholic church marks emergence of Protestantism - first Protestant church in England - Edmund Spenser (poet)
Edwardian Age
The period between Queen Victoria's death and WWI and named in honor of King Edward VII. The attitude of the people was critical and questioning. There was a growing distrust and there was a deep-felt need to examine institutions.
elision
Elision refers to the leaving out of an unstressed syllable or vowel
English sonnet
3 Quatrains and an ending couplet. Rhyme scheme of abab
enjambment
A line having no pause or end punctuation but having uninterrupted grammatical meaning continuing into the next line.
Enlightenment
18th century movement led by French intellectuals who advocated reason as the universal source of knowledge and truth
euphemism
An indirect
existentialism
A philosophy based on the idea that people give meaning to their lives through their choices and actions
eye rhyme
Depends on spelling rather than sound
words that look like they should rhyme
but do not
fabliau
A short comic tale with a bawdy element
fairy tale
A narrative that is made up of fantastic characters and creatures
Federalist Age
Period between formation of National government and the 2nd revolution. "Of Jacksonian Democracy (because of dominance in Red Party") "Era of Good Feeling"
Naturalistic
Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
feminine rhyme
Lines rhymed by their final two syllables.
figurative language
A form of language use in which writers and speakers convey something other than the literal meaning of their words.
flashback
A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events
Fleshly School
name given by Robert Buchanan to a realistic
foot
A unit of rhythm or meter
the division in verse of a group of syllables
one of which is long or accented.
Frontier Literature
Writing about the American frontier and frontier life. Up to 1890
Geneva School
Critics who began to see literary work as a series of existential expressions of the author's conscience. Major writers: Georges Poulet
Graveyard School
Eighteenth century poets who wrote poems about death and immorality. Wrote with a tone of gloom. Major writers: Thomas Parnell
Great Awakening
(1730s and 1740s) Religious movement characterized by emotional preaching (Jonathan Edwards & George Whitefield). The first cultural movement to unite the Thirteen Colonies. Associated with the democratization of religion.
Great Chain of Being
European idea that every species was a link on a chain extending from lowest forms to humans and on to spiritual beings. All links and been designed at the same time during creation and would never change. Once all the links were discovered and described
Grimm's Law
The law was a systematic and coherent formulation
separates Latin from Old English and Germanic
so we can tell which words were introduced before and after
Grub Street
An area in London during the restoration that was associated with "hack writers" and low end publishing houses. Produced low quality literature for the masses
Harlem Renaissance
A period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished
heroic quatrain
Four lines of iambic pentameter
abab
heteromerous rhyme
Also called mosaic
hoax
An act intended to fool or deceive others
hyperbole
exaggeration for effect
iambic pentameter
A metrical pattern in poetry which consists of five iambic feet per line. (an iamb
imagery
Description that appeals to the senses (sight
implied action
phrases that require the listener to make assumptions about what probably happened
in medias res
Action on the stage begins "in the middle"
Industrial Revolution
A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.
Inkhornists
A group of Renaissance period writers who introduced heavy Latin and Greek words into the English vocabulary.
inversion
the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.
invocation
An address to deity for aid. Epics particularly
Irish Literary Revival
The literary movement immediately associated with the Abbey Theater and William Butler Yeats.
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