Guide to Literary Terms and Techniques – Vocabulary Review

129 vocabulary flashcards covering major literary terms and techniques discussed in the lecture transcript.

Alexandrine

An iambic hexameter line (six iambic feet); final line of a Spenserian stanza.

Allegory

A narrative in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities, giving both literal and symbolic meanings.

Alliteration

Repetition of similar consonant sounds, usually on stressed syllables, for musical effect and emphasis.

Allusion

A reference to a person, place, event, or literary work assumed to be familiar to the reader.

Analogy

A comparison made to show similarities between two things, often for explanation or persuasion.

Antagonist

The character or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative.

Antithesis

Balancing of two contrasting ideas in parallel grammatical structures.

Aphorism

A concise, pointed statement expressing a clever observation about life.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman.

Aside

In drama, a remark spoken to the audience (or undertone) unheard by other characters onstage.

Assonance

Repetition of similar vowel sounds within words, especially in poetry.

Atmosphere

The prevailing mood or feeling of a literary work, often created through setting.

Autobiography

A person’s narrative account of his or her own life written for publication.

Ballad

A narrative poem, often meant to be sung; originally a folk form later imitated in literary ballads.

Ballad Stanza

Four-line stanza with rhyme on lines 2 and 4; lines 1 & 3 have four stresses, 2 & 4 have three.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Caesura

A pause or break within a line of poetry.

Canto

A major division or section of a long poem.

Caricature

A depiction that exaggerates or distorts features for comic or ridiculous effect.

Carpe Diem Tradition

Literary theme urging readers to “seize the day” and live for the moment.

Characterization

The methods an author uses to reveal a character’s personality.

Classicism

Artistic movement valuing reason, clarity, balance, and order, modeled on ancient Greece and Rome.

Climax

The point of greatest intensity or turning point in a narrative’s plot.

Comedy

A literary work that ends happily, often exposing human folly and restoring social harmony.

Conceit

An elaborate or startling metaphor comparing two very dissimilar things; extended through a poem.

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces; can be external or internal, central to plot.

Connotation

The emotional associations or suggested meanings of a word beyond its literal definition.

Consonance

Repetition of similar consonant sounds within or at the ends of words; a kind of slant rhyme.

Couplet

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry; a heroic couplet is in iambic pentameter.

Denotation

The literal, dictionary meaning of a word.

Dénouement

The outcome or resolution of a plot where conflicts are resolved.

Diction

A writer’s choice of words for clarity, effectiveness, and precision.

Dissonance

A harsh, discordant combination of sounds.

Dramatic Monologue

A poem in which a single character speaks to silent listeners, revealing personality and situation.

Elegy

A mournful, formal lyric poem usually lamenting a death or meditating on mortality.

Emblematic Image

A verbal picture with a traditional moral or religious meaning attached.

Epic

A long narrative poem recounting heroic deeds reflecting the values of a culture.

Epigram

A short, witty, pointed statement, often in verse.

Epigraph

A quotation or motto at a work’s beginning that suggests its theme.

Epilogue

A short addition at a work’s end, often revealing the fates of characters.

Epiphany

A moment of sudden insight or revelation experienced by a character.

Epitaph

An inscription on a gravestone or short poem in memory of someone deceased.

Epithet

A descriptive name or phrase characterizing a person or thing, e.g., “Catherine the Great.”

Essay

A short prose work that presents a limited topic from the author’s viewpoint; can be formal or informal.

Exemplum

A brief tale illustrating a moral; often inserted into sermons.

Exposition

Portion of a narrative that provides background information essential to understanding the story.

Fable

A brief tale, often with animal characters, designed to convey a moral lesson.

Farce

A comedy based on a ridiculous situation and crude physical humor.

Figurative Language

Words not meant literally but used to create imaginative comparisons (e.g., metaphor, simile).

Figure of Speech

An expression that uses language imaginatively rather than literally; includes simile, metaphor, etc.

Flashback

An interruption in chronology to present an earlier event or scene.

Foil

A character who contrasts with another, highlighting the latter’s traits.

Foreshadowing

Hints or clues that suggest events to come in a narrative.

Free Verse

Poetry without regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect.

Iambic Pentameter

A line of five iambic feet (unstressed + stressed); most common English verse line.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses, creating mental pictures.

Incremental Repetition

Repetition of a line with slight variation to advance a ballad’s narrative.

In Medias Res

Storytelling technique that begins in the middle of the action.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme occurring within a single line of poetry.

Inversion

Reversal of normal word order to achieve emphasis or meter.

Invocation

A poet’s call to a muse or deity for inspiration, often at an epic’s start.

Irony

Contrast between appearance and reality; includes verbal, dramatic, and situational types.

Kenning

Old English metaphorical phrase describing something indirectly, e.g., “whale’s home” for sea.

Lyric

A short poem expressing personal thoughts or feelings with musical qualities.

Masque

An elaborate dramatic entertainment with music, dance, and spectacle popular in 16th–17th-century England.

Maxim

A concise statement of a rule of conduct or general truth.

Melodrama

Drama with stereotyped characters, exaggerated emotions, and a conflict of all-good vs. all-evil.

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two unlike things without using like or as.

Metaphysical Poetry

17th-century verse marked by witty, ingenious comparisons and complex imagery (e.g., John Donne).

Meter

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

Metonymy

Figure of speech in which something closely associated stands for the thing itself (e.g., “crown” for king).

Miracle Play

Medieval religious drama based on saints’ lives or biblical history.

Mock Epic

A comic work that treats a trivial subject in the lofty style of an epic.

Morality Play

Medieval drama in which virtues and vices are personified to teach moral lessons.

Motif

A recurring element (image, word, situation) that contributes to a work’s theme.

Motivation

The reasons behind a character’s actions, stated or implied.

Myth

Traditional story involving gods or supernatural beings explaining natural phenomena or cultural beliefs.

Narrative Poem

A poem that tells a story, such as an epic or ballad.

Narrator

The voice that tells a story; may be first-person or third-person.

Naturalism

An extreme form of realism depicting life as determined by environment and heredity.

Neoclassicism

17th–18th-century revival of classical principles emphasizing order, reason, and decorum.

Novel

A lengthy fictional prose narrative with complex characters and plot.

Octave

An eight-line stanza; first part of an Italian sonnet.

Ode

A formal, often lengthy lyric poem praising or honoring a subject.

Onomatopoeia

A word whose sound imitates its meaning (e.g., hiss, clang).

Ottava Rima

Eight-line stanza with abababcc rhyme scheme.

Oxymoron

A brief phrase combining contradictory terms (e.g., “sweet sorrow”).

Paradox

A seemingly self-contradictory statement that reveals a truth.

Parallelism

Use of similar grammatical structures to express related ideas.

Parody

Humorous imitation of a literary work, style, or subject.

Pastoral

Poem idealizing shepherds and rural life; an “antipastoral” treats it realistically.

Pathos

That quality which evokes pity or compassion in a literary work.

Personification

Giving human traits to nonhuman entities.

Petrarchan Sonnet

Italian sonnet with octave and sestet, usually abbaabba cdecde rhyme scheme.

Plot

The sequence of related events in a narrative, including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Point of View

The perspective from which a story is told (first-person, third-person limited, or omniscient).

Protagonist

The main character around whom the action centers and with whom readers often identify.

Psalm

A sacred song or lyric poem of praise to God, especially those in the biblical Book of Psalms.

Pun

A play on words exploiting multiple meanings or similar sounds for humorous effect.