English Literary Terms
Term | Definition |
adage | |
allegory | A story that can stand on its own merits but also illustrating an idea or a moral principle in which objects and/or characters take on symbolic meanings NOTE: While allegory utilizes symbolism, it is more. Allegory tells a story with characters and events that represent ideas or events. |
alliteration | the use in close succession of repeated (two or more) initial consonant sounds, creating a literary effect, such as mood, foreshadowing, or imagery |
allusion | a reference, explicit or implicit, to something in literature or history; the author expects the reader will know the reference |
anaphora | a device that utilizes repetition of a word or phrase at the BEGINNING of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases; used to emphasize an idea |
antithesis | |
anthropomorphism | the literal attribution of human characteristics to animals and other non-human things (or deities) for the purpose of characterization; the non-human entities actually do human things, such as talking, or falling in love Anthropomorphism is a type of personification used by an author who wants to do more than create imagery. The author essentially makes the non-human thing a character in the story. If you think of White’s Charlotte’s Web, the animals are characters, and while Fern (the human) cannot understand the animals’ words, the reader’s ability to do so increases meaning. Conversely, when Wordsworth writes about 10,000 daffodils “Tossing their heads in sprightly dance,” he creates imagery of the flowers’ stems swaying and their blooms moving back and forth like faces. He does not do so to have them speak or participate in plot; instead, he wants the reader to imagine the movement he is describing by comparing it to a human activity they would easily recognize and recall. |
apostrophe | |
aside | |
archetype | derived from the studies and writings of psychologist Carl Jung who believed humanity’s collective unconscious or memory of universal experiences influences all that is created
2.) archetypes function as a device that intends to create more complex characterization |
ballad | |
blank verse | |
cacophony | |
characterization
| the process by which the writer creates and reveals the unique characteristics of each character the information about a character that the author reveals in a straightforward manner; uses another character, narrator, or the protagonist himself to tell the readers or audience about the character information about a character that the audience must deduce or infer for themselves by observing the character’s thought process, behavior, speech, way of talking, appearance, and manner of communication with other characters, as well as by discerning the response of other characters towards the character a round character exhibits layers of personality; writers describe these physically and mentally; audiences can sympathize, associate with, or relate to this kind of character, as they seem real a flat character does not change much from the start of the narrative to its end; often said not to have any emotional depth; authors sometime use stereotypes, a form of flat character round vs. flat is best understood not as one vs. the other but as a spectrum instead dynamic characters face trials and learn (CHANGE) from experiences; dynamic characters are often also round static characters do not undergo inner changes, or undergo little change the protagonist is the central character or leading figure; sometimes a hero to the audience or readers; a dynamic character; drives and interacts with the (central) conflict most the antagonist is a character, or a group of characters, which stands in opposition to the protagonist; the word itself means rival or opponent; often called the villain; often a foil to the protagonist |
colloquialism | |
couplet | two lines of verse that present a thought; usually rhyming but not always; can be a single poem or stanza (often a final stanza with concluding thought) |
dactylic hexameter | |
elegy | |
end-stopped line | a poetic device that creates in a line of poetry a pause at the end of a unit of thought; it is sometimes expressed by punctuation mark; opposite of enjambment |
enjambment | a poetic device that preserves the flow of a complete thought from one line of poetry into the next without pause before reaching completion; opposite of end-stopped line |
epic | from the Ancient Greek adjective, epikos, which means poetic story...an epic is a long narrative poem with the following characteristics:
NOTE: Epics and ballads are both narrative poems, but ballads are not as long and are often meant to be sung and usually employ more simple rather than grandiose language. |
epigraph | |
epistolary | |
epistrophe | |
epithet | a word or phrase that describes a place, a thing, or a person in such a way that it helps in making its characteristics more prominent; also known as a “by-name” or “descriptive title”; when misused, racial or ethnic slurs become examples |
eponym | a word derived from a name, or a name that becomes a word, or a word formed by combining a name with some other word; or a person after whom an invention or place or other object is named NOTE: Eponyms are usually capitalized. |
equivocation | |
essay | |
euphemism | |
exemplum | |
figurative language | language that relies on figures of speech (such as simile, personification, imagery, and others) and is not understood literally; must be interpreted for intended effect; opposite of literal language |
foil | character who sets off the main character or other characters by comparison; much can be learned about each by comparing and contrasting the actions of the two |
foreshadowing | the use of words, phrases, conditions, and events which function as hints as the work unfolds; hints often refer to something that will happen without revealing the details or spoiling the suspense; often noticed by strong readers but sometimes not realized until later in the text as the reader thinks back |
frame story/tale | |
free verse | poetry that is not controlled by patterns, such as meter or rhythm and does not rhyme in fixed form; different from blank verse in that it has rhythm but not rhyme |
hamartia | this literary device reflects the fatal flaw that leads to a character’s downfall; hamartia can connect to a characteristic, such as greed or hubris, or it can relate to a single error or misjudgment a character makes |
hubris | extreme pride and arrogance shown by a character, which ultimately brings about his downfall |
hyperbole | |
iambic pentameter | |
idiom | |
imagery | groups of words (both literal and figurative) used by authors to create a sensory recognition (see, smell, hear, taste, touch) by the reader |
in medias res | this Latin phrase means “in the midst of things” and refers to an author’s choice to narrate a story from the middle after supposing that the audience are aware of past events |
invocation | a request or appeal for help from someone, especially a god, sometimes as part of a religious ceremony; a common element of epic poetry as the writer calls to a muse for assistance in telling the tale |
irony
| situational irony = an event or condition in which incongruity exists between actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate, or between what is anticipated and what actually comes to pass |
literal language | language that can be understood in its actual sense; the opposite is figurative language |
memoir | |
metaphor | a comparison of two unlike things that share some common characteristics, created by substituting a figurative term for the literal term |
meter | |
mood | the emotional response of a reader to a piece of text; writers create mood through description, setting, character reactions, and conflict resolution, among others; mood is described with adjectives, such as peaceful, pensive, lonely, or hopeful; mood = me, the reader whereas tone = author’s perspective |
monologue | |
motif | |
myth | Myth is a traditional story whose
|
narrative | narrative = story a report or tale of related events presented to listeners or readers, in words arranged in a logical sequence. A story is taken as a synonym of narrative; told by a narrator. |
novella | |
octave | |
ode | |
onomatopoeia | A literary device wherein the sound of a word echoes the sound it represents. The words "splash," "knock," and "roar" are examples. |
parable | |
paradox | |
parody | |
pathetic fallacy | |
personification | The term itself refers to an umbrella of devices, all of which attribute to non-human things the characteristics of humans. Personification as one of the strands of devices refers to the author’s use of figurative language to attribute to non-human things attributes that are human for the purpose of sensory imagery (rather than characterization or emotion). When Wordsworth uses this device to say that the tulips are “Tossing their heads and sprightly dance,” he does so to help the reader imagine what their movement looks like, not to create a character. |
perspective | relates to a person’s view on a topic; in literature, we discuss each author’s perspective; when analyzing fiction, a reader would be wise not to assume that the text presents a set of facts that are objective in the world of the story, but rather to remember that information is filtered through an author, creating characters who see things in particular ways |
quatrain | four lines of verse that function either as a poem or as a stanza within a larger poem; can feature rhyme scheme or be free verse |
refrain | |
rhetorical question | authors use these for effect with no answer expected |
rondeau | |
rhyme scheme | |
satire | |
sestet | |
short story | |
sibilance | |
simile | a figure of speech in which two essentially dissimilar objects or concepts are expressly compared with one another through the use of like or as this extended comparison – often 4 to 6 lines – of two unlike things using like or as works as an analogy, helping the reader better understand or imagine a character or action by comparing it to a natural event https://penandthepad.com/epic-homeric-simile-the-odyssey-2321.html |
soliloquy | |
sonnet | |
surrealism | |
suspension of disbelief | |
symbolism | |
theme | the author’s central message about life in a piece of literary fiction; usually implied rather than directly stated; should be expressed academically as a complete sentence |
theodicy | “justifying god” the reason for why a perfect, almighty being allows bad things to happen. |
thesis | a statement in a nonfiction work that a writer intends to support and prove |
tone | the author’s perspective or attitude towards the topic being written about; by analyzing word choices (primarily, but also through punctuation and sentence structures), readers can infer and describe tone |
tragedy | |
trochaic tetrameter | |
understatement | |
vernacular | |
volta | |
zoomorphism |
Term | Definition |
adage | |
allegory | A story that can stand on its own merits but also illustrating an idea or a moral principle in which objects and/or characters take on symbolic meanings NOTE: While allegory utilizes symbolism, it is more. Allegory tells a story with characters and events that represent ideas or events. |
alliteration | the use in close succession of repeated (two or more) initial consonant sounds, creating a literary effect, such as mood, foreshadowing, or imagery |
allusion | a reference, explicit or implicit, to something in literature or history; the author expects the reader will know the reference |
anaphora | a device that utilizes repetition of a word or phrase at the BEGINNING of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases; used to emphasize an idea |
antithesis | |
anthropomorphism | the literal attribution of human characteristics to animals and other non-human things (or deities) for the purpose of characterization; the non-human entities actually do human things, such as talking, or falling in love Anthropomorphism is a type of personification used by an author who wants to do more than create imagery. The author essentially makes the non-human thing a character in the story. If you think of White’s Charlotte’s Web, the animals are characters, and while Fern (the human) cannot understand the animals’ words, the reader’s ability to do so increases meaning. Conversely, when Wordsworth writes about 10,000 daffodils “Tossing their heads in sprightly dance,” he creates imagery of the flowers’ stems swaying and their blooms moving back and forth like faces. He does not do so to have them speak or participate in plot; instead, he wants the reader to imagine the movement he is describing by comparing it to a human activity they would easily recognize and recall. |
apostrophe | |
aside | |
archetype | derived from the studies and writings of psychologist Carl Jung who believed humanity’s collective unconscious or memory of universal experiences influences all that is created
2.) archetypes function as a device that intends to create more complex characterization |
ballad | |
blank verse | |
cacophony | |
characterization
| the process by which the writer creates and reveals the unique characteristics of each character the information about a character that the author reveals in a straightforward manner; uses another character, narrator, or the protagonist himself to tell the readers or audience about the character information about a character that the audience must deduce or infer for themselves by observing the character’s thought process, behavior, speech, way of talking, appearance, and manner of communication with other characters, as well as by discerning the response of other characters towards the character a round character exhibits layers of personality; writers describe these physically and mentally; audiences can sympathize, associate with, or relate to this kind of character, as they seem real a flat character does not change much from the start of the narrative to its end; often said not to have any emotional depth; authors sometime use stereotypes, a form of flat character round vs. flat is best understood not as one vs. the other but as a spectrum instead dynamic characters face trials and learn (CHANGE) from experiences; dynamic characters are often also round static characters do not undergo inner changes, or undergo little change the protagonist is the central character or leading figure; sometimes a hero to the audience or readers; a dynamic character; drives and interacts with the (central) conflict most the antagonist is a character, or a group of characters, which stands in opposition to the protagonist; the word itself means rival or opponent; often called the villain; often a foil to the protagonist |
colloquialism | |
couplet | two lines of verse that present a thought; usually rhyming but not always; can be a single poem or stanza (often a final stanza with concluding thought) |
dactylic hexameter | |
elegy | |
end-stopped line | a poetic device that creates in a line of poetry a pause at the end of a unit of thought; it is sometimes expressed by punctuation mark; opposite of enjambment |
enjambment | a poetic device that preserves the flow of a complete thought from one line of poetry into the next without pause before reaching completion; opposite of end-stopped line |
epic | from the Ancient Greek adjective, epikos, which means poetic story...an epic is a long narrative poem with the following characteristics:
NOTE: Epics and ballads are both narrative poems, but ballads are not as long and are often meant to be sung and usually employ more simple rather than grandiose language. |
epigraph | |
epistolary | |
epistrophe | |
epithet | a word or phrase that describes a place, a thing, or a person in such a way that it helps in making its characteristics more prominent; also known as a “by-name” or “descriptive title”; when misused, racial or ethnic slurs become examples |
eponym | a word derived from a name, or a name that becomes a word, or a word formed by combining a name with some other word; or a person after whom an invention or place or other object is named NOTE: Eponyms are usually capitalized. |
equivocation | |
essay | |
euphemism | |
exemplum | |
figurative language | language that relies on figures of speech (such as simile, personification, imagery, and others) and is not understood literally; must be interpreted for intended effect; opposite of literal language |
foil | character who sets off the main character or other characters by comparison; much can be learned about each by comparing and contrasting the actions of the two |
foreshadowing | the use of words, phrases, conditions, and events which function as hints as the work unfolds; hints often refer to something that will happen without revealing the details or spoiling the suspense; often noticed by strong readers but sometimes not realized until later in the text as the reader thinks back |
frame story/tale | |
free verse | poetry that is not controlled by patterns, such as meter or rhythm and does not rhyme in fixed form; different from blank verse in that it has rhythm but not rhyme |
hamartia | this literary device reflects the fatal flaw that leads to a character’s downfall; hamartia can connect to a characteristic, such as greed or hubris, or it can relate to a single error or misjudgment a character makes |
hubris | extreme pride and arrogance shown by a character, which ultimately brings about his downfall |
hyperbole | |
iambic pentameter | |
idiom | |
imagery | groups of words (both literal and figurative) used by authors to create a sensory recognition (see, smell, hear, taste, touch) by the reader |
in medias res | this Latin phrase means “in the midst of things” and refers to an author’s choice to narrate a story from the middle after supposing that the audience are aware of past events |
invocation | a request or appeal for help from someone, especially a god, sometimes as part of a religious ceremony; a common element of epic poetry as the writer calls to a muse for assistance in telling the tale |
irony
| situational irony = an event or condition in which incongruity exists between actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate, or between what is anticipated and what actually comes to pass |
literal language | language that can be understood in its actual sense; the opposite is figurative language |
memoir | |
metaphor | a comparison of two unlike things that share some common characteristics, created by substituting a figurative term for the literal term |
meter | |
mood | the emotional response of a reader to a piece of text; writers create mood through description, setting, character reactions, and conflict resolution, among others; mood is described with adjectives, such as peaceful, pensive, lonely, or hopeful; mood = me, the reader whereas tone = author’s perspective |
monologue | |
motif | |
myth | Myth is a traditional story whose
|
narrative | narrative = story a report or tale of related events presented to listeners or readers, in words arranged in a logical sequence. A story is taken as a synonym of narrative; told by a narrator. |
novella | |
octave | |
ode | |
onomatopoeia | A literary device wherein the sound of a word echoes the sound it represents. The words "splash," "knock," and "roar" are examples. |
parable | |
paradox | |
parody | |
pathetic fallacy | |
personification | The term itself refers to an umbrella of devices, all of which attribute to non-human things the characteristics of humans. Personification as one of the strands of devices refers to the author’s use of figurative language to attribute to non-human things attributes that are human for the purpose of sensory imagery (rather than characterization or emotion). When Wordsworth uses this device to say that the tulips are “Tossing their heads and sprightly dance,” he does so to help the reader imagine what their movement looks like, not to create a character. |
perspective | relates to a person’s view on a topic; in literature, we discuss each author’s perspective; when analyzing fiction, a reader would be wise not to assume that the text presents a set of facts that are objective in the world of the story, but rather to remember that information is filtered through an author, creating characters who see things in particular ways |
quatrain | four lines of verse that function either as a poem or as a stanza within a larger poem; can feature rhyme scheme or be free verse |
refrain | |
rhetorical question | authors use these for effect with no answer expected |
rondeau | |
rhyme scheme | |
satire | |
sestet | |
short story | |
sibilance | |
simile | a figure of speech in which two essentially dissimilar objects or concepts are expressly compared with one another through the use of like or as this extended comparison – often 4 to 6 lines – of two unlike things using like or as works as an analogy, helping the reader better understand or imagine a character or action by comparing it to a natural event https://penandthepad.com/epic-homeric-simile-the-odyssey-2321.html |
soliloquy | |
sonnet | |
surrealism | |
suspension of disbelief | |
symbolism | |
theme | the author’s central message about life in a piece of literary fiction; usually implied rather than directly stated; should be expressed academically as a complete sentence |
theodicy | “justifying god” the reason for why a perfect, almighty being allows bad things to happen. |
thesis | a statement in a nonfiction work that a writer intends to support and prove |
tone | the author’s perspective or attitude towards the topic being written about; by analyzing word choices (primarily, but also through punctuation and sentence structures), readers can infer and describe tone |
tragedy | |
trochaic tetrameter | |
understatement | |
vernacular | |
volta | |
zoomorphism |
