APE Vocab
masculine ending
"'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."
feminine ending
"'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the housing, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mousing."
catachresis
"A man that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green."—Bacon
loose sentence
"Always pleading at the heart's door, the lover waits patiently for the queen."
chiasmus
"By day the frolic, and the dance by night."
catachresis
"His complexion is perfect gallows"--Shakespeare, (Tempest 1.1.33)
archaism
"Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!" Eftsoons his hand dropt he.
chiasmus
"I lead the life I love; I love the life I lead."
meiosis
"I was somewhat worried when the psychopath ran toward me with a chainsaw."
catachresis
"I will sing victories for you."
catachresis
"Joe will have kittens when he hears this!"
chiasmus
"Naked I rose from the earth; to the grave I fall clothed."
catachresis
"O, I could lose all Father now"--Ben Jonson, on the death of his seven-year old son
catachresis
"The Oriel Common Room stank of logic" --Cardinal Newman
catachresis
"The voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses" --e.e. cummings
trochaic
"Thére they áre, my fífty men and wómen.
hron-rade
"whale-road"
dactylic
"Éve, with her básket, was / Déep in the bélls and grass."
denoument
A French word meaning "unknotting" or "unwinding,"
allusion
A casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature, often without explicit identification.
deus ex machina
A cavalry brigade's unexpected arrival to drive away the marauding bandits at the conclusion, with no previous hint of the cavalry's existence, would be a ________ conclusion
foil
A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character
deus ex machina
A classical Greek actor, portraying one of the Greek gods in a play, might be lowered out of the sky onto the stage and then use his divine powers to solve all the mortals' problems
lampoon
A coarse or crude satire ridiculing the appearance or character of another person
comedy of manners
A comic drama consisting of five or three acts in which the attitudes and customs of a society are critiqued and satirized according to high standards of intellect and morality
imagery
A common term of variable meaning, imagery includes the "mental pictures" that readers experience with a passage of literature
metaphor
A comparison or analogy stated in such a way as to imply that one object is another one, figuratively speaking
catachresis
A completely impossible figure of speech or an implied metaphor that results from combining other extreme figures of speech such as hyperbole, synesthesia, and metonymy
idyll
A composition in verse or prose presenting an idealized story of happy innocence
motif
A conspicuous recurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in works of literature
caricature
A depiction in which a character's characteristics or features are so deliberately exaggerated as to render them absurd
figurative language
A deviation from what speakers of a language understand as the ordinary or standard use of words in order to achieve some special meaning or effect
melodrama
A dramatic form characterized by excessive sentiment, exaggerated emotion, sensational and thrilling action, and an artificially happy ending
limerick
A five-line closed-form poem in which the first two lines consist of anapestic trimeter, which in turn are followed by lines of anapestic dimeter, and a final line in trimeter
kenning
A form of compounding in Old English poetry
litotes
A form of meiosis using a negative statement
epic similie
A formal and sustained simile
villanelle
A genre of poetry consisting of nineteen lines--five tercets and a concluding quatrain
anecdote
A good ____ has a single, definite point, and the setting, dialogue, and characters are usually subordinate to the point of the story
onomatopeoia
A higher level of this is the use of imitative sounds throughout a sentence to create an auditory effect
picaresque novel/picaresque narrative
A humorous novel in which the plot consists of a young knave's misadventures and escapades narrated in comic or satiric scenes
fable
A legend or a short moral story often using animals as characters
enjambent
A line having no pause or end punctuation but having uninterrupted grammatical meaning continuing into the next line
refrain
A line or set of lines at the end of a stanza or section of a longer poem or song that repeat at regular intervals in other stanzas or sections of the same work
chiasmus
A literary scheme in which the author introduces words or concepts in a particular order, then later repeats those terms or similar ones in reversed or backwards order
periodic sentence vs loose sentence
A long sentence that is not grammatically complete (and hence not intelligible to the reader) until the reader reaches the final portion of the sentence
ode
A long, often elaborate stanzaic poem of varying line lengths and sometimes intricate rhyme schemes dealing with a serious subject matter and treating it reverently
neologism
A made-up word that is not a part of normal, everyday vocabulary
catachresis
A man can speak words, but no one can literally speak daggers
bildungsroman
A novel in which an adolescent protagonist comes to adulthood by a process of experience and disillusionment
novel of manners
A novel that describes in detail the customs, behaviors, habits, and expectations of a certain social group at a specific time and place
metaphysical conciet
A particularly unusual metaphor that requires some explanation on the writer's part
caesura
A pause separating phrases within lines of poetry
pun
A play on two words similar in sound but different in meaning
dramatic monologue
A poem in which a poetic speaker addresses either the reader or an internal listener at length
antihero
A protagonist who is a non-hero or the antithesis of a traditional hero
rhetorical question
A question that suggests an answer
allegory
A reading usually involves moral or spiritual concepts that may be more significant than the actual, literal events described in a narrative
meter
A recognizable though varying pattern of stressed syllables alternating with syllables of less stress
homily
A sermon, or a short, exhortatory work to be read before a group of listeners in order to instruct them spiritually or morally
anecdote
A short narrative account of an amusing, unusual, revealing, or interesting event
lyric
A short poem (usually no more than 50-60 lines, and often only a dozen lines long) written in a repeating stanzaic form, often designed to be set to music
epigram
A short, humorous poem, often written in couplets, that makes a satiric point
epithet
A short, poetic nickname in the form of an adjective or adjectival phrase attached to the normal name
consonance
A special type of alliteration in which the repeated pattern of consonants is marked by changes in the intervening vowels
parable
A story or short narrative designed to reveal allegorically some religious principle, moral lesson, psychological reality, or general truth
canto
A sub-division of an epic or narrative poem comparable to a chapter in a novel
mythology
A system of stories about the gods, often explicitly religious in nature, that possibly were once believed to be true by a specific cultural group, but may no longer be believed as literally true by their descendents
terza rima
A three-line stanza form with interlocking rhymes that move from one stanza to the next
haiku
A traditional Japanese poem that consists of three lines
personification
A trope in which abstractions, animals, ideas, and inanimate objects are given human character, traits, abilities, or reactions
extentialism
A twentieth-century philosophy arguing that ethical human beings are in a sense cursed with absolute free will in a purposeless universe
interior monologue
A type of stream of consciousness in which the author depicts the interior thoughts of a single individual in the same order these thoughts occur inside that character's head
genre
A type or category of literature or film marked by certain shared features or conventions
anaphora
A well known example is the Beatitudes in the Bible, where nine statements in a row begin with "Blessed are." ("Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.")
eponym
A word that is derived from the proper name of a person or place
archaism
A word, expression, spelling, or phrase that is out of date in the common speech of an era
burlesque
A work that ridicules a topic by treating something exalted as if it were trivial or viceversa
diction
A writer could call a rock formation by many words--a stone, a boulder, an outcropping, a pile of rocks, a cairn, a mound, or even an "anomalous geological feature."
fable
Aesop is the best-known teller of these stories
humors
After Hippocrates, Galen introduced a new aspect, that of four basic temperaments reflecting the humors: the sanguine (buoyant type); the phlegmatic, (sluggish type); the choleric, (angry and quick-tempered type); and the melancholic (depressed type)
bathos
Alexander Pope coined the usage of ___ to mock the unintentional mishaps of incompetent writers, but later comic authors and poets used ____ intentionally for mirthful effects.
volta
Also called a turn, this is a sudden change in thought, direction, or emotion near the conclusion of a sonnet
quatrain
Also sometimes used interchangeably with "stave,"
recurring symbolic situations
Also, the long journey, the difficult quest or search, the catalog of difficult tasks, the pursuit of revenge, the descent into the underworld, redemptive rituals, fertility rites, the great flood, the End of the World
anastrophe
Alternatively, we can use the term ____ as a reference to entire narratives in which the sequence of events are chopped into sections and then "shuffled" or "scrambled" into an unusual narrative order
metapoetry
Among the Romantic and Enlightenment poets, we find puns on leaves (referring on one hand to the leaves of plants, and on another to the leaves or pages of a book of poetry), feet (referring on one level to the body part, and on another to the metrical feet of a poem), and so on
bard
An ancient Celtic poet, singer and harpist who recited heroic poems by memory
byronic hero
An antihero who is a romanticized but wicked character
canon
An approved or traditional collection of works
pastoral
An artistic composition dealing with the life of shepherds or with a simple, rural existence
characterization
An author or poet's use of description, dialogue, dialect, and action to create in the reader an emotional or intellectual reaction to a character or to make the character more vivid and realistic is___________
imagism
An early twentieth-century artistic movement in the United States and Britain
aesthetic distance
An effect of tone, diction, and presentation in poetry creating a sense of an experience removed from irrelevant or accidental events.
conciet
An elaborate or unusual comparison--especially one using unlikely metaphors, simile, hyperbole, and contradiction
catharsis
An emotional discharge that brings about a moral or spiritual renewal or welcome relief from tension and anxiety
couplet
An especially popular form in later years was the heroic couplet
metafiction
An example is John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman, in which the author interrupts his own narrative to insert himself as a character in the work. Claiming not to like the ending to the tale, the author sets his watch back ten minutes, and the storyline backs up ten minutes so an alternative ending can unfold. The act reminds us that the passionate love affair we are so involved in as readers is a fictional creation of an author at that point when we are most likely to have forgotten that artificiality because of our involvement
periodic sentence vs loose sentence
An example is this sentence by Bret Harte: "And pulseless and cold, with a Derringer by his side and a bullet in his heart, though still calm as in life, beneath the snow lay he who was at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat."
anastrophe
An example of this type of _____ might be the sequence of events in Quentin Tarentino's film Pulp Fiction or Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five.
tmesis
An exception to this generalization is the American poet e. e. cummings (the lack of capitalization in his name is a rhetorical affectation)
persona
An external representation of oneself which might or might not accurately reflect one's inner self, or an external representation of oneself that might be largely accurate, but involves exaggerating certain characteristics and minimizing others
meme
An idea or pattern of thought that "replicates" like a virus by being passed along from one thinker to another
humors
An imbalance among these--blood, phlegm, black bile (or tears), and yellow bile (or choler)--resulted in pain and disease, and good health resulted through a balance of the four of these
epigram
An inscription in verse or prose on a building, tomb, or coin
archetype
An original model or pattern from which other later copies are made, especially a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life
deus ex machina
An unrealistic or unexpected intervention to rescue the protagonists or resolve the story's conflict
point of view
Another common type of narrative is the third-person narrative
metaphor
Another example comes from an old television add from the 1980s urging teenagers not to try drugs. The camera would focus on a close-up of a pair of eggs and a voice would state "This is your brain." In the next sequence, the eggs would be cracked and thrown onto a hot skillet, where the eggs would bubble, burn, and seethe. The voice would state, "This is your brain on drugs." The point of the comparison is fairly clear
frame narrative
Another example is Boccaccio's Decameron, in which the frame narrative consists of a group of Italian noblemen and women fleeing the plague, and the _______ consist of the tales they tell each other to pass the time while they await the disease's passing
metaphor
Another example is how Martin Luther wrote, "A mighty fortress is our God, / A bulwark never failing." (Mighty fortress and bulwark are the two metaphors for God in these lines.)
persona
Another famous _____ is Geoffrey Chaucer's narrator in The Canterbury Tales, who presents himself as poetically inept and somewhat dull
scheme
Any figure of speech that creates its effect in patterns of words or letters in a sentence, rather than twisting the meaning of words
trophe
Any figure of speech that results in a change of meaning
lyric
Any poem having the form and musical quality of a song
character/characterization
Any representation of an individual being presented in a dramatic or narrative work through extended dramatic or verbal representation
pastoral elegy
Appropriate mourners appear to lament the shepherd's death
catharsis
Aristotle writes "Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; . . . through pity [eleos] and fear [phobos] effecting the proper purgation [_____] of these emotions" (Book 6.2).
zeugma
Artfully using a single word (verb or noun) to refer to two different objects grammatically, or artfully using an adjective to refer to two separate nouns, even though the adjective would logically only be appropriate for one of the two
archaism
Artists might choose a ____ over a more familiar word because it is more suitable for meter, for rhyme, for alliteration, or for its associations with the past
gothic literature/gothic novel
As J. A. Cuddon suggests, the conventions of this type of literature include wild and desolate landscapes, ancient buildings such as ruined monasteries; cathedrals; castles with dungeons, torture chambers, secret doors, and winding stairways; apparitions, phantoms, demons, and necromancers; an atmosphere of brooding gloom; and youthful, handsome heroes and fainting (or screaming!) heroines who face off against corrupt aristocrats, wicked witches, and hideous monsters
consonance
As M. H. Abrams illustrates in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, examples include linger, longer, and languor or rider, reader, raider, and ruder
machiavellian
As an adjective, the word refers generally to sneaky, ruthless, and deceitful behavior, especially in regard to a ruler obsessed with power who puts on a surface veneer of honor and trustworthy behavior in order to achieve evil ends
lyric
As an adjective, this can also be applied to any prose or verse characterized by direct, spontaneous outpouring of intense feeling
metaphysical poetry
As an example, John Donne in "The Flea" presents a speaker who attempts to seduce a young maiden. The basis of his argument is the comparison between sex and a flea-bite. In "Holy Sonnet 14," Donne fashions a prayer in which he compares himself to a besieged city
hubris
As long as an individual strives to do and be the best, that individual has arête. As soon as the individual believes he has actually achieved arête, however, he or she has lost that exalted state and fallen into this, unable to recognize personal limitations or the humble need to improve constantly
allusion
Authors assume that the readers will recognize the original sources and relate their meaning to the new context.
allusion
Authors often use _____ to establish a tone, create an implied association, contrast two objects or people, make an unusual juxtaposition of references, or bring the reader into a world of experience outside the limitations of the story itself.
metaphysical poets
Basically, they would not let metrical form interfere with the development of a line of thought
heroic couplet
Because this practice was especially popular in the Neoclassic Period between 1660 and 1790, the heroic couplet is often called neoclassic if the poem originates during this time period
conciet
Before the beginning of the seventeenth century, the term was a synonym for "thought" and roughly equivalent to "idea" or "concept."
character
Careful readers note each ________'s attitude and thoughts, actions and reaction, as well as any language that reveals geographic, social, or cultural background
imagism
Carl Sandburg's "Fog" is an example of an imagist poem, and T. E. Hulme's "Above the Dock."
comedy of manners
Characters are valued according to their linguistic and intellectual prowess
homily
Chaucer himself took two Latin tracts on penitence, translated them, and turned them into a single sermon by placing the text in the mouth of the Parson in "The Parson's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales
irony
Cicero referred to this as "saying one thing and meaning another."
ode
Classical ones are often divided by tone, with Pindaric odes being heroic and ecstatic and Horatian odes being cool, detached, and balanced with criticism
dirge
Closely related to the pastoral elegy, this is shorter than the elegy and often represented as a text meant to be sung aloud
alliteration
Coleridge describes the sacred river Alph in Kubla Khan as "Five miles meandering with a mazy motion," which ____ with the consonant m.
epigram
Coleridge once described this third type using this himself: "A dwarfish whole, / Its body brevity, / and wit its soul."
paradox
Common ones seem to reveal a deeper truth through their contradictions, such as noting that "without laws, we can have no freedom."
free verse
Commonly called vers libre in French
diction
Compare with concrete diction and abstract diction
burlesque
Compare with parody
meter
Compositions written in ____ are said to be in verse
concrete diction/concrete imagery
Contrast with abstract diction / abstract imagery
jargon
Contrast with dialect and colloquial
allegory
Contrast with fable, parable, and symbolism
gothic literature/gothic novel
Conventionally, female characters are threatened by powerful or impetuous male figures, and description functions through a metonymy of fear by presenting details designed to evoke horror, disgust, or terror
tmesis
Critics note that cummings makes particularly potent use of tmesis in poems like "she being Brand / -new", in which words like "brand-new" and "O. K" are artificially divided across separate lines of text to create an unusual, broken reading experience
terza rima
Dante chose this tripartite structure as the basic poetic unit of his trilogy, The Divine Comedy
apostrophe
Death, of course, is a phenomenon rather than a proud person
malapropism
Dogberry the Watchman in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing says, "Comparisons are odorous," and later, "It shall be siffigance"
metadrama
Drama in which the subject of the play is dramatic art itself, especially when such material breaks up the illusion of watching reality
characters
E. M. Forster describes ______ as flat or round
foot
Each unit of stress and unstressed syllables
free verse
Early poetry that is similar to this includes the Authorized Bible translations of the Psalms and the Song of Songs; Milton clearly experimented with something like free verse in Lycidas and Samson Agonistes as well
high comedy
Elegant comedies characterized by witty banter and sophisticated dialogue rather than the slapstick physicality and blundering common to low comedy
anachronism
Elizabethan theater often intentionally used ____in its costuming, a tradition that survives today when Shakespeare's plays are performed in biker garb or in Victorian frippery
iambic
Example: "The cúrfew tólls the knéll of párting dáy."
chorus
Examples are found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Bible, Greek, Latin, and Provençal verse, and in many, many ballads
folklore
Examples in American culture include the story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree; George Washington throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac river; Paul Bunyan cutting lumber with his blue ox, Babe; Pecos Bill roping a twister; and Johnny Appleseed planting apples across the west over a 120-year period
homily
Examples include Augustine's sermons during the patristic period of literature
epic similie
Examples include Homer's comparison between Odysseus clinging to the rocks and an octopus with pebbles stuck in its tentacles, or Virgil's comparison between the city of Carthage and a bee-hive
personification
Examples include Keat's treatment of the vase in "Ode on a Grecian Urn," in which the urn is treated as a "sylvan historian, who canst thus express / A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme," or Sylvia Plath's "The Moon and the Yew Tree," in which the moon "is a face in its own right, / White as a knuckle and terribly upset. / It drags the sea after it like a dark crime."
antithesis
Examples might be, "I burn and I freeze," or "Her character is white as sunlight, black as midnight."
concrete diction/concrete imagery
Ezra Pound and T. E. Hulme attempted to create a theory of _________
abstract diction/abstract imagery
Ezra Pound and T. E. Hulme attempted to create a theory of concrete poetry. T. S. Eliot added to this school of thought with his theory of the "objective correlative."
anastrophe
Faulkner describes "The old bear . . . not even a mortal but an anachronism indomitable and invincible out of an old dead time."
metafiction
Fiction in which the subject of the story is the act or art of storytelling of itself, especially when such material breaks up the illusion of "reality" in a work
periodic sentence
For example, "For the queen, the lover, pleading always at the heart's door, patiently waits."
hyperbole
For example, "His thundering shout could split rocks," or, "Yo' mama's so fat. . . ."
parable
For example, Melville's Billy Budd demonstrates that absolute good--such as the impressionable, naive young sailor--may not co-exist with absolute evil--the villain Claggart
dialect
For example, Minnesotans say, "you betcha"; Southerners say, "y'all."
anastrophe
For example, Shakespeare speaks of "Figures pedantical" (LLL 5.2.407).
pun
For example, Shakespeare, in Romeo and Juliet, puns upon Romeo's vile death (vile=vial, the vial of poison Romeo consumed)
colloquial
For example, depending on where you live in the United States, a large sandwich might be a hero, a sub, or a hoagie
anticlimax
For example: "Osama Bin Laden: Wanted for Crimes of War, Terrorism, Murder, Conspiracy, and Nefarious Parking Practices."
neologism
For instance, "I hold her as a thing enskied." The word enskied implies that the girl should be placed in the heavens
parallelism
For instance, "King Alfred tried to make the law clear, precise, and equitable." This sentence has parallel structure in use of adjectives
ode
For instance, "Ode to the West Wind" is about the winds that bring change of season in England
mock epic
For instance, Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock gives in hyperbolic language a lengthy account of how a 17th century lord cuts a lady's hair in order to steal a lock of it as a keepsake, leading to all sorts of social backlash when the woman is unhappy with her new hairdo
narrator
For instance, Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist presents a narrative in which the storyteller stands outside the action described
anaphora
For instance, Churchill declared, "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost shall be." The repetition of "We shall. . ." creates a rhetorical effect of solidarity and determination
catachresis
For instance, Hamlet says of Gertrude, "I will speak daggers to her."
apostrophe
For instance, John Donne commands, "Oh, Death, be not proud."
anaphora and epistrophe
For instance, Saint Paul writes to the church at Corinth, "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they the ministers of Christ? I am more."
anastrophe
For instance, T. S. Eliot writes of "arms that wrap about a shawl" rather than "shawls that wrap about an arm" in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."
onomatopeoia
For instance, Tennyson writes in The Princess about "The moan of doves in immemorial elms, / And murmuring of innumerable bees." All the /m/ and /z/ sounds ultimately create that whispering, murmuring effect Tennyson describes
metaphor
For instance, Wordsworth uses this when he states of England, "she is a fen of stagnant waters," which implies something about the state of political affairs in England as well as the island's biomes
malapropism
For instance, a stereotyped black maid in Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan of the Apes series cries out as she falls into the jungle river, "I sho' nuff don't want to be eaten by no river allegories, no sir!"
ellipsis
For instance, an author might write, "The American soldiers killed eight civilians, and the French eight."
onomatopeoia
For instance, buzz, click, rattle, and grunt make sounds akin to the noise they represent
concrete diction/concrete imagery
For instance, calling a fruit "pleasant" or "good" is abstract, while calling a fruit "cool" or "sweet" is _______
abstract diction/abstract imagery
For instance, calling something pleasant or pleasing is abstract, while calling something yellow or sour is concrete.
allusion
For instance, if a teacher were to refer to his class as a horde of Mongols, the students will have no idea if they are being praised or vilified unless they know what the Mongol horde was and what activities it participated in historically.
asteismus
For instance, in Shakespeare's Cymbeline (II,i), Cloten exclaims, "Would he had been one of my rank!" A lord retorts, "To have smell'd like a fool," twisting the meaning of rank from a noun referring to "noble status" to an adjective connoting "a foul smell."
zeugma
For instance, in Shakespeare's Henry V, Fluellen cries, "Kill the boys and the luggage." (The verb kill normally wouldn't be applied to luggage.)
narrator
For instance, in The Adventures of Huck Finn, the voice is of the main character, Huck Finn. It is clear that the historical author, Mark Twain, is creating a fictional voice to be the _____ and tell the story--complete with incorrect grammar, colloquialisms, and youthful perspective
lyric
For instance, in William Wordsworth's "The Solitary Reaper," the reader can guess from the speaker's words that the speaker has come unexpectedly upon a girl reaping and singing in the Scottish Highlands, and that he stops, listens, and thinks awhile before continuing on his way. However, this chain of events is not explicitly a center of plot or extended conflict between protagonist and antagonist. Instead it triggers a moment of contemplation and appreciation. Thus it is not a plot in the normal sense of the word
foil
For instance, in the film Chasing Amy, the character Silent Bob is one of these for his partner, Jake, who is loquacious and foul-mouthed
equivoque
For instance, one epitaph for a bank teller reads "He checked his cash, cashed in his checks, / And left his window. / Who's next?"
genre
For instance, precise examples of theses might include murder mysteries, westerns, sonnets, lyric poetry, epics, tragedies, etc.
euphemism
For instance, saying "Grandfather has gone to a better place" instead of "Grandfather has died."
motif
For instance, the "loathly lady" who turns out to be a beautiful princess is a common motif in folklore, and the man fatally bewitched by a fairy lady is a common folkloric _____ appearing in Keat's "La Belle Dame sans Merci."
idiom
For instance, the English expression, "She has a bee in her bonnet," meaning "she is obsessed," cannot be literally translated into another language word for word
alliteration
For instance, the phrase "buckets of big blue berries" _____ with the consonant b.
eponym
For instance, the sandwich gained its name from its inventor, the fourth Earl of Sandwich
connotation
For instance, the terms civil war, revolution and rebellion have the same denotation; they all refer to an attempt at social or political change. However, civil war carries historical connotations for Americans beyond that of revolution or rebellion
humors
For many centuries the theory of the bodily _____ was held as the basis of medicine; it was much elaborated upon
double entendre
French, "double meaning"
enjambent
French, "straddling,"
euphemism
Frequently, words referring directly to death, unpopular politics, blasphemy, crime, and sexual or excremental activities are replaced by this
bildungsroman
German for "formation novel"
bildungsroman
German term for a coming-of-age story
tmesis
Goldwyn once wrote, "I have but two words to say to your request: Im Possible."
zeugma
Greek "yoking" or "bonding"
allegory
Greek ("speaking otherwise"). The term loosely describes any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning.
cacophony
Greek, "bad sound"
anaphora
Greek, "carried again"
parody
Greek: "beside, subsidiary, or mock song"
parable
Greek: "throwing beside" or "placing beside"
byronic hero
He defies authority and conventional morality, and becomes paradoxically ennobled by his peculiar rejection of virtue
machiavelian
He suggests that, based on the evidence of history and his own personal observations, the rulers that have remained in power have not been kindly, benevolent men concerned with justice and fairness, but rather ruthless individuals willing to do anything to ensure the security of their state and their own personal power
situational irony
However, both the victim and the audience are simultaneously aware of the situation in this type of irony
narrative
However, the fact that a fictional _____ is an imaginary construct does not necessarily mean it isn't concerned with imparting some sort of truth to the reader, as evidenced in fables, anecdotes, and other sorts of these
parallelism
However, the following sentence does not use this: "King Alfred tried to make clear laws that had precision and were equitable."
connotation
I might own four houses I rent to others, but I might call none of these my home, for example
rising meter
Iambs and anapests are called this due to strong stress is at the end
humors
If a phlegmatic disorder was suspected, the doctor might suggest applying various irritants to the nose and mouth to induce violent sneezing, which eliminated the phlegm in a spectacular manner
humors
If excessive yellow bile were the problem, an emetic or vomit-inducing agent would help the patient expel the extra choler from the body
lyric
If literature from every culture through the ages were lumped into a single stack, it is likely that the largest number of writings would be these short verse poems
humors
If the patient were depressed or melancholic, the cure was to prescribe a laxative to purge black bile from the body
myth
If the protagonist is a normal human rather than a supernatural being, the traditional story is usually called a legend rather than a _____
zeugma
If the resulting grammatical construction changes the verb's initial meaning, this is sometimes called syllepsis
myth
If the story concerns supernatural beings who are not deities, but rather spirits, ghosts, fairies, and other creatures, it is usually called a folktale or fairy tale rather than a _____
allegory
If we wish to be more exact, this is an act of interpretation, a way of understanding, rather than a genre in and of itself
imagism
Imagism had its heyday slightly before World War I, but the emphasis on strong, concrete imagery appears in other literary periods as well
imagism
Imagists believed poets should use common, everyday vocabulary, experiment with new rhythm, and use clear, precise, concentrated imagery
elegy
In Christian _____, the lyric reversal often moves from despair and grief to joy when the speaker realizes that death or misfortune is but a temporary barrier separating one from the bliss of eternity
periodic sentence
In English, however, the result can become confusing or comic if the writer loses control, as evidenced in the work of Victorian novelist George Bulwer-Lytton, which has been much mocked by modern readers
tmesis
In English, this rhetorical scheme is fairly rare, since only the compounds of "ever" readily lend themselves to it, but it is much more common in Greek and Latin
haiku
In Japanese, the syllables are further restricted in that each syllable must have three sound units
foil
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Laertes the unthinking man of action is one of these to the intelligent but reluctant Hamlet
anachronism
In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Shakespeare writes the following lines: Brutus: Peace! Count the clock. Cassius: The clock has stricken three (Act II, scene i, lines 193-94).
malapropism
In Sheridan, we find pineapple instead of pinnacle, and we read in Twain's Huckleberry Finn how one character declares, "I was most putrified with astonishment" instead of "petrified," and so on
deus ex machina
In a modern example of this, a writer might reach a climactic moment in which a band of pioneers were attacked by bandits
canon
In addition, the word refers to the writings of an author that generally are accepted as genuine, such as the "Chaucer canon" or the "Shakespeare canon."
lexicon/lexis
In an over-simplified sense, we might say this is a fancy term scholars use when most people would simply say dictionary, i.e., a complete list of words and their definitions
humors
In ancient Greece, Hippocrates postulated that four bodily humors or liquids existed in the body corresponding to the four elements existing in matter. These four liquids determined a human's health and psychology
elegy
In classical Greco-Roman literature, this refers to any poem written in elegiac meter
periodic sentence
In classical Latin or Greek, these sentences were accordingly considered the height of dramatic style
ballad
In common parlance, song hits, folk music, and folktales or any song that tells a story are loosely called _____
machiavellian
In contrast to the medieval ideal of the ruler as God's holy deputy and dispenser of justice, Machiavelli stressed that effective rulers often must engage in evil (or at least immoral) activities to ensure the stability of their rule
low comedy
In contrast with high comedy
aside
In drama, a few words or a short passage spoken by one character to the audience while the other actors on stage pretend their characters cannot hear the speaker's words
denoument
In drama, the term is usually applied to tragedies or to comedies with catastrophes in their plot
pathos
In its critical sense, it signifies a scene or passage designed to evoke the feeling of pity or sympathetic sorrow in a reader or viewer
ellipsis
In its more modern sense, this refers to a punctuation mark indicated by three periods to indicate material missing from a quotation . . . like so
ellipsis
In its oldest sense as a rhetorical device, this refers to the artful omission of a word implied by a previous clause
pathos
In its rhetorical sense, this is a writer or speaker's attempt to inspire an emotional reaction in an audience--usually a deep feeling of suffering, but sometimes joy, pride, anger, humor, patriotism, or any of a dozen other emotions
conciet
In literary terms, the word denotes a fairly elaborate figure of speech, especially an extended comparison involving unlikely metaphors, similes, imagery, hyperbole, and oxymoron
mood
In literature, a feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind--especially the predominating atmosphere or tone of a literary work
humors
In literature, this type of character was a type of flat character in whom a single passion predominated; this interpretation was especially popular in Elizabethan and other Renaissance literature
folklore
In modern days, much academic work with this focuses on reports of UFO abductions, the Chupacabra [goat-chewing monster] legends of Mexico, urban legends, and outbreaks of public hysteria
epithet
In other cases, it appears as a phrase, such as "Odysseus the man-of-many-wiles,"
narrator
In other stories, such as those told in the third-person point of view, scholars use the term _____ to describe the authorial voice set forth, the voice "telling the story to us."
anticlimax
In rhetoric, the effect is frequently intentional and comic
onomatopeoia
In similar ways, poets delight in choosing sounds that match their subject-matter, such as using many clicking k's and c's when describing a rapier duel (to imitate the clack of metal on metal), or using many /s/ sounds when describing a serpent, and so on
deus ex machina
In some genres, this ending is actually a positive and expected trait
catachresis
In spite of that impossibility, readers know Shakespeare means Hamlet will address Gertrude in a painful, contemptuous way
dramatic irony
In that situation, the character acts in a way we recognize to be grossly inappropriate to the actual circumstances, or the character expects the opposite of what the reader knows that fate holds in store, or the character anticipates a particular outcome that unfolds itself in an unintentional way
concrete diction/concrete imagery
In the 20th century, the distinction between concrete and abstract has been a subject of some debate
abstract diction/abstract imagery
In the 20th century, the distinction between concrete and abstract has been a subject of some debate.
homily
In the Renaissance, the content of English sermons was governed by law after King Henry VIII, becoming an avenue for monarchist propaganda
antihero
In the case of the Byronic and Miltonic ____, the ____is a romanticized but wicked character who defies authority, and becomes paradoxically ennobled by his peculiar rejection of virtue
abstract diction/abstract imagery
In the early 1800s, the Romantic poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley once again preferred concreteness.
tmesis
In the movie True Lies, one character states, "I have two words to describe that idea. In Sane."
kenning
In this poetic device, the poet creates a new compound word or phrase to describe an object or activity
canon
In this sense, "___" denotes the entire body of literature traditionally thought to be suitable for admiration and study
humors
In time, any personality aberration or eccentricity was referred to as this
rhythym
In verse this is normally regular; in prose it may or may not be regular
anachronism
Indeed, from surviving illustrations, the acting companies in Elizabethan England appeared to deliberately create ____ in their costumes.
interior monologue
Indeed, it is as if the authorial voice ceases to exist, and the reader directly "overhears" the thought pouring forth randomly from a character's mind
tmesis
Intentionally breaking a word into two parts for emphasis
anastrophe
Inverted order of words or events as a rhetorical scheme
archaism
It also might be attractive as a quick way to defamiliarize an everyday phrase or object.
antithesis
It can be a contrast of opposites: "Evil men fear authority; good men cherish it."
conciet
It gradually came to denote a fanciful idea or a particularly clever remark
hubris
It is a negative term implying both arrogant, excessive self-pride or self-confidence, and also a lack of some important perception or insight due to pride in one's abilities
aside
It is a theatrical convention that the aside is not audible to other characters on stage
catachresis
It is far easier to give examples
paragram
It is often considered a low form of humor, as in various knock-knock jokes or puns such as, "What's homicidal and lives in the sea? Answer: Jack the Kipper."
dramatic monologue
It is similar to the soliloquy in theater, in that both often involve the revelation of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the speaker
narrator
It is tempting to equate the words and sentiments of such a narrator with the opinions of the historical author himself
point of view
It is the method of narration that determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story unfolds
cacophony
It is the opposite of euphony
hubris
It is the opposite of the Greek term arête, which implies a humble and constant striving for perfection and selfimprovement combined with a realistic awareness that such perfection cannot be reached
denoument
It is the unraveling of the main dramatic complications in a play, novel or other work of literature
enlightenment
It rejected untested beliefs, superstition, and the "barbarism" of the earlier medieval period
imagery
It signifies all the sensory perceptions referred to in a poem, whether by literal description, allusion, simile, or metaphor
loose sentence
It tends to follow the subject-verb-object pattern we are accustomed to in English
pastoral
It usually idealized shepherds' lives in order to create an image of peaceful and uncorrupted existence
heroic couplet
It was common practice to string long sequences of heroic couplets together in a pattern of aa, bb, cc, dd, ee, ff
couplet
It was popular from the 1600s through the late 1700s. Much Romantic poetry in the early 1800s used this as well
terza rima
Italian, "third rhyme"
free verse
Its origins are obscure
dialect
Jim comments on "investments": "I put ten dollars on a cow. But I an'gwyne to resk no mo' money in stock. De cow up'n'died on my han's."
metonymy
Journalists use this to refer to the collective decisions of the United States government as "Washington" or when they use the term "the White House" as a shorthand reference for the executive bureaucracy in American government
ode
Keats has a clever inversion of this convention in "Ode on a Grecian Urn," in which his choice of the preposition on implies the poem actually exists in the artwork on the urn itself, rather than as a separate piece of literary art in his poetry
apostrophe
King Lear proclaims, "Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend, / More hideous when thou show'st thee in a child / Than the sea-monster."
concrete diction/concrete imagery
Language that describes qualities that can be perceived with the five senses as opposed to using abstract or generalized language
in media res
Later on in the narrative, the hero will recount verbally to others what events took place earlier
farce
Latin for "stuffed"
in media res
Latin: "In the middle[s] of things"
anastrophe
Lewis Carroll uses _____ in "Jabberwocky," where we hear, "Long time the manxome foe he sought. / So rested he by the Tumtum tree . . . ."
mythology
Like religions everywhere, this often provided etiological and eschatological narratives (see above) to help explain why the world works the way it does, to provide a rationale for customs and observances, to establish set rituals for sacred ceremonies, and to predict what happens to individuals after death
connotation
Likewise, revolution is often applied more generally to scientific or theoretical changes, and it does not necessarily connote violence
canon
Likewise, the Shakespearean ___has only two apocryphal plays (Pericles and the Two Noble Kinsmen) that have gained wide acceptance as authentic Shakespearean works beyond the thirty-six plays contained in the First Folio
metadrama
Likewise, the opening to Taming of the Shrew forcefully emphasizes that the events we see are a fiction, as does Hamlet's plan to use The Mouse-Trap as an ethical litmus test for Claudius: "The play's the thing / wherin I'll catch the conscience of the king."
versification
Literally, the making of verse, the term is often used as another name for prosody
mock epic
Lord Byron's Don Juan gives a lengthy list of the sexual conquests and catastrophes associated with a precocious young lord, Don Juan
interior monologue
M. H. Abrams notes that an example of this can be found in the "Lestrygonian" episode of James Joyce's Ulysses. Here, Leopold Bloom wanders past a candy shop in Dublin, and his thoughts wander back and forth: "Pineapple rock, lemon platt, butter scotch. A sugar-sticky girl shoveling scoopfuls of creams for a christian brother. Some school great. Bad for their tummies. Lozenge and comfit manufacturer to His Majesty the King. God. Save. Our. Sitting on his throne, sucking red jujubes white."
genre
Many bookstores and video stores divide their books or films into this for the convenience of shoppers seeking a specific category of literature
folklore
Many fairy tales in Europe originate here, such as "Snow White" and "Jack and the Beanstalk."
farce
Many literary critics (especially in the Victorian period) have tended to view this as inferior to "high comedy" that involves brilliant dialogue
canon
Many modern critics and teachers argue that women, minorities, and non-Western writers are left out of the literary ___ unfairly
point of view
Many narratives appear in the first person
farce
Many of Shakespeare's early works, such as The Taming of the Shrew, are considered to be one of these
folklore
Many works of literature originated here before the narratives were written down
humors
Medical theory held this imbalance could cause both physical ailments and mental disorders in the victim
allegory
Medieval works were frequently _____ such as the plays Mankind and Everyman. Other important _____ works include mythological ____ like Apuleius' tale of Cupid and Psyche in The Golden Ass and Prudentius' Psychomachiae.
periodic sentence
Milton employs this sentence style in Paradise Lost because he seeks boldly to imitate the features of a classical epic--including the very grammatical structure of the original Latin and Greek works he loves and emulates
epic
Milton's Paradise Lost has been seen as an ____ of Christian culture
byronic hero
Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost is presented in a sympathetic manner as an antihero, as are many of Lord Byron's protagonists (hence the name)
malapropism
Misusing words to create a comic effect or characterize the speaker as being too confused, ignorant, or flustered to use correct diction
pastoral
More generally, this describes the simplicity, charm, and serenity attributed to country life, or any literary convention that places kindly, rural people in nature-centered activities
alliteration
Most frequently, the _____ involves the sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity to each other.
mood
Most pieces of literature have a prevailing ____, but shifts in this prevailing mood may function as a counterpoint, provide comic relief, or echo the changing events in the plot
devil
Mrs. Thompson is the _____.
connotation
Much of poetry involves the poet using _______ that suggests meanings beyond "what the words simply say."
anastrophe
Natalie Dorsch's poem, "Just Because," makes use of extended _____ in a clever way to show how delightfully confused the speaker is after a romantic interlude: I walked up the door, shut the stairs, said my shoes, took off my prayers, turned off my bed, got into the light, all because you kissed me goodnight. Here, she makes use of _____in nearly every line.
concrete diction/concrete imagery
Neoclassical thought tended to value the generality of abstract thought
parables
Non-religious works can be these as well
bathos
Not to be confused with pathos, _____ is a descent in literature in which a poet or writer--striving too hard to be passionate or elevated--falls into trivial or stupid imagery, phrasing, or ideas
heroic couplet
Note that "heroic" in this case has nothing to do with subject-matter. By all means, do not follow in the footsteps of one confused student who mistakenly listed Romeo and Juliet as an example of this
anachronism
Of course, there were no household clocks during Roman times, no more than there were DVD players!
neologism
Often Shakespeare invented new words in his place for artistic reasons
parody
Often the subject-matter of this is comically inappropriate, such as using the elaborate, formal diction of an epic to describe something trivial like washing socks or cleaning a dusty attic
anaphora and epistrophe
Often the two can be combined effectively as well.
novel of manners
Often this is satiric, and it always realistic in depiction
verbal irony
Often this sort of irony is plainly sarcastic in the eyes of the reader, but the characters listening in the story may not realize the speaker's sarcasm as quickly as the readers do
frame narrative
Often this term is used interchangeably with both the literary technique and the larger story itself that contains the smaller ones called pericopes, framed narratives, or embedded narratives
lyric
Often, there is no chronology of events in these, but rather objects, situations, or the subject is written about in a "_____ moment."
lyric
Often, this is subdivided into various genres, including the aubade, the dramatic monologue, the elegy, the hymn, the ode, and the sonnet
metaphor
Often, this suggests something symbolic in its imagery
imagism
One could argue that Anglo-Saxon poetry with its emphasis on concrete language rather than abstraction is similar to twentiethcentury_____, for instance
persona
One of the most famous _____ is that of the speaker in Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." Here, the Irish author Swift, outraged over Britain's economic exploitation of Ireland, creates a speaker who is a well-to-do English intellectual, getting on in years, who advocates raising and eating Irish children as a means of economic advancement
conciet
One of the most famous of these is John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," a poem in which Donne compares two souls in love to the points on a geometer's compass
metonym
One student wrote in an argumentative essay, "If we cannot strike offenders in the heart, let us strike them in the wallet," implying by her ______ that if we cannot make criminals regret their actions out of their guilty consciences, we can make them regret their actions through financial punishment
colloquial
Ordinary language, the vernacular
canon
Originally, the term applied to the list of books to be included as authentic biblical doctrine in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, as opposed to apocryphal works (works of dubious, mysterious or uncertain origin)
pun
Originally, this was a common literary trope in serious literature, but after the eighteenth century, puns have been primarily considered a low form of humor
paradox
Oscar Wilde's "Ballad of Reading Gaol" notes "And all men kill the thing they love."
neologism
Other Shakespearean examples include climature and abyssm, and compounded verbs like outface or un-king
kenning
Other examples include "Thor-Weapon" as a reference to a blacksmith's hammer, "battle-flame" as a reference to the way light shines on swords, "gore-bed" for a battlefield filled with motionless bodies, and "word-hoard" for a man's eloquence
metafiction
Other examples include Chaucer's narrator in The Canterbury Tales, in which the pilgrim on the journey to Canterbury tells the reader to "turn the leaf [page] and choose another tale" if the audience doesn't like naughty stories like the Miller's tale. This command breaks the illusion that Chaucer is a real person on pilgrimage, calling attention to the fictional qualities of The Canterbury Tales as a physical artifact--a book held in the readers' hands
metapoetry
Other types of this involve self-conscious commentary on the poem's own genre or on the process of creating the poem
caesura
Others do not indicate this typographically at all
caesura
Others insert extra space in this location
anastrophe
Particularly clever _____ can become a figure of speech when it alters meaning in unusual ways
tmesis
Particularly clever poets may use a sort of infixation to insert other words of phrases between the two parts that have been split apart
dialect
Perhaps one of the best-known writers of this is Mark Twain, who captured the speech of the ordinary people as Huck Finn traveled down the Mississippi
concrete diction/concrete imagery
Philip Sidney praised _________ in poetry in his 1595 treatise, Apologie for Poetrie
anachronism
Placing an event, person, item, or verbal expression in the wrong historical period
allegory
Poems, novels, or plays can all be ____, in whole or in part
metapoetry
Poetry about poetry, especially self-conscious poems that pun on objects or items associated with writing or creating poetry
free verse
Poetry based on the natural rhythms of phrases and normal pauses rather than the artificial constraints of metrical feet
carpe diem
Poetry or literature that illustrates this moral is often called poetry or literature of the "_____" tradition
gothic literature/gothic novel
Poetry, short stories, or novels designed to thrill readers by providing mystery and blood-curdling accounts of villainy, murder, and the supernatural
caricature
Political cartoons use visual ______
metonymy
Popular writer Thomas Friedman coined a recent ___, "the Arab Street," as a shorthand reference for the entire population of Muslim individuals in Saudi Arabia, Yeman, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the surrounding areas
pastoral elegy
Post-Renaissance poets often include an elaborate passage in which flowers appear to deck the hearse or grave, with various flowers having symbolic meaning appropriate to the scene
dramatic irony
Probably the most famous example of this is the situation facing Oedipus in the play Oedipus Rex
situational irony
Probably the most famous example of this type of irony is Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, in which Swift "recommends" that English landlords take up the habit of eating Irish babies as a food staple
allegory
Probably the most famous____ in English literature is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678), in which the hero named Christian flees the City of Destruction and travels through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair, Doubting Castle, and finally arrives at the Celestial City. The entire narrative is a representation of the human soul's pilgrimage through temptation and doubt to reach salvation in heaven.
parable
Rather than using abstract discussion, this always teaches by comparison with real or literal occurrences--especially "homey" everyday occurrences a wide number of people can relate to
connotation
Rebellion, for many English speakers connotes an improper uprising against a legitimate authority (thus we speak about "rebellious teenagers" rather than "revolutionary teenagers")
humors
Renaissance people took the doctrine of this seriously as a basis of medicine and psychology--thus Falstaff is depicted as being sanguine (having too much blood) while Hamlet is melancholic (having too much black bile)
alliteration
Repeating a consonant sound in close proximity to others, or beginning several words with the same vowel sound.
end rhyme
Rhyme in which the last word at the end of each verse is the word that rhymes
paradox
Richard Rolle uses an almost continuous string of this in his Middle English work, "Love is Love That Lasts For Aye."
onomatopeoia
Robert Browning liked squishy sounds when describing squishy phenomena, and scratchy sounds when describing the auditory effect of lighting a match, such as in his poem "Meeting at Night": "As I gain the cove with pushing prow, / And quench its speed i' the slushy sand. / a tap at the pane, the quick sharp, scratch / and blue spurt of a lighted match."
folklore
Sayings, verbal compositions, stories, and social rituals passed along by word of mouth rather than written down in a text
conciet
Shakespeare also uses this regularly in his poetry. In Richard II, Shakespeare compares two kings competing for power to two buckets in a well, for instance. A conceit is usually classified as a subtype of metaphor
bard
Shakespeare in particular is often referred to as "the___" or "the ___ of Avon"
paradox
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar also makes use of a famous ______: "Cowards die many times before their deaths" (2.2.32)
pun
Shakespeare's poetic speaker also puns upon his first name (Will) and his lover's desire (her will) in the sonnets, and John Donne puns upon his last name in "Hymn to God the Father."
epic
Shakespeare's various History Plays have been collectively called an ____ of Renaissance Britain
tmesis
Shakespeare, in Troilus and Cressida, writes the phrase, "how dearly ever parted" (III.iii), when we would expect to find the phrase written as "however dearly parted" in normal grammatical usage
good parallelism
She loves eating chocolate éclairs, taking moonlit walks, and singing classic jazz.
faulty parellelism
She revels in chocolate, walking under the moonlight, and songs from the 1930s jazz period.
good parallelism
She revels in sweet chocolate éclairs, long moonlit walks, and classic jazz music.
oxymoron
Simple or joking examples include such oxymora as jumbo shrimp, sophisticated rednecks, and military intelligence
anachronism
Some actors would dress in current Elizabethan garb, others in garb that was a few decades out of date, and others wore pseudo-historical costumes from past centuries--all within a single scene or play.
narration
Some are reportorial and historical, such as biographies, autobiographies, news stories, and historical accounts
caesura
Some editors will indicate this by inserting a slash (/) in the middle of a poetic line
narrator
Some stories are written in a first-person point of view, in which the ______ voice is that of the point-of-view character
refrain
Sometimes the repetition involves minor changes in wording
catachresis
Sometimes this results from stacking one impossibility on top of another
lyric
Sometimes, the reader can infer an implicit narrative element in this, but it is rare for this to proceed in the straightforward, chronological "telling" common in fictional prose
metaphor
Sometimes, this can be emotionally powerful
jargon
Specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group
kenning
Specifically, this compound uses mixed imagery to describe the properties of the object in indirect, imaginative, or enigmatic ways
invective
Speech or writing that attacks, insults, or denounces a person, topic, or institution, usually involving negative emotional language
mood
Students and critics who wish to discuss this in their essays should be able to point to specific diction, description, setting, and characterization to illustrate what sets it
deus ex machina
Such endings mean that heroes are unable to solve their own problems in a pleasing manner, and they must be "rescued" by the writer himself through improbable means
blank verse
Such verse is blank in rhyme only
anastrophe
T. S. Eliot writes of "Time present and time past," and so on
parable
Technically speaking, biblical "parables" were originally examples of a Hebrew genre called meshalim
idyll
Tennyson's poem, Idylls of the King, presents the idealized, poetic account of Camelot's innocent existence before its fall to the forces of barbarism, impurity, and vice
fable
The "Uncle Remus Stories" by Joel Chandler Harris are cultural forms of this, and Animal Farm, by George Orwell is a political form of this.
narrator
The "voice" that speaks or tells a story
free verse
The American poet Walt Whitman first made extended successful use of this in the 19th century, and he in turn influenced Baudelaire, who developed the technique in French poetry
epic
The Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf has been called an ______ of anglo-saxon culture
anapestic
The Assyrian came dówn like a wólf on the fóld."
pastoral
The Greek Theocritus (316-260 BCE) first used the convention in his Idylls, though pastoral compositions also appear in Roman literature, in Shakespeare's plays, and in the writings of the Romantic poets
hubris
The Greek term is difficult to translate directly into English
idyll
The Idylls of Theocritus (c. 250 BC), for example, is a work that describes the pastoral life of rustic Sicily
metaphysical poets
The _____ often describes a dramatic event rather than simple meditation, daydreams, or passing thoughts
metaphysical poets
The _______ employed inconsistent or striking verse-often imitating the rhythmic patterns of everyday speech, rather than attempting to create perfect meter in the manner later favored by neoclassical poets
diction
The analytical reader then faces tough questions. Why that particular choice of words? What is the effect of that?
foil
The angry hothead Hotspur in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I, is one of these to the cool and calculating Prince Hal
juxtaposition
The arrangement of two or more ideas, characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words side-by-side or in similar narrative moments for the purpose of comparison, contrast, rhetorical effect, suspense, or character development
rhetoric
The art of persuasive argument through writing or speech--the art of eloquence and charismatic language
asyndenton
The artistic elimination of conjunctions in a sentence to create a particular effect of speed or simplicity
interior monologue
The author does not attempt to provide (or provides minimally) any commentary, description, or guiding discussion to help the reader untangle the complex web of thoughts, nor does the writer clean up the vague surge of thoughts into grammatically correct sentences or a logical order
malapropism
The best malapropisms sound sufficiently similar to the correct word to let the audience recognize the intended meaning and laugh at the incongruous result
metaphysical poets
The chief _______ include John Donne, Richard Crashaw, Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, and Henry Vaughan
diction
The choice of a particular word as opposed to others
in media res
The classical tradition of opening an epic not in the chronological point at which the sequence of events would start, but rather at the midway point of the story
mixed metaphor
The combination of two different metaphors into a single, awkward image
jargon
The computer industry, for example, has introduced much of this into our vocabulary
elegy
The conclusion of the poem provides consolation or insight into the speaker's situation
myth
The culture creating or retelling this may or may not belief that it refers to literal or factual events, but it values this type of narrative regardless of its historical authenticity for its (conscious or unconscious) insights into the human condition
double entendre
The deliberate use of ambiguity in a phrase or image--especially involving sexual or humorous meanings
comedy of manners
The dialogue is usually clever and sophisticated, but often risqué
elegy
The digression allows the speaker to move beyond his original emotion or thinking to a higher level of understanding
free verse
The distinction is that lines of regular meter is not sustained through the bulk of the poem
romanesque
The earlier art and architecture of medieval Europe between 700-1100 CE
extentialism
The ethical idea is that, if the universe is essentially meaningless, and human existence does not matter in the long run, then the only thing that can provide a moral backdrop is humanity itself, and neglecting to do this is neglecting our duty to ourselves and to each other
connotation
The extra tinge or taint of meaning each word carries beyond the minimal, strict definition found in a dictionary
haiku
The first line contains five syllables, the second line contains seven, and the last line five
villanelle
The form requires that whole lines be repeated in a specific order, and that only two rhyming sounds occur in the course of the poem
picaresque novel/picaresque narrative
The genre first emerged in 1553 in the anonymous Spanish work Lazarillo de Tormes, and later Spanish authors like Mateo Aleman and Fracisco Quevedo produced other similar works
picaresque novel/picaresque narrative
The genre has also heavily influenced episodic humorous novels as diverse as Cervantes' Don Quixote and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
metaphysical poets
The group as a whole rejects the conventions of Elizabethan love poetry, especially the Petrarchan conceits that, by 1600, had become clichés
metaphysical poets
The group shares certain traits, but their themes, structures, and assorted tones in their poetry vary widely
parody
The humorist achieves this by exaggerating certain traits common to the work, much as a caricaturist creates a humorous depiction of a person by magnifying and calling attention to the person's most noticeable features
euphemism
The idea is to put something bad, disturbing, or embarrassing in an inoffensive or neutral light
anaphora
The intentional repetition of beginning clauses in order to create an artistic effect
allegory
The label comes from an interaction between symbols that creates a coherent meaning beyond that of the literal level of interpretation.
dialect
The language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, region, or group of people
protagonist
The main character of a work of a fiction
romanticism
The major poets of this ideology included William Blake, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Gordon Byron
cadence
The melodic pattern just before the end of a sentence or phrase
denotation
The minimal, strict definition of a word as found in a dictionary, disregarding any historical or emotional connotation
bard
The modern day has seen a sort of revival of this type of performance since 1822, when the ancient bardic performance contests were revived in Wales
periodic sentence
The most common type of this involves a long phrase in which the verb falls at the very end of the sentence after the direct object, indirect object and other grammatical necessities
frame narrative
The most famous example is Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which the overarching frame narrative is the story of a band of pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The band passes the time in a storytelling contest. The framed narratives are the individual stories told by the pilgrims who participate
kenning
The most famous example is hron-rade ("whale-road") as a poetic reference to the sea
pastoral elegy
The mourner charges with negligence the nymphs or guardians of the shepherd who failed to preserve him from death
humors
The neoclassic playwright Moliere ridicules this dilemma in his play, L'Amour Médecin (Love is the Doctor), but earlier Renaissance writers like Shakespeare take the theory seriously
epigram
The opening to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" is one such example
rhyme scheme
The pattern of rhyme
enlightenment
The period's poetry, as typified by Alexander Pope, John Dryden, and others, attempted to create perfect, clockwork regularity in meter
elegy
The poem is not plot-driven
metaphysical poetry
The poem often expresses an argument--often using wild flights of logic and unusual comparisons
elegy
The poem tends to be longer than a lyric but not as long as an epic
elegy
The poem usually contains a poetic speaker who uses the first person
elegy
The poet digresses about the conditions of his own time or his own situation
mock epic
The poet often takes an elevated style of language, but incongruously applies that language to mundane or ridiculous objects and situations
concrete diction/concrete imagery
The preference for abstract or concrete varies from century to century
character/characterization
The reader can interpret characters as endowed with moral and dispositional qualities expressed in what they say (dialogue) and what they do (action)
frame narrative
The result of inserting one or more small stories within the body of a larger story that encompasses the smaller ones
kenning
The resulting word is somewhat like a riddle since the reader must stop and think for a minute to determine what the object is
catachresis
The results in each case are so unique that it is hard to state a general figure of speech that embodies all of the possible results
oxymoron
The richest literary of these seem to reveal a deeper truth through their contradictions
heroic couplet
The second line is usually end-stopped
attitude
The sense expressed by the tone of voice and/or the mood of a piece of writing; the feelings the author holds towards his subject, the people in his narrative, the events, the setting, or even the theme
pastoral elegy
The speaker mourns the death of a close friend; the friend is eulogized in the highest possible terms, but represented as if he were a shepherd
elegy
The speaker raises questions about justice, fate, or providence
prosody
The study or analysis of verse poetry--its sounds, rhythms, scansion and meter, stanzaic form, alliteration, assonance, euphony, onomatopoeia, and rhyme
tenor
The subject (first item) in a metaphoric statement is known as the _____
metapoetry
The subject-matter of this sonnet is the conventional sonnet itself; thus, it is _____
metonym
The term also applies to the object itself used to suggest that more general idea
gothic literature/gothic novel
The term became associated with ghost stories and horror novels because this type of early novels were often associated with the Middle Ages and with things "wild, bloody, and barbarous of long ago" as J. A. Cuddon puts it in his Dictionary of Literary Terms (381)
gothic
The term has come to be used much more loosely to refer to gloomy or frightening literature
cacophony
The term in poetry refers to the use of words that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sounds
deus ex machina
The term is a negative one, and it often implies a lack of skill on the part of the writer
mood
The term is often used synonymously with atmosphere and ambiance
parody
The term is often used synonymously with the more general term spoof, which makes fun of the general traits of a genre rather than one particular work or author
gothic
The term later came to signify "Germanic," then "medieval," especially in reference to the medieval architecture and art used in western Europe between 1100 and 1500 CE
deus ex machina
The term means "The god out of the machine," and it refers to stage machinery
metaphysical poets/metaphysical poetry
The term metaphysical implies the poetry is abstract and highly complex
machiavellian
The term originates in a treatise known as The Prince
carpe diem
The term refers to a common moral or theme in classical literature that the reader should make the most out of life and should enjoy it before it ends
romanticism
The term refers to the artistic philosophy prevalent during the first third of the nineteenth century (about 1800-1830)
humors
The theory found its strongest advocates among the comedy writers, notably Ben Jonson and his followers, who used humor characters to illustrate various modes of behavior
point of view
The thirdperson narrator can be omniscient
genre
The three broadest categories of this include poetry, drama, and fiction
haiku
The three unit-rule is usually ignored in the English version, since English syllables vary in size much more than in Japanese
rhyme scheme
The traditional way to mark this is to assign a letter of the alphabet to each rhyming sound at the end of each line
onomatopeoia
The use of sounds that are similar to the noise they represent for a rhetorical or artistic effect
rhythym
The varying speed, loudness, pitch, elevation, intensity, and expressiveness of speech, especially poetry
point of view
The way a story gets told and who tells it
diction
The word choice a writer makes determines the reader's reaction to the object of description, and contributes to the author's style and tone
bard
The word in modern usage has become a synonym for any poet
ellipsis
The writer of the sentence has left out the word soldiers after French, and the word civilians after eight
romanticism
Their writings often are set in rural, pastoral or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with "innocent" characters--children, young lovers, and animals
lyric
There are three general meanings for this
extentialism
Therefore, individuals must fashion their own sense of meaning in life instead of relying thoughtlessly on religious, political, and social conventions
genre
These general _____are often subdivided into more specific ____ and sub_____
archetype
These images have particular emotional resonance and power
extentialism
These merely provide a façade of meaning according to existential philosophy
character/characterization
These terms originate in classical Greek drama, in which a tenor would be assigned the role of protagonist, a baritone the role of deuteragonist, and a bass would play the tritagonist
archetype
These would be expressed in the subconscious of an individual who would recreate them in myths, dreams, and literature
metaphysical poets
They preferred wildly original (and sometimes shocking or strange) images, puns, similes, and metaphors, which collectively are called metaphysical conceits
limerick
They rhyme in an AABBA pattern
bard
They were responsible for celebrating national events such as heroic actions and victories
bildungsroman
This character loses his or her innocence, discovers that previous preconceptions are false, or has the security of childhood torn away, but usually matures and strengthens by this process
unreliable narrator
This device is sometimes used for purposes of irony or humor
hubris
This leads to overwhelming pride, and this in turn leads to a downfall
ellipsis
This mark is common in MLA format for indicating partial quotations
imagism
This movement was strongly influenced by the early translations of haiku into English
allegory
This narrative acts as an extended metaphor in which persons, abstract ideas, or events represent not only themselves on the literal level, but they also stand for something else on the symbolic level.
versification
This refers to the technical and practical aspect of making poems as opposed to purely theoretical and aesthetic poetic concerns
denoument
This resolution usually takes place in the final chapter or scene, after the climax is over
aesthetic distance
This sense of intentional focus seems intentionally organized or framed by events in the poem so that it can be more fully understood by quiet contemplation.
in media res
This term is the opposite of the phrase ab ovo
extentialism
Those who rely on such conventions without thinking through them deny their own ethical responsibilities
quatrain
Three of these form the main body of a Shakespearean or English sonnet along with a final couplet
parable
Thus, in Matthew 13:11 and Mark 4:11-12, Christ states that he speaks in this so that outsiders will not be able to understand his teachings
lexicon/lexis
To be more accurate, we might define lexicon as all the material found in the dictionary--i.e., a list of all the available terms in a language's lexis
humors
To cure illness, one of the most common methods to restore a balance was for a barber to "bleed" excess blood from a sick person using lances or knives or for a doctor to use leeches for the same purpose
canon
Today, literature students typically use the word to refer to those works in anthologies that have come to be considered standard or traditionally included in the classroom and published textbooks
canon
Traditionally, those works considered _____are typically restricted to dead white European male authors
couplet
Two lines--the second line immediately following the first--of the same metrical length that end in a rhyme to form a complete unit
heroic couplet
Two successive rhyming lines of iambic pentameter
round character
Typically, a short story has one of these and several flat ones
volta
Typically, the first section of the sonnet states a premise, asks a question, or suggests a theme. The concluding lines after this resolve the problem by suggesting an answer, offering a conclusion, or shifting the thematic concerns in a new direction
aesthetic distance
Typically, the reader is less emotionally involved or impassioned--reacting to the material in a calmer manner.
limerick
Typically, they are used in comic or bawdy verse, making extensive use of double entendre
malapropism
Typically, this involves the confusion of two polysyllabic words that sound somewhat similar but have different meanings
allegory
Typically, this involves the interaction of multiple symbols, which together create a moral, spiritual, or even political meaning.
pastoral
Typically, this liturgy depicts beautiful scenery, carefree shepherds, seductive nymphs, and rural songs and dances
litotes
Understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary
Meiosis
Understatement, the opposite of exaggeration
humors
Unhealthy imbalances might be caused by an unbalanced diet, too much heat or cold, or even by "putrescence," in which one or more of these bodily liquids soured and began to rot
lyric
Unlike a ballad, this usually does not have a plot (i.e., it might not tell a complete story)
blank verse
Unrhymed lines of ten syllables each with the even-numbered syllables bearing the accents
archaism
Until fairly recently, it was still common to find poets using "I ween," "steed," and "gramercy" in their poems, even though they wouldn't use these terms in normal daily speech
humors
Untold thousands of patients suffering from diseases no more severe than the flu probably died at the hands of various doctors
euphemism
Using a mild or gentle phrase instead of a blunt, embarrassing, or painful one
metonymy/metonym
Using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea
oxymoron/paradox
Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper level
paradox/oxymoron
Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper level
antithesis
Using opposite phrases in close conjunction
archetype
Using the comparative anthropological work of Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough, the psychologist Carl Jung theorized that the archetype originates in the collective unconscious of mankind, i.e., the shared experiences of a race or culture, such as birth, death, love, family life, and struggles to survive and grow up
novel of manners
Usually these conventions shape the behavior of the main characters, and sometimes even stifle or repress them
anecdote
Usually, the ____ does not exist alone, but it is combined with other material such as expository essays or arguments
mock epic
Various other attributes common to the classical epic, such as the invocation of the muse or the intervention of the gods, or the long catalogs of characters, appear in this as well, only to be spoofed
asyndenton
Veni. Vidi. Vici. "I came. I saw. I conquered." (As opposed to "I came, and then I saw, and then I conquered.")
alliteration
Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" employs the technique: "I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass."
meter
We name a metric line according to the number of "feet" in it
metonymy
We use this in everyday speech when we refer to the entire movie-making industry as "Hollywood" or the advertising industry as the street "Madison Avenue" (and when we refer to businessmen working there as "suits.")
parable
Well-known examples of this include those found in the synoptic Gospels, such as "The Prodigal Son" and "The Good Samaritan."
metadrama
When Macbeth cries out, "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player / who struts and frets his hour upon the stage, / and then is heard no more," his references to "shadows" and "players" (Renaissance slang for actors) and his discussion of the stage serve to remind the audience forcefully that they are watching a dramatic artifice, not a real historical event. The references break down verisimilitude to call attention to the fact that viewers are watching a staged performance
euphony
When sounds blend harmoniously
metonymy
When students talk about studying "Shakespeare," they mean all his collected works of drama and poetry, rather than the historical writer's life alone, and so on
dramatic third-person or objective
When the narrator reports speech and action, but never comments on the thoughts of other characters
parallelism
When the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length
metaphor
When we speak of "the ladder of success," we imply that being successful is much like climbing a ladder to a higher and better position
antihero
While the traditional hero may be dashing, strong, brave, resourceful, or handsome, the _____may be incompetent, unlucky, clumsy, dumb, ugly, or clownish
jargon
Words such as geek, crash, and interface are all examples of jargon
anecdote
Writers may use ____ to clarify points, to humanize individuals, or to create a memorable image in the reader's mind
alusion
____ can originate in mythology, biblical references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works.
abyssm
a blend between abyss and chasm
tritagonist
a character of tertiary (third) importance
similie
a comparison between two things using the words "like" or "as"
extentialism
a concern with man's essential being and nature
historical epithet
a descriptive phrase attached to a ruler's name
anticlimax
a drop, often sudden and unexpected, from a dignified or important idea or situation to one that is trivial or humorous
iambic
a lightly stressed syllable followed by a heavily stressed syllable
end-stopped rhyme
a line ending in a full pause, often indicated by appropriate punctuation such as a period or semicolon
verse
a line of metrcial writing
epic
a long narrative about a serious subject
mock epic
a long, heroicomical poem that merely imitates features of the classical epic
sonnet
a lyric poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to certain patterns
climature
a mix between climate and temperature
ballad
a narrative poem consisting of quatrains of iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter
limited narrator
a narrator who is confined to what is experienced, thought, or felt by a single character, or at most a limited number of characters
omniscient
a narrator who knows everything that needs to be known about the agents and events in the story, and is free to move at will in time and place, and who has privileged access to a character's thoughts, feelings, and motives
chorus
a refrain that is meant to be sung
synesthesia
a rhetorical trope involving shifts in imagery
picaro
a roguish protagonist
dynamic character
a round character who changes over the course of the story
epigram
a short verse or motto appearing at the beginning of a longer poem or the title page of a novel, at the heading of a new section or paragraph of an essay or other literary work to establish mood or raise thematic concerns
flat character
a simplified character who does not change or alter his or her personality over the course of a narrative, or one without extensive personality and characterization
deuteragonist
a single secondary character aids the protagonist throughout the narrative
syllepsis
a specialized form of zeugma in which the meaning of a verb cleverly changed halfway through a sentence
verse
a stanza
quatrain
a stanza of four lines, often rhyming in an ABAB pattern
narrative
a story or account
unreliable narrator
a storyteller who "misses the point" of the events or things he describes in a story, who plainly misinterprets the motives or actions of characters, or who fails to see the connections between events in the story
trochaic
a stressed followed by a light syllable
Dactylic
a stressed syllable followed by two light syllables
anticlimax
a sudden descent from something sublime to something ridiculous. In fiction and drama, this refers to action that is disappointing in contrast to the previous moment of intense interest
myth
a traditional tale of deep cultural significance to a people in terms of etiology, eschatology, ritual practice, or models of appropriate and inappropriate behavior
verbal irony
a trope in which a speaker makes a statement in which its actual meaning differs sharply from the meaning that the words ostensibly express
situational irony
a trope in which accidental events occur that seem oddly appropriate, such as the poetic justice of a pickpocket getting his own pocket picked
internal rhyme
a word in the middle of each line of verse rhymes
meshalim
a word lacking a close counter-part in Greek, Latin or English
zeugma
a zeugma in which the resulting grammatical construction changes the verb's initial meaning
flat character
also called a static character
conciet
also called an extended metaphor
anticlimax
also called bathos
pun
also called paranomasia
enlightenment
also called the neoclassic movement
blank verse
also called unrhymed iambic pentameter
prosody
also called versification
elegiac meter
alternating hexameter and pentameter lines
stanza
an arrangement of lines of verse in a pattern usually repeated throughout the poem
extentialism
an idea that existential "angst" or "anguish" is the common lot of all thinking humans who see the essential meaninglessness of transitory human life
caesura
an important part of poetic rhythm
enlightenment
an optimistic belief that humanity could improve itself by applying logic and reason to all things
choleric
angry and quick-tempered type
prosody
another word for versification
verse
any composition written in meter (i.e., poetry generally)
byronic hero
are associated with destructive passions, sometimes selfish brooding or indulgence in personal pains, alienation from their communities, persistent loneliness, intense introspection, and fiery rebellion
anaphora and epistrophe
are examples of rhetorical schemes. They serve to lend weight and emphasis.
kenning
are less common in Modern English than in earlier centuries, but some common modern examples include "beer-goggles" and "surfing the web"
litotes
as in "she was not a bad singer" or "he was not unhappy"
allusion
assumes a certain level of education or awareness in the audience, so it should normally be taken as a compliment rather than an insult or an attempt at obscurity.
epic
begins with the invocation of a muse to inspire the poet
ellipsis
both words are implied by the previous clause, so a reader has no trouble following the author's thought
farce
broad verbal humor such as puns
flat character
built around a single idea or quality and unchanging over the course of the narrative
sanguine
buoyant type
elegy
came to mean any poem dealing with the subject-matter common to the early Greco-Roman --complaints about love, sustained formal lamentation, or somber meditations
monologue
can also be used to refer to a character speaking aloud to himself, or narrating an account to an audience with no other character on stage
allegory
can be as short as a single sentence or as long as a ten volume book
diction
can be separated into high/formal or low/informal
narrative
can begin ab ovo or it can begin in medias res
caesura
comes from the Latin "a cutting" or "a slicing."
dialect
compare with colloquial
colloquial
compare with dialect
paradox
compare with oxymoron
round character
complex in temperament and motivation; drawn with subtlety; capable of growth and change during the course of the narrative
ballad measure
consists of a four-line stanza or a quatrain containing alternating four-stress and three-stress lines with an ABCB or ABAB rhyme scheme
low comedy
consists of silly, slapstick physicality, crude pratfalls, violence, scatology, and bodily humor rather than clever dialogue or banter
ballad
contains a refrain repeated several times
epic
contains long catalogs of heroes or important characters, focusing on highborn kings and great warriors rather than peasants and commoners
antithesis
contrast to oxymoron
pathos
contrast with bathos
farce
contrast with comedy of manners
denotation
contrast with connotation
connotation
contrast with denotation
mock epic
contrast with epic
parable
contrast with fable
end rhyme
contrast with internal and head rhyme
neologism
contrast with kenning
periodic sentence
contrast with loose sentence
epic
contrast with mock epic
folklore
contrast with mythology
fable
contrast with parable
asyndenton
contrast with polysndenton
flat character
contrast with round character
aside
contrast with soliloquy
monologue
contrast with soliloquy and interior monologue
metonymy
contrast with synecdoche
end-stopped rhyme
contrasts with enjambment or run-on lines
round character
contrasts with the flat character
round character
depicted with such psychological depth and detail that he or she seems like a "real" person
melancholic
depressed type
beer-goggles
describes the way one's judgment of appearances becomes hazy while intoxicated
stanza
each one of these typically has a fixed number of verses or lines, a prevailing meter, and a consistent rhyme scheme
stanza
early english terms for this included "batch", "stave", and "fit"
enlightenment
embraced the literary, architectural, and artistic forms of the Greco-Roman world
pentameter
english verse tends to be _______
archetype
examples can be found cross-culturally
antithesis
express their contrary ideas in a balanced sentence
lyric
expresses the feelings, perceptions, and thoughts of a single poetic speaker (not necessarily the poet) in an intensely personal, emotional, or subjective manner
metaphor
figure of speech in which two distinctly different things are compared without the use of the words "like" or "as"
schemes
figure of speech that deal with word order, syntax, and sounds, rather than the meaning of words, which involves tropes
epic
focused on the exploits of a hero or demi-god who represents the cultural values of a race, nation, or religious group
mock epic
focuses frequently on the exploits of an antihero whose activities illustrate the stupidity of the class or group he represents
eponym
for example The verb shanghai, meaning to kidnap or press into forced labor, comes from the practices of conscription common in the oriental city of Shanghai
eponym
for example The word lynch comes from Captain William Lynch, who led bands of vigilantes to hang hoboes and bums residing near Pittsylvania County
eponym
for example The word stentorian comes from the loud-mouthed Stentor in Greek legend
eponym
for example herculean comes from the muscle-bound Hercules
archetype
for example recurring characters
archetype
for example recurring images
archetype
for example recurring themes
metonym
for example stating "the pen is mightier than the sword" to suggest that the power of education and writing is more potent for changing the world than military force
archetype
for example symbolic colors
archetype
for example, recurring symbolic situations
metonym
for example, using a crown in reference to royalty or the entire royal family
cadence
for instance an interrogation or an exhortation
tetrameter
french verse tends to be ______
picaro
frequently travels from place to place engaging in a variety of jobs for several masters and getting into mischief
mood
from Anglo-Saxon, mod "heart" or "spirit"
epigram
from Greek epigramma "an inscription"
lyric
from Greek lyra "song"
chiasmus
from Greek, "cross" or "x"
rhythym
from Greek, "flowing"
picaresque novel/picaresque narrative
from Spanish picaro, a rogue or thief
syllepsis
grammatica rhetorica defines it as when a single word that governs or modifies two or more others must be understood differently with respect to each of those words
catachresis
greek "misuse"
synesthesia
greek "perceiving together"
pathos
greek for emotion
canon
greek meaning "reed" or "measuring rod"
hexameter
greek verse tends to be _____
bathos
greek: "depth"
symbolic colors
green as a symbol for life, vegetation, or summer; blue as a symbol for water or tranquility
epic
has a vast setting, and covers a wide geographic area
canon
has always been determined in part by philosophical biases and political considerations
petrarchan sonnet
has an eight line stanza followed by a six line stanza
blank verse
has been called the most "natural" verse form for dramatic works
canon
has three general meanings
iambic pentameter
having five feet, with each foot tending to be a light syllable followed by heavy syllable
trochaic tetrameter
having four feet, with each foot tending to be a long syllable followed by a short syllable
feminine
if a line ends in a lightly stressed syllable, it is said to be ____
masculine ending
if a line ends in a standard iamb, with a final stressed syllable, it is said to have a _______
round character
if the character changes, they can also be called dynamic
parody
imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a particular literary work in order to make fun of those same features
enjambent
in English also called "run-on line"
haiku
in English translation, this 5/7/5 syllable count is occasionally modified to three lines containing 6/7/6 syllables respectively, since English is not as "compact" as Japanese
meshalim
in Hebrew refer to "mysterious speech," i.e., spiritual riddles or enigmas the speaker couches in story-form
byronic hero
in american pop culture, the icon of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause is a good example
epic
in its most specific sense is a genre of classical poetry
petrarchan sonnet
in its six line stanza, the first three lines reflect on or exemplify the theme, while the last three bring the poem to a unified end. this may be arranged in cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdedce
round character
in longer novels and plays, there may be many of these
epic
in which the hero's success or failure will determine the fate of that people or nation
archetype
include a symbol, a theme, a setting, or a character that some critics think have a common meaning in an entire culture, or even the entire human race
folklore
includes superstitions; modern "urban legends"; proverbs; riddles; spells; nursery rhymes; songs; legends or lore about the weather, animals, and plants; jokes and anecdotes; rituals at births, deaths, marriages, and yearly celebrations; and traditional dance and plays performed during holidays or at communal gatherings
equivoque
involves a single phrase or word with differing meanings
dramatic irony
involves a situation in a narrative in which the reader knows something about present or future circumstances that the character does not know
low or informal diction
involves conversational or familiar language, contractions, slang, and grammatical errors designed to convey a relaxed tone
high or formal diction
involves elaborate, technical, or polysyllabic vocabulary and careful attention to the proprieties of grammar
synesthesia
involves taking one type of sensory input (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) and comingling it with another separate sense in an impossible way
chiasmus
involves taking parallelism and deliberately turning it inside out, creating a "crisscross" pattern
farce
is a form of low comedy designed to provoke laughter through highly exaggerated caricatures of people in improbable or silly situations
catachresis
is all about "blind mouths."
metaphor
is an example of rhetorical trophe
elegy
is much like the classic epic
catharsis
is the marking feature and ultimate end of any tragic artistic work
anaphora
is the opposite of epistrophe
comedy of manners
is the opposite of the slapstick humor found in a farce
ode
is usually much longer than the song or lyric, but usually not as long as the epic poem
antithesis
it can be a contrast of degree: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind."
epic
it contains superhuman feats of strength or military prowess, and gods or supernatural beings frequently take part in the action
blank verse
it has been the primary verse form of English drama and narrative poetry since the mid-sixteenth Century
narrator
it is often more useful to separate this authorial voice from the voice of the historical author
blank verse
it supposedly is the verse form most close to natural rhythms of English speech
blank verse
it usually has a definite meter
petrarchan sonnet
its eight line stanza has two quatrains rhyming abba, abba, the first of which presents the theme, the second develops it
abstract diction/abstract imagery
language that describes qualities that cannot be perceived with the five senses
persona
latin for mask
pastoral
latin for shepherd
meiosis
litotes is a type of this in which the writer uses a statement in the negative to create the effect: "You know, Einstein is not a bad mathematician.
epic similie
makes a comparison between one object and another using "like" or "as."
picaro
makes his (or sometimes her) way through cunning and trickery rather than through virtue or industry
ode
many are written or dedicated to a specific subject
humors
many of the powders and ointments used in the latter treatments were virulently toxic
kenning
may involve conjoining two types of dissimilar imagery, extended metaphor, or mixed metaphor
meme
might be a song or advertising jingle that gets stuck in one's head, a particularly amusing joke or entertaining story one feels compelled to pass on, a memorable phrase that gets quoted repeatedly in public speeches or in published books, a political ideology, an invention, a teacher's lesson plan, or even a religious belief
refrain
might consist of a nonsense word (such as Shakespeare's "With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino" in the song from As You Like It), a single word (such as "Nevermore" in Poe's "The Raven"), or even an entire separate stanza that is repeated alternating with each stanza in the poem
attitude
might even be the feeling he holds for the reader
surfing the web
mixes the imagery of skillful motion through large amounts of liquid, amorphous material with the imagery of an interconnected net linked by strands or cables
figurative language
most two common of these is the metaphor and similie
narrator
not a character who interacts with other characters in terms of plot
ballad
not all are written in _____ measure, but works written in ____ measure often include such quatrains
imagery
not limited to visuals; it also includes auditory (sound), tactile (touch), thermal (heat and cold), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), and kinesthetic sensation (movement)
consonance
not to be confused with consonant
epithet
not to be confused with epitaph of epigram
neologism
occasionally becomes a part of common usage, such as the word new-fangled that Chaucer invented in the 1300s
myth
often (but not always) deals with gods, supernatural beings, or ancestral heroes
myth
often equated with "falsehood" in English usage
epithet
often includes compounds of two words such as, "fleet-footed Achilles," "Coweyed Hera," "Grey-eyed Athena," or "the wine-dark sea."
catachresis
often results from hyperbole and synesthesia
unreliable narrator
often serves to characterize the narrator as someone foolish or unobservant
idiom
often used as a synonym for dialect
ballad
one of the most important is F. J. Child's The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
asteismus
one speaker uses a word one way, but a second speaker responds using the word in a different sense
melodrama
originally referred to romantic plays featuring music, singing, and dancing, but by the eighteenth century they connoted simplified and coincidental plots, bathos, and happy endings
scheme
parallelism is the most common of these
romanticism
people of this belief asserted that reliance upon emotion and natural passions provided a valid and powerful means of knowing and a reliable guide to ethics and living
farce
physical bustle such as slapstick
epic
primary _____ refers to folk______
archetype
recur in different times and places in myth, literature, folklore, fairy tales, dreams, artwork, and religious rituals
idiom
refers to a construction or expression in one language that cannot be matched or directly translated word-for-word in another language
secondary epic
refers to literary epics
denoument
refers to the outcome or result of a complex situation or sequence of events, an aftermath or resolution that usually occurs near the final stages of the plot
romanticism
rejected the earlier philosophy of the Enlightenment, which stressed that logic and reason were the best response humans had in the face of cruelty, stupidity, superstition, and barbarism
secondary epic
retain elements of oral-formulaic transmission, such as staggered intervals in which the poet summarizes earlier events, standardized epithets and phrases originally used by singers to fill out dactylic hexameters during extemporaneous performance, and so on
shakespearean sonnet
rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg
heroic couplet
rhymed iambic pentameter
anthropromorphism
scientists refer to _______ as discussing the ways that animistic religions personify natural forces with human qualities
farce
sexual/gender misunderstandings and mix-ups
miltonic sonnet
similar to the petrarchan sonnet but this does not divide its thought between the octave and the sestet-the sense or line of thinking runs straight from the eighth to the ninth line
phlegmatic
sluggish type
canon
some critics suggest we do away with it altogether, while others advocate enlarging or expanding the existing canon to achieve a more representative sampling
puns
some of the best writers in English have been notoriously addicted to this: noticeably Shakespeare, Chaucer, and James Joyce
haiku
sound-components formed of a consonant, a vowel, and another consonant
anastrophe
specifically a type of inversion in which the adjective appears after the noun when we expect to find the adjective before the noun
archaism
still deliberately used by a writer, poet, or playwright for artistic purposes
periodic sentence
structure is particularly effective in synthetic languages (i.e. languages in which meaning does not depend on the order of words)
recurring images
such as blood, water, pregnancy, ashes, cleanness, dirtiness, caverns, phallic or yonic symbols, the ruined tower, the rose, the lion, the snake, the eagle, the hanged man, the dying god that rises again, the feast or banquet, the fall from a great height
recurring themes
such as the Faustian bargain; pride preceding a fall; the inevitable nature of death, fate, or punishment; blindness; madness; taboos such as forbidden love, patricide, or incest
recurring symbolic situations
such as the orphaned prince or the lost chieftain's son raised ignorant of his heritage until he is rediscovered by his parents, or the damsel in distress rescued from a hideous monster by a handsome young man who later marries the girl
recurring characters
such as witches as ugly crones who cannibalize children, lame blacksmiths of preternatural skill, womanizing Don Juans, the hunted man, the femme fatale, the snob, the social climber, the wise old man as mentor or teacher, star-crossed lovers
free verse
the Enlightenment's later emphasis on perfect meter during the 1700s prevented this experimentation from developing much further during the 18th century
scansion
the act of "scanning" a poem to determine its meter
apostrophe
the act of addressing some abstraction or personification that is not physically present
apostrophe
the act of addressing the abstract has its own rhetorical power
narration
the act of telling a sequence of events, often in chronological order
head rhyme
the beginning consonant in a word alliterates with another beginning consonant in a different word
ballad
the beginning is often abrupt
extentialism
the belief that thought and logic are insufficient to cope with existence
recurring characters
the caring mother-figure, the helpless little old lady, the stern father-figure, the guilt-ridden figure searching for redemption, the braggart, the young star-crossed lovers, the bully, the villain in black, the oracle or prophet, the mad scientist, the underdog who emerges victorious, the mourning widow or women in lamentation
antagonist
the character against whom the protagonist struggles or contends (if there is one)
lexis
the complete stock of morphemes, idioms, and words possessed by a language---i.e., all the units of potential meaning
extentialism
the conviction that a true sense of morality can only come from honestly facing the dilemma of existential freedom and participating in life actively and positively
rhetorical question
the effect of this is that it causes the listener to feel she has come up with the answer herself
byronic hero
the figure is a young and attractive male with a bad reputation
enjambment
the grammatical sense of the sentence continues uninterrupted into the next line
ballad
the language is simple or "folksy,"
humors
the liquids were thought to be somewhat flammable. The ajust, or "burning" of gases and vapors coming from these like blood, caused fevers in sick people
prosody
the mechanics of verse poetry--its sounds, rhythms, scansion and meter, stanzaic form, alliteration, assonance, euphony, onomatopoeia, and rhyme
parallelism
the most common scheme
epic
the narrative starts in medias res
cadence
the natural rhythm of language depending on the position of stressed and unstressed syllables
enlightenment
the philosophical and artistic movement growing out of the Renaissance and continuing until the nineteenth century
carpe diem
the phrase is Latin for "seize the day."
epistrophe
the poet or rhetorician repeats the concluding phrase over and over for effects
assonance
the repetition of a vowel sound within words.
synesthesia
the result talks about how a color sounds, or how a smell looks
ballad
the story is told through dialogue and action
epic
the term applies most accurately to classical Greek texts like the Iliad and the Odyssey
narration
the term refers to any story, whether in prose or verse, involving events, characters, and what the characters say and do
ballad
the theme is often tragic--though comic ones do exist
hyperbole
the trope of exaggeration or overstatement
gothic
the word originally only referred to the Goths, one of the Germanic tribes that helped destroy Rome
paragram
the wordplay involves altering one or more letters in a word
connotation
the words house and home both refer to a domicile, but home connotes certain singular emotional qualities and personal possession in a way that house doesn't
enlightenment
these thinkers were enchanted by the perfection of geometry and mathematics, and by all things harmonious and balanced
melodrama
these traits are present in Gothic novels, western stories, popular films, and television crime shows
caricature
this can be found both in drawing and in print in The Pickwick Papers
irony
this comes in many forms
narrator
this fictionalized storyteller occasionally intrudes upon the story to offer commentary to the reader, make suggestions, or render a judgment about what takes place in the tale
lyric
this form is as old as Egypt (surviving examples date back to 2600 BCE), and examples exist in early Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and other sources
point of view
this governs the reader's access to the story
volta
this is then followed by a couplet (in English sonnets) or a sestet (in Italian sonnets)
narrative
this is usually creative and imaginative rather than strictly factual, as evidenced in fairy tales, legends, novels, novelettes, short stories, and so on
stanza
this may be a subdivision of a poem or may constitute the entire poem
romanticism
this movement typically asserts the unique nature of the individual, the privileged status of imagination and fancy, the value of spontaneity over "artifice" and "convention," the human need for emotional outlets, the rejection of civilized corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and escape the spiritual destruction of urban life
picaresque novel/picaresque narrative
this novel is usually episodic in nature and realistic in its presentation of the seamier aspects of society
free verse
this poetry often involves the counterpoint of stressed and unstressed syllables in unpredictable but clever ways
periodic sentence
this sentence is more exotic and arguably more poetic, but initially confusing
periodic sentence
this sentence structure creates suspense or tension in a reader eagerly awaiting the outcome of a grammatical action
miltonic sonnet
this sonnet's repertoire is expanded to deal not only with love as the earlier sonnets did, but also to include politics, religion, and personal matters
epithet
this technique allows a poet to extend a line by a few syllables in a poetic manner that characterizes an individual or a setting within an epic poem
synesthesia
this term is fairly late in addition to rhetoric and literary terminology, first coined in 1892, though examples of this figure of speech can be found in many works
round character
this term was first coined by the novelist E. M. Forster in his study, Aspects of the Novel
in media res
this usually is a technique used to heighten dramatic tension or to create a sense of mystery
elegy
though the term might not be perfectly applicable since the influence of the Greek elegy was never pervasive in Anglo-Saxon literature, making it unlikely the anonymous authors were familiar with the genre per se
scansion
to perform this, the student breaks down each line into individual metrical feet and determines which syllables have heavy stress and which syllables have lighter stress
epic
told in an elevated style of language
falling meter
trochees and dactyls are called this due to the strong stress at the beginning with lower stress at the end
anapestic
two light syllables followed by a stressed syllable
elegy
typically begins with an invocation of the muse, and then continues with allusions to classical mythology
shakespearean sonnet
typically the final two lines follow a "turn" or a "volta" because they are reverse, undercut, or turn from the original line of thought to take the idea in a new direction
elegy
typically they are marked by several conventions of genre
epic similie
unlike a regular simile, which often appears in a single sentence, this appears in the genre of the epic and it may be developed at great length, often up to fifty or a hundred lines
Shakespearean sonnet
uses three quatrains, each rhymed differently, with a final independently rhymed couplet that makes an effective, unifying climax to the whole
denoument
usually ends as quickly as the writer can arrange it--for it occurs only after all the conflicts have been resolved
sonnet
usually expresses a single, complete idea or thought with a reversal, twist, or change of direction in the concluding lines
folk epic
versions of this narrative were transmitted orally in pre-literate cultures
literary epic
versions that are actually written down rather than chanted or sung
kenning
were particularly common in Old English literature and Viking poetry
bard
were the oral historians, political critics, eulogizers, and entertainers of their ancient societies
action
what a character does
dialogue
what a character says
ab ovo
when a story begins in the beginning and then proceeds in a strictly chronological manner without using the characters' dialogue, flashbacks, or memories
synesthesia
when we say a musician hits a "blue note" while playing a sad song, we engage this
symbolic colors
white or black as a symbol of purity; or red as a symbol of blood, fire, or passion, and so on
free verse
within individual sections of a _____poem, a specific line or lines may fall into metrical regularity
enlightenment
writers would use satire to ridicule what they felt were illogical errors in government, social custom, and religious belief
caricature
writers, such as Charles Dickens, create verbal ______