Essential Literary Terms
Soliloquy
A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage
Hexameter
A metrical line of six feet, most often dactylic, and found in Classical Latin or Greek poetry
Villan
an evil or wicked person or character, especially in a story or play (ex. voldemort)
Blank Verse
literary device defined as un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter (ex. "The dreams are clues that tell us take chances.")
Eighteenth-Century Drama
represented by John Dryden in tragedy and William Congreve and Richard Brinsley Sheridan in comedy.
Epigrams
rhetorical device that is a memorable, brief, interesting, and surprising satirical statement (ex. "If we don't end war, war will end us." - G. Wells)
Turn (Volta)
rhetorical shift or dramatic change in thought and/or emotion
volta
rhetorical shift or dramatic change in thought and/or emotion
Vowel Rhyme
rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words (ex. hike, like)
Half-Rhyme
rhyme in which the stressed syllables of ending consonants match, however the preceding vowel sounds do not match (ex. young, song)
Imperfect Rhyme
rhyme in which the stressed syllables of ending consonants match, however the preceding vowel sounds do not match (ex. young, song)
Slant Rhyme
rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme
Off-Rhyme
rhyming in which the words sound the same but do not rhyme perfectly (ex. elephant, ant)
High Comedy
type of comedy characterized by witty dialogue, satire, biting humor, or criticism of life (ex. The Simpsons)
Caesuras
rhythmical pause in a poetic line or a sentence (ex. "Roses, roses! || Two bucks a bunch! They say The boys in the street, || ready to sell you.")
Detail Selection and Order
same as selection and order of details
Invocation
the act of appealing to a higher authority for help
Structure
the arrangement or framework of a sentence, paragraph, or entire work
Personification
the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form (ex. the laser ran across the room)
Closed Couplets
two line units of verse that do not extend their sense beyond the line's end (ex. "True wit is nature to advantage dressed What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd")
Footnotes, MLA
(ex. Some have argued that such an investigation would be fruitless.6 1. See Blackmur, especially chapters 3 and 4, for an insightful analysis of this trend.)
Alliteration
two or more words in a phrase or line of poetry share the same beginning sound (ex. Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Kreme)
Oxymoron
A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. (ex. act natural)
Spondaic Foot (Spondee)
two stressed syllables in a row (ex. "Break, break, break, On thy cold grey stones, O Sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.")
Tragic Comedy
A play that combines elements of tragedy and comedy, either by providing a happy ending to a potentially tragic story or by some more complex blending of serious and light moods. (ex. The Merchant of Venice (By William Shakespeare))
Voiceovers
A production technique using a disembodied voice as broadcast live or pre-recorded in radio, television, film, theater or in a presentation; spoken by someone who also appears on-screen in other segments, voiceovers can also be commonly referred to as an off camera commentary.
Equivoque
A pun or deliberately ambiguous expression (ex. 'Golden lads and girls all must, / As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.')
Sentence Fragments
Phrases or incomplete sentences missing either a subject, predicate, or a complete thought.
Stanzas
A group of lines in a poem set off by blank lines.
Phrase
A group of words with a meaning; an expression
Poetry
A kind of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery designed to appeal to our emotions and imagination.
Iambic Hexameter
A line of English verse composed in iambic hexameter, usually with a caesura after the third foot
Works Cited
A list of sources referred to in the document and is placed at the end of the document. Also referred to as a works cited page.
Satire
A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.
Sonnets
14 line poems written in iambic pentameter
Trimeter
3 feet per line
English Sonnets (Shakespearean)
A Shakespearean sonnet is generally written in iambic pentameter, in which there are 10 syllables in each line; The rhyme scheme of the Shakespearian sonnet is abab-cdcd-efef-gg, which is difficult to follow. Hence, only Shakespeare is known to have done it (ex. "From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty's rose might never die. But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir might bear his memory: But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel. Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament And only herald to the gaudy spring, Within thine own bud buriest thy content And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding. Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee...")
Observations, Parenthetical
A comment, set off by parentheses, which informs the reader without disturbing the flow of the narrative (ex. "She fell into the pond (I knew it was too deep) and drowned")
Parenthetical Observations
A comment, set off by parentheses, which informs the reader without disturbing the flow of the narrative (ex. "She fell into the pond (I knew it was too deep) and drowned")
Greek Drama
A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances
Verbal Irony
A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant (ex. "clear as mud")
Verse
A single line of poetry
Paradox
A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth (ex. jumbo shrimp)
Terza Rima
A three-line stanza rhymed aba, bcb, cdc.
Novella
A work of fiction of roughly 20,000 to 50,000 words--longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel
Parody
A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule (ex. weird al yankovich "girls just wanna have lunch)
Tone
A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.
Letters (MLA)
After the name of the author, include any title the editor gives the letter and the date. Add the page numbers for the letter at the end of the citation. (ex. Bishop, Elizabeth. "To Robert Lowell." 26 Nov. 1951. One Art: Letters. Ed. Robert Giroux. New York: Farrar, 1994. 224-26.)
Antithesis
Antithesis, which literally means "opposite," is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect (ex. "Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit.")
Pathos
Appeal to emotion (ex. "A man at the car dealership implores the salesman to offer the best price on a new car — he needs a car to get to his job so he can support his young family)
Online Resources, MLA
Author's Last name, First name. "Title of the Article or Individual Page." Title of the Website, Name of the Publisher, Date of Publication in Day Month Year format, URL. (ex. McNary, Dave. "Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter Returning for 'Bill and Ted Face the Music.'" Variety, Penske Media Corporation, 8 May 2018, variety.com/2018/film/news/bill-and-ted-3-keanu-reeves-alex-winter-1202802946/.)
Website Resources, MLA
Author's Last name, First name. "Title of the Article or Individual Page." Title of the Website, Name of the Publisher, Date of Publication in Day Month Year format, URL. (ex. McNary, Dave. "Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter Returning for 'Bill and Ted Face the Music.'" Variety, Penske Media Corporation, 8 May 2018, variety.com/2018/film/news/bill-and-ted-3-keanu-reeves-alex-winter-1202802946/.)
Journal Articles (MLA)
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. (ex. Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.)
Magazine Articles (MLA)
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, pages. (ex. Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time, 20 Nov. 2000, pp. 70-71.)
Bibliographic Information
Author. Title of source. Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location. (ex. Holland, Suzanne. The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy. Boston: MIT P, 2001.)
Social Media Posts, MLA
Blog Post: Author's Last Name, First Name or Username if real name not provided. "Title of Blog Post." Name of Blog, Blog Network/Publisher if given, Day Month Year of blog post, URL of blog post. Accessed Day Month Year blog was visited. Video: Last Name, First Name of video creator or Username of Creator. "Title of Video." Title of the Hosting Website, Day Month Year of Publication, URL of video. Accessed Day Month Year video was viewed. Twitter: Twitter Handle (First Name Last Name if Known). "The entire tweet word-for-word." Twitter, Day Month Year of Tweet, Time of Tweet, URL. Wikipedia: "Title of Entry." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Day Month Year entry was last modified, Time entry was last modified, URL of entry. Accessed Day Month Year Wikipedia entry was last viewed. Facebook: Author Last Name, First Name or Account Name. Description of Post. Facebook, Day Month Year of Post, Time of Post, URL. Accessed Day Month Year post was viewed.
Theme
Central idea of a work of literature
Similies
Compares two different things using like or as (ex. "You were as brave as a lion.")
Endnotes (MLA)
Endnotes and footnotes in MLA format are indicated in-text by superscript Arabic numbers after the punctuation of the phrase or clause to which the note refers: (ex. Some have argued that such an investigation would be fruitless.^6)
Accentual Meter
Has a fixed number of stresses per line regardless of the number of syllables that are present (ex. "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man, Bake me a cake, as fast as you can; Pat it, prick it, and mark it with B, Put it in the oven for baby and me.")
Iambic Pentameter
In a line of poetry, an iamb is a foot or beat consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, or a short syllable followed by a long syllable (ex. "Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland In such an honour named. What's more to do, Which would be planted newly with the time, As calling home our exiled friends abroad That fled the snares of watchful tyranny; Of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen... So, thanks to all at once and to each one, Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone.")
Tenor
In a metaphor, the tenor is the subject. (ex. George Clooney is a total angel. The tenor of this metaphor is "George Clooney," while the vehicle is "angel.")
Dactylic Tetrameter
It refers to a line consisting of four dactylic feet
Newspaper Articles, MLA
Last, First M. "Article Title." Newspaper Title [City] Date Month Year Published: Page(s). Print. (ex. Bowman, Lee. "Bills Target Lake Erie Mussels." Pittsburgh Press 7 Mar. 1990: A4. Print.)
Email (MLA)
Last, First M. "Re: Title of Message from Subject Line (if any)." Message to [recipient name]. Date. Medium of delivery. (ex. Cloyd, Allison M. "Re: The Best Books I Have Ever Read." Message to Emily Gover. 23 July 2014. E-mail.)
Anthology Citations (MLA)
Last, First. "Title of Essay." Title of collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page Range of Entry. Medium of Publication (ex. Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.)
In Medias Res
Latin for "into the middle of things." It usually describes a narrative that begins, not at the beginning of a story, but somewhere in the middle — usually at some crucial point in the action
Latinate Diction
Latinate words are sometimes also known as "purple language," "flowery" or "five-dollar" words. These are the ones that hike up your reading level and slow down your audience. Jargon tends to be Latinate.
Lyric Poetry (Lyrics)
Lyric is a collection of verses and choruses, making up a complete song, or a short and non-narrative poem
MLA Style
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
Appositive
When a noun or word is followed by another noun or phrase that renames or identifies it, this is called appositive (ex. "My father, a fat, funny man with beautiful eyes and a subversive wit, is trying to decide which of his eight children he will take with him to the county fair.")
Meter
Meter is a unit of rhythm in poetry, the pattern of the beats
Pauses in Verse
Pauses create drama, emphasize feelings, and add meaning
Low Comedy
Playwrights during that age believed the common people, or low people, would not always understand the complexity of high comedy, so they included many instances of low comedy in their pieces to appeal to the masses. involves some sort of lewd comment or humorous physical act to bring about laughter; often called slapstick humor
Author Information (MLA)
Quote with author's name mentioned: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263). Quote: Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263). Paraphrasing: Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
Abstract Language
Refer to intangible qualities, ideas, and concepts (ex. love, patriotism, beauty, time)
Perfect Rhyme
Rhymes involving sound that are exactly the same (ex: love, dove)
Absurdist Drama
Term applied to a number of dramatic works which share the view that the human condition is essentially absurd by which is meant a lack of meaning in life
Syntax
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.
Pathetic Fallacy
The attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature; for example angry clouds; a cruel wind.
Setting
The context in time and place in which the action of a story occurs.
trope
The generic name for a figure of speech such as image, symbol, simile, and metaphor
Second-Person Point of View
The narrator tells the story using the pronouns "You", "Your," and "Yours" to address a reader or listener directly (ex. "It's Your World. Take Control")
Subordination
The process of linking two clauses in a sentence so that one clause is dependent on (or subordinate to) another. (ex."While Fern was in school, Wilbur was shut up inside his yard.")
Syntactical Order
The purposeful patterning of words into sentences (cumulative/loose or periodic)
Voice
The real or assumed personality used by a writer or speaker
Narrators
a person who narrates something, especially a character who recounts the events of a novel or narrative poem
In-Text Documentation
This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page
Synechdoche
Uses a part to explain a whole or a whole to explain a part (ex. lend me an ear)
Accentual-Syllabic Meter
Verse whose meter is determined by the number and alternation of its stressed and unstressed syllables, organized into feet; From line to line, the number of stresses may vary, but the total number of syllables within each line is fixed (ex. "A is for Amy who fell down the stairs B is for Basil assaulted by bears C is for Clara who wasted away D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh")
Multi-Volume Works
Volumes of a multivolume work: Damrosch, David, et al. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed., Pearson Education, 2009, 6 vols. One volume from a multivolume work: Damrosch, David, et al. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed., vol. C, Pearson Education, 2009.
Playwrights
a person who writes plays
Direct Discourse
When one reports what others have said word for word, signaled by the presence of quotation marks (ex. "Philippe said, "I'll come if I have the time.")
Verbs
Words that show action or a state of being. One of these is required in a sentence (ex. run, walk, think)
Iambic Feet
a beat (foot) of two syllables - the first unstressed and the second stressed
Drama
a composition in prose or verse presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story involving conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage; a play
Triple Rhyme
a feminine rhyme involving one stressed and two unstressed syllables in each rhyming line (ex. "ONCE upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary")
Figures of Thought
a figurative expression that, for its effect, depends less on the choice or arrangement of words than on the meaning(s) conveyed
Metaphors
a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics (ex. "My brother was boiling mad.")
Tragic Irony
a form of dramatic irony found in tragedies such as Oedipus the King, in which Oedipus searches for the person responsible for the plague that ravishes his city and ironically ends up hunting himself.
Metrical Feet
a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm
Iambic Tetrameter
a line of poetry with four beats of one unstressed syllable, followed by one stressed syllable
Pentameter
a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet
Mystery Plays
a medieval drama based on scriptural incidents
Dactylic Feet
a metrical foot, or a beat in a line, containing three syllables in which the first one is accented, followed by second and third unaccented syllables (accented/unaccented/unaccented) in quantitative meter (ex. "Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. 'Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!' he said. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.")
Catalectic Foot (Catalexis)
a missing unstressed syllable at the end of a trochiac or dactylic line (ex. go and catch a falling star get it with a mandrake root)
Shifts in Style
a narrative may do this by introducing a marked change in style, usually accompanied by a corresponding change in tone
Third-Person Narrator
a narrator outside of the action who tells the story from the he/she vantage point (ex. "She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes")
Omniscient Narrator
a narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters (ex. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter; In this novel, the story is told from several different characters' points-of-view)
Direct Object
a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that shows who or what receives the action of a verb, performed by a subject specified at the start of the sentence (ex. Sara returned the dress to the designer. "Dress" is the direct object in this sentence, being the thing that was returned.)
Stream of Conciousness
a person's thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow (ex. "He is young Leopold, as in a retrospective arrangement, a mirror within a mirror (hey, presto!), he beholdeth himself. That young figure of then is seen, precious manly, walking on a nipping morning from the old house in Clambrassil to the high school, his book satchel on him bandolier wise, and in it a goodly hunk of wheaten loaf, a mother's thought.")
Tragedy
a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.
Monometer
a rare form of verse in which each line consists of a single metrical unit (a foot or dipody)
Chiasmus
a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect (ex. "Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.")
Double Rhyme
a rhyme either of two syllables of which the second is unstressed (feminine rhyme) (ex. 'sleeping' and 'creeping')
Stressed Syllables
a segment of a word or phrase which is accented over others (ex. CHIna)
Unstressed Syllables
a segment of a word or phrase which is not accented (ex. [re]mark)
Simple Sentences
a sentence consisting of only one clause, with a single subject and predicate (ex. I like cats)
Periodic Sentences
a sentence that expresses the main idea at the end (ex. In spite of heavy snow and cold temperatures, the game continued")
Senecan Tragedy
a set of ancient Roman tragedies; Ten of these plays exist, of which most likely eight were written by the Stoic philosopher and politician Lucius Annaeus Seneca; relies heavily on supernatural elements
Eye Rhyme
a similarity between words in spelling but not in pronunciation (ex. love and move)
Italian Sonnets (Petrarchan)
a sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abba abba and a sestet rhyming in any of various patterns (such as cde cde or cdc dcd) (ex."When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide; "Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?" I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need Either man's work or his own gifts; who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed And post o'er land and ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and wait.")
Heroic Couplets
a stanza consisting of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter, especially one forming a rhetorical unit and written in an elevated style (ex. "The herd of hertes founden is anoon, With 'hey! go bet! prik thou! lat goon, lat goon!")
Allegories
a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one (ex. Allegory of Cave, tells a story of how some people are ignorant, while at the same time other people "see the light.")
Trochaic Feet (Trochee)
a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (ex. "And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted—nevermore!"
Peripeteia
a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to fictional narrative.
Objective Narrator
a third person narrator who only reports what would be visible to a camera; thoughts and feelings are only revealed if a character speaks of them (ex. Veronica shook her head slowly. Her fingers were busy shredding her tear-stained paper tissue. "I'm not joking. It's all true.")
Iambic Trimester
a verse has a foot set to a pattern of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (iamb), with three feet of this same pattern to one line (ex. The On / ly News / I know Is bull / etins / all day From Im / mortal / ity.)
Adjectives
a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe it
Figures of Speech
a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect
Antinovels
a work of prose fiction in which such characteristics of the traditional novel as character development, the realistic description of society, and, esp., a clearly developed narrative are deliberately de-emphasized or rejected
Loose Sentences
also called a cumulative sentence, begins with a main clause that is followed by phrases and/or clauses that modify the main clause (ex. "I went to the movies yesterday, bought candy, and shopped at the mall.")
Inversion
also called anastrophe, in literary style and rhetoric, the syntactic reversal of the normal order of the words and phrases in a sentence, (ex. "To the store, I will go")
Sustitutions
also known as inversion, is the use of an alien metric foot in a line of otherwise regular metrical pattern (ex. For instance in an iambic line of "da DUM", a trochaic substitution would introduce a foot of "DUM da".)
Ballad Meter
alternation between lines in iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter (ex. Half of what I say is meaningless But I say it just to reach you, Julia Julia, Julia, oceanchild, calls me So I sing a song of love, Julia Julia, seashell eyes, windy smile, calls me So I sing a song of love, Julia)
Morality Plays
an allegorical play popular especially in the 15th and 16th centuries in which the characters personify abstract qualities or concepts
Octave
an eight-line stanza
Stage Directions
an instruction in the text of a play, especially one indicating the movement, position, or tone of an actor, or the sound effects and lighting. (ex. Early morning, in a classroom. There is a broken computer on the floor next to the teacher's desk. David enters and sees Cathy. He seems shocked. David: (Shouting) What are you doing? Cathy: (Nervous) Nothing.)
Dramatic Poetry
any drama that is written in verse that is meant to be recited. It usually tells a story or refers to a situation
Unreliable Narrators
are typically the storytellers who speak in first person. They are unreliable because since you only hear their point of view, it is uncertain whether they are completely telling the truth. Like people, unreliable narrators tend to have flaws.
Direct Satire
artistic form, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure, sometimes with an intent to inspire social reform (ex. "Some girls like to buy new shoes And others like drivin' trucks and wearing tattoos There's only one thing that they all like a bunch Oh, girls, they want to have lunch..."
Selection and Order of Details
author's deliberate choices about the nature and relative specificity of the details and the order in which they appear
Short Stories
brief works of fiction
Literary Forms
category of literary composition (ex. drama, non fiction, poetry)
Foil Characters
character who contrasts with another character - usually the protagonist— to highlight particular qualities of the other character (ex. In the Harry Potter example above, Draco Malfoy serves as both a foil and an antagonist)
Antagonist
character, group of characters, or other force that presents an obstacle or is in direct conflict with the protagonist (ex. "You're in line for a promotion. A friend of yours gets the job instead.")
Indirect Discourse
characters' thoughts, feelings, and words are filtered through the third-person narrator in free indirect discourse (ex. "He said he was hungry.")
Coordinated Clauses
clause (i.e., a word group containing a subject and predicate) that is introduced by one of the coordinating conjunctions (ex. "I wasn't a fan of most vegetables, but I didn't mind peas.")
Dependent Clause
clause that provides a sentence element with additional information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence (ex. "When the president arrives")
Hamartia
commonly understood to refer to the protagonist's error or tragic flaw that leads to a chain of plot actions culminating in a reversal of their good fortune to bad (ex. Hamlet's hamartia is his indecisiveness)
Analogy
comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it; more extensive and elaborate than either a simile or a metaphor (ex. "Just as a sword is the weapon of a warrior, a pen is the weapon of a writer")
Conjunctions
connects sentences, phrases, clauses, and words (ex. and, or, but, so, yet)
Elizabethan Drama
considered to be a golden age in English history, most English drama was based on two ancient genres: mystery plays and morality plays
Petrarchan Sonnets
consisting of an octave with the rhyme scheme abbaabba and of a sestet with one of several rhyme schemes, as cdecde or cdcdcd.
Closed Form of Poetry
consists of poems that follow patterns of lines, meter, rhymes, and stanzas
Irony
contrast or incongruity between expectations for a situation and what is reality (ex. "The butter is as soft as a slab of marble")
Sound and Sound Patterns
convey and reinforce the meaning or experience of poetry through the skillful use of sound (ex. emphasis, alliteration)
Speech Headings
descriptions of characters' vocal tones or gestures as they speak a line
Narrative Pace
determines how quickly or how slowly the writer takes a reader through a story
Exposition
device used in television programs, films, literature, poetry, plays and even music. It is the writer's way to give background information to the audience about the setting and the characters of the story (ex. "A long time ago in a galaxy far away, far away...")
Blocking of Asides
directions about how and where actors are to move and position themselves (ex. stepping downstage towards the audience, voice-overs)
Fallacy
display of faulty reasoning that makes an argument invalid, or a faulty belief based on an unsound argument (ex. "The last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming. Contrary to all the theories that they are expounding, there should have been warming over the last 15 years. It hasn't happened.")
English Medieval Drama
divided into morality plays which are allegories that depicted abstractions of human qualities, usually engaged in a struggle for the soul's salvation, and mystery plays designed to illustrate narratives from the old and new testaments
Subordinate Clauses
does not express a complete thought and cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence (ex. His dog, [a tiny poodle], was extremely dangerous and feisty)
Catharsis In Tragedy
emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal, or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress (ex. "... a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.")
Novels
extended fictional works, usually of book length
Monologue
extended speech by one person (ex. "And indeed there will be time To wonder, 'Do I dare?' and, 'Do I dare?' Time to turn back and descend the stair, With a bald spot in the middle of my hair ... In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.'")
Versimilitude
extent to which the literary text is believable, or the extent to which it imitates life
Metafiction
fiction that thinks, and even talks, about itself (ex. "a story that explores how stories are made by commenting on character types, how plots are formed, or other aspects of storytelling is engaged in an example of metafiction"
Appostrophe
figure of speech sometimes represented by an exclamation, such as "Oh."; speaks directly to someone who is not present or is dead, or speaks to an inanimate object (ex. "Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee! I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.")
Litotes
figure of speech that employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, a positive statement expressed by negating its opposite expressions (ex. "its not bad")
Hyperbole
figure of speech that involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis (ex. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse)
Allusions
figure of speech that refers to a well-known story, event, person, or object in order to make a comparison in the readers' minds (ex. "Don't act like a Romeo in front of her." - "Romeo" is a reference to Shakespeare's Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet, in "Romeo and Juliet")
Metonymy
figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated (ex. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.")
Schemes
figures of speech that deal with word order, syntax, letters, and sounds
Plays
form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading
Narrative Poetry
form of poetry that tells a story, often making the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metered verse
Tetrameter
four feet
Shakespearean Sonnets (English)
fourteen lines; the first twelve lines are divided into three quatrains with four lines each. In the three quatrains the poet establishes a theme or problem and then resolves it in the final two lines, called the couplet. The rhyme scheme of the quatrains is abab cdcd efef.
Flat Character (Two-Dimensional)
two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work (ex. Benvolio is another flat character, who remains unchanged throughout the play. He is temperate, solid, and loyal, who always tries to maintain peace and harmony between the two families.)
Latinate Periphrasis
grammatical principle and manner of speaking that uses more words than necessary to evoke a certain meaning (ex. "In my humble opinion, I think...)
Independent Clause
group of words that can stand alone as a sentence (ex. 'I enjoy sitting by the fireplace and reading")
Concrete Language
identifies things perceived through the senses (ex. soft, stench, red, loud, or bitter)
Structural Irony
implication of alternate or reversed meaning that pervades a work (ex. "Do you remember the 90's movie Clueless? The protagonist, Cher, was what many of us might say is your typical spoiled rich girl who has a loose grip on reality when it comes to the people and events around her. As its title implies, Cher's cluelessness is an integral part of how the plot unfolds. This is also a great example of structural irony, which occurs when individuals internal to a narrative express faulty perceptions of reality.)
Anagnorisis
in a literary work, the startling discovery that produces a change from ignorance to knowledge (ex. In "Oedipus Rex," anagnorisis occurs when a messenger comes and reveals to King Oedipus his true birth.)
Feminine Ending
in grammatical gender, is the final syllable or suffixed letters that mark words as feminine, line of verse that ends with an unstressed syllable (ex. To be, or not to be: that is the ques-tion: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suf-fer The slings and arrows of outrageous for-tune, Or to take arms against a sea of trou-bles, And by opposing, end them.)
Juvenalian Satire
in literature, any bitter and ironic criticism of contemporary persons and institutions that is filled with personal invective, angry moral indignation, and pessimism (ex. gullivers travels)
Cumulative Sentence
independent clause followed by a series of subordinate constructions (phrases or clauses) that gather details about a person, place, event, or idea (ex. "He dipped his hands in the bichloride solution and shook them--a quick shake, fingers down, like the fingers of a pianist above the keys.")
Internal Rhyme
internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines (ex. "I went to town to buy a gown. / I took the car and it wasn't far")
Flashbacks
interruptions that writers do to insert past events, in order to provide background or context to the current events of a narrative
Complete Subject
is more than just one noun. It contains the simple subject - the noun that the whole sentence is about - but it also includes all of the words that modify that noun. (ex. "[Thai peppers] can be extremely hot.")
Formal Language
language designed for use in situations in which natural language is unsuitable, as for example in mathematics, logic, or computer programming
Informal Language
language use characterized by: spontaneous speech in situations that may be described as natural or "real-life," and the use of a "low" dialect or language in preference to a "high" one
Open Couplets
literary device that can be defined as having two successive rhyming lines in a verse, and has the same meter to form a complete thought (ex. "At Sestos Hero dwelt; Hero the fair, Whom young Apollo courted for her hair, And offered as a dower his burning throne, Where she should sit for men to gaze upon. The outside of her garments were of lawn, The lining purple silk, with gilt stars drawn...")
Couplets
literary device that can be defined as having two successive rhyming lines in a verse, and has the same meter to form a complete thought (ex. "The time is out of joint, O cursed spite That ever I was born to set it right!")
Free Verse
literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from limitations of regular meter or rhythm, and does not rhyme with fixed forms
Comedy
literary genre and a type of dramatic work that is amusing and satirical in its tone, mostly having a cheerful ending (ex. William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, is a good example of a romantic comedy, presenting young lovers falling comically in and out of love for a brief period.)
Farce
literary genre and type of comedy that makes use of highly exaggerated and funny situations aimed at entertaining the audience
Historical Novels
literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting located in the past
Dialogue
literary technique in which writers employ two or more characters to be engaged in conversation with one another
Frame Story
literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, whereby an introductory or main narrative is presented, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative
Imagery
literary term used for language and description that appeals to our five senses (ex. "Glittering white, the blanket of snow covered everything in sight")
Fiction
literary work based on imagination rather than on fact, like a novel or short story
Formal Satire
literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
Epic Poetry (Epics)
long narrative poem, which is usually related to heroic deeds of a person of an unusual courage and unparalleled bravery
Trochaic Trimeter
made up of three trochees, also resulting in six syllables
Subtexts
meanings that are implicit or hidden in a text rather than explicitly addressed (ex. This mint is really delicious. It's got a very unique flavor. Do you want one? The enthusiasm expressed by this person is an example of subtext. As beneath this message is the clue that someone else has bad breath and should take the mint.)
Extended Metaphors
metaphor that is developed over several lines of text, over an entire poem, or throughout an entire text (ex. "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. One man in his time plays may parts.")
Dimeter
metrical line of verse with two feet
Mixed Metaphors
mixed metaphor is a succession of incongruous or ludicrous comparisons (ex. "That's awfully thin gruel for the right wing to hang their hats on.")
Showing
mode of narration that an author employs to let the readers "hear" and "see" what takes place in a story, poem, or essay
Feet
most basic unit of a poem's meter; A foot is a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables
Story
narrative based on true events, which is repeated - and sometimes embellished upon - to emphasize a particular value
Limited Point of View of Third-Person Narrator
narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character (ex. "J.K. Rowling uses third person limited in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The reader witnesses what Harry sees and knows his thoughts and feelings, but without ever hearing first-person narration from Harry")
Naive Narrator
narrator who is unreliable becuase they are inexperienced or innocent, and do not understand the implications of their story (ex. huck finn)
Open Form Verse
no use of consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern (ex. "The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.")
Indirect Object
noun or pronoun that indicates to whom or for whom the action of a verb in a sentence is performed (ex. "She gave [me] a gift")
Epistolary Novels
novel written as a series of documents
End-Stopped Lines
occurs when a line of poetry ends with a period or definite punctuation mark, such as a colon
Sentences
organized sequences of words that express a thought or intention
Fictional Narrator
person or character who tells a story, or a voice fashioned by an author to recount a narrative
Nouns
person, place, thing, or idea (ex. girl, town, house)
Theater Of the Absurd
plays stressing the irrational or illogical aspects of life, usually to show that modern life is pointless
Closet Drama
plays that have been written to be read, but not performed
Dramatic Irony
plot device for creating situations in which the audience knows more about the situations, the causes of conflicts, and their resolutions before the leading characters or actors (ex. "Ted thinks that the police have arrested him for picking up a hitchhiker, the audience knows that the police are actually interrogating him about a murder")
Anapestic Foot
poetic device defined as a metrical foot in a line of a poem that contains three syllables wherein the first two syllables are short and unstressed, followed by a third syllable that is long and stressed (ex. "'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse")
Syllabic Meter
poetic form having a fixed or constrained number of syllables per line, while stress, quantity, or tone play a distinctly secondary role — or no role at all — in the verse structure
Doggerel Tragedy
poetry that is irregular in rhythm and in rhyme, often deliberately for burlesque or comic effect. Alternatively, it can mean verse which has a monotonous rhythm, easy rhyme, and cheap or trivial meaning (ex. "Life is a treacherous abyss, It will leave you so amiss, Like a bird trying to find its lover, Or looking for a bit of cover From the storm, we keep trying To figure out our calling And yet we're left Cold and bereft.")
Epiphany
point in a work of literature where a character has a sudden insight or realization that changes his or her understanding
First-Person Narrator
point of view (who is telling a story) where the story is narrated by one character at a time, character may be speaking about him or herself or sharing events that he or she is experiencing (ex. "I am going to the ball.")
Hubris
pride, is one of the most common tragic flaws for a hero or heroine (ex. Achilles thinks he is invincible-excessive pride in his own immortality)
Scansion
process of analyzing a poem's meter; you read a line of poetry, counting its feet, finding the stresses, all in the name of sussing out which meter it follows (if any)
Antihero
prominent character in a play or book that has characteristics opposite to that of a conventional hero; anti-hero is typically clumsy, unsolicited, unskilled, and has both good and bad qualities (ex. Dexter Morgan - He is an analyst for the Miami Police Department. He is a kind and loving father, friend, and husband who has an anti-social personality that makes him murder criminals.)
Nonfiction
prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as biography or history
trochiac tetrameter
rapid meter of poetry consisting of four feet of trochee
Triplets
rare stanza form in poetry and is basically three lines that rhyme (ex. "Whenas in silks my Julia goes, Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows The liquefaction of her clothes. Next, when I cast mine eyes, and see That brave vibration, each way free, O, how that glittering taketh me")
Unrhymed Iambic Parameter
refers to a certain kind of line of poetry, and has to do with the number of syllables in the line and the emphasis placed on those syllables (ex. "Her vestal livery is but sick and green And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.")
Masculine Ending
refers to a line ending in a stressed syllable (ex. "loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough")
Enjabments
refers to the practice of running lines of poetry from one to the next without using any kind of punctuation to indicate a stop
Anaphora
repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect (ex. "My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.")
Consonance
repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase (ex. "pitter, patter.")
Narrative Fiction
report of connected events, real or imaginary, presented in a sequence of written or spoken words, or still or moving images, or both
Horatian Satire
satire is more witty and tolerant, gently criticizes human nature and human folly (ex. Gulliver takes four different voyages and encounters four strange lands. In each, Swift is attempting to satirize some aspect of English society. For example, when Gulliver is in Lilliput, he learns that people are appointed to office based on their ability to walk a tightrope. He is satirizing the way that the English nobility of his day chose based on bloodlines and connection to the court.)
Lists of Works Cited
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Complete Predicate
sentence tells what the subject does or is. It includes a verb and all other details that describe what is going on (ex. "The rain [poured down from the sky.]")
Complex Sentences
sentence that combines one independent clause with at least one dependent clause (ex. "Though he was very rich, he was still unhappy.")
Compound Sentences
sentence that has at least two independent clauses joined by a comma, semicolon or conjunction (ex. "Joe made the sugar cookies; Susan decorated them.")
Subplots
separate stories or series of incidents that are related to the main plot in some way
Order of Details
series of deliberate choices that the author makes in the course of drafting and revising a literary work
Asides
short comment or speech that a character delivers directly to the audience, or to himself, while other actors on the stage appear not to hear (ex. "Time thou anticipat'st my dread exploits. The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed go with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand.")
Telling
significant and revealing of another factor
Parallelism
similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses (ex. "She likes cooking, jogging, and reading.")
Sestet
six line stanza
Curtal Sonnet
sonnet of 11 lines rhyming abcabc dcbdc or abcabc dbcdc with the last line a tail, or half a line (ex. Glory be to God for dappled things— For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings; Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough; And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim. All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him.)
Bildungsroman
special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character, from his or her youth to adulthood; coming of age
Common Meter
specific type of meter that is often used in lyric poetry; it alternates between lines of eight syllables and lines of six syllables, and it always follows an iambic stress pattern in which each unstressed syllable is followed by one stressed syllable (ex. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound / That saved a wretch like me.")
Dramatic Monologue
speech or verbal presentation given by a single character in order to express his or her collection of thoughts and ideas aloud (ex. "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief ... O that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek!")
Stock Characters
standard or cliched character types (ex. the drunk, the miser, the foolish girl, etc.)
Aphorisms
statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner (ex. "Youth is a blunder; Manhood a struggle; Old age regret")
Conceit, Metaphysical
stretched comparison between a spiritual aspect of a person and a physical thing in the world (ex. "Life is a bowl of cherries")
Metaphysical Conciet
stretched comparison between a spiritual aspect of a person and a physical thing in the world (ex. "Life is a bowl of cherries")
Diction
style of speaking or writing, determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a writer
Periphrasis
substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name or of a proper name for a quality associated with the name (ex. "mother of my father" instead of "grandmother)
Assonance
takes place when two or more words, close to one another repeat the same vowel sound, but start with different consonant sounds (ex. "Go and mow the lawn.")
Modern Drama
tended to focus not on kings and heroes, but instead on ordinary people dealing with everyday problems
Sonnet Sequence
the first twelve lines are divided into three quatrains with four lines each. In the three quatrains the poet establishes a theme or problem and then resolves it in the final two lines, called the couplet. The rhyme scheme of the quatrains is abab cdcd efef.
Onomotapoeia
the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (ex. pop, crack, woof)
Cosmic Irony
the idea that human fate and destiny is controlled by outside forces, even gods, who do not care about humans or their hopes and dreams
Hero/Heroine
the main character in a literary work
Simple Predicate
the main word or word group that tells something about the subject; verb (ex. I [saw] a hawk out the window.)
Simple Subject
the main word or word group that tells whom or what the sentence is about (ex. [She] ran after the dog.)
Sequence
the order in which things happen or should happen
Understatement
the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is (ex. Looks like it will be warm tomorrow. (when it is above 100 degrees))
Internal Alliteration
the repetition of sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables (occurs within words)
Plot
the sequence of events in a literary work
Pace
the speed at which a story is told
Poetic Diction
the use of specific types of words, phrases, or literary structures that are not common in contemporary speech or prose
Symbolism
the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities (ex. "In Elie Wiesel's novel Night, night is used throughout the book to represent death, darkness, and loss of faith.")
Indirect Satire
the usual mode of ridicule in satiric plays and works of prose fiction, is no cast in form of a direct address to the audience
Ancient Greek Drama
theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece
Intrusive Third-Person Narrator
third person omniscient narrator who, in addition to reporting the events of a novel's story, offers further comments on characters and events, and who sometimes reflects more generally upon the significance of the story (ex. "A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play; and when I draw up the curtain this time, reader, you must fancy you see a room in the George Inn at Millcote, with such large figured papering on the walls as inns have; such a carpet, such furniture, such ornaments on the mantle-piece...")
Anapestic Trimeter
three metrical anapestic feet, each of three syllables, giving each line nine total syllables, An anapest is a metrical foot with two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable (ex. "So easy a caveman can do it.")
Third Rhyme
three syllables of which the second and third are unstressed
Tercets
three-lined stanza or poem that often contains a rhyme
Domestic Tragedy
tragedy in which the tragic protagonists are ordinary middle-class or lower-class individuals.
Falling Meters
trochees and dactyls (i.e., a stressed syllable followed by one or two unstressed syllables)
Coordinating Conjunctions
type of conjunction that connects two syntactically equal, and similarly constructed clauses, phrases, and words (ex. "I didn't know, nor did any of my family member seem to know, that the medicinal leaf my grandma burned was marijuana.")
Classical Tragedy
type of drama that presents a serious subject matter about human suffering and corresponding terrible events in a dignified manner (ex. Macbeth)
Atmosphere
type of feeling that readers get from a narrative, based on details such as setting, background, objects, and foreshadowing (ex. "The woman raised her hands and stared at them; stared through them. Her voice was soft but tense. 'Blood on his hands.' Her own hands were clean and pale.")
Hepatameter
type of meter where each line of verse contains seven metrical feet
Essay, Undersatement
understatement is a figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is (ex. "Deserts are sometimes hot, dry, and sandy.")
Lines
unit of language into which a poem or play is divided, which operates on principles which are distinct from and not necessarily coincident with grammatical structures, such as the sentence or single clauses in sentences
Colloquial Language
usage of informal or everyday language in literature (ex. pass the buck, eat my dust, penny pincher)
Narration
use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience
Characterization
used step-by-step in literature to highlight and explain the details about a character in a story
Notes, MLA
useful or even necessary means of providing supplementary commentary or information that would be distracting if it appeared in the main text (ex. In this essay, the English translation of Usos amorosos is by Margaret E. W. Jones. All other translations are mine. 1 Time allowing, Labanyi's "Resemanticizing Feminine Surrender" could be assigned. 2 The use of the term in Spain was inspired by the tiny, jaunty Fiat 500 Topolino. In Italian, topolino means "little mouse" or "scamp.")
Coordination
uses coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs (with appropriate punctuation), or punctuation to combine short independent clauses into a single sentence
Figurative Language
uses figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive, and impactful
Literal Language
uses words exactly according to their conventionally accepted meanings or denotation.
Style Shifts
variations in speech in different contexts
Vehicles of Metaphors and Simlies
vehicle being the image that carries the weight of the comparison (ex. George Clooney is a total angel. The tenor of this metaphor is "George Clooney," while the vehicle is "angel.")
Jacobean Drama
was a dark form of the drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries (written in blank verse/unrhymed iambic pentameter)
End Rhyme
when a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same (ex. "A word is dead When it is said, Some say. I say it just Begins to live That day.")
Unscenes
when the detail in the offstage episode is particularly ample and vivid
Subject of Sentence
who or what the sentence is about
