Literary Terms

resolution

Based on the structure of a 5 act Greek tragedy, the resolution, which occurs in the 5th act, is the wrapping up of loose ends and the restoration of order (as determined by the great chain of being). For example, if the tragedy revolves around the murder of the king, the resolution would be when the rightful heir to the throne is restored to power. The French term for resolution is denouement and the Greek term is catastrophe.

dramatic irony

Dramatic irony refers to any situation in which the audience or reader has knowledge that the characters lack. In classical tragedy, irony is a structural feature of plays such as Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, in which the murderer Oedipus sets out to expose turns out to be himself.

Metaphor

Example: "Their understanding Begins to swell; and the approaching tide Will shortly fill the reasonable shore That now lies foul and muddy." The Tempest

stanza

From the Italian, meaning "stopping -place" or "room." A recurring pattern of two or more lines of verse, poetry's equivalent to the paragraph in prose. The stanza is the basic organizational principle of most formal poetry.

pathos

In literature and drama, the evocation in an audience of the feelings of pity and sorrow. In rhetoic, the terms is used to refer to the emotional appeal of an argument that supplements the ethical (ethos) and logical (logos) appeals. In literature, pathos is associated with empathy and is a part of an audience's reaction to tragedy.

structure

In literature, the skeleton or internal relations of a text. Sometimes used interchangeably with the older term FORM, the two terms can be distinguished by treating form as the overall effect and structure as the underlying principles. In this sense, form might be seen as the concrete and glass, and structure as the steel girders, of an office building. Form refers to both the presentation on the page and content, which is seen as inextricable, whereas structure refers only to the presentation.

syllabic verse

In poetry, an established pattern of a certain number of syllables per line without a consistent stress pattern (meter). Syllabic verse is the most common meter in most Romance languages.

denouement

In the classic structure of a play, the resolution or wrapping up of loose ends at the end of the story following the climax. (French) synonyms: resolution (English), catastrophe (Greek)

impressionism

Literary impressionism grew out of the success of the late 19th century Impressionist school of painters - Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierr-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, and others - and peaked between 1875 and World War I. Impressionist writers shared with that movement the belief that reality is a synthesis of sense experiences, and that the distinction between subject and object is misleading. Emphasis is placed on the creation of mood or atmosphere reflecting a world filtered through an individual consciousness. To some extent this mood is created by a "painterly" style, an attempt to render images as reflections of light, color, and sound that represent the literary equivalents of Impressionist paintings. Impressionist writers generally attempted to appeal to the senses, offer momentary insights, and suggest impressions of setting, plot, and character. They were comfortable with vagueness and ambiguity, emotions and feelings. Some well-known impressionist works or authors are: Henry James - The American Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness, The Secret Sharer, "The Lagoon" Kate Chopin - The Awakening, "Story of an Hour" Katherine Mansfield - "Bliss" Stephen Crane - The Red Badge of Courage Virgina Wolfe - "Jacob's Room" Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man

foot

The basic unit of measurement in metrical poetry/verse, a foot consists of either 2 or 3 syllables, only one of which is accented.

carpe diem poem

The message of a "carpe diem" poem is "seize the day." As the name suggests, these poems talk of the brevity of life and the need to live for the moment. In some cases, this idea was translated into an appeal by the author to a woman asking her to share his bed with him because soon she will be old and will have lost her beauty. Ex. "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time" by Robert Herrick

form

The organization of a work in terms of its overall design. In this sense, form is closely related to the term structure. However, now the term form is used generally used in conjunction with content, the latter taken to be the "what" as opposed to the formal "how" of a text. Critics generally agree that in determining the meanin(s) of a text, it is necessary to consider form and content as inextricably linked rather than viewing form as an ornamental addition to content. In this sense, structure is the armiture or the arrangment or presentation of words on the page and form is the combined effect of meaning or ideas applied to or presented on that armiture. Another common use of the term is as a synonym for genre or type. Thus any text has a generic form as well as a specific one.

parallelism

The organization of sequential words, phrases, or sentences in a similar grammatical or structural way so as to create a pattern that is vivid to the reader. example: "of the people, by the people, for the people...." or from a poem by John Denham: o could I flow like thee, and make they stream My great example, as it is my theme! Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull; Strong without rage, without o'erflowing full.

exposition

The part of a play or fiction that sets up the main action, introduces the characters, explains the background, and anticipates the conflict. The author's challenge is to supply these elements without losing the interest of the audience or reader. In Freytag's structure of a play, the exposition or introduction occurs in Act I. In composition, the term is used to indicate a straightforward explanation of a topic in essay form. The root for expository writing is expose, meaning to reveal or explain, so expository writing is writing to explain.

symbolism

The practice of employing symbols (see above for definition) is called symbolism, a term also used to describe a group of symbols within a particular text. For example, an account of the symbolism in Moby Dick would include Ahab's wooden leg, the coin fixed to the mast, the names of the major characters, all combining to suggest a religious, moral, philosophical, and perhaps unfathomable mystery.

consonance

The repetition of a consonant sound in successive words either at the ends of words (brick and truck) - (unlike alliteration, which is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words) or when all the consonant sounds are the same, but the vowel sounds are different, as in reason and raisin.

alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words in close proximity in a line of verse. Ex: Ben's Big Belly Baffles the Boy

assonance

The repetition of two or more vowel counds in successive words, which creates a kind of rhyme. Assonance may occur at the beginnings of words or internally. example: The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.

prosody

The study of metrical structures in poetry. Prosody and scansion are very similar in that they both refer to the analysis of rhythm, stresses, and basic meter of the work. Some people differentiate by saying that scansion is the act of this analysis whereas prosody is the result of analysis. In song, prosody refers to matching rhythm and meter of the lyric to the rhythm and meter of the music.

climax

The turning point or the point of highest tension immediately after the turning point, which is when things go from good to bad or bad to worse and where the events that follow are the inevitable consequences of the actions taken. In the classic 5 Act play (such as those written by the ancient Greeks or by Elizabethan playwrights), the climax occurs somewhere in the 3rd act, so that Act 4 is the playing out of the consequences of that turning point/climax (falling action) and Act 5 is the resolution or wrapping up of loose ends or return to the natural order of things. This is also called the denouement or catastrophe. In a short story, the climax often occurs at the very end of the story -sometimes even in the last line.

euphony

The use of harmonious, soothing, or pleasing sounds or words, especially when intentionally used to reinforce meaning. The soft u or oo, w, m, and sometime s sounds often create soothing or harmonious sound, as in the words smooth, sooth, woo, coo, hum, mood and the meanings of those words to also soft or soothing. antonym: cacophony

cacophony

The use of harsh, discordant sounds to reinforce the meaning of the words or texts. It can be used ironically, to contrast with the meaning of the text, but more often it supports meaning. Ex. Milton's scornful reference in "Lycidas" to corrupt clergymen whose songs "Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw."

situational irony

This is a relatively modern use of the term, and describes a sharp discrepancy between the expected result and actual results in a certain situation. It is also more generally understood as a situation that includes contradictions or sharp contrasts. "The expression cosmic irony or 'irony of fate' stems from the notion that the gods (or the Fates) are amusing themselves by toying with the minds of mortals with deliberate ironic intent. Closely connected with situational irony, it arises from sharp contrasts between reality and human ideals, or between human intentions and actual results. The resulting situation is poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended." (wikipedia)

diction

Word choice in writing. Diction has an impact on connotations, sound, and tone. For example, whether an author uses formal diction, antiquated diction, colloquial diction, slang, or dialect influences the tone of the work. Similarly, we can describe diction as concrete (cocker spaniel, dark rose hydrangea, tire iron) when creates a clear word picture of something we can experience with our senses or as abstract (dog, bush, love, honor) when it does not create a clear or complete word picture or describe abstract notions. Generally speaking, language is more effective and narratives are more vivid when they include more concrete diction.

antagonist

a character or force that opposes the protagonist or main character in a work. The main character or protagonist can be a hero or a villain, so that the antagonist in Hamlet is the villainous King Claudius, while the antagonist in Macbeth is the righteous Macduff.

conflict

a clash between opposing forces in a literary work, such as the clash between a human and another human a human and his/herself (In My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor, she explores her conflict with herself. Sonia Sotomayor wants to be able to find herself in an environment in which she feels comfortable, but sometimes it is a struggle.) a human and his/her society a human and nature a human and the supernatural/gods humans and technology (A classic example of the conflict between human and technology can be found in 1984 by George Orwell. Winston Smith is a man living in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by Big Brother, a computer security system that controls every aspect of life. Big Brother controls the Thought Police, who prevent Smith from seeing his lover, Julia.)

comic relief

a comic scene, usually occurring right before the climax of a play. In an Elizabethan play, the comic scene involves lower class characters and bawdy humor. It serves multiple functions, including providing entertainment to the groundlings and releasing some of the tension that has built up with the development of the conflict, so that the effect of the climax is more dramatic.

dactyl/dactylic meter

a dactyl is a 3 syllable metrical foot of verse in which one stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables. Dactylic meter is verse made up primarily of successive dactyls. The dactylic meter is less common to English than it was to classical Greek and Latin verse. Longfellow's Evangeline is the most famous English-language long dactylic poem. example: "Sleep shall neither night nor day Hang upon his penthouse lid; He shall live a man forbid: Weary se'nnights none times nine Shall he dwindle, peak and pine:"

flashback

a device that enables a writer to refer to past thoughts, events, episodes by abandoning the chronological sequence and jumping back in time either in the narration of the story or through the revelation of a characters memories.

aside

a dramatic device in which an actor turns away from the other characters on stage and addresses the audience directly, revealing what is understood to be his/her inner thoughts, which may be in contradiction to what was expressed to the other characters.

oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms for rhetorical and literary effect. example: deafening silence

personification

a figure of speech where an animal, thing, idea, or force is given human characterics so as to make the non-human word tangible to a human audience. example: "The Wind" by James Stephens The wind stood up and gave a shout He whistled on his fingers and Kicked the withered leaves about And thumped the branches with his hand And said he'd kill and kill and kill, And so he will and so he will.

metonymy

a figure of speech where the name of something closely associated with another thing is substituted for it, such as a container being used to refer to what is contained or vice verse. Example: Let's drink a glass (where the container "glass" is being used to refer to what it holds, such as water or beer)

expressionism

a literary (and artistic) movement in the early 20th century that sought to go beyond realism on the one hand and impressionism on the other. For the expressionists, realists and impressionists were too concecerned with the surface of reality and reproducing the appearance of things. Expressionism called for art to go beyond imitation, to plunge into the formless depths of the human psyche, represented by a range of artistic devices including symbolism and masks, fantasy, inner reality or distorted representations of reality, abstract and mystical ideas, man and society in chaos, creation of new world. An example of an expressionist text is The Metamorphosis by Kafka

satire

a literary work in which the author uses wit, irony, exaggeration and ridicule to criticize the follies and foibles of humans or of society with the intent to bring about change, though a solution is not generally offered. An example is "A Modest Proposal" or Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

epic

a long, narrative poem about the adventures of a hero who embodies the values of the culture. The poem is written in an elevated style following a consistent form due to its mythic and legendary subject matter.

spondee

a metrical foot of verse containing two stressed syllables (' ') often substituted into a meter to create extra emphasis. ex: "and the white breast of the dim sea" from "Who Goes with Fergus?" The spondees (accented syllables) are on white breast and dim sea.

parody

a parody is a work that is a comic imitation of another work or of an author's literary style. A parody uses exaggeration of the original's most prominent features for comic effect.

rhythm

a pattern of stresses and pauses in a poem (sound and no sound). A fixed and recurring rhythm in a poem is called meter.

character

a person depicted in a narrative or drama. Traditional fiction usually includes a physical description of a character's appearance, but many modern and post-modern novels dispense with the physical description and focus on the state of mind or motivation of the character. Some authors select names that suggest rather than describe the character, such as Scrooge or Dimmesdale. Others use names that function as allusions, often either biblical or mythological. Static or flat characters are characters who tend to be minor figures (though not necessarily) who remain unchanged throughout the story. Dynamic or rounded characters change or grow in wisdom or understanding during the course of the story. A comparable distinction exists between "stock" characters and those who are more "three-dimensional." Some critics point out, however, that even highly individualized and fully rounded characters are variations of certain archetypal figures. Major characters play a significant role in the story and are generally (but not always) dynamic, whereas minor characters appear only briefly or do not exert much influence on the protagonist or the events of the story.

pun

a play on words where one word is substituted for another word of similar or identical sound but very different meaning

sestet

a poem or stanza of six lines. In an Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet, the first stanza is an octave or stanza of 8 lines, which often poses a question, and the sestet that follows may answer or respond to that question.

prose poem

a poem using paragraphs of prose instead of stanzas, but still paying close attention to sound, imagery, figurative language, and diction

dramatic monologue

a poem written as a speech given by a character without narrative input from another. The author uses a persona to separate him/herself from the "I" in the poem. ex: "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning

motif

a recurring element or variations of an image or idea in a narrative that usually has symbolic importance and is used to develop theme or characters. Motifs can also be common across many literary works, such as the granting fo three wishes in fairy tales. example: the green light in The Great Gatsby

eye rhyme

a rhyme where the spellings of the words is alike, but their pronunciation is different. ex: idea/flea, daughter/laughter

parallel plot

a secondary plot line that is comparable to or mimics the main plot and so reinforces the main plot or invites comparison. example: In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet wrestles with losing his father and so do Ophelia and Laertes. We get a clearer picture of Hamlet's character by the comparison of his reactions to those of Ophelia and Laertes.

lyric poem

a short, intimate poem, often in first person, expressing the thoughts and feelings of one speaker. ex. "Piano" by D.H. Lawrence

quatrain

a stanza consisting of four lines. Quatrains are the most common stanza used in English-language poetry.

couplet

a stanza of two lines of verse, often rhymed. A closed couplet is rhymed and expresses a complete and independent thought or statement. The closed couplet usually pauses lightly at the end of the first line; the second is more heavily end-stopped, or "closed." When such couplets are written in rhymed iambic pentameter, they are called heroic couplets.

subplot

a subordinate sequence of events in a play or novel. The given subplot may be designed to mirror, intensify, or enhance the main plot, as in the subplot of Bottom and the amateur actors in A Midsummer Night's Dream, or it may be unrelated to it, as in Touchstone's wooing of the rustic Audrey in As You Like It. Both of these plays also show that a play or novel may have more than one subplot.

elegy

a sustained poem in a formal style, which is always written on a somber theme such as death, often on the occasion of a funeral - poem of mourning.

symbol

a symbol refers to the process by which as person, place, object, or event comes to stand for some abstract idea or condition. As normally used in literary study, a symbol suggests a connection between the ordinary sense of reality and amoral or spiritual order. It differs from metaphor in that the connection between the subject and its referent is never explicit; it is left for the reader to discover. For example, in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, the reader is never told what the white whale represents. Instead, the figure seems to radiate a range of shifting, fragile meanings, some specific, other infinite in their extension, aspects of existence that would be otherwise inexpressible. A symbol is not an arbitrary intrusion into the text but should have a function on the literal level of the story. In Moby Dick, whatever else the whale represents, it should never cease to be a whale. Proponents of Deconstruction insist that symbols are really allegories.

tercet

a three-line stanza or, more specifically, a group of three lines of verse usually ending in the same rhyme.

onomatopoeia

a word (or group of words) that imitates the sound it is trying to describe, thereby representing something through its sound. Examples: bang, pow, screech, meow

parable

an allegorical narrative with an edifying purpose. Parables use humans as characters (unlike fables, which often use animals) and the moral is implied rather than explicitly stated (unlike fables) because the intended audience is adults.

connotation

an association or additional meaning that a word, image, or phrase may carry, apart from its literal dictionary definition (or denotation). A word picks up connotations from all the uses to which it has been put in the past. For example, an owl in literature is not merely the literal bird; it also carries the many associations (connotations, that is) attached to it, such as wisdom, inquiry, or perhaps the mystery of night or a predatory nature.

monologue

an extended speech or the thoughts of a single actor spoken out loud and understood to be heard by other characters on the stage. A monologue is distinct from a soliloquy because the latter involves a character alone on stage relating his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters.

slack syllable

an unstressed syllable in a line of verse. This may be used to convey hesitation or uncertainty. When unstressed syllables recur in pairs, the result is a rhythm that trips and bounces.

free verse

poetry whose lines are organized without any metrical pattern (as opposed to paragraphs of prose poems). Free verse may or may not rhyme.

syntax

sentence structure or the grammatical structure of poetry and prose Syntax can help establish tone depending upon whether it is formal or informal, simple, complex, compound or complex compound.

figurative language

the body of literary devices that enables the writer to operate not only on a literal level, but also a figurative or metaphorical level. It includes metaphors, similes, symbols, motifs, hyperbole, synecdoche, etc. Figurative language is always based off a comparison between two things.

enjambment

the breaking of a phrase, clause, or sentence at the end of a line of poetry so that the thought is continued onto the next line or stanza. This is sometimes done to conform to a set meter or syllable count, but it can also introduce the element of surprise or suggest multiple meanings at once, since the reader may draw conclusions about meaning at the end of the line and then continue reading only to discover that another meaning is introduced.

denotation

the literal dictionary definition of a word (as opposed to the connotations of the word)

narrator

the perspective from which a story is told. In first person narration, the pronouns I and me are used and the audience only is informed of the thoughts, feelings, and perspective of one person. This narrator is not omniscient and sometimes not objective, but we tend to trust a first person narrator and a greater sense of connection is achieved. In third person narration, the pronouns he/she/it/they are used. The narrator is considered distinct and separate from the characters in the story. A third person omniscient narrator knows what everyone thinks, feels, and does in the past, present, and future. A third person limited or semi-omniscient narrator, only the thoughts, feelings, and actions of one character(the protagonist) are revealed. An over-the-shoulder narrator can only report on what all the characters say or do, but not what they are feeling. On objective narrator simply reports events without introducing commentary, passing judgment, or providing interpretation. an unreliable narrator is a narrator who does not possess sufficient information or whose understanding is limited by youth, insanity, etc., and so cannot be trusted to tell the whole truth.

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter. Much of Shakespeare's tragedies (and other Elizabethan plays) is written in blank verse, especially the language of royal characters. Marlowe and Shakespeare were responsible for its artistic development, although they were not the first to write a tragedy in blank verse.

persona

(plural - personas or personae) - 1. A voice or character representing the speaker in a literary work (distinct from the author/poet). 2. A character in a dramatic or literary work.

chorus

1. A group of persons who speak or sing in unison a given part or composition in drama or poetry recitation. 2. An actor in Elizabethan drama who recites the prologue and epilogue to a play and sometimes comments on the action. 3. A group or performer in a modern drama serving a purpose similar to the Greek chorus. from conventions of classical Greek theater: a. A group of masked dancers who performed ceremonial songs at religious festivals in early Greek times. b. The group in a classical Greek drama whose songs and dances present an exposition of or, in later tradition, a disengaged commentary on the action. c. The portion of a classical Greek drama consisting of choric dance and song.

archetype

1. An original or perfect model after which subsequent examples are based; a prototype. (May refer to a recognizable character type or a literary form) 2. a constantly recurring symbol or motif found in literature or mythology. 3. In Jungian psychology, a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern, of thought, or image believed to be universally present in individual psyches.

iambic pentameter

5 feet of iambic meter (or 5 repetitions of the pattern of an unstressed syllable followed by an stressed syllable). For example (which you cannot use on the test, "In fair Verona where we set our scene...." Do you know how to scan that?

allusion

A brief (and sometimes indirect) reference in a text to a well-known person, place, or thing - fictitious or actual. An allusion may appear in a literary work as an initial quotation, a passing mention of a name, or as a phrase borrowed from another writer - often carrying the meaning and implications of the original. Allusions imply a common set of knowledge between reader and writer and operate as a literary shorthand to enrich the meaning of a text by transferring certain ideas from one context to another.

Romanticism

A broad literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that developed in Western Europe and America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It refers not only to a historical period, but also a fundamental, recurring attitude toward literature and life, in which the emotional and intellectual freedom of the individual is elevated over the traditional norms and strictures of society. The Romantic movement developed as a reaction against the narrow rationalism of the early and mid-18th century. an important historical progenitor of the movement was the French Revolution, particularly in its emphasis on liberty and equality. A central tenet of Romanticism was the belief in nature as a source of poetic inspiration. the interaction of the poet's creative imagination and the underlying spirit of nature produced an intense, subjective experience, communicated to readers in fresh, spontaneous language. The Romantics were drawn to the notion of natural genius, the child of nature, whose creative understanding of the world-as-symbol provided readers the opportunity to explore their own "inner worlds." Other concerns: emotions and passion imagination and wonder the variety and power of nature freedom and revolution dreams and idealism mystery and the supernatural experimentation with form spontaneity Some examples of text influenced by the romanticism are The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Don't confuse romanticism with a romantic novel.

apostrophe

A figure of speech in which a speaker turns from the audience to address an absent person or abstract idea (such as truth or beauty). It differs from a soliloquy in that the speaker of an apostrophe need not be alone on the stage. Odes and other lyric poems often employ apostrophe. An example of apostrophe would be the poem "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath, where she addresses her dead father. Ex: "Daddy, I have had to kill you."

synecdoche

A form of rhetoric in which a part of a word or phrase is substituted for the whole, or vice versa. Can be used to emphasize a specific aspect of a fictional character. Whole-for-the-part synecdoche is evident in expressions such as "The police are investigating the case" for "some police." Synecdoche is included under the general heading of metonymy. "50 head of cattle" to represent 50 cows "hired hands" in reference to workmen "white hair" for an elderly person "mouths to feed" for hungry people "20 bucks" meaning 20 dollars

foreshadowing

A hint in a narrative of future events or later developments. Foreshadowing may assume a variety of forms, such as:

Realism

A literary and artistic movement that arose in the latter half of the 19th century and sought to depict life as it truly is, objectively and without sentimentality. In realistic novels, settings and characters are often those of the working class/ordinary people. Detail and description is stressed as is character portrayal. Another characteristic feature was determinism, the view that individual free will is, if not completely illusory, at least radically limited by cultural, environmental, and historical forces. Realism was a reaction against or response to Romanticism. An example of a text that reflects many of the concerns of realism is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Train or Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

allegory

A narrative in verse or prose in which the literal events, persons, places, and things consistently point to a parallel sequence of symbolic ideas. This narrative strategy is often used to dramatize abstract ideas, historical events, religious systems, or political issues. An allegory has two levels of meaning: a literal level that tells a surface story and a symbolic level in which the abstract ideas unfold. The names of allegorical characters often hint at their symbolic roles. For example, in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," Faith is not only the name of the protagonists' wife, but also a symbol of the protagonist's religious faith.

paradox

A paradox is a statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet is nonetheless true. For example, when Macbeth was returning home from a battle in which many men were lost, but they ultimately were successful in repelling the invasion, and he encounters a thick fog on the heath, he comments, "So fair and foul a day I have not seen." A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens begins with the words, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...."

caesura

A pause within a line of verse, often in the middle, but not always. Punctuation usually marks a caesura, but not always. The pause can also be indicated by the use of parallelism or the natural flow of the language. Caesura's serve to mark emphasis and to establish rhythm.

ballad/ ballad stanza

A poem designed to be sung and set to music to tell a story. Ballads are compressed and dramatic, both serving to captivate the audience and ease memorization. The conventions of the most common form of ballad are: quatrains alternating lines of 4 and 3 feet (one stanza 4,3,4,3 feet) rhyme scheme: abab or abcb

scansion

A practice used to describe rhythmic patterns in a poem by separating the metrical feet and marking the stressed and unstressed syllables, counting the syllables in each line, marking the accents, and indicating the pauses (caesura or end stops). Scansion can be very useful in analyzing the sound of a poem and how it should be read aloud and also for identifying a closed form. The verb form of the word is: to scan, meaning to indicate the stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse. It is related to prosody, but sometimes scansion implies more thorough examination of the poem's form and sound, whereas prosody refers specifically to marking the metrical structures.

proscenium stage

A proscenium stage, also known as a picture frame stage, is the most common stage used in the west. The stage is set up like a "window" that frames the play taking place on the stage. The primary feature is a large opening known as the proscenium arch, from which a curtain is hung and through which the audience views the performance. The audience directly faces the stage—which is typically raised several feet above front row audience level—and views only one side of the scene. This one side is commonly known as the invisible fourth wall of the scene. The proscenium arch evolved from the proskenium in Ancient Greek theaters. This was the space in front of the skênê or backdrop where the actors actually played. This type of stage, gives everyone in the audience a good view because the performers need only focus on one direction rather than continually moving around the stage to give a good view from all sides.

catharsis

A purifying or figurative cleansing of the emotions, especially pity and fear, described by Aristotle as an effect of tragic drama on its audience.

slant rhyme

A rhyme in which the final consonant sounds are the same, but the vowel sounds are different, as in sun and bone or fame and room, crack and truck. Slant rhyme may also called near rhyme, off rhyme, imperfect rhyme, or consonance.

fable

A short narrative in prose or verse in which the action of the characters, usually animals, conveys a moral lesson, which is explicitly stated at the end. The earliest examples of the type are associated with the name Aesop (6th century B.C.) Fables are intended to teach children, which is why animals are used as characters and the moral is stated. A parable serves a similar function and likewise suggests a moral lesson, but the intended audience is adults, so the characters are human and the lesson, though implied, is not explicitly stated.

classicism

A term covering a variety of uses but chiefly referring to a literary movement that strives to reflect qualities associated with the literature and culture of Greece and Rome, including symmetry and balance, harmony, control/restraint, reason, noble ideals and an edifying purpose, universality, dignified language, and clarity. In this sense, classicism stands in opposition to romanticism. The Renaissance rediscovery of classical literature led to the development in the 17th and 18th centuries to neoclassicsim - the conscious imitation of the forms, and what were believed to be the rules of classical literature. The first half of the 20th centure saw another return to classical principles, especially in academic circles with the advent of "New Criticism." Examples of classical texts are Shakespeare's plays (based on the conventions established by the Greeks) and The Bible.

irony

A term with a number of distinct references. Among its common uses in literary study are 1) as a rhetorical and literary device 2) as a mode of literature, 3) as a way of perceiving life itself. In its most common sense, it refers to an unexpected twist or contrast between what happens and what was intended or expected to happen or what might be considered just. This can be intentional or unplanned. "In the 18th and 19th centuries, irony underwent a transformation from the rhetorical and literary device to a broad-ranging, all-encompassing idea. In the words of the critic Wayne Booth, 'by the end of the Romantic period, it had become a grand Hegelian concept...or a synonym for romanticism; or even an essential attribute of God.' This attitude, sometimes called Romantic or cosmic irony, developed from the belief that life is inherently a mix of opposites and that the most appropriate response to its double-edged nature is to assume the role of a detached, knowing spectator. In the 20th century...the term is used to denote an essential characteristic of poetry, the capacity of poetic language to reconcile opposites...[for example, in] Keat's "Ode on a Grecian Urn," the ironic meaning of the poem is that 'the frozen moment of loveliness is more dynamic than the fluid world of reality, only because it is froze.' In this sense irony means something very close to PARADOX." (from A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms by Edward Quinn, copyright 1999) For further distinction, look up dramatic irony, verbal irony, situational irony, and Socratic irony.

terza rima

A terza rime is a verse form with three-line stanzas using an overlapping rhyme scheme: aba bcb cdc ded. This is easier to do in Italian than in English. In English, terza rimas are usually in iambic pentameter and employ slant rhyme to make up for the fact that English does not have as many rhyming words as Italian. This is the form Dante employs in The Divine Comedy.

sonnet

A traditional and widely used verse form that is especially popular for love poetry. The sonnet is a fixed form of 14 lines of iambic pentameter (10 syllables of iambic meter). An English (or Shakespearean) sonnet is made up of 3 quatrains (4 line stanzas) and a final closed couplet. An Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet is made up of an octave (8 line stanza) followed by a sestet (6 line stanza). Most sonnets have a shift or turn in focus, either after the octave or with the final couplet.

convention (2 definitions)

A traditional assumption or practice in literature or drama that is recognized by both the author/actors and the reader/audience. Some basic conventions survive through the centuries (fairy tales beginning with "Once upon a time" and ending with the protagonist living "happily ever after" or the convention of a soliloquy in a play) while others die of overuse (the horror story that turns out to be a dream) and are replaced by another. Beginning a fairy tale with "Once upon a time" and ending with "and they lived happily ever after." The structure of a 5 act play: Act I: Exposition Act II: Rising Action Act III: Climax Act IV: Falling Action Act V: Denoument OR a set of agreed upon, stipulated, or generally accepted standards, norms, or rules that are understood by both the author/actor and the reader/audience. These usually grow out of practical considerations or limitations. For example, some of the conventions of the Elizabethan stage are that the parts of women are played by young boys (because it wasn't considered an appropriate profession for a woman), the setting is established with words (because sets and special effects were minimal), scene changes occur by actors entering different areas of the stage (balcony, trap door, thrust stage, inner stage) because there were no curtains, characters expressed their inner thoughts using soliloquies and asides, and plays were performed in the middle of the day (because there was no electricity). Can you think of any other conventions?

tetrameter

A verse meter consisting of four metrical feet, or four primary stresses, per line.

style

All the distinctive ways in which an author, genre, movement, or historical period uses language to create a literary work. An author's style depends on his or her characteristic use of diction, imagery, tone, syntax, and figurative language.

point of view

Also called "angle of vision," point of view is the perspective from which a narrative is told. In addition to determining whether the narration is delivered from a first person or third person perspective (using "I" or "He, She, It"), how the narrator conveys information and how much information and about whom also impacts the experience or perceptions of a reader. A first person narrator is generally seen as more trustworthy and there is often a sense of intimacy when the narrator seems to be talking directly to the reader and inserting him/herself into the story. However, some first person narrators are unreliable for various reasons ranging from lack of knowledge (youth) to insanity. Also, the reader only learns the thoughts, feelings, and point of view of the narrator. A first person narrator usually participates in the action of the story, but sometimes, as with Nick in The Great Gatsby, the narrator is only a minor character whose role is primarily as observer. Second person narration, although possible for short pieces, is hard to pull off effectively in a text of any length or literary merit. Among 3rd person narrations, there are various options for telling a story. The narrator may be omniscient, meaning that he/she is outside the events of the story, but knows what all of the characters think, say, do, and feel. A semi-omniscient narrator may only know that about the protagonist. An over-the-shoulder narrator knows only what someone looking over the shoulder of a narrator would know - namely, what everyone says and does, but not necessarily what they feel. Another consideration is whether a narrator is objective (reporting what is seen or heard without commentary or interpretation) or subjective/didactic, in which case the beliefs of the narrator are clearly understood or stated. Ernest Hemingway is well known for his objective narration. This idea of letting the reader draw his/her own conclusions only came into vogue toward the middle of the 19th century.

anapest/anapestic meter

An anapest is a metrical foot of three syllables in which the first two syllables are unaccented and the last syllable is accented. Anapestic meter is a set pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables made up of successive anapests. Example: I am out of humanity's reach; I must finish my journey alone.

stress

An emphasis or accent placed on a syllable in speech. Clear pronunciation of polysyllablic words almost always depends on correct placement of their stress. (For example, de-sert and de-sert are two different words and parts of speech, depending on their stress. Stress is the basic principle of most English -language meter. A stress is indicated by placing a diagonal slash (') over the accented syllable.

hyperbole

An exaggerated or extravagant expression not meant to be take literally. Hyperbole is used in the place of superlatives or to intensify the effect.

soliloquy

An extended speech given by a character alone on stage and understood to be a way of communicating the character's inner thoughts to the audience.

iamb/iambic meter

An iamb is one foot of iambic meter in verse. Iambic meter is a set pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse in which the first syllable of the foot or repeating pattern is unstressed and the second is stressed. An unstressed syllable is indicated with a U over the syllable and a stressed syllable is indicated with a ⁄ over the syllable. iambic pentameter, the most common meter in the English language, is 5 feet of this pattern of unstressed followed by stressed, which equals a total of 10 syllables.

imagery

An image is an attempt to capture or communicate a sensory experience with words. Imagery is the pattern of images or the combined effect of related images. Every metaphor or simile constitutes an image. Thus Macbeth's "ravell'd sleeve of care" visualizes an emotional condition in terms of an article of clothing. In different schools of literary thought, images may be thought of as disclosing the moral vision of the author, engaging the reader on the level of sense experience, or creating the texture of the work.

rhyme scheme

Any recurring pattern of rhyme within an individual poem or fixed form. A rhyme scheme is usually describe by using small letter to represent each end rhyme - a for the first rhyme, b for the second, and so on. The rhyme scheme of a stanza of common meter or hymn meter, for example, would be notated as abab. The rhyme scheme for an English sonnet is: abab cdcd efef gg.