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| Treatment of a subject matter that is impersonal or outside view of events. |
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| Stream of Consciousness Technique |
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| Method where the author places the reader inside the main character's head & makes the reader privy to all of the character's thoughts as they scroll through his/her consciousness. |
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| A phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence with some commentary or added detail. |
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| Treatment of subject matter that uses the interior or personal view of a single observer and is typically colored with that observer's emotional responses. |
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| A poem of sadness or grief over the death of a loved one or over some other intense loss. |
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| The protagonist's archenemy or supreme and persistent difficulty. |
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A statement that means the opposite of what it seems to mean.
An undertow of meaning, sliding against the literal meaning of the words. |
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| Repeated syntactical similarities used for effect. |
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The author's choice of words.
Ex: Wept or cried.
The ordering & structure of the words.
Ex: I devoured it greedily.
OR
Greedily, I devoured it. |
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The name for a section division in a long work of poetry.
Divides a long poem into parts the way chapters divide a novel. |
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| Refers to the stressed portion of a word in poetry. Stressed words can often be a matter of opinion and can be open to a variety of interpretations. |
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A type of poem that mediates on death or mortality in a serious, thoughtful manner.
Memorializes specific dead people. |
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| In drama, it is the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it. |
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A term drawn from Aristotle's writings on tragedy.
Refers to the "cleansing" of emotion an audience member experiences, having lived (vicariously) through the experiences presented on stage. |
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| When a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience. |
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| When the audiences knows something that the characters in the drama do not. |
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| The narrator in a non-first-person novel. Even though the author isn't a character, the reader gets some idea of the author's personality. |
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| Objective/Camera Eye Narrator |
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| The third-person narrator who only reports on what would be visible to a camera. Doesn't know what the character is thinking unless the character speaks of it. |
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| When the writing of a scene evokes feelings of dignified pity and sympathy. |
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As an adjective, it means "appealing to the senses" Synonymous with artistic judgment.
As a noun, it means "A coherent sense of taste."
When plural, it is the study of beauty. |
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A startling or unusual metaphor.
A metaphor developed & expanded over several lines. |
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| An images is considered this if it dominates or shapes the entire work. |
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Suggests that there is more than one possibility in the meaning of words. There a subtleties & variations, multiple layers of interpretation.
Meaning is both explicit & implicit. |
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| A protagonist who is markedly unheroic, morally weak, cowardly, etc. |
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This is at work in literature when inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena are given human characteristics, behavior, or motivation.
Often confused with personification, but personification requires that the non-human quality or thing take on human shape. |
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| In order to observe this, a character's speech must be styled according to his/her social status, & in accordance w/ the occasion. |
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Crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme.
Limericks are a type of this. |
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| A trait or characteristic. |
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| A portrait (verbal or otherwise) that exaggerates a facet of personality. |
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| This is at work when writing strains for grandeur it can't support & tried to jerk tears. |
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| A figure of speech where the speaker talks directly to something that is not human. |
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| The grating of incompatible sounds. |
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| Derived from Greek. Means "displaced in time." |
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| Excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall. |
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| A secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character often by contrast. |
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Lines rhymed by their final two syllables.
Penultimate syllables are stressed & final syllables are unstressed. |
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| Results from sounds blending harmoniously. |
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A word or phrase that takes the place of a harsh, unpleasant, or impolite reality.
Ex: Passed away instead of died. |
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Lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place.
Usually a line or a handful of lines, often serious or religious, but sometimes witty & even irreverent. |
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The beat or rhythm of poetry in a general sense.
Ex: pulsing, gentle, conversational, vigorous. |
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| Using deliberately harsh, awkward sounds in poetry. |
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| The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line or couplet of a poem to the next without a pause. |
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Pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language.
One falls into this when one tries to be eloquent by using the largest, most uncommon words. |
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A long, narrative poem, usually in regular meter & rhyme.
Typically has a native folksy quality, a characteristic that distinguishes it from epic poetry. |
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| A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself. |
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An adjective describing style which means dry & theoretical writing.
A work can be described as this if the piece seems to be sucking all the life out of its subject with analysis. |
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| An intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of love or praise. |
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| Limited Omniscient Narrator |
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| The third-person narrator who generally reports only what one character sees & who only reports the thoughts of that character. |
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| Exposes common character flaws to the cold light of humor. Attempts to improve things by pointing out people's mistakes in the hope that once exposed, such behavior will become less common. |
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| A group of lines roughly analogous in function in verse to the paragraph's function in prose. |
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Set up with a hypothetical situation, a kind of wishful thinking.
Ex: If I were you... |
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To imply, indicate, or infer.
Goes along with implicit. |
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| The demand made of a theater audience to accept the limitations of staging and supply the details with imagination. |
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| A device in literature where an object represents an idea. |
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The methods, tools, "how-he-does-it" ways of the author.
Ex: Tone, opposition, onomatopoeia. |
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The main idea of the overall work, the central idea.
The topic of discourse or discussion. |
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| The main position of an argument. The central contention that will be supported. |
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| In a tragedy, this is the weakness of character in an otherwise good individual that ultimately leads to his/her demise. |
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| A idealized place. Imaginary communities in which people are able to live in peace, happiness, and prosperity. |
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The use of a word to modify two or more words, but used for different meanings.
Ex: He closed the door and his heart on his lost love. |
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A song for the dead.
The tone in typically slow, heavy, & melancholy. |
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A short & usually witty saying.
Ex: "'Classic'? A book which people praise and don't read." -Mark Twain |
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| A new word, usually invented on the spot. |
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| A style in writing that is typically complex & discusses intangible qualities like good & evil, & seldom uses examples to support its points. |
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Standard or clichéd character types.
Ex: The drunk, the miser, the foolish girl. |
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A question that suggests an answer.
Ex: We can fight it out, or we can run. So, are we cowards? |
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| A song of prayer for the dead. |
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Words that sound like the mean.
Ex: Boom, splat, babble, gargle. |
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| A narrator is this if they are very young, crazy, a liar, or for some reason not entirely credible. |
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| Occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had expected & is frequently comic. |
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A word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn't a part of accepted "schoolbook" English.
Ex: I'm toasted. I'm a crispy-critter man, & now I've got this wicked headache. |
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| The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene. |
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The repeated use of vowel sounds.
Ex: The o's in "Old King Cole was a merry old soul." |
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A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage.
Similar to a soliloquy. |
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A sentence that is complete before its end.
Ex: Jack loved the girl despite her irritating laugh. |
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The use of deliberately old-fashioned language. Used to create a feeling of antiquity.
Ex: "Ye Olde Candle Shoppe." |
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| Repetition of initial consonant sounds. |
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| The use of disturbing themes in comedy. |
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| A broad parody, one that takes a style or a form, such as tragic drama & exaggerates it into ridiculousness. |
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A pair of lines that end in rhyme.
Ex: But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near. |
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A very long narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style.
Typically deal with glorious or profound subject matter. |
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The repetition of consonant sounds within words.
Ex: The "ck" in "A flock of sick, black-checkered ducks." |
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The basic rhythmic unit of a line in poetry.
Formed by a combination of two or three syllables, either stressed or unstressed. |
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To say/write something directly & clearly.
Rare in literature! |
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| A comparison usually involving two or more symbolic parts. Clarifies an action or a relationship. |
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| A word's literal meaning. |
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| Everything a word suggests other than its literal meaning. |
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| Exaggeration or deliberate overstatement. |
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| Reference to another work or famous figure. There are two types, topical (refers to a current event) & popular (refers to something from popular culture). |
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The word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to.
In "The principal asked the children where they were going", they is the pronoun that refers to children. |
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A subcategory of literature.
Ex: Science fiction & detective stories are subcategories of fiction. |
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| Poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. |
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| An event or statement in a narrative that in miniature suggests a larger event that comes later. |
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| A speech spoken by a character alone on stage. Meant to convey the impression that the audience is listening to the character's thoughts. |
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Modern day- An extremely broad humor.
Earlier times- A funny play/a comedy. |
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Form that first showed up in the mid 18th century & was popular for about 60 years.
Ex: Mysterious, gloomy castles. Eyes that follow you around a room. |
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The narrator who is a character in the story & tells the tale from his/her point of view.
This narrator may be unreliable if he/she is very young, a liar, crazy, etc. |
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Definition
The basic techniques of each genre of literature.
In a short story- Characters, irony, theme, symbol, & setting.
In poetry- Figurative language, symbol, imagery, rhythm, & rhyme.
In drama- Conflict, characters, climax, conclusion, exposition, rising action, falling action, & sets/props.
In nonfiction- Argument, evidence, reason, appeals, fallacies, & thesis. |
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| Switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase. |
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| Typical. An accepted masterpiece. |
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| A third-person narrator who sees like God, into each character's mind & understands all the action going on. |
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| Giving an inanimate object human qualities or form. |
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| A poem set in tranquil nature or even more specifically, one about shepherds. |
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| The work that results when a specific work is exaggerated to ridiculousness. |
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| A poem or speech expressing sorrow. |
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| Similar to a metaphor, but often softens things, usually using like or as. |
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| A comparison or analogy that states one thing is another. |
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| To restate phrases in your own words. Rephrase. It is not an analysis or interpretation. |
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| The perspective from which the action of a novel is presented. |
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| A type of conceit reserved for metaphysical poems only. |
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A word that is used to stand for something else that it has attributes of or is associated with.
Ex: A herd of 50 cows could be called 50 head of cattle. |
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Latin for "in the midst of things"
Ex: When "The Illiad" begins, the Trojan war has already been going on for seven years. |
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| A term for novels & poetry, not dramatic literature. Refers to writing that records the mental talking that goes on inside a character's head. Tends to be coherent, as though the character was actually talking. |
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| Having a pair of elements that contrast sharply. Not necessarily "conflict" but rather a pairing of images that are placed in contrast to each other. |
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| The main character of a novel or play. |
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| A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable. A regular rhyme. |
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| The usually humorous use of a word in such a way to suggest two or more meanings. |
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| What makes sense/what's important. Literal or emotional. |
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A phrase composed of opposites. A contradiction.
Ex: A calm frenzy. A truthful lie. |
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| A story that instructs, like a fable or an allegory. |
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| A situation or statement that seems to contradict itself, but on closer inspection, does not. |
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| To say or write something that suggests and implies something but never says it directly or clearly. |
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A sentence that is not grammatically complete until it has reached its final phrase.
Ex: Despite her irritating laugh, Jack loved the girl. |
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| An introductory poem to a longer work of verse. |
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| A form of theater in which the hero is very, very good, the villain is mean & rotten, & the heroine is oh-so-pure. |
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A type of poetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world (or the part that his poem is about).
When used to describe tone, it refers to a sweet, emotional melodiousness. |
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| The technical term for coinage. |
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| A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem. |
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