1. Literary Terms

2. Stanza
A set of grouped lines within a poem, usually set off from other stanzas by a blank line

3. Lyric poem Expresses observations & feelings of a single speaker
Does not tell a full story
- instead zeroes in on an experience or creates & explores a single effect
May follow a tradition form or be written in free verse
- Free verse: “Making a Fist”
Originally written to be accompanied by music
- distinctive feature = musicality

4. Villanelle
A lyric poem written in 3 line stanzas, ending with a 4th line stanza
Example: “The Waking”
2 refrains:
- Line 1 repeats in lines 6, 12, & 18
- Line 3 repeats in lines 9, 15, 19

5. Aposiopesis
a sudden pause or interruption in the middle of a sentence (often for
dramatic effect)

6. Litotes (Understatement)
deliberately de-emphasizing something in order to downplay its importance

7. Conduplicatio
repetition of a key word over successive phrases or clauses

8. Aporia
questioning oneself (or rhetorically asking the audience), often pretending to be
in doubt

9. Prologue
An introduction most frequently associated with drama. Prologues were frequently written by the author of a play and delivered by one of the chief actors

10. Chorus Often recited by a single actor
Foreshadows & comments on future/past events
Background information

11. Pun Word play that suggests two or more meanings for the same word
Homonyms/homophones are commonly used as puns Or
A figure of speech demonstrating a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect
Examples: There was once a cross-eyed teacher who couldn’t control his pupils.
Police were called to a day-care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
I couldn’t quite remember how to throw a boomerang, but eventually it came back to me.
When the boss sold the carnival, he said it was a fair deal.
“A trade sire, which is… indeed… a mender of bad soles.”

12. Stage Directions
Material that an author adds to a text to indicate movement, attitude, manner, style, or quality of speech, character, or action

13. Genre
type/category of literary works based on form, technique or subject matter.

14. Drama
the realistic portrayal of serious events; a story told in action by actors who impersonate the characters. (play)

15. Comedy
a lighter, with humor, form of drama that aims primarily to amuse (tells anecdotes/stories), and usually is marked by a happy ending. (marriages)

16. Tragedy
a type of play that ends/results in an unfavorable and unhappy ending/catastrophe and is treated with seriousness and dignity
A play about a character’s downfall
Main character(s) may end up dead or defeated
Catastrophe/suffering awaits many of the characters, especially the hero

17. Soliloquy
An extended speech delivered while the speaker is alone, in order to inform the audience of what is passing in the character’s mind (his/her inner thoughts or what the speaker is thinking inwardly, with the audience as listeners)

18. Monologue
An extended speech delivered by a single speaker to listeners (another character or crowd) onstage, but the listeners do not speak

19. Dialogue A conversation between two or more characters
Often serves to advance the action, give the impression of naturalness, present the interplay of ideas and personalities among those conversing, and/or give relief from descriptive/expository passages

20. Aside
when an actor directly addresses the audience, or another character, but is not supposed to be heard by other actors onstage (usually shorter than a monologue/soliloquy)

21. Dramatic Irony
the words or acts of a character carry meaning unperceived by the character or other characters but are understood by the audience (the audience/reader knows something that some of the characters are blind to)

22. Prose From the Greek “prosa,” meaning straightforward
Ordinary speech (not poetic)
Paragraph form
No formal meter/rhyme

23. Verse
Poetic
Meter & rhyme

24. Scansion
A close, critical reading of a poem, examining the work for its meter & the relevance of its meter

25. Meter Natural rhythm of a poem
Syllabic pattern (arrangement of syllables in repeated patterns)
Basic unit in the description of the underlying rhythm of a poem
unit=metrical foot (measured by syllables, not words; a foot can consist of multiple words, & a word can consist of multiple feet)

26. Iambic Pentameter
A line of poetry that has 10 syllables (5 metric feet)
2 syllables = 1 foot
Iamb = a metric foot with two syllables, first unstressed & second stressed (most natural form of rhythm in the English language, usually producing a subtle but stable verse)

27. Blank Verse Shakespeare’s poetry in unrhymed iambic pentameter
Same letters/end rhyme
plays

28. Tone
attitude of the speaker/author towards the subject, characters, or audience

29. Mood
the emotion a text evokes in the reader

30. Conflict interplay between two opposing forces. Two types:
1) internal- a struggle between two elements within one character
Ex. man vs self (mental/emotional/psychological/spiritual)
2) external- a struggle between a character and an outside force
Ex. man vs man
man vs nature
man vs society
man vs. Fate

31. Irony
Portrays the difference between appearance & reality, expectation & result, or meaning & intention
Verbal irony: words are used to convey the opposite of what is meant
Situational irony: an action or event directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience
Dramatic irony: a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader/audience knows to be true (when the reader/audience knows something that the character does not)

32. Oxymoron a self-contradictory combination/pair of words
Ex. jumbo shrimp

33. Metaphor A comparison without the use of the words “like” or “as”
Example: She is a rose.

34. Simile A comparison using the word “like” or “as”
Example: She is as beautiful as a rose.

35. Personification
An object/animal is given human qualities, such as human thoughts, feelings, attitudes, & characteristics/personalities
From the Latin root “per” = through
Example: The sun smiled down on us.

36. Connotation vs. Denotation
Connotation: the emotional association of a word (negative or positive)
Denotation: the definition/meaning of the word, without emotional associations

37. Figurative
not literal (i.e. metaphors)

38. Hyperbole Extreme exaggeration for effect (not to be taken literally)
Example: I am so hungry, I could eat a cow!

39. Apostrophe
Someone (absent, dead, nonexistent/ imaginary, or unspecified), some abstract quality/idea, or some personified thing is addressed (spoken to) as though actually present
Examples: “O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,” “Oh Sinner!”

40. Allusion
A reference to a historical or literary figure, text, event, object, work of art, etc. outside of the literary work
Often well known (something the author assumes the reader is likely to be familiar with)
It is up to the reader to make the connection
Common allusions are to the Bible, Shakespeare, mythology, politics, or current events

41. Elision
Omitting a syllable or sound in a word to make it easier to say or pronounce or to ensure rhythm/maintain meter in poetry/create pleasant sounds
From the Latin “elidere” = to strike out
Usually runs two words together by the omission of the final or initial sounds
Common uses: laboratory, temperature, vegetable (pronounce as though missing syllables/sounds, considered correct pronunciation)
Shortened syllable count for poetry: ‘tis (instead of it is) ‘twas (instead of it was)
Informal slang: gonna, dunno, wanna
Example: O’er the land of the free

42. Syncope
Omitting letters within a word (the interior of a word) to omit sounds/syllables
Examples: o’er=over, n’er=never

43. Apocope Omitting the end of a word to make it easier to say
Examples: abs=abdominal muscles, ad=advertisement, bio=biology, decaf=decaffeinated, demo=demonstrated, limo=limousine

44. Paralepsis
Emphasizing a point by seeming to skip over it, which brings what’s being omitted to the forefront of people’s consciousness
Example: “Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it. / It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you.”

45. Eulogy
A dignified, formal speech or writing that praises a person/thing that is typically deceased

46. Metonymy
Substitution of the name of an object closely associated with a word for the word itself
Example: crown = monarchy
Example: suits = FBI/CIA agents
Example: force = police
“lend me your ears”

47. Epigraph A quotation or short saying on the title page of a book
Indicates the book’s theme
Example: Charles Lamb’s quote at the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird

48. Synecdoche Using a part to represent the whole
Examples: a new set of wheels, “lend me your ears,” mouths to feed, give me a hand
A specific kind used to refer to a more general kind
Examples: Kleenex, Coke
A material used to refer to an object composed of that material
Examples: plastic, pigskin, threads

49. Theme The main idea/central concept/topic/message of a literary work
Usually requires a subject & a predicate
Example: “the vanity of human wishes” instead of “human wishes”

50. Symbol
Something that is itself & also represents something else (suggests another level of meaning)

51. Characterization
The process by which an author reveals information about a character; methods the author uses to develop the personality of a character
- what the narrator/other characters say/think about (or respond to) the character
- what the character says/thinks
- what the character does
- what the character looks like
Direct: often a sign of poor writing, telling (not showing, e.g. He was a dimwitted man.)
Indirect: showing (not telling), often inferred through action

52. Types of Characters
Round=complex (not always the good guy), fully developed both physically & emotionally, usually the main character that develops over the course of the story
Flat=one-dimensional, undeveloped, often unrealistic, lack complexity (not necessarily a sign of poor writing)
Dynamic=round, continuously change & evolve, often grows significantly & learns to be a better person (but can go the other way)
Static=can be round or flat, does not change, essentially remains the same over the course of the story
Protagonist=the main character/hero, the character the reader is supposed to root for, can be more than one character
Antagonist=character that is in opposition to & works against the protagonist, doesn’t have to be a person (e.g. setting or situation)

53. Couplet Two consecutive lines of verse (poetry) with end rhyme
Usually occurs at the end of sonnets & at end of stanzas in longer poems

54. Foil
A character who contrasts with another character (such as in personality/attitude) in order to highlight aspects of the characters’ personalities and make them stand out more
Often used to highlight characteristics of the protagonist

55. Archetype
An image, descriptive detail, plot pattern, situation, symbol, or character type that occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, folklore, etc.
Examples: the hero, the quest, the journey, the task, the fall, the flood, death & rebirth, the devil figure, he unfaithful wife, the scapegoat (death in public ceremony expiates community’s sin), the outcast (banished from social group for some crime), the temptress (sensuous & beautiful, attracts protagonist & brings about his downfall), the earth mother (symbol of fruition/abundance/fertility, offering spiritual/emotional nourishment), the Platonic ideal (spiritual ideal, source of inspiration, idealized by protagonist who has intellectual attachment to her), the sorrowing mother (loses children, intense grief), light-darkness (light=hope/renewal/spiritual illumination, darkness=unknown/ignorance/despair), water-desert (water=birth/rebirth/regeneration, desert=spiritual sterility), heaven-hell (skies & mountains=gods, bowels of earth=diabolical forces)

56. Setting
The location, time, social circumstances in which story takes place
Often contributes to the mood of the story
General setting: overall location & time period
Immediate setting: particular time & place within a story (similar to scene)

57. Foreshadowing
The presentation of material in a text in such a way that later events are prepared for (prepares the reader for future action)
Establishment of mood/atmosphere
Appearance of objects/facts as clues
The revelation of a fundamental character

58. Onomatopoeia
The use of a word that suggests its meaning (sounds like what it means)
Examples: buzz, clang

59. Motif
A recurring image, word, object, phrase, or action that unifies the text

60. Act A major division of drama
Usually in 5 parts in ancient Greek plays, according to Aristotle
Usually follows the 5 main divisions of dramatic action (plot elements)

61. Scene
Division of an act in a drama into a smaller part

62. Bildungsroman
Coming of age story
About growing up

63. Literal Language
Exact in meaning
Not exaggerated

64. Figurative Language Language that is not exact in meaning
Not to be taken literally
Means more than what it says on the surface
Gives a feeling about a subject
Makes meaning fresh/clearer
Expresses complexity
Extends meaning
Captures physical or sensory effect

65. Concrete Language Sensory words
Objects/events available to the five senses

66. Abstract Language Ideas Concepts Not physical
Can’t be perceived via 5 senses
Examples: war, love, freedom, success

67. Detail Part of an effective description
Breaks down elements of description to elaborate on each part

68. Juxtaposition
The placing of two things close together or side by side for the sake of comparison/contrast

69. Point of View The related experience of the narrator (not the author!)
Texts often encourage the reader to identify with the narrator, not the author
Can occur in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person
1st person: narrator is a character that is part of the story, & narrative is limited by what the narrator knows/experiences/infers/discovers, used frequently, sacrifices omniscience for greater intimacy with one character, uses “I”/”We,” narrator can be the protagonist or someone close to the protagonist who is privy to the protagonist’s thoughts/actions or an ancillary character who has little to do with the action of the stpry
2nd person: main character is referred to with 2nd person personal pronouns (such as “you”), rare, difficult to take seriously, usually paired with present tense
3rd person: narrator is outside the action
Omniscient: narrator is all-knowing, knows everything that needs to be known including all characters’ thoughts/feelings/motives
Limited: narrator stays within the confines of what one knows/sees (only a part of the whole story), reader only gets the narrator’s biased perspective
3rd person omniscient: most common prior to 20th century
3rd person limited: most common during 20th & 21st centuries

70. Paradox
A statement/idea that appears false/contradictory/absurd but actually is true

71. Imagery
Descriptive language that evokes a sensory experience (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound); visual is most common
Visual imagery = sight is most common (Example: The crimson liquid spilled from the container and onto the white page.)
Auditory imagery = sound (Example: The bells chimed.)
Olfactory imagery = smell (Example: His socks, still soaked with sweat from Tuesday’s P.E. class, filled the classroom with an aroma akin to salty, rotting fish.)
Gustatory imagery = taste (Example: When I was swimming in the ocean, I accidentally took a gulp of briny, bitter liquid, causing me to cough and gag.)
Tactile imagery = touch (Example: The soft play-dough oozed between Connor’s fingers.)

72. Catharsis
Emotional relief/purification/purging /clarification that an audience was supposed to experience upon viewing a Greek tragedy
In drama, refers to a sudden emotional climax that evokes overwhelming sorrow, pity, laughter, or any other extreme change in emotion, resulting in restoration, renewal, and revitalization in audience members

73. Cacophony A combination of harsh & unpleasant sounds
Often caused by consonance
Used in both poetry & prose to convey angry/discordant tone/feeling

74. Euphony A combination of pleasant sounds
Often created through assonance
Used in both poetry & prose
Common in love poems or pieces that want to convey soft & pleasant feelings

75. Alliteration
Repetition of initial consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in successive or closely associated syllables
Example: “fiery flood of fierceness”
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Example: killer cat

76. Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds within successive or closely associated words
Does not need to happen at the beginning of words
Can create a soft fluency in sound and internal rhyme
Example: “on a proud round cloud in a white high night”

77. Consonance
Repetition of consonant sounds within words, rather than at the beginning
Example: All mammals named Pam are clammy.

78. Anaphora
Repetition of words/phrases/clauses at the beginning of successive or closely associated lines/sentences
Common in speeches
Used for emphasis

79. Epistrophe/Antistrophe
Repetition of words/phrases/clauses at the end of successive or closely associated lines/sentences

80. Epanaphora
Repetition of words/phrases/clauses throughout (in the middle of) successive or closely associated lines/sentences

81. Parallelism
When several elements of equal importance are expressed in a sentence
The same pattern of words show two or more clauses/ideas have the same level of importance; the repetition of words/grammatical structures/phrases, etc.
Parallel sentence constructions

82. Inversion/Anastrophe
Words placed out of normal English order, often to accommodate the metrical pattern & maintain the regular meter/rhythm/rhyme; the placing of sentence elements out of their normal positions
Think Yoda!
Example: “Worried, I am. Afraid, is he.”

83. Rhetorical Question A question asked for effect
Does not require a reply
From the root “retro” = backwards

84. Praeteritio/Apophasis/Paralipsis
“mention by not mentioning”
Invokes a subject by denying it should be evoked
Emphasizing a point by seeming to pass over it
Makes an assertion while seeming or pretending to suppress or deny it (apophasis)
Pretending to say nothing about something one goes on to say quite a bit about (paralipsis)
Rhetorical strategy
Example: “I must not read it.” The Tragedy of Julius Caesar 3.2

85. End Rhyme Rhyming words at the end of lines
Example: “And lovely, learn by going where to go. / This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.” – Theodore Roethke’s “The Waking”

86. Internal Rhyme
Rhyme occurs at some place before the last syllable in a line
Example: “I wake to sleep and take my waking slow” – Theodore Roethke’s “The Waking”

87. Slant/Half Rhyme Near rhyme Partial rhyme Imperfect rhyme
Examples: Dry & died, devil & evil, grown & moon
Example: “To bright for our infirm Delight” – Emily Dickinson’s “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant”

88. Trimeter A line (of verse) of three feet/six syllables
Example: “Success in circuit lies” – Emily Dickinson’s “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant”

89. Tetrameter A line (of verse) of four feet/eight syllables
Example: “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” – Emily Dickinson

90. Free Verse Poetry/verse without a regular rhythm/meter
Example: Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Making a Fist”

91. Plot: sequence of events in a text

95. Exposition
Part of the work that introduces the characters, setting, events, basic situation, background information, etc.
The “set up”
Provides clarity for future plot
Usually best when done indirectly

96. Inciting Action The introduction of the central conflict
Lets readers know what the protagonist is up against
Hints at circumstances of climax

97. Development/Rising Action
Development: conflict increases
Rising action: events that lead up to the climax, complication of the action, begins with exciting force (which starts the conflict), gains interest & power as oppositions come into conflict, proceeds to climax
Events that push the story forward
Adds tension to the plot

98. Climax The height of suspense/interest Turning point
Point at which conflict reaches its highest point
The “big battle” (can be external or internal)

99. Falling Action Events after the climax that lead to the resolution
Not always necessary/apparent

100. Resolution The end of the central conflict/tension
May tie up loose ends
Not always happy

101. Denouement Any events that occur after the resolution
May tie up loose ends
Not always happy

102. Diction
Word choice
Formal diction: elevated & dignified, often complex & impersonal, follows grammar rules
Middle diction: maintains correct language but less elevated, reflects how most educated people speak
Informal Diction: plain language of everyday use, includes slang, idioms, & common words

103. Syntax Sentence structure; arrangement of words
Even with formal diction, a lack of variety or overly simplistic syntax can lower the level of language in an essay (compound, complex sentences vs. short, choppy sentences)

104. Stoicism
Philosophical belief began 3rd century B.C. by founder Zeno & lasted for 500 years
Belief in self-control, little expression of emotion, & a denial of passion
From Greek for "painted portico" in Athens where the group met and talked
Zeno: one's duty was to behave in a rational & calm manner and not let emotion cloud thinking
Acceptance of what happened as part of the law of nature.
Seems bleak & rigid today but popular in Greece
During the Roman Empire, emphasis on social duty, the importance of the law, & equal rights for all
Brutus

105. Epicureanism
Epicurus=Greek philosopher who lived from 341 B.C. to 270 B.C.; believed life best understood by awareness of sensory perceptions
Belief that the most important goal was to seek pleasure & avoid pain.
Did not believe in fearing gods because there was no life after death
Epicurus didn’t acknowledge power of supernatural - omens, dreams, & other portents so would not have assigned much importance to Calpurnia's dream
Influenced modern hedonism (some same tenets)
Caesar & Cassius

106. Ecphonesis
Emotional, exclamatory phrase; call out/express sudden emotion
In drama, poetry, song
Rhetorical device in ancient literature
Greek in origin
“O” often used but not necessary
- To Renaissance audience, “O” literally meant one’s heart was bleeding
- “O” sounds = distraught emotional state & serious health concern
Examples: “O, the times!”

107. Anadiplosis “Doubling back”
Repetition of last word of a preceding clause
Word used at end of sentence & used again at beginning of next sentence
Example: “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

108. Asyndeton From the Greek “unconnected”
Deliberate omission of conjunctions from a series of related clauses
Speeds up the rhythm to make more memorable
Examples: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” “government of the people, by the people, for the people” “Friends, Romans, Countrymen”

109. Chiasmus “to shape like the letter x”
Two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point
Criss-cross structure
Inverted parallelism
Popular in Greek & Roman texts
Example: “He knowingly led, and we followed blindly.”
A B B A
subject, adverb, verb, conjunction (cross) subject, verb, adverb

110. Antithesis From Greek for “setting opposition” A counter proposition
Denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition
Setting the opposite brings out a contrast in meaning by obvious contrast in expression
Examples: “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
“Give every man thy ear but few thy voice.”
“Man proposes, God disposes.”
In literary fiction, can describe a character who presents the exact opposite (personality type/moral outlook) to another character, e.g. Voldemort & Dumbledore

111. Syllogism
A particular kind of argument with three categorical propositions: one major premise, one minor premise, & a conclusion
3 Types: Conditional (if A is true, then B is true), Categorical (if A is in C, then B is in C), & Disjunctive (if A is true, then B is false)
Examples: If all cats like fish, and Trixie is a cat, then Trixie likes fish.
Major premise: all asteroids are made of rock.
Minor premise: Ceres is an asteroid.
Conclusion: Ceres is made of rock.

112. Parody A composition imitating another (usually serious) piece
Ridicules/satirizes a work, its style, or its author
Indirect criticism
Makes fun of some familiar style, typically keeping the style more or less constant while markedly lowering/debasing the subject