Glossary of Literary Elements and Terms
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Aristotelian - used in reference to the theories of poetry and drama laid out in Aristotle's Poetics or to works of literature that seem to embody these principles of artistic expression.
synesthesia - "sensations together" the term refers to figures of speech or images that describe a particular sensory experience as though it were appreciated through one or more of the other senses. Example: "There's a certian Slant of light, Winter Afternoons- That oppresses like the Heft of Cathedral Tunes"
diction - a writer’s or speaker’s choice of words and way of arranging the words in sentences. Diction can be broadly characterized as formal or informal. It can also be described as technical or common, abstract or concrete, and literal or figurative. For example, a writer for Scientific American would use a more formal, more technical, and possibly more abstract diction than a writer for the science section of a local newspaper.
style - the particular way in which a writer uses language. Style is created mainly through diction, use of figurative language, and sentence patterns. Style can be described as plain, ornate, formal, ironic, conversational, sentimental, and so on.
denotation - the basic dictionary definition of a word. Example: A denotation of "home" is "a place where one lives; a residence such as a house or apartment."
connotation - an idea or emotion suggested by a word in addition to its basic meaning. Example: A possible connotation of “home” is “a place of warmth, comfort, and affection.”
figurative language - language based on some sort of analogy and that is not meant to be understood on a literal level.that is not literally true. See analogy.
analogy (uh-nal-uh-jee) - an imaginative comparison made to show similarity. In argumentation, analogy is often used as a form of reasoning in which one thing is compared to or contrasted with another in certain respects, based on the known similarity or dissimilarity. Analogy is also used in rhetoric and literature (through metaphor, simile, allusion, personification, etc.) to (1) offer imagery, (2) describe difficult concepts ("The mind is a machine") or profound emotions ("I felt like a million bucks"), and (3) offer variety in ways of thinking or new perspectives of viewing the world.
simile (sim-uh-lee) - a comparison, of two unlike things, that uses the word "like" or "as." Example: He dropped his album at the VMAs like a boss.
epic simile (ep-ik sim-uh-lee) - a detailed comparison in the form of a simile that is many lines in length (also called a Homeric simile or extended simile). The following is an example of an epic simile from Homer's The Odyssey:
The heart inside him growled low with rage,
as a bitch mounting over her weak defenseless puppies
growls, facing a stranger, bristling for a showdown--
so he growled from his depths, hackles raised at their outrage.
At the midpoint on the journey of life, I found myself in a dark forest, for a clear path was lost..." Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy.
metaphor (met-uh-fawr) - a comparison, of two unlike things, that does not use the word "like" or "as." Example: This guy is a beast. Metaphors create imagery and analogies. Metaphors enable writers to communicate in a kind of imaginative shorthand that allows readers to understand and experience one thing in terms of another.
direct metaphor - a metaphor that makes a direct comparison (A is B). Example: John is a peacock.
implied metaphor - a metaphor that suggests a comparision rather than stating it directly. Example: John swelled and ruffled his plumage (versus John was a peacock). In an implied metaphor the subject of comparison is not overtly identified.
extended metaphor - a metaphor that continues into the sentences that follow (also called a conceit). See Plato's "Allegory of the Cave"
idiom - an expression peculiar to a particular language that means something different from the literal meaning of the words. Example: "It's raining cats and dogs" and "We heard it straight from the horse's mouth" are idioms of American English.
metonymy (mi-ton-uh-mee) - a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. For example, when reporters use Washington to refer to the U.S. government or the White House to refer to the U.S. president. Generally, metonymy is used in developing symbolism through close associations as in “The White House is concerned about terrorism.” The White House here represents the people who work in it. In addition, metonymy helps achieve conciseness. For instance, “Rifles were guarding the gate” is more concise than “The guards with rifles in their hands were guarding the gate.”
synecdoche (si-nek-duh-kee) - a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa. Examples: the expression hired hands for workmen; set of wheels for car; steel for sword.
kenning (ken-ing) - compound expression, often hyphenated, representing a single noun. For example, the Old English epic Beowulf uses the two-word term "whale-road" to refer to the sea or ocean. Other examples: "devil's helper" for sinner and "widow-maker" for gun.
personification (per-son-e-fih-ka-shen) - giving human-like qualities to inanimate objects, animals, or ideas. Example: Hey diddle, Diddle, / The cat and the fiddle, / The cow jumped over the moon; / The little dog laughed / To see such sport, / And the dish ran away with the spoon. By giving human characteristics to things that do not have them, personification can make objects, animals, and ideas easier for a reader to visualize.
apostrophe (uh-pos-truh-fee) - an exclamatory figure of speech that occurs when a speaker directly addresses an inanimate object, abstract entity, or absent person
anthropomorphism (an-thruh-puh-mawr-fiz-uhm) - extended personification in which physical and tangible human-like qualities are given to an inanimate object, animal, or idea to the extent that it embodies a human form and persona.
transferred epithet - a figure of speech in which a modifier, usually an adjective, is applied to a noun other than the person or thing it is actually describing. The effect often stresses the emotions or feelings of the individual by expanding them on to the environment.
Example: "sleepless night" — The night was not restless, but the person who was awake through it was.
Example: "The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, / And leaves the world to darkness and to me" (Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard") — "Weary way" is a transferred epithet: it is the ploughman, not the way, that is weary.
A transferred epithet often involves shifting a modifier from the animate to the inanimate, and as such, is a form of personification.
ambiguity (am-big-yoo-i-tee) - the use of words that allow alternative interpretations.
pun (puhn) - the use of a word or phrase in which its different meanings are emphasized; wordplay. Example: Dentists practice by going through many drills. Puns are often used to create humor, to exhibit wit, inject ambiguity to introduce several possible meanings into a text, or make the reader aware of serious or painfully ironic truths.
double entendre (duhb-uhl ahn-tahn-druh) - a word or expression used in a given context so that it can be understood in two ways, especially when one meaning is risqué
malapropism (mal-uh-prop-iz-uhm) - the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one of similar sound, especially when creating a ridiculous effect. Example: He's a wolf in cheap clothing.
hyperbole (hi-pur-buh-lee) - an intentional exaggeration. In literature and rhetoric, hyperbole can intensify a description, express extreme emotion, emphasize the essential nature of something, or produce a comic effect. Example: That a limousine is a mile long.
understatement (uhn-der-steyt-muhnt) - a form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is. Example: Michael Jordan was a pretty good basketball player.
litotes (lahy-tuh-teez) - an understatement in which emphasis is achieved by negation. Example: "Not bad" for "Excellent" or "She was not very pleased" for "She was extremely upset."
situational irony - irony that occurs when actions taken have an effect exactly opposite from what was intended
verbal irony - irony that occurs when what is said is the opposite of what is meant
sarcasm - a form of verbal irony, usually harsh, that is often used as an insult. Sarcasm often depends upon the voice tone. There are seven types:
self-deprecating sarcasm: This category of sarcasm expresses an overstated sense of inferiority and worthlessness.
brooding sarcasm: In this criticism, the speaker utters something polite. However, the tone of his speech has a marked bitterness in it.
deadpan sarcasm: It is expressed without emotion or laughter making it difficult for the listener to judge whether the speaker is joking or mocking.
polite sarcasm: A speaker is said to have delivered a polite sarcasm when his listeners only get to realize that his kind remark was a sarcastic one after they had given it some thought.
obnoxious sarcasm: This kind of sarcasm makes people feel like punching the speaker in the face. It is not very funny and it gets under your skin.
manic sarcasm: This type of sarcasm is delivered in an unnatural happy mood that it makes the speaker look like he has gone crazy.
raging sarcasm: This kind of sarcasm relies mainly on exaggeration and violent threats.
dramatic irony - irony that occurs when the meaning of a situation is understood by the audience or reader but not by a character in the story or play
poetic justice - a plot device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in modern literature by an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct
cosmic irony - irony that occurs when a characters perceives control of his or her fate but which in fact is controlled by circumstance, destiny, or a higher power that controls or toys with mortal lives
oxymoron (ox-ee-mawr-on) - two words or phrases with opposite meaning. Combined, they produce a concise paradox. Example: a bitter sweet experience
paradox (pair-uh-doks) - a statement that seems contradictory yet yields some measure of truth with more thought. Example: "Cowards die many times before their deaths." –Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. Paradoxes are designed to make readers stop and think. They often express aspects of life that are mysterious, surprising, or difficult to describe. Paradoxes also function to evoke a sense of irony.
antithesis (an-tith-uh-sis) - placement of contrasting or opposing words, phrases, clauses, or sentences side by side. Examples:
I am tall; you are short.
The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.–Abraham Lincoln, "Gettysburg Address."
To err is human, to forgive divine.–Alexander Pope, "Essay on Criticism."
allusion (uh-loo-zhuhn) - a brief reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event, or to another literary work or passage. Example: She was no Scrooge, but she seldom purchased anything except the bare necessities. Allusions serve an important function in writing in that they allow the reader to understand a difficult concept by relating to an already familiar story. For example, to communicate the idea of self-sacrifice one may refer to Jesus, as part of Jesus' story portrays him dying on the cross in order to save mankind (Matthew 27:45-56). In addition, to express righteousness, one might allude to Noah who "had no faults and was the only good man of his time" (Genesis 6:9-22). Furthermore, the idea of fatherhood or patriarchial love can be well understood by alluding to Abraham, who was the ancestor of many nations (Genesis 17:3-6). Finally, Cain is an excellent example to convey banishment, rejection, or evil, for he was cast out of his homeland by God (Genesis 4:12).
symbol (sim-bol) - an object, person, place, or an event that stands both for itself and--through association--for something beyond itself. Example: Writers often use a snake as a symbol for evil, as in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown." Other commonly used symbols include the eagle (strength), a flag (patriotism), and the sea (life).
conventional symbol - a symbol that has an understood or widely accepted interpretation. The heart or rose, for example, are conventional symbols of love.
motif (moh-teff) - any dominant theme or idea that unifies an artistic or literary work
inversion (in-vur-shuhn) - the reversal of a normal order of words (also called anastrophe). Inversion is often used to give emphasis and variety, to create rhymes, or to accommodate meter.
chiasmus (ki-az-mus) - the inversion of two parallel structures. Example: “Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you.” Effects of chiasmus include (1) emphasizing ideas through force of repetition, (2) producing a memorable phrasing, and (4) introducing two sides of an argument or idea.
euphemism (yoo-fuh-miz-uhm) -
doublespeak - the use of euphemistic or ambiguous language regarding political, military, or corporate matters in a deliberate attempt to disguise or obscure the truth. Examples:
ethnic cleansing for genocide
targeted killing for assassination
collateral damage for incidental killing of civilians in a military act
dysphemism (dis-fuh-miz-uhm) - substitution of a disagreeable, offensive, or disparaging word or phrase for an otherwise inoffensive one. Examples:
rug for toupée or hairpiece
pig for police officer
boneyard for cemetary
take a crap for use the toilet
rhetorical question - a question asked without expecting an answer but for the sake of emphasis or effect
imagery (im-ij-ree) - language that appeals to the senses. It is used in all types of writing, but especially in poetry. Imagery consists of descriptive words and phrases that re-create sensory experiences for the reader. Imagery usually appeals to one or more of the five senses sight (visual), hearing (auditory), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), and touch (tactile)—to help the reader imagine exactly what is being described. An effect of imagery is that it allows readers to relate the content of a text to their personal experiences.
synesthetic imagery (sin-uhs-thet-ik im-ij-ree) - Example: The room had a ugly yellow spell to it.
onomatopoeia (on-uh-mat-uh-pee-uh) - the use of words whose sounds suggest their meanings (e.g., meow, buzz, splash).
point of view - the vantage point from which a writer tells a story. The three main points of view in literary texts are omniscient, third-person limited, and first person.
perspective - a position from which something is considered or evaluated; standpoint.
persona (per-soh-nuh) - the mask or voice assumed by the writer
fly-on-the-wall narrator - a narrator who never editorializes and never enters a character's mind but reports only what is said or done
innocent eye - a naive narrator in whose narration the reader sees more than the narrator sees
unreliable narrator -
tone - an expression of a writer’s attitude toward a subject. Unlike mood, which is intended to shape the reader’s emotional response, tone reflects the feelings of the writer.
mood - the feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader. The use of connotation, details, imagery, figurative language, foreshadowing, setting, and rhythm can help establish mood.
flat character - Usually a minor characters in a story, flat characters are relatively uncomplicated and tend to have a single dominant trait.
round character - Fully developed and three-dimensional, round characters are complex, sometimes sufficiently to surprise the reader.
static character -
dynamic character -
character arc - the emotional progress of a character during a story
protagonist (proh-tag-uh-nist) - the main character in fiction or drama. The protagonist is the character upon whom the reader focuses attention, the person who sets the plot in motion. Most protagonists are rounded, dynamic characters who change in some important way by the end of the story, novel, or play. The protagonist is often, but not always, the hero in a literary work.
false protagonist -
antagonist (an-tag-uh-nist) - a principal character or force in opposition to a protagonist, or main character. The antagonist is usually another character but sometimes can be a force of nature, a set of circumstances, some aspect of society, or a force within the protagonist. The antagonist is often, but not always, the villain in a literary work. Examples of such antagonists might include illness, oppression, or the serpent in the biblical story of Adam and Eve.
juxtaposition - the arrangement of two or more ideas, characters, actions, images, phrases, or words side-by-side or in similar narrative moments for the purpose of comparison, contrast, suspense, or character development.
foil - a character who serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character
stock character -
archetype (ahr-ki-type) - a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent a common, recurring pattern in human existence.
doppelgänger (dop-uhl-gang-er) - a twin, shadow, or mirror-image of the protagonist
antihero - a protagonist who conspicuously lacks traditional heroic attributes and whose personal limitations cause him or her to succumb to the pressures of his or her circumstances
Byronic hero - an idealistic but deeply flawed protagonist, as exemplified in the life and writings of the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. Conventionally, the figure is a young and attractive male with a bad reputation. He defies authority and conventional morality, and becomes paradoxically ennobled by his peculiar rejection of virtue. Byronic heroes are associated with destructive passions, self-indulgent melancholy, alienation from their communities, persistent loneliness, intense introspection, and fiery rebellion. Examples: many of Lord Byron's protagonists (hence the name), and from American pop culture, the icon of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.
everyman (ev-ree-man) - an archetypal character regarded as representing humanity or the common person
authorial intrusion - a narrative break that occurs when the author deviates the story and addresses the reader directly
satanic hero -
hamartia (hah-mahr-tee-uh) - a serious character flaw of the main character (protagonist). Often, this flaw is great pride, or hubris. But it may also be prejudice, anger, zealotry, poor judgment, an inherited weakness, or any other serious shortcoming that may led to his or her downfall.
hubris (hyoo-bris) -
aside (uh-side) - in a play, words spoken by a character directly to the audience or to another character but not overheard by others onstage. An aside serves to reveal a character's thoughts or concerns to the audience without revealing them to other characters in a play.
soliloquy (suh-lil-uh-kwee) - dialogue in a play in which a character reveals his or her thoughts to the audience but not to other characters
dramatic monologue (dra-MA-tik mon-O-log): a poetic form in which a single character, usually addressing a silent second person, reveals himself or herself in relation to a critical problem or event.
stichomythia (stik-uh-MITH-e-uh) - brief, alternating lines of dialogue spoken in rapid-fire succession. It occurs frequently in Greek drama, especially when characters are arguing or expressing strong emotions. Following is an example of stichomythia in The Clouds, by Aristophanes, in which two characters–Unjust Cause and Just Cause–are insulting each other:
Unj. You are a dotard and absurd.
Just You are debauched and shameless.
Unj. You have spoken roses of me.
Just And a dirty lickspittle.
Unj. You crown me with lilies.
Just And a parricide.
Unj. You don't know that you are sprinkling me with
gold.
Just Certainly not so formerly, but with lead.
Unj. But now this is an ornament to me.
Just You are very impudent.
Unj. And you are antiquated.
setting - the time and place of the action in a story, play, or poem. Elements of setting may include geographic location, historical period (past, present, or future), season of the year, time of day, and the beliefs, customs, and standards of a society. Setting can function in several ways in a text: it can establish mood, create conflict, provide comparison with the plight of the protagonist, reveal character, or provide symbolic meaning.
Chehov's gun - a plot device in which a seemingly unimportant element introduced early in the story becomes significant later on
plot - The action or sequence of events in a story. Plot is usually a series of related incidents that builds and grows as the story develops. There are five basic elements in a plot line: (a) exposition (sometimes called the basic situation); (b) rising action; (c) climax; (d) falling action; and (e) resolution (sometimes called the dénouement).
subplot - secondary or minor plot in a story usually related to the main plot
ticking clock - a plot device in which some event looming in the near future requires that the conflict reach a speedy resolution
conflict - a struggle between opposing forces that adds excitement and suspense to a story
external conflict -
internal conflict -
character versus character - a conflict between characters
character versus society - a conflict between a character and society, school, the law, or some tradition
character versus nature - a conflict between a character and some element of nature--a blizzard, a hurricane, a mountain climb, disease epidemic, etc.
character versus self - a conflict within a character’s own mind (e.g., fear, addiction, emotional damage or other crippling personal issue). This type of conflict can be largely internalized or symbolized by another character or event (see doppelgänger).
exposition (ek-spuh-zish-uhn) - the first part of a plot, which presents the main characters and their conflicts
back story - experiences of the protagonist taking place prior to the main action, which contribute to character motivations and reactions
rising action -The events in a story that move the plot forward. Rising action involves conflicts and complications and builds toward the climax of the story.
climax -
falling action -
dénouement (dey-noo-mahn) - the portion of a play or story where the central problem is solved. The resolution comes after the climax and falling action and is intended to bring the story to a satisfactory end. An insight or a change as a result of the conflict is shown in the resolution.
foreshadowing (fawr-shad-oh-ing) - a writer’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in the plot. Foreshadowing creates suspense and prepares the reader for what is to come
suspense -
flashback (flash-bak) - an interruption in the action of a plot to show events that happened at an earlier time. A flashback breaks the usual movement of the narrative by going back in time. Flashback usually gives background information that helps the reader understand the present situation.
flash-forward - an interruption in the action of a plot to show events that will happen in the future. Writers may use a flash-forward to create dramatic or cosmic irony. By means of flash-forward, the reader or audience knows the future but the story characters do not.
in medias res (in me-di-ahs res) - Latin phrase for "in the middle of things." It means that a story begins in the middle of the plot, usually at an exciting part. The writer of the story later uses flashback to inform the reader of preceding events. The Greek poet Homer originated this technique in his two great epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey.
frame story -
deus ex machine -
epiphany (ih-pif-uh-nee) - a sudden flash of insight an understanding. During an epiphany, characters may recognize their essential self, their nature, their foolishness, and their delusions. For younger characters, an epiphany sometimes signals the ends of their childhood.
comic relief - the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve dramatic tension or heighten the emotional impact by means of contrast
black comedy - (also called black humor) a subgenre of comedy and satire that combines morbid or tragic topics with elements of low comedy (e.g., slapstick, farce, off-color humor) to underscore the senselessness or futility of life.
farce - a comedy characterized by improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and broad satire
caricature - a representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect
zeitgeist - the general set of ideas, beliefs, and feelings which is typical of a particular period in history, especially as it is reflected in literature, art, and philosophy
theme - a central idea or insight about human life revealed by a literary work. A theme is not the same as the subject of a work, which can usually be expressed in a word or two: old age, ambition, love. The theme is the revelation the work suggests about the subject (often through the way the main characters have changed and the way conflicts have been resolved), and often a work has several themes.
ambiguous theme - a theme that has no clear single meaning but is open to a variety of interpretations, even opposing ones
universal theme - a theme commonly found in the literature of all cultures and all ages. Examples: "Arrogance and pride can bring destruction"; "When the rule of law is broken, chaos and anarchy will result"; "Love will endure and triumph over evil."
style - Style is the way an author writes a literary work. It manifests itself in the author’s choice of words and phrases, the structure of sentences, the length of paragraphs, the tone of the work, and so on. Just as painters, singers, and dancers have different styles, so too do authors. One author may use a great deal of dialogue while another author uses little. Some authors use difficult vocabulary; others use simple vocabulary.
speaker - the voice addressing the reader in a poem. Sometimes the speaker is the same as the poet but the poet may also adopt a persona and speak as a child, a woman, a man, a nation, an animal, or even an object.
repetition - the repeating of a sound, word, or word pattern for emphasis, clarity, or emotional effect. Example: Duty does not trump honesty. Duty does not trump common sense. And duty, my friends, does not trump morality. In this example, note the repetition of the phrase "Duty does not trump." Through repetition, the speaker is trying emphasize the limits of duty, to show that duty is not the only or even the most important virtue.
anaphora (uh-naf-er-uh) - the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several sentences or clauses. Example: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted...--Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
Apart from the function of giving prominence to ideas, anaphora can add rhythm, emphasize ideas through force of repetition, make lines easier to remember:
"We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender."--Winston Churchill
parallelism - the repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure or that state a similar idea. Parallelism can make lines rhythmic and memorable, can can create emphasis through similarity.
rhetorical climax - form of repetition in which words or phrases or sentences are arranged in order of increasing intensity or importance, often in parallel construction. Example: He risked truth, he risked honor, he risked fame, he risked all that men hold dear,—yea, he risked life itself...
refrain - a repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines. Refrains create rhythm and may also build suspense or emphasize important words or ideas.
alliteration (uh-lit-uh-rey-shuhn) - the repetition of initial consonant sounds. Alliteration can function in several ways in a text: it can provide emphasis, make a sequence of words difficult to pronounce (e.g., "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers"), facilitate poetic memorization, or bind words together in meaning and sound through auditory imagery: "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, / The furrow followed free." In this line, describing a ship sailing under strong breeze, the f sound is repeated. An aspirated sound, one made with a puff of breath, it mirrors the sound of the wind.
assonance (as-uh-nuhns) - the repetition of vowel sounds within words with different end consonants, as in the phrases "mad as a hatter," "easy to please," or "high as a kite."
consonance (kon-suh-nuhns) - the repetition of consonants sounds, especially at the ends of words, as in "blank" and "think" or "strong" and "string."
sibilance (sib-uh-lents) - the repetition of sounds producing a hissing effect. Example: "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain" --Edgar Allan Poe, from "The Raven"
half rhyme - rhyme in which the vowel sounds are not identical, as in "hall" and "hell" or "feet" and "ate" (also called slant rhyme or near rhyme).
eye rhyme - words that look as though they would rhyme but do not, as in "cough" and "bough"
internal rhyme - rhyme that occurs inside a line of verse. Example: The knell of the bell saddened me.
end-stopped rhyme - a line of verse ending in a full pause, often indicated by appropriate punctuation such as a period or semicolon
enjambment (en-jam-muhnt) - a line of verse ending without a pause and continuing into the next line for its meaning
caesura (siz-yoor-uh) - any break or pause in a line of poetry. The following lines from John Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale" offer four examples:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music:--Do I wake or sleep?
The comma after "vision" and the colon and dash following "music" are internal caesura; the question marks at the ends of the lines are terminal caesuras.
rhyme scheme - the pattern of end rhymes in a poem
iambic pentameter (eye-am-bik pen-tam-uh-tuhr) -The most common meter in English verse, it consists of a line ten syllables long that is accented on every second beat.
blank verse - poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
couplet - two consecutive lines of poetry that form a unit, often emphasized by rhythm or rhyme. Since the Middle Ages, the couplet has been used to express a completed thought or to provide a sense of closure, as in this final speech from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar:
So call the field to rest, and let's away,
To part the glories of this happy day.
heroic couplet -
free verse - poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme
stanza - lines that form a division or unit of a poem. A stanza in a poem is something like a paragraph in prose: It often expresses a unit of thought.
epic - a long narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society. Most epics include elements of myth, legend, folklore, and history; their tone is serious and their language grand. Epic heroes undertake quests to achieve something of tremendous value to themselves or their society. Homer's Odyssey and Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid are the best-known epics in the Western tradition.
ballad (bal-uhd) - song or song-like poem that tells a story. Ballads often are composed in short stanzas and tell stories that have tragic endings. Most ballads have a regular rhyme scheme and use simple language and repetition. Generally, they have a refrain--lines or words repeated at regular intervals.
ode -
sonnet (sonn-it) - a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter
Petrachan sonnet -
Shakespearean sonnet -
sestet (ses-tet) - the last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet
elegy (el-e-je) - a meditative poem lamenting a death
pastoral elegy - a form of elegy in which the speaker casts the deceased loved one in the role of a shepherd who has been insufficiently mourned
carpe diem - a motif, popularized in the love poetry of the seventeenth century, which asserts the notion that since life is short, one must make the most of one's youth.
lyric (leer-ick) - poetry that expresses a speaker's emotions or thoughts and does not tell a story
genre - the category that a literary work is classified under. Five major genres in literature are nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, and myth.
myth - a traditional story, usually of unknown authorship, that deals with basic questions about the universe. Heroes and gods often figure prominently in myths, which may attempt to explain such things as the origin of the world, mysteries of nature, or social customs.
tall tale - an outrageously exaggerated and obviously humorous story
legend -
urban legend -
allegory (al-uh-gawr-ee) - a narrative in which characters, setting, or action make sense on a literal level, but also convey a figurative level of meaning, which is usually religious, political, or moral in nature
parable (par-uh-bul) - a story that teaches a lesson about life. A parable has human characters and its events are drawn from the events of everyday life.
fable (fey-buhl) - a story that teaches a lesson or rule of living. The characters are usually animals that speak and act like humans.
moral - a lesson taught in a literary work, such as a parable or fable. For example, the moral "Do not count your chickens before they hatch" teaches that one should not count on one’s fortunes or blessings until they appear.
anecdote - a short entertaining account of some happening, frequently personal or biographical
bildungsroman (bil-doongz-roh-mahn) - a type of novel concerned with moral and psychological growth of a young protagonist; a “coming of age” novel. The Bildungsroman novel often depicts and criticizes those vices of the society which cause the protagonist to suffer. The novel conveys a sense of realism because the protagonist is a common, sensitive individual who is affected by the loss that he or she suffers and this loss, ultimately, changes the course of his or her life.
utopian -
dystopian - a subgenre of science fiction that explores a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.
Gothic (goth-ik) - literary genre focusing on dark, mysterious, terrifying events. The story unfolds at one or more spooky sites, such as a dimly lit castle, an old mansion on a hilltop, a misty cemetery, a forlorn countryside, or the laboratory of a scientist conducting frightful experiments. In some Gothic novels and short stories, characters imagine that they see ghosts and monsters. In others, the ghosts and monsters are real.
roman a clef - a n ovel in which real persons are thinly disguised as fictional characters with fictional names
satire - type of writing that ridicules human weakness in order to bring about social reform. Satires often try to persuade the reader to do or believe something by showing the opposite view as absurd or even as vicious and inhumane. One of the favorite techniques of the satirists is exaggeration, overstating something to make it look worse than it is. For example, George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm uses barnyard animals to mock the way people abuse political power.
parody - a humorous or mocking imitation of something, using the same form as the original
mock epic -
memoir -
The Enlightenment
Romanticism
Transcendentalism
Victorian Literature
Realism - In literature, a movement that stressed the presentation of life as it is, without embellishment or idealization.
Naturalism
Modernism
Post-Modernism - In literature, a movement
minimalism
psychological realism
magical realism
Renaissance Literature
Bloomsbury Group
Existentialism
Beat Generation