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| allusion | A reference in a work of literature to something outside of the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work. EXAMPLE: In HAMLET, Horatio says, "ere the mightiest Julius fell." |
| rhetorical techniques | The devices used in effective or persuasive language. |
| satire | Writing that seeks to arouse a reader's disapproval of an object by ridicule. (authors to note: verse--Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson; plays--Ben Jonson and Bernard Shaw; novels--Charles Dickens, Mark Twain or Joseph Heller.) |
| structure | The arrangement of materials within a work; the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole; the logical divisions of a work. The most common units of structure are--play: scene, act; novel: chapter; poem: line, stanza |
| imagery | the sensory details of a work |
| narrative techniques | the methods involved in telling a story (examples: point of view, manipulation of time, dialogue, interior monologue, etc. |
| epigram | A pithy saying, often using contrast. It is also a verse form, usually brief and pointed |
| hyperbole | Deliberate exaggeration, overstatement. It is self-conscious, without the intention of being accepted literally. EXAMPLE: "The strongest man in the world." |
| jargon | The special language of a profession or group. |
| lyrical | songlike; characterized by emotion, subjectivity and imagination. |
| oxymoron | A combination of opposites; the union of contradictory terms. EXAMPLES: "feather of lead," "bright smoke," "cold fire," "jumbo shrimp." |
| parable | A story designed to suggest a principle, illustrate a moral, or answer a question. They are allegorical stories. |
| paradox | A statement that seems to be self-contradicting but, in fact, is true. |
| parody | A composition that imitates the style of another composition normally for comic effect. |
| personification | A figurative use of language which endows the nonhuman (ideas, inanimate objects, animals, abstractions) with human characteristics. |
| allegory | A story in which people, things, and events have another meaning. |
| ambiguity | Multiple meanings a literary work may communicate, especially two meanings that are incompatible. |
| apostrophe | Direct address, usually to someone or something that is not present. Keats's "Bright star! would I were steadfast" is an example to a star. |
| connotation | The implications of a word or phrase, as opposed to its exact meaning. |
| denotation | The dictionary meaning of a word. |
| rhetorical question | A question asked for effect, not in expectation of a reply. |
| soliloquy | A speech in which a character who is alone speaks his or her thoughts aloud. |
| stereotype | A conventional pattern, expression, character, or idea. As a character, it can be referred to as a stock character. |
| syllogism | A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. It begins with a major premise ("All tragedies end unhappily.") followed by a minor premise ("HAMLET is a tragedy.") and a conclusion (Therefore, "HAMLET ends unhappily."). |
| alliteration | The repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginning of words. |
| assonance | The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds. EXAMPLE: "A Land laid waste with all its young men slain" repeats the same "a" sound in "laid," "waste," and "slain." |
| ballad meter | A four-line stanza rhymed abcb with four feet in lines one and three and three feet in lines two and four. |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| digression | The use of material unrelated to the subject of a work. |
| euphemism | A figure of speech using indirection to avoid offensive bluntness, such as "deceased" for "dead" or "remains" for "corpse." |
| metonymy | Substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it. EXAMPLE: The White house issued a statement today. |
| anaphora | Repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences. EXAMPLE: "We have petitioned; we have remonstrated, we have . . ." |
| aphorism | Concise statement which expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance. EX.: Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. |
| syntax | Manner in which words are arranged by a writer into sentences. |
| diction | Having to do with a writer's choice of words. |
| genre | Major category or type of literature. |
| onomatopoeia | Word used to imitate the natural sound. EX.: "Buzz" and "fire crackled" |
| syllepsis | Linking of words with 2 other words in strikingly different ways. EX.: The migrants "exhausted their credit, exhausted their friends." |
| tautology | Needless repetition which adds no meaning. EX.: "Widow woman," "free gift" |
| non sequitur | Inference that does not logically follow from the premise. EX.: Richard Nixon said it was obvious he was honest b/c his wife had a simple cloth coat. |
| synecdoche | Using 1 part of an object to represent the entire object. EX.: Sam traded his old jalopy to get himself a new set of wheels. |
| ellipsis | Omission of a word or phrase that is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context. EX.: Kathleen wants to be a firefighter, Sara, a nurse. |
| motif | standard theme or dramatic situation which recurs. |
| pathos | The quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity or sorrow. |
| antithesis | A statement in which 2 opposing ideas are balanced. EX.: "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...." |
| chiasmus | Statement consisting of 2 parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed. EX.: Out went the taper as she hurried in. |
| epiphany | Moment of sudden revelation or insight. |
| litotes | Type of understatement in which something affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. EX.: My parents were not overjoyed when I came home past my curfew. |
| invective | Intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack. EX.: You are a lying, cheating, immoral bully. |
| tone | Attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward a subject. |
| pejorative | disparaging, derogatory, or belittling effect |
| sardonic | characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; cynical; sneering; sarcastic |
| caesura | (Latin: "a cutting") A break or pause in a line of poetry, dictated, usually, by the natural rhythm of the language…In [Old English] verse the caesura was used…to indicate the half line. |
| kenning | a compact metaphor that functions as a name or epithet; it is also, in its more complex forms, a riddle in miniature—"helmet bearer" = "warrior" |
| epistles | literary letter, is a formal composition written in the form of a letter addressed to a distant person or group of people. Unlike common personal letters, which tend to be conversational and private compositions, epistles are carefully-crafted works of literature, intended for a general audience |
| cacophony | the use of seemingly harsh, unmusical sounds |
| catharsis | Aristotle’s word for the pity and fear an audience experiences upon viewing the downfall of a hero |
| hubris | the pride or overconfidence which often leads a hero to overlook divine warning or to break a moral law |
| Metaphysical Poetry | represents a revolt against the conventions of Elizabethan love poetry and especially the typical Petrarchan conceits (like rosy cheeks, eyes like stars, etc |
| novel of manners | A novel focusing on and describing in detail the social customs and habits of a particular social group. Usually these conventions function as shaping or even stifling controls over the behavior of the characters. Examples: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice |
| pseudonym | A "false name" or alias used by a writer desiring not to use his or her real name. Sometimes called a nom de plume or "pen name," |
| verisimilitude | How fully the characters and actions in a work of fiction conform to our sense of reality; To say that a work has a high degree of this means that the work is very realistic and believable--it is "true to life." |
| mock heroic | imitating the style of heroic poetry in order to satirize an unheroic subject |
