| A | B |
|---|
| tragedy | a work of literature that results in a catastrophe for the main character |
| satire | a style of writing that uses humor, sometimes gentle and sometimes biting, to criticize people, ideas, or institutions in the hope of improving them |
| prose | ordinary, conversation speech |
| poetry | a literary expression in which language is used in a concentrated blend of sound and imagery to create an emotional response; essentially rhythmic, it is usually metrical and frequently structured in stanzas. |
| verse | a sequence of words arranged metrically in accordance with some rule or design; a single line of poetry |
| blank verse | unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter ( a series of ten syllables in which every second syllable is stressed) |
| rhyme | a piece of verse in which there is a regular recurrence of corresponding sounds, especially at the ends of lines |
| stanza | a group of lines of verse forming one of the divisions of a poem; it is usually made up of four or more lines. |
| quatrain | a stanza or poem of four lines, usually rhyming abab, abba, abcd |
| couplet | two successive lines of poetry that rhyme |
| sonnet | a fourteen-line poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter |
| drama | a story that is written to be acted for an audience |
| prologue | the lines spoken by the Chorus which introduce the play and reveal plot |
| soliloquy | a character talks to himself or reveals his/her thoughts without addressing a listener |
| monologue | a long speech by one speaker, especially one monopolizing the conversation |
| aside | a character that speaks directly to the audience |
| concealment | a dramatic convention that allows a character to be seen by the audience, but remains hidden from fellow actors |
| comic relief | when humor is put into a tense situation to momentarily relieve the tension |
| imagery | representation in language of sense experience; what can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, smelled, as well as what can be felt internally |
| simile | a comparison between two unlike things using "like" or "as" |
| metaphor | a comparison between two things without using "like" or "as" |
| personification | giving human characteristics to something non-human |
| oxymoron | a figure of speech in which opposite or contradicting ideas are combined |
| pun | a form of wordplay that occurs when two words pronounced or spelled somewhat the same contain different meanings |
| allusion | a reference to mythology, religion, history, or politics within a piece of literature |
| dramatic irony | when a character's words or actions carry a larger meaning that he does not perceive; the audience, however, is fully aware of the character's situation and can realize the full importance of the action |
| symbol | an image transferred by something that stands for or represents something else, like flag for country |
| theme | the central idea of a work of literature |
