sources of definitions are The Princeton Review (TPR) and others - borrowed liberally from other teachers
Terms : Hide Images
| 4251862814 | adage | a saying/proverb containing a truth based on experience and often couched in metaphorical language | 0 | |
| 4251862815 | allegory | a story in which the narrative/characters carry an underlying symbolic, metaphorical or possibly an ethical meaning | 1 | |
| 4251862821 | annotation | a brief explanation,summary, or evaluation of a text or work of literature | 2 | |
| 4251862823 | antithesis | a rhetorical opposition or contrast of ideas by means of a grammatical arrangement of words, clauses, or sentences | 3 | |
| 4251862824 | aphorism | a short, pithy statement of a generally accepted truth or sentiment | 4 | |
| 4251862827 | assonance | the repetition of two or more vowel sounds in a group of words or lines in poetry and prose | 5 | |
| 4251862828 | ballad | a simple narrative verse that tells a story that is sung or recited; a long narrative poem, usually in very regular meter and rhyme, typically has a naive folksy quality | 6 | |
| 4251862830 | Bildungsroman | a German word referring to a novel structured as a series of events that take place as the hero travels in quest of a goal | 7 | |
| 4251862831 | blank verse | poetry written in iambic pentameter, the primary meter used in English poetry and the works of Shakespeare and Milton. its lines generally do not rhyme | 8 | |
| 4251862832 | bombast | inflated, pretentious language used for trivial subjects | 9 | |
| 4251862833 | burlesque | a work of literature meant to ridicule a subject; a grotesque imitation; a broad parody and exaggerates it into ridiculousness | 10 | |
| 4251862836 | canon | the works considered most important in national literature or period; works widely read and studied | 11 | |
| 4251862839 | catharsis | a cleansing of the spirit brought about by the pity and terror of a dramatic tragedy | 12 | |
| 4251862840 | classicism | deriving from the orderly qualities of ancient Greek and Roman culture; implies formality, objectivity, simplicity and restraint | 13 | |
| 4251862843 | conceit | a witty or ingenious thought; a diverting or highly fanciful idea, often stated in figurative language; a startling or unusual metaphor, or a metaphor developed and expanded upon several lines | 14 | |
| 4251862845 | antihero | a protagonist who is markedly unheroic: morally weak, cowardly, dishonest, or any number of other unsavory qualities | 15 | |
| 4251862846 | aside | a speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage | 16 | |
| 4251862850 | canto | is a divider in long poems, much like chapters in a novel | 17 | |
| 4251862851 | coinage | a.k.a. neologism, inventing a word | 18 | |
| 4251862853 | controlling image | when an image dominates and shapes the entire work | 19 | |
| 4251862854 | metaphysical conceit | a type of conceit that occurs only in metaphysical poetry | 20 | |
| 4251862856 | consonance | the repetition of two or more consonant sounds within a group of words or a line of poetry | 21 | |
| 4251862859 | denouement | the resolution that occurs at the end of a play or work or fiction | 22 | |
| 4251862862 | dirge | a song for the dead, its tone is typically slow, heavy, and melancholy | 23 | |
| 4251862864 | doggerel | crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme | 24 | |
| 4251862867 | elegy | a poem or prose selection that laments or meditates on the passing/death of something/someone of value | 25 | |
| 4251862868 | elements | the basic techniques of each genre of literature. IN SHORT STORY: characters, irony, theme, symbol, plot, setting. IN POETRY: figurative language, symbol, imagery, rhythm, rhyme. IN DRAMA: conflict, characters, climax, conclusion, exposition, rising action, falling action, props. IN NONFICTION: argument, evidence, reason, appeals, fallacies, thesis. | 26 | |
| 4251862869 | ellipsis | three periods (...) indicating the omission of words in a thought or quotation | 27 | |
| 4251862871 | end stopped | a term that describes a line of poetry that ends with a natural pause often indicated by a mark of punctuation | 28 | |
| 4251862874 | mock epic | a parody form that deals with mundane events and ironically treats them as worthy of epic poetry | 29 | |
| 4251862875 | epitaph | lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place. usually a line or handful of lines, often serious or religious, but sometimes witty and even irreverent | 30 | |
| 4251862876 | epigram | a concise but ingenious, witty and thoughtful statement | 31 | |
| 4251862877 | euphony | when sounds blend harmoniously; pleasing, harmonious sounds | 32 | |
| 4251862880 | explication | the interpretation/analysis of a text | 33 | |
| 4251862883 | falling action | the action in a play or story that occurs after the climax and that leads to the conclusion and often to the resolution of the conflict | 34 | |
| 4251862885 | farce | a comedy that contains an extravagant and nonsensical disregard of seriousness, although it may have a serious, scornful purpose | 35 | |
| 4251862891 | foot | the basic rhythmic unit of a line in poetry. it is formed by a combination of two or three syllables, either stressed or unstressed | 36 | |
| 4251862894 | Gothic novel | a novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terror pervades the action. i.e. "Frankenstein" | 37 | |
| 4251862895 | harangue | a forceful sermon, lecture, or tirade | 38 | |
| 4251862898 | humanism | a belief that emphasizes faith and optimism in human potential and creativity | 39 | |
| 4251862900 | in medias res | Latin for "in the midst of things"; a narrative that starts not at the beginning of events but at some other critical point in the middle | 40 | |
| 4251862901 | inversion | switching customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase. when done badly it can give a stilted, artificial look-at-me-I'm-poetry feel to the verse. type of syntax | 41 | |
| 4251862903 | invective | a direct verbal assault; a denunciation. i.e. Candide | 42 | |
| 4251862904 | kenning | a device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions/qualities, as in "ring-giver" for king and "wale-road" for ocean | 43 | |
| 4251862905 | lament | a poem of sadness or grief over the death of a loved one or over some other intense loss | 44 | |
| 4251862906 | lampoon | a satire | 45 | |
| 4251862907 | light verse | a variety of poetry meant to entertain or amuse, but sometimes with a satirical thrust | 46 | |
| 4251862908 | lyric | personal, reflective poetry that reveals the speaker's thoughts and feelings about the subject; the word is used to describe tone, it refers to a sweet, emotional melodiousness | 47 | |
| 4251862910 | maxim | a saying or proverb expressing common wisdom or truth | 48 | |
| 4251862912 | metaphysical poetry | the work of poets, particularly those of 17th c., that uses elaborate conceits, is highly intellectual, and expresses the complexities of love and life | 49 | |
| 4251862921 | motif | a phrase, idea, event that through repetition serves to unify or convey a theme in a work of literature. | 50 | |
| 4251862925 | non sequitur | a statement or idea that fails to follow logically from the one before | 51 | |
| 4251862926 | novel of manners | a novel focusing on and describing the social customs and habits of a particular social group | 52 | |
| 4251862930 | parable | like a fable or an allegory, it's a story that instructs; a story consisting of events from which a moral or spiritual truth may be derived | 53 | |
| 4251862935 | pastoral | a work of literature dealing with rural life (i.e. sheep and meadows) | 54 | |
| 4251862938 | persona | the role/facade that a character assumes or depicts to a reader, viewer, or the world at large; the narrator in a non-first-person novel | 55 | |
| 4251862941 | picaresque novel | an episodic novel about a roguelike wanderer who lives off his wits. e.g. "Don Quixote", "Moll Flanders" | 56 | |
| 4251862947 | prelude | an introductory poem to a longer work of verse | 57 | |
| 4251862951 | refrain | a line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem | 58 | |
| 4251862958 | romance | an extended narrative about improbable events and extraordinary people in exotic places | 59 | |
| 4251862963 | sentimental | a term that describes characters' excessive emotional response to experience; also nauseatingly nostalgic and mawkish | 60 | |
| 4251862968 | stock characters | standard or cliched character types: the drunk, the miser, the foolish girl, etc. | 61 | |
| 4251862970 | subplot | a subordinate or minor collection of events in a novel or play, usually connected to the main plot | 62 | |
| 4251862978 | tragic flaw | in a tragedy, this is the weakness of a character in an otherwise good individual that ultimately leads to his demise | 63 | |
| 4251862985 | anaphora | repetition of the same words or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses. e.g. "I have a dream..." | 64 |
