Terms : Hide Images
| 4737843531 | allegory | a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one | 0 | |
| 4737843532 | alliteration | sound device; repetition of initial (beginning) consonant sounds. | 1 | |
| 4737843533 | allusion | figure of speech which makes brief reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or object; a reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work. | 2 | |
| 4737843534 | analogy | the comparison of two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one. While simile and analogy often overlap, the simile is generally a more artistic likening, done briefly for effect and emphasis, while analogy serves the more practical purpose of explaining a thought process or a line of reasoning or the abstract in terms of the concrete, and may therefore be more extended. | 3 | |
| 4737843535 | antagonist | the character in a narrative or play who is in conflict with the main character; an antagonist may not even be a person -- or may be the same person as the main character | 4 | |
| 4737843536 | antithesis | figure of speech in which a thought is balanced with a contrasting thought in parallel arrangements of words and phrases. Also, the second of two contrasting or opposing constituents, following the thesis. | 5 | |
| 4737843537 | apostrophe | addressing someone or something, usually not present, as though present. Often, apostrophe is to a god, ghost, or some supernatural thing, like Death, Night, or Fate. It may also be to a person, if the person isn't there, or if the speaker doesn't think the person is there | 6 | |
| 4737843538 | assonance | similarity or repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words, especially in a line of verse. | 7 | |
| 4737843539 | ballad | this is a narrative poem describing a past happening that is sometimes romantic but always ends catastrophically. The saga described is usually in an impersonal voice with the speaker some distance from the action. Ordinarily a ballad is written in quatrains with four accented syllables in the first and third lines and three accented syllables in the second and fourth lines; the shorter lines usually rhyme | 8 | |
| 4737843540 | blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter; metrical verse with no ending rhyme (Shakespeare) | 9 | |
| 4737843541 | caesura | a pause for effect in the middle of a line of poetry; (period, dash, semicolon, etc.) it may or may not affect the meter. In scansion, a caesura is usually indicated by the following symbol (//). | 10 | |
| 4737843542 | caricature | a picture, description, or imitation of a person or thing in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect | 11 | |
| 4737843543 | characterization | the method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work. Personality may be revealed (1) by what the character says about himself or herself; (2) by what others reveal about the character; and (3) by the character's own actions. | 12 | |
| 4737843544 | cliché | a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought. | 13 | |
| 4737843545 | climax | the turning point, or crisis, in a play or other piece of literature | 14 | |
| 4737843546 | connotation | the emotional implications that a word may carry; implied or associated meaning for a particular word. | 15 | |
| 4737843547 | consonance | the repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry. Ex: But yet we trust | 16 | |
| 4737843548 | denotation | the specific, exact meaning of a word; a dictionary definition | 17 | |
| 4737843549 | denouement | the resolution of a plot after the climax | 18 | |
| 4737843550 | diction | an author's choice of words—Ex: simple, sophisticated, colloquial, formal, or informal. | 19 | |
| 4737843551 | drama | story performed by actors on a stage | 20 | |
| 4737843552 | dramatic irony | irony in which the character use words which mean one thing to them, but another to those who understand the situation better | 21 | |
| 4737843553 | enjambment | line of verse that carries over into next line without a pause of any kind | 22 | |
| 4737843554 | epic | a long narrative, usually written in elevated language, which related the adventures of a hero upon whom rests the fate of a nation | 23 | |
| 4737843555 | epithet | nickname or appellation, Ex:, "Helen of the white arms" in the Iliad | 24 | |
| 4737843556 | exposition | the introductory material which sets the tone, gives the setting, introduces the characters, and supplies necessary facts; may be the first section of the typical plot, in which characters are introduced, the setting is described, and any necessary background information is given. Sometimes there is a lot, and the exposition stretches out; sometimes and the expository information is tucked in unobtrusively as people talk to each other or inside the narrator's descriptions. | 25 | |
| 4737843557 | falling action | everything that happens in plot between the climax or crisis and the denouement | 26 | |
| 4737843558 | foot | a unit of meter; a metrical foot can have two or three syllables; the basic unit of measurement in a line of poetry. A foot is the smallest repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poetic line. A line of meter is described by the kind of meter and the number of feet. | 27 | |
| 4737843559 | hyperbole | exaggeration for effect and emphasis, overstatement; figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration occurs. | 28 | |
| 4737843560 | imagery | devices which appeal to the senses. A group of words that create a mental "picture" (ie., animal, water, death, plant, decay, war, etc.) | 29 | |
| 4737843561 | irony | surprising, amusing, or interesting contrast between reality and expectation. In irony of situation, the result of an action is the reverse of what the actor expected. In dramatic irony, the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not. In verbal irony, the contrast is between the literal meaning of what is said and what is meant. A character may refer to a plan as "brilliant," while actually meaning that (s)he thinks the plan is foolish. Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony | 30 | |
| 4737843562 | malapropism | the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect, as in. Ex: "dance a flamingo " (instead of flamenco ). | 31 | |
| 4737843564 | metaphor | a figure of speech wherein a comparison is made between two unlike quantities without the use of the words "like" or "as." | 32 | |
| 4737843565 | meter | the rhythmical pattern of a poem; classified according both to its pattern and the number of feet to the line. Meter is a patterned repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. Below is a list of classifications: | 33 | |
| 4737843566 | metonymy | substituting a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it. Ex: Pay tribute to the crown; figure of speech in which a word represents something else which it suggests. For example in a herd of fifty cows, the herd might be referred to as fifty head of cattle. The word "head" is the word representing the herd. | 34 | |
| 4737843567 | motif | a recurring concept or story element in literature. It includes concepts such as types of incident or situation, as in the parting of lovers at dawn; plot devices; patterns of imagery; or archetypes and character types, such as the despairing lover, conquering hero, or wicked stepmother | 35 | |
| 4737843568 | narrator | speaker or persona, the one who tells a story. | 36 | |
| 4737843569 | ode | a long, formal lyric poem with a serious theme; a form of lyric poetry using elaborate, sophisticated vocabulary in iambic pentameter. It usually focuses upon a single object or person. Ex: "Ode on a Grecian Urn" - the poet is talking to a piece of pottery in a museum (apostrophe) | 37 | |
| 4737843570 | onomatopoeia | the use of a word to represent or to imitate natural sounds. Ex: sizzle, buzz, pop, hiss | 38 | |
| 4737843571 | oxymoron | technique used to produce an effect by a seeming self-contradiction. Ex: cruel kindness, make haste slowly | 39 | |
| 4737843572 | parable | a short story to prove a point with a moral basis | 40 | |
| 4737843573 | paradox | a statement which contains seemingly contradictory elements or appears contrary to common sense, yet can be seen as perhaps true when viewed from another angle. A statement that is seemingly impossible at first, but very logical once it is explained. Ex. The child is father to the man) | 41 | |
| 4737843574 | parallelism | the repetition of syntactical similarities in passages closely connected for rhetorical effect. The repetitive structure lends wit or emphasis to the meanings of the separate clauses, thus being particularly effective in antithesis | 42 | |
| 4737843575 | parody | ludicrous imitation, usually for comic effect but sometimes for ridicule, of the style and content of another work. The humor depends upon the reader's familiarity with the original. A literary work that imitates the style of another literary work. A parody can be simply amusing or it can be mocking in tone, such as a poem which exaggerates the use of alliteration in order to show the ridiculous effect of overuse | 43 | |
| 4737843576 | pastoral | a literary work that has to do with shepherds and rustic settings. | 44 | |
| 4737843577 | personification | figure of speech in which inanimate objects are given qualities of speech and/or movement. | 45 | |
| 4737843578 | point of view | the narrator or speaker perspective from which story is told—personal, objective, omniscient, partial or limited omniscient. Point of view is the perspective from which a narrative is presented; it is analogous to the point from which the camera sees the action in cinema. The two main points of view are those of the third-person (omniscient) narrator, who stands outside the story itself, and the first-person narrator, who participates in the story. The first type always uses third-person pronouns ("he," "she," "they"), while the latter narrator also uses the first-person ("I") | 46 | |
| 4737843579 | protagonist | the main character in a story; more than one character may be important enough to be called "main," or NO character seems to qualify. In those cases, figuring out whether there is a main character and who it is may be an interesting and even difficult interpretive job. | 47 | |
| 4737843580 | refrain | a phrase or line, usually pertinent to the central topic, which is repeated at regular intervals throughout a poem, usually at the end of a stanza | 48 | |
| 4737843581 | resolution | the part of a story or drama which occurs after the climax and which establishes a new norm, a new state of affairs - the way things are going to be from then on | 49 | |
| 4737843582 | rhyme | similarity or likeness of sound; may be internal (within a segment of writing) or at the ends of lines of verse in poetry | 50 | |
| 4737843583 | end rhyme | Rhymes are end-rhymed when both rhyming words are at the end of the lines | 51 | |
| 4737843584 | internal rhyme | an internal rhyme occurs when one or both rhyming words are within the line | 52 | |
| 4737843585 | rhythm | the metrical or rhythmical pattern in a poem | 53 | |
| 4737843586 | rising action | the development of conflict leading to a crisis; the second section of the typical plot, in which the main character begins to grapple with the story's main conflict; the rising action contains several events which usually are arranged in an order of increasing importance | 54 | |
| 4737843587 | satire | a piece of literature designed to ridicule the subject of the work. While satire can be funny, its aim is not to amuse, but to arouse contempt. Satire arouses laughter or scorn as a means of ridicule and derision, with the avowed intention of correcting human faults | 55 | |
| 4737843588 | simile | a figure of speech which takes the form of a comparison between two unlike quantities for which a basis for comparison can be found, and which uses the words "like" or "as" in the comparison. Ex: "clear as frost on the grasslbade | 56 | |
| 4737843589 | soliloquy | a long speech made by a character who is alone on the stage in which he reveals his innermost thoughts & feelings | 57 | |
| 4737843590 | sonnet | a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes | 58 | |
| 4737843591 | stanza | a related group of lines in a poem, equivalent to a paragraph in prose | 59 | |
| 4737843592 | stream of consciousness | narrative technique which presents thoughts as if they were coming directly from a character's mind | 60 | |
| 4737843593 | structure | the planned framework for a piece of literature | 61 | |
| 4737843594 | style | a writer's typical way of expressing him- or herself | 62 | |
| 4737843595 | symbol | anything that stands for or represents anything else. | 63 | |
| 4737843596 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole or the whole for a part, as wheels for automobile or society for high society (see metonymy) | 64 | |
| 4737843597 | theme | an ingredient of a literary work which gives the work unity. The theme provides an answer to the question, "What is the work about?" Each literary work carries its own theme(s). Unlike plot, which deals with the action of a work, theme concerns itself with a work's message or contains the general idea of a work and is worded in a complete sentence. | 65 | |
| 4737843598 | tone | expresses the author's attitude toward his or her subject. Since there are as many tones in literature as there are tones of voice in real relationships, the tone of a literary work may be one of anger or approval, pride or piety; the entire gamut of attitudes toward life's phenomena | 66 | |
| 4737843599 | tragic hero | a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. | 67 | |
| 4737843600 | understatement | statement in which the literal sense of what is said falls short of the magnitude of what is being talked about (a litote is a type of understatement. Where we deliberately say less than we mean, and let the audience understand the real meaning | 68 | |
| 4737845593 | Transcendentalism | a system developed by Immanuel Kant, based on the idea that, in order to understand the nature of reality, one must first examine and analyze the reasoning process that governs the nature of experience. | 69 | |
| 4737845594 | Tragedy | a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character. | 70 | |
| 4737845766 | Total effect | impression a reader forms about a piece of literature after he examines each element individually and then puts them together | 71 | |
| 4737845969 | Renaissance | The cultural rebirth that occurred in Europe from roughly the fourteenth through the middle of the seventeenth centuries, based on the rediscovery of the literature of Greece and Rome. | 72 | |
| 4737845970 | Realism | the quality or fact of representing a person, thing, or situation accurately or in a way that is true to life. | 73 | |
| 4737845971 | Pun | a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. | 74 | |
| 4737846238 | Pseudonym | a fictitious name, especially one used by an author. | 75 | |
| 4737846239 | Slice of life | a realistic representation of everyday experience in a movie, play, or book. | 76 | |
| 4737846453 | Slapstick | comedy based on deliberately clumsy actions and humorously embarrassing events. | 77 | |
| 4737846454 | Setting | the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place. | 78 | |
| 4737846455 | Satire | the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. | 79 | |
| 4737846756 | Sarcasm | the use of irony to mock or convey contempt. | 80 | |
| 4737846757 | Romanticism | a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual. | 81 | |
| 4737847148 | Romance | a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love. | 82 | |
| 4737848173 | Melodrama | a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions. | 83 | |
| 4737849711 | Verse | writing arranged with a metrical rhythm, typically having a rhyme. | 84 | |
| 4737849718 | Rhythm | a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound. | 85 | |
| 4737850481 | Rhymed verse | identity in sound of some part, especially the end, of words or lines of verse | 86 | |
| 4737851163 | Repitition | the action of repeating something that has already been said or written. | 87 | |
| 4737851164 | Psalm | a sacred song or hymn, in particular any of those contained in the biblical Book of Psalms and used in Christian and Jewish worship. | 88 | |
| 4737851706 | Lyric | (of poetry) expressing the writer's emotions, usually briefly and in stanzas or recognized forms. | 89 | |
| 4737851707 | Heroic couplet | (in verse) a pair of rhyming iambic pentameters, much used by Chaucer and the poets of the 17th and 18th centuries such as Alexander Pope. | 90 | |
| 4737852215 | Haiku | a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. | 91 | |
| 4737852359 | Free verse | poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter. | 92 | |
| 4737852360 | Enjambment | (in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. | 93 | |
| 4737852361 | Elegy | a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. | 94 | |
| 4737852560 | Canto | one of the sections into which certain long poems are divided. | 95 | |
| 4737852561 | Poetry | literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature. | 96 | |
| 4737852801 | Poetic justice | the fact of experiencing a fitting or deserved retribution for one's actions. | 97 | |
| 4737852802 | Plot line | the course or main features of a narrative such as the plot of a play, novel, or movie. | 98 | |
| 4737852803 | Plot | the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence. | 99 | |
| 4737854217 | Plagiarism | the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. | 100 | |
| 4737854838 | Pedantic | an adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or. bookish. periodic sentences - a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end. | 101 | |
| 4737856279 | Pathos | a quality that evokes pity or sadness. | 102 | |
| 4737856280 | Novel | a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism. | 103 | |
| 4737856281 | Naturalism | (in art and literature) a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail. | 104 | |
| 4737856450 | Myth | a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. | 105 | |
| 4737856451 | Moral | concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. | 106 | |
| 4737856452 | Mood | A temporary state of mind or feeling | 107 | |
| 4737856859 | Local color | a term applied to fiction or poetry which tends to place special emphasis on a particular setting, including its customs, clothing, dialect and landscape. | 108 | |
| 4737856860 | Linguistic paradox | A statement that canon be resolved as either true or false due to the contradictory nature of its terms. | 109 | |
| 4737858398 | Limerick | A five line poem in which lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. | 110 | |
| 4737858399 | Situational irony | Irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. | 111 | |
| 4737858598 | Verbal irony | A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant | 112 | |
| 4737858599 | Impressionism | An artistic movement that sought to capture a momentary feel, or impression, of the piece they were drawing | 113 | |
| 4737858825 | Gothic novel | A novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terrors pervades the action | 114 | |
| 4737858826 | Genre | A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content. | 115 | |
| 4737859079 | Flashback | A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events | 116 | |
| 4737859080 | Litotes | A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. | 117 | |
| 4737859335 | Figure of speech | A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. Figures of speech include apotrophe hyperbole irony metaphor oxymoron paradox personification simile syneddoche understatement | 118 | |
| 4737859336 | Figurative language | Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling. | 119 | |
| 4737859757 | Farce | a play filled with ridiculous or absurd happenings; broad or far-fetched humor; a ridiculous sham | 120 | |
| 4737859758 | Exaggeration | a statement that represents something as better or worse than it really is. | 121 | |
| 4737860535 | Essay | a short piece of writing on a particular subject. | 122 | |
| 4737881757 | Epitaph | A brief statement written on a tomb or gravestone | 123 | |
| 4737882193 | Empathy | Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives | 124 | |
| 4737882464 | Dramatic monologue | A type of poem in which a speaker addresses a silent listener. As readers, we overhear the speaker in a dramatic monologue. | 125 | |
| 4737882465 | Didactic | Instructive | 126 | |
| 4737884459 | Vulgarity | something offensive to good taste and refinement | 127 | |
| 4737885026 | Trite | Overused | 128 | |
| 4737885027 | Slang | informal language | 129 | |
| 4737885028 | Profanity | swearing; cursing | 130 | |
| 4737885029 | Jargon | nonsensical talk; specialized language | 131 | |
| 4737885413 | Colloquialism | A word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing (y'all, ain't) | 132 | |
| 4737885414 | Archaic | ancient; old-fashioned | 133 | |
| 4737885827 | Dialogue | Conversation between characters | 134 | |
| 4737885828 | Description | a spoken or written representation or account of a person, object, or event | 135 | |
| 4737885831 | Context | The circumstances in which something occurs | 136 | |
| 4737886675 | Conflict | A struggle between opposing forces | 137 | |
| 4737887144 | Concrete | tangible; specific | 138 | |
| 4737887365 | Comedy | A literary work which ends happily because the hero or heroine is able to overcome obstacles and get what he or she wants. | 139 | |
| 4737887366 | Character | A person in a story | 140 | |
| 4737887367 | Capricious | Changing one's mind quickly and often | 141 | |
| 4737887798 | Biography | A written account of another person's life. | 142 | |
| 4737887799 | Autobiography | An account of the writer's own life. | 143 | |
| 4737888755 | Anecdote | A brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event. | 144 | |
| 4737888756 | Action | a thing done; an act. | 145 | |
| 4737889684 | Abstract | Theoretical; not concrete. | 146 | |
| 4737893155 | scansion | Analysis of verse into metrical patterns | 147 | |
| 4737984356 | epigram | A brief witty poem, often satirical. | 148 | |
| 4738004435 | foreshadowing | A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader. | 149 |
