Terms : Hide Images
| 4869259882 | Abstract | The opposite of concrete. | 0 | |
| 4869266857 | Act | A major division of the action of a play or drama. | 1 | |
| 4869271628 | Action | The events or unfolding of events in a narrative. The action is what happens in the plot of the literary work, including what the characters say or do, to advance the story. | 2 | |
| 4869275397 | Aesthetic Distance | A separation between the audience and a work of art that is necessary for the audience to recognize and appreciate the work as an aesthetic object. | 3 | |
| 4869282806 | Allegory | The concrete presentation of an abstract idea with at least two levels of meaning--the surface storyline and the political, philosophical, or religious meaning. Examples: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and George Orwell's Animal Farm. | 4 | |
| 4869287380 | Alliosis | Presenting alternatives: "You can eat well or you can sleep well." | 5 | |
| 4869290158 | Alliteration | The repetition of sounds in a sequence of words. | 6 | |
| 4869294998 | Allusion | An indirect reference, often to a person, event, statement, theme, or work. | 7 | |
| 4869297093 | Ambiguity | Lack of clarity or uncertainty in meaning. | 8 | |
| 4869300917 | Amplification | A rhetorical figure involving a dramatic ordering of words, often emphasizing some sort of expansion or progression, whether conceptual, valuative, poetic, or even with regard to word length. "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman!" | 9 | |
| 4869302962 | Anacoluthon | Intentional disruption of syntax to create intensity, excitement, confusion. "Swear here as before that you never shall note that you know aught of me." | 10 | |
| 4869312323 | Anagnorisis | The moment in a drama when the protagonist discovers something that either leads to or explains a reversal of fortune. Basically, the protagonist gains some crucial knowledge that he or she did not have. | 11 | |
| 4869313920 | Analepsis | The evocation in a narrative of scenes or events that took place at an earlier point in the story (flashback). | 12 | |
| 4869316267 | Anapest | A metrical foot in poetry that consists of three syllables: two unstressed followed by a stressed (⌣⌣'). Sounds like DEE-DEE-DUM. Anapestic words would include: contradict, interfere, elegy | 13 | |
| 4869320708 | Anaphora | An exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences. A type of parallelism. | 14 | |
| 4869323263 | Anapodoton | Deliberately creating a sentence fragment by the omission of a clause: "If only you came with me!" | 15 | |
| 4869331258 | Anecdote | A brief account of some interesting or entertaining and often humorous incident. It relates a particular episode that illustrates a single point. | 16 | |
| 4869336171 | Antagonist | The character pitted against the protagonist. | 17 | |
| 4869338429 | Antanaclasis | The stylistic scheme of repeating a single word, but with a different meaning each time. From Shakespeare: "for many a thousand widows/ Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands; Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down." Or, "Police police police." | 18 | |
| 4869340117 | Anticlimax | Rhetorical descent, usually sudden, from a higher to a lower emotional point--from a topic or tone with greater drama or significance to one with less impact or importance. | 19 | |
| 4869344948 | Antihero | A protagonist who does not exhibit the typical qualities of the traditional hero | 20 | |
| 4869346826 | Antimetabole | Repetition in reverse order: "One should eat to live, not live to eat." Or, "You like it; it likes you." The witches in Macbeth chant, "Fair is foul and foul is fair." | 21 | |
| 4869349396 | Antithesis | A rhetorical figure in which two ideas are directly opposed. Totalitarianism and freedom are antithetical concepts. | 22 | |
| 4869353555 | Aphorism | A concise, pointed, epigrammatic statement that purports to reveal a truth or principle. | 23 | |
| 4869356893 | Aposiopesis | A figure of speech wherein a sentence is deliberately broken off and left unfinished, the ending to be supplied by the imagination, giving an impression of unwillingness or inability to continue. An example would be the threat "Get out, or else—!" | 24 | |
| 4869359456 | Apostrophe | When a character speaks to a character or object that is not present or is unable to respond. | 25 | |
| 4869361424 | Archetype | The original model from which something is developed or made | 26 | |
| 4869364989 | Assonance | Repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds. | 27 | |
| 4869367333 | Asyndeton | Using no conjunctions to create an effect of speed or simplicity: Veni. Vidi. Vici. "I came. I saw. I conquered." (As opposed to "I came, and then I saw, and then I conquered.") Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt. | 28 | |
| 4869370167 | Atmosphere | The general feeling created for the reader by a work at a given point. | 29 | |
| 4869373026 | Aubade | A lyric poem delivered at dawn, usually by lovers who must part. | 30 | |
| 4869375146 | Ballad | A poem that recounts a story--generally some dramatic episode--in the form of a son | 31 | |
| 4869381127 | Bildungsroman | A novel that recounts the development of an individual from childhood or adolescence to maturity, to the point at which the protagonist recognizes his or her place in the world. | 32 | |
| 4869383778 | Blank Verse | Name for unrhymed iambic pentameter. An iamb is a metrical foot in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. In iambic pentameter there are five iambs per line making ten syllables. | 33 | |
| 4869388059 | Cacophony | Harsh, unpleasant, or discordant sounds. Opposite of euphony. | 34 | |
| 4869391449 | Caesura | A pause in a line of poetry. It is dictated by natural speaking rhythm, not meter. | 35 | |
| 4869393212 | Canon | A body of written works accepted as authoritative or authentic. | 36 | |
| 4869394719 | Catachresis | A term referring to the incorrect or strained use of a word. | 37 | |
| 4869397393 | Catharsis | The emotional effect a tragic drama has on its audience | 38 | |
| 4869401809 | Character | A figure in a literary work. | 39 | |
| 4869403318 | Cliche | An expression used so often (and often out of context) that it has lost its original impact. Ex: "Under the weather" for being ill and "show me the money" for greedy enthusiasm. | 40 | |
| 4869406396 | Climax | The turning point in the plot or the high point of action. | 41 | |
| 4869409885 | Colloquial | Informal, conversational language. Colloquialisms are phrases or sayings that are indicative of a specific region. | 42 | |
| 4869412054 | Concrete | Opposite of abstract | 43 | |
| 4869413718 | Confessional Poetry | A contemporary poetic mode in which poets discuss matters relating to their private lives. | 44 | |
| 4869415528 | Conflict | A confrontation or struggle between opposing characters or forces in the plot of a narrative work, from which the action emanates and around which it revolves | 45 | |
| 4869418103 | Connotation | An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing, ie. Bat=evil | 46 | |
| 4869420271 | Consonance | The repetition of consonant sounds in a phrase or line of poetry. The consonant sound may be at the beginning, middle, or end of the word. | 47 | |
| 4869422244 | Contraction | Removes an unstressed syllable and in order to maintain the rhythmic meter of a line | 48 | |
| 4869424728 | Convention | An understanding between a reader and a writer about certain details of a story that does not need to be explained. | 49 | |
| 4869426464 | Couplet | Two rhyming lines in poetry. | 50 | |
| 4869428414 | Dactyl | A metrical foot in poetry that consists of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones. Most nursery rhymes are dactylic: "Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker's man." | 51 | |
| 4869432171 | Denotation | A word's literal meaning(s), independent of any connotations; the dictionary definition of a word. | 52 | |
| 4869436412 | Denouement | The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot. | 53 | |
| 4869438382 | Deus Ex Machina | Term that refers to a character or force that appears at the end of a story or play to help resolve conflict. | 54 | |
| 4869442834 | Dialogue | Conversation between two or more characters in a literary work | 55 | |
| 4869442836 | Diction | A speaker or author's word choice. The general type or character of language used in speech or in a work of literature. | 56 | |
| 4869445338 | Didaction | Instructive or providing information for a particular purpose. "Teachy." | 57 | |
| 4869447340 | Dissonance | Harsh, discordant sounds. | 58 | |
| 4869448913 | Domesticity | An aspect of patriarchal, nineteenth-century doctrine of separate spheres, according to which a woman's place was in the privacy of the home, whereas a man's place was in the wider, public world. | 59 | |
| 4869451486 | Ekaphrasis | Literary representation of a response to a visual work or art, such as a painting or sculpture. | 60 | |
| 4869453926 | Elektra Complex | The desire a female child feels toward the male parent | 61 | |
| 4869456479 | Elegy | A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person. | 62 | |
| 4869458846 | Enallage | Intentionally misusing grammar to characterize a speaker or to create a memorable phrase. | 63 | |
| 4869460578 | End Rhyme | Rhyme that occurs at the end of lines in verse | 64 | |
| 4869462789 | End-Stopped Line | A line of poetry whose meaning is complete in itself and that ends with a grammatical pause marked by punctuation. | 65 | |
| 4869468434 | English (Shakespearean) Sonnet | A 14-line sonnet consisting of three quatrains with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef, followed by a couplet, gg. | 66 | |
| 4869470857 | Enjambment | A poetic statement that spans more than one line. | 67 | |
| 4869470858 | Epigraph | A passage printed on the first page of a literary work, taken from earlier texts, to establish the tone or theme of what follows. | 68 | |
| 4869475053 | Epilogue | The concluding section of a work | 69 | |
| 4869478851 | Epiphany | Sudden enlightenment or realization, a profound new outlook or understanding about the world usually attained while doing everyday mundane activities. | 70 | |
| 4869480954 | Epistolary Novel | A novel that tells its story through letters written from one character to another. Ex: Perks of Being a Wallflower | 71 | |
| 4869483759 | Epistrophe | Repetition of a concluding word or endings: "He's learning fast; are you earning fast?" | 72 | |
| 4869485862 | Epithet | An adjective or phrase applied to a noun to accentuate a certain characteristic. Ex: The Founding Fathers; Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen, that Mr. Rogers-looking fool. | 73 | |
| 4869487510 | Euphony | A succession of words which are pleasing to the ear. | 74 | |
| 4869489303 | Euphemism | The act of substituting a harsh, blunt, or offensive comment for a more politically accepted or positive one. | 75 | |
| 4869491265 | Fable | A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans. | 76 | |
| 4869496601 | Falling Action | In a tragedy, the portion of the plot that follows the climax or the crisis and that leads to or culminates in the catastrophe. In other genres, it leads to the resolution of the plot. | 77 | |
| 4869499044 | Figurative Language | Speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning. Speech or writing employing figures of speech. | 78 | |
| 4869499045 | Foil | A character that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another. | 79 | |
| 4869501066 | Foot | The metrical length of a line is determined by the number of feet it contains. Monometer: One foot Dimeter: Two feet Trimeter: Three feet Tetrameter: Four feet Pentameter: Five feet Hexameter: Six feet Heptameter: Seven feet The most common feet have two to three syllables, with one stressed. | 80 | |
| 4869516370 | Iamb | An iambic foot has two syllables. The first is unstressed and the second is stressed. The iambic foot is most common in English poetry | 81 | |
| 4869522656 | Trochee | A trochaic foot has two syllables. The first is stressed and the second is unstressed. (bum/mer, Free/burg, Pass/ler) | 82 | |
| 4869525877 | Dactyl | A dactylic foot has three syllables beginning with a stressed syllable; the other two unstressed. (ec/sta/cy) | 83 | |
| 4869528550 | Anapest | An anapestic foot has three syllables. The first two are unstressed with the third stressed. (con/tra/dict) | 84 | |
| 4869532843 | Foregrounding | Giving prominence to something in a literary work that would not be accentuated in ordinary discourse | 85 | |
| 4869535102 | Formalism | A style of literary criticism from the 30s. It's what we do for AP: the literary work is an object in its own right. | 86 | |
| 4869538424 | Frame Story | A story that contains another story or stories. | 87 | |
| 4869540610 | Free Verse | Poetry that lacks a regular meter, does not rhyme, and uses irregular line lengths. | 88 | |
| 4869542403 | Freytag's Pyramid | Gustav Freytag's conception of the typical structure of a five-act play: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, catastrophe | 89 | |
| 4869545873 | Genre | The classification of literary works on the basis of their content, form, or technique. Ex: Prose/Poetry, Epic/Drama/Lyric, Comedy/Tragedy/Pastoral/Satire | 90 | |
| 4869547612 | Gothic | A genre characterized by a general mood of decay, suspense, and terror; action that is dramatic and generally violent or otherwise disturbing; loves that are destructively passionate; and landscapes that are grandiose, if gloomy or bleak. Ex: Edgar Allan Poe, Dracula, Frankenstein. | 91 | |
| 4869550953 | Grotesque | Strangely unusual things, bizarre or unnatural combinations of characteristics or images. | 92 | |
| 4869553297 | Hagiography | Originally a biography recounting a saint's life. Now hagiography can refer to writing about a revered individual. Ex: "Michael Jordan's hagiographers were unwilling to admit he was a style trainwreck." | 93 | |
| 4869555569 | Hamartia | An error in judgment made by a tragic hero that brings about the suffering, downfall, and often death of that hero. | 94 | |
| 4869557308 | Harlem Renaissance | An intellectual and cultural movement of the 1920s centered in Harlem, then a predominantly African American section of New York City. Commonly dated 1919-1937. Significant writers include: Langston Hughes, WEB DuBois, Jean Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, Dorothy West, Nella Larsen, Countee Cullen. | 95 | |
| 4869562381 | Hendiadys | The expression of an idea by the use of usually two independent words connected by and (as nice and warm) instead of the usual combination of independent word and its modifier (as nicely warm) | 96 | |
| 4869564661 | Hero/Heroine | Synonymous with protagonist, a hero or heroine is the main character of the work. | 97 | |
| 4869566164 | Hubris | Used in Greek tragedies, refers to excessive pride that usually leads to a hero's downfall. | 98 | |
| 4869568597 | Hypallage | Also known as a transferred epithet, is the trope in which a modifier, usually an adjective, is applied to the "wrong" word in the sentence. The word whose modifier is thus displaced can either be actually present in the sentence, or it can be implied logically. The effect often stresses the emotions or feelings of the individual by expanding them on to the environment. Ex: "restless night," "clumsy helmet," "happy morning." | 99 | |
| 4869572466 | Hyperbaton | A generic term for changing the normal or expected order of words. "One ad does not a survey make." | 100 | |
| 4869574485 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or comic/dramatic effect | 101 | |
| 4869576000 | Iamb | A metrical foot in poetry that consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. Ex: afloat, respect, in love. | 102 | |
| 4869579615 | Idyll | A narrative work, usually short, descriptive, and composed in verse that depicts and exalts pastoral scenes and themes. | 103 | |
| 4869581204 | Imagery | The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. | 104 | |
| 4869583355 | In Media Res | A literary technique of beginning the narrative in the middle of the action. Used to "hook" the reader or audience. | 105 | |
| 4869585386 | Interior Monologue | A literary technique for rendering stream of consciousness by reproducing a character's mental flow. Presents thoughts, emotions, and sensations as experienced by the character. | 106 | |
| 4869590174 | Interior Rhyme | A rhyme that occurs within a line of verse. Ex: "They took some honey and plenty of money/Wrapped in a five-pound note." | 107 | |
| 4869593467 | Intertextuality | The condition of interconnectedness among texts | 108 | |
| 4869595193 | Inversion | An intentional digression from ordinary word order which is used to maintain regular meters. For example, rather than saying "the rain came" a poem may say "came the rain". Meters can be formed by the insertion or absence of a pause. | 109 | |
| 4869597603 | Irony | When one thing should occur, is apparent, or in logical sequence, but the opposite occurs. | 110 | |
| 4872297111 | Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet | A poem with fourteen lines. An Italian sonnet subdivides into two quatrains and two tercets (or an octave which presents a problem and a sestet which ponders a solution) | 111 | |
| 4872301590 | Litotes | A trope that involves making an affirmation by negating its opposite. "Not unkind" means "kind." "Not bad" usually means "good." | 112 | |
| 4872303379 | Loose Sentence | Loose Sentence A complex sentence in which an independent clause is followed by one or more other elements. It is syntactically complete on the front end. Loose sentences are less formal, more conversational, and more common in English than periodic sentences. | 113 | |
| 4872305381 | Meiosis | A trope involving deliberate understatement, usually for comic, ironic, or satiric effect. Typically involves characterizing something in a way that, taken literally, minimizes its gravity. Ex: "One nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day." | 114 | |
| 4872307149 | Metaphor | A figure of speech that associates two distinct things without using a connective word. Ex: "That child is a wet napkin. | 115 | |
| 4872310176 | Metaplasmus | A type of neologism in which misspelling a word creates a rhetorical effect. | 116 | |
| 4872312818 | Prosthesis | adding an extra syllable or letters to the beginning of a word | 117 | |
| 4872316515 | Epenthesis | Epenthesis (also called infixation) -- adding an extra syllable or letters in the middle of a word. | 118 | |
| 4872317524 | Proparalepsis | adding an extra syllable or letters to the end of a word | 119 | |
| 4872320090 | Aphaeresis | deleting a syllable from the beginning of a word to create a new word. | 120 | |
| 4884616461 | Syncope | deleting a syllable or letter from the middle of a word. | 121 | |
| 4884619615 | Apocope | deleting a syllable or letter from the end of a word | 122 | |
| 4884621075 | Meter | The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line. | 123 | |
| 4884623706 | Metonymy | The use of a word or phrase to stand in for something else which it is often physically associated. ie. Hollywood for US cinema, the Crown for UK government, the White House, City Hall. | 124 | |
| 4884627191 | Mood | The general feeling created for the reader by a work at a given point. | 125 | |
| 4884629065 | Motif | A recurrent, unifying element in an artistic work, such as an image, symbol, character type, action, idea, object, or phrase. | 126 | |
| 4884630927 | Myth | A traditional anonymous story, originally religious in nature, told by a particular cultural group in order to explain a natural or cosmic phenomenon. Myths are distinguished from legends (adventures of a human cultural hero like Robin Hood) and fables (which have a moral, didactic purpose and often feature animals). | 127 | |
| 4884634018 | Narrator | A speaker through whom an author presents a narrative. Narrators are classified by point of view: first-person--the author, the protagonist, another character, a witness to the action. | 128 | |
| 4884636346 | Second Person | -the narrator refers to the reader as "you," making the reader a part of the story. | 129 | |
| 4884638577 | third-person omniscient | each and every character is referred to by the narrator as "he", "she", "it", or "they." An omniscient narrator has knowledge of all times, people, places, and events, including all characters' thoughts | 130 | |
| 4884640625 | third-person limited | a limited narrator may know absolutely everything about a single character and every piece of knowledge in that character's mind, but the narrator's knowledge is "limited" to that character — that is, the narrator cannot describe things unknown to the focal character. | 131 | |
| 4884642587 | Novel | a lengthy fictional prose narrative. | 132 | |
| 4884648304 | Novella | A shorter fictional prose narrative that ranges from 50-100 pages in length. | 133 | |
| 4884649975 | Occupation | Literally "seizing," occupatio is the rhetorical figure of bringing up and responding to a counterpoint before the opponent has the chance to make it. Ex: "Now mom, I know you're going to say that if I join the Dungeons and Dragons club it may damage my social life, but Sheila and Tracy are already members!" This is opposed to apophasis, where the rhetorician feigns unwillingness to discuss a topic he or she is interested in. | 134 | |
| 4884657149 | Octave | An eight-line stanza. More specifically, the first eight lines of an Italian sonnet. | 135 | |
| 4884659302 | Ode | A relatively long, serious, and usually meditative lyric poem that treats a noble subject in a dignified or calm manner | 136 | |
| 4884662400 | Oedipus Complex | The desire a young child feels for the opposite-sex parent and the hostility the child correspondingly feels toward the same-sex parent. Based on the Greek legend of Oedipus, who blinds himself after discovering that he killed his dad and then married his mother. | 137 | |
| 4884664488 | Onomatopoeia | Words that seem to signify meaning through sound effects. | 138 | |
| 4884667317 | Other | A person or category of people seen as different from the dominant social group. | 139 | |
| 4884668649 | Parable | A short, realistic, but usually fictional story told to illustrate a moral or religious point or lesson; a type of allegory. | 140 | |
| 4884668650 | Paradox | A statement that seems self-contradictory, but expresses an underlying truth. Ex: "It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it." | 141 | |
| 4884670638 | Paralipsis | A rhetorical figure involving a speaker's assertion that he or she will not discuss something that he or she in fact goes on to discuss. | 142 | |
| 4884672385 | Parataxis/Paratactic Style | A sequence of sentences bearing only a loose logical relation to one another. Elements within those sentences tend to be joined by simple conjunctions (like and) that do little to show or explain causal or temporal relations. Another way to think about it is that all of the sentences carry the same weight. Ex: "There were no rooms at the inn. We drove farther until we found a hotel. It was raining heavily and we got soaked on the way to the door. Our socks stank of mildew. We ate dinner there and talked little." | 143 | |
| 4884675723 | Pastoral | A literary mode historically and conventionally associated with shepherds and country living. | 144 | |
| 4884677249 | Pentameter | A line of verse with five metrical feet. The most common line length in English verse. Ex: "Deer walk | upon | our moun | tains, and | the quail |" | 145 | |
| 4884679508 | Periodic Sentence | A complex sentence that is not syntactically complete until its very end. The opposite of a loose sentence. | 146 | |
| 4884682404 | Periphrasis | A roundabout way of speaking or writing. The term is often used pejoratively to designate pompous or wordy writing. Ex: Ronald Reagan once called a lie a "terminological inexactitude." | 147 | |
| 4884691676 | Personification | A figure of speech in which human characteristics are bestowed upon anything nonhuman. | 148 | |
| 4884694958 | Plot | The arrangement and interrelation of events in a narrative work, chosen and designed to engage the reader's attention and interest, while also providing a framework for the exposition of the author's message or theme. | 149 | |
| 4884697498 | Poetic Diction | The choice and phrasing of words deemed suitable for verse. Ex: "Ere," "thrice," "thou." | 150 | |
| 4884699960 | Poetic Justice | The idea that virtuous and evil actions are ultimately dealt with justly, with virtue rewarded and evil punished." | 151 | |
| 4884704989 | Poetic License | The linguistic liberty taken by poets in composing verse. They can do unusual things, break rules, etc. | 152 | |
| 4884709084 | Point Of View | The vantage point from which the narrative is told | 153 | |
| 4884718596 | Polysyndeton | Polysyndeton is the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted (as in "he ran and jumped and laughed for joy"). | 154 | |
| 4884734993 | Postcolonial Literature | The body of literature written by authors with roots in countries that were once colonies established by European nations. | 155 | |
| 4884736812 | Postmodernist Literature | A term referring to radically experimental works produced after WWII. | 156 | |
| 4884739167 | Prose Poem | A brief, rhythmic composition blending prose and verse, ranging from several lines to several pages. Prose poems are written in sentences and do not have line breaks. | 157 | |
| 4884741768 | Protagonist | The main character of a work; usually the hero or heroine, but sometimes an antihero. | 158 | |
| 4884743528 | Quatrain | A stanza containing four lines. | 159 | |
| 4884747194 | Refrain | A phrase, line, or lines that recur(s) throughout the poem or song. It may vary slightly, but is usually exactly the same | 160 | |
| 4884748757 | Resolution | The culmination of a fictional plot. | 161 | |
| 4884752532 | Rhyme | An echoing of similar sounds in words. | 162 | |
| 4884754778 | Rhyme Scheme | The pattern of rhyme in a poem or stanza | 163 | |
| 4884756315 | Rhythm | The measured flow of words, signifying the basic beat or pattern in language that is established by stressed syllables, unstressed syllables, and pauses. | 164 | |
| 4884758030 | Rising Action | The part of a drama that follows the inciting moment and precedes the climax. During the rising action, the plot becomes more complicated and the conflict intensifies. | 165 | |
| 4884760873 | Round Character | Characters which are fully developed, with the complexity and depth associated with real people. They can surprise readers convincingly and have full-blown personalities complete with contractions and quirks that make it difficult to describe them reductively. | 166 | |
| 4884765038 | Satire | A literary genre or mode that uses irony, wit, and sometimes sarcasm to expose humanity's vices and foibles. Corrective ridicule. | 167 | |
| 4884767078 | Scansion | The analysis of poetic meter, the more or less regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables found in verse | 168 | |
| 4884769588 | Setting | The combination of place, historical time, and social milieu that provides the general background for the characters and plot of a literary work. | 169 | |
| 4884771242 | Sestet | Any six-line poem or stanza. More specifically, the last six lines of an Italian sonnet, which typically answer or resolve the question or problem posed in the octave. | 170 | |
| 4884775701 | Sibilance | A type of alliteration involving repetition or the consonant s or other letters and letter combinations such as c (cent), ch (chalet), sh (shade), and z (zip). | 171 | |
| 4884778114 | Simile | A figure of speech comparing two distinct things using like or as. | 172 | |
| 4884779901 | Soliloquy | A monologue delivered by a character while alone on the stage that reveals inner thoughts, emotions, or information that the audience needs to know. | 173 | |
| 4884782066 | Stanza | A grouped set of lines in a poem., usually separated from other such clusters by a blank line. | 174 | |
| 4884785437 | Stream of Consciousness | A literary technique featuring the mental flow of one or more characters. | 175 | |
| 4884786853 | Stress | The emphasis placed on a syllable. | 176 | |
| 4884789240 | Style | The way in which a literary work is written. | 177 | |
| 4884793118 | Surrealism | A literary and artistic movement whose proponents view the unconscious mind as the source of imaginative expression and who seek to liberate the mind from the constraints of reason, convention, self-censorship, and conscious control. Characterized by unusual sequencing and syntax, free association, fantastic/nightmarish images, and the juxtaposition of jarringly incongruous elements | 178 | |
| 4884801726 | Symbol | Something concrete that stands for something larger and/or more complex--often an idea or a range of interrelated ideas, attitudes, and practices. | 179 | |
| 4884802948 | Synesthesia | The condition where one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another. Ex: "heavy silence," "icy tone," "red hot." | 180 | |
| 4884805187 | Synecdoche | A figure of speech where a part of something represents the whole. Ex: calling a car your "wheels," referring to the violins and cellos as "the strings," | 181 | |
| 4884806780 | Syntax | The arrangement--the ordering, grouping, and placement--of words within a phrase, clause or sentence. | 182 | |
| 4884809011 | Tercet | A group of three lines of verse. | 183 | |
| 4884809012 | Texture | A term referring to the surface details or elements of a work. Texture includes: imagery, meter, rhyme, alliteration, euphony, etc. | 184 | |
| 4884812162 | Theme | The statements that a text seems to be making about its subject. Theme is usually a "big" idea: suffering, freedom, happiness, death, morality. | 185 | |
| 4884812163 | Thesis | The position taken by someone expostulating on a particular topic with the intent of proving that position plausible or correct. A claim. | 186 | |
| 4884814040 | Threnody | A threnody is a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. | 187 | |
| 4884815941 | Tone | A threnody is a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. | 188 | |
| 4884818247 | Tragedy | A serious drama, written in prose or verse, that typically ends in disaster and that focuses on a character who undergoes unexpected personal reversals. | 189 | |
| 4884819566 | Tragic Flaw | A character trait in a tragic hero or heroine that brings about his or her downfall. Arrogance (hubris) is a common tragic flaw. | 190 | |
| 4884819641 | Trochee | A metrical foot in poetry that consists of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. | 191 | |
| 4884824952 | Unreliable Narrator | A narrator who, intentionally or unintentionally, fails to provide an accurate report of events or situations and whose credibility is therefore compromised. | 192 | |
| 4884828499 | Verisimilitude | The apparent truthfulness and credibility of a fictional literary work. | 193 | |
| 4884830842 | Villanelle | A French verse form consisting of nineteen lines grouped in five tercets followed by a quatrain and involving only two rhymes, with the rhyme scheme aba aba aba aba aba abaa. | 194 | |
| 4884832903 | Zeugma | A rhetorical figure where one word or phrase governs or modifies two or more words or phrases. Ex: "Mary likes chocolate, John vanilla." "Lust conquered shame; audacity, fear; madness, reason." | 195 |
