LITERARY TERMS Poetry Terms Alliteration repetition in words

LITERARY TERMS

Poetry Terms

Alliteration /repetition in words of initial consonant sounds

Assonance /repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants

Blank Verse /Verse consisting of unrhymed iambic pentameter

Example of a Blank Verse: Excerpt from Macbeth By William Shakespeare Tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

Concrete Poetry /A poem that visually resembles something found in the physical world. A poem about a wormy apple written so that the words form the shape of an apple, as in the following, is an example:

Consonance /repetition of consonant sounds, not limited to the first letters of words

Couplet /pair of lines of verse of the same length that usually rhyme

End Rhyme /rhyming of words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of poetry

Foot /smallest repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poetic line

Free Verse / no regular meter or rhyme

Haiku /form of Japanese poetry (usually about nature) that has three lines: 1 st line = 5 syllables; 2 nd line = 7 syllables; 3 rd line = 5 syllables

Haiku

Internal Rhyme /rhyming words occur inside the same line of poetry

Meter /patterned repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables

Repetition /repeating of a word, phrase or idea for emphasis or rhythmic effect

Rhythm /regular or random occurrence of sound in poetry. Regular rhythm is called meter and can be measured in feet. Random rhythm is called free verse.

Stanza division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains: / Couplet – 2 lines / Triplet – 3 lines / Quatrain – 4 lines / Quintet – 5 lines / Sestet – 6 lines / Septet – 7 lines / Octave – 8 lines

Verse metric line of poetry named according to the kind and number of feet composing it /Monometer – one foot /Dimeter – two feet /Trimeter – three feet /Tetrameter – four feet /Pentameter – five feet /Hexameter – six feet /Heptameter – seven feet /Octometer - eight feet

Literary Styles of Writing OR (isms)

Classicism /A movement or tendency in art, music, and literature to retain the characteristics found in work originating in classical Greece and Rome. It differs from Romanticism in that while Romanticism dwells on the emotional impact of a work, classicism concerns itself with form and discipline.

Romanticism /– literary movement with an emphasis on the imagination and emotions

Impressionism /recording of events or situations as they have been impressed upon the mind; literature characterized by the selection of a few details to convey the sense impressions left by a scene or incident. This style of writing occurs when characters, scenes, or actions are portrayed from an objective point of view of reality.

Naturalism /Philosophy that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings and allow the reader to form his own opinions on the subject; extreme form of realism in which the author tries to show the relationship of the person to the environment or surroundings

Realism /(late 19 th century) philosophy that attempts to represent life the way it really is; focuses on literary technique; a representation of the common life; opponents of realism debate that nothing can completely and fully represent truth from all sides

Transcendentalism /philosophy that requires human being to go beyond reason to search for truth. It assumes that an individual can arrive at the basic truths of life through spiritual insight if he or she takes the time to think seriously about them

Modernism /(post WWI) philosophy that attempts to represent the whole experience of modern life while finding solutions to societal issues

Genres

Anecdote /Short summary of humorous event

Autobiography /Account of one’s own life

Ballad /Poem in verse that tells a story

Biography /Story of a person’s life written by another person

Comedy /Literature in which human errors appear funny. Comedies often end on a happy note.

Drama /Plays; also refers to the type of serious play often concerned with the characters’ relationship to society

Epic /– long narrative poem that tells of the deeds and adventures of a hero

Gothic Novels /type of fiction characterized by gloomy castles, ghosts, supernatural happenings

Memoirs /writing based on a memory of a particular time, place or incident

Novel /Lengthy fiction story

Novella /Prose work longer than the standard short story and shorter than a novel

Short Story /Brief fictional work usually containing one major conflict and at least one main character

Tragedy /Literary work in which the hero is destroyed by some character flaw or by forces beyond his control

Format of Typical Dramatic Plot

Exposition /The part of the plot in which the reader is given important background information

Characterization /The way an author portrays each character

Rising Action /Series of struggles which build the story or play to the climax

Conflict /Struggle which occurs in the story

Climax /The point at which the character or the action of the story changes

Falling Action /Series of actions leading to the resolution

Denouement (day-new-maa) /Final resolution or outcome of the play or story

Resolution /Same as a denouement

INSIDE the text (Literary Devices)

Allusion /Literary reference to a familiar person, place, thing or event

Analogy /Comparison of two or more similar objects, suggesting that if they are alike in certain ways, they will be alike in other ways

Aside /A device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play

Dialogue /conversation

/Words Diction the author uses

Types of Diction /Archaic – words that are old-fashioned and no longer sound natural /Colloquialism – expression that is usually accepted in informal situations and certain locations /Jargon – specialized language used by a specific group, such as those who use computers (override, interface, download) /Profanity – language that shows disrespect for someone or something regarded as honorable /Slang – informal language used by a particular group of people among themselves; also used in literature to lend color and feeling /Vulgarity – language that is considered crude, gross and, at times, offensive. Sometimes used in fiction to add realism

Flashback /When the time of the story moves from present to the past

Foreshadowing /Hint event by the author of some future

Hyperbole /Overstating the truth for effect (My shoes are killing me. )

Imagery /Words creating a mental picture, sound, taste, etc.

Irony /Just the opposite of what is expected happens

Irony of Situation /An event which happens in the story contrary to what was expected

Metaphor /Indirect or “as” comparison NOT using “like”

Onomatopoeia /Sound word

Oxymoron /A combination of contradictory terms such as “jumbo shrimp” and “tough love”

Paradox /Statement that seems contradictory to common sense, yet may actually be true /“The coach says that this is a good loss. ”

Personification /Giving human qualities to non-humans

Plot /Chronological order of events

Point of View /The “person” telling the story

Pun /Play on words

Setting /Time and place

Simile /Direct comparison using “like” or “as”

Soliloquy /Long speech made by a character to himself revealing his thoughts

Symbol /Object which stands for an idea

Characters in the Text

Antagonist /Bad guy; character who gets in the way of the protagonist’s goals

Antihero /Character we cheer for but isn’t necessarily good

Foil /Someone who serves as a contrast to another character often going through similar situations, but dealing with them differently

Narrator /The character telling the story /This is not the same as the author

Protagonist /Good guy; person with whom the audience most closely identifies

Stereotype /A form of character that does not change; a stereotypical character is one that fits into the mold of that particular “kind” of person

STEP AWAY from the text (to analyze)

Character Sketch /Short piece of writing that reveals or shows something important about a character in the text

Genre /Category of literature based on style, form, and content

Mood/Atmosphere /Feeling the author is trying to create in the story through the use of plot, character, the author’s descriptions, etc. /Examples: The moods evoked by the stories of Edgar Allen Poe tend to be gloomy, horrific, and desperate.

Moral /Value or lesson the author is trying to convey to the reader

Poetic Justice /Describes a character “getting what he deserves, ” especially if the person gets punished

Theme /Truth about life or lesson learned

Tone /The author’s attitude, stated or implied, toward a subject. /Possible attitudes are pessimism, optimism, earnestness, seriousness, bitterness, humorous, and joyful /(Can be revealed through choice of words and details)

Topic /Subjects touched on in the story