Glossary+of+Literary+Terms

//This site reviews some frequently used literary terms.//

//Terms you should know://

**Elements of Fiction** **Antagonist**: //the main character opposing protagonist; “bad guy”// **Character**: //portrayal of the individual// **Dynamic character**: //undergoes change in beliefs/philosophies// **Flat character:** //fulfills one role; only see one facet of// **Round character:** //fulfills many roles; multifaceted// **Static character:** //unchanging// **Stock character**: //basic; equational// **Character Motivation:** //catalyst; reason for acting// **Climax:** //turning point of story// **Conflict:** //struggle between opposing forces// **Denouement**: //falling action; resolution of conflict// **Exposition**: //introduction/ establishes all info. necessary to understand conflict// **Falling action**: //resolution of conflict// **Foil**: //a mirror character that contrasts or compares another character// **In medias res**: //“in the middle”; starting a story in the midst of all the action// **Incident**: //an occurrence or event// **Narrative voice**: //the speaker// **Point of view**: //the position of the speaker// **First person point of view**: //narrator is involved (I, my, we)// **Objective point of view:** //speaker is detached// **Omniscient point of view**: //all-knowing; all-seeing// **Limited point of view**: //restricted view// **Third person point of view**: //narrator is not involved// **Unlimited point of view**: //unrestricted view// **Protagonist**: //the main character/hero; “the good guy”// **Rising action**: //the events leading to the climax// **Subplot**: //a lower, less significant plot coinciding with the main plot//

**Elements of Drama** **Act**: //the main division of a play// **Aside**: //character speaks to audience or in undertone to self// **Catastrophe**: //the tragic resolution of the conflict// **Catharsis**: //the release of emotion felt by audience// **Comedy**: //a drama containing humor, has a happy ending// **Comic relief**: //the interlude used to relieve tension and contrast tragedy// **Crisis**: //the point when tension is highest and the resolution imminent// **Deus ex machina**: //“god of the machine”; an unanticipated intervener who resolves a conflict// **Epilogue**: //a summary of events or resolution at the end// **Farce**: //a comedy of absurd happenings or situations// **Hamartia**: //an error in judgment which may arise from ignorance// **Hubris**: //the defect in the Greek tragic hero that leads him to ignore the warnings of the gods; arrogance// **Monologue**: //a long speech made by one character// **Prologue**: //introductions to play, usually includes conflict// **Scene**: //subdivision of play, division of Act// **Soliloquy**: //character on stage, alone, speaking to self// **Tragedy**: //the disaster that comes to those who represent flaws that are universal in a lesser form// **Tragic flaw**: //the flaw we all possess in a lesser form that causes the downfall of the hero//

**Elements of Style** **Anecdote** // : a brief account of or a story about an individual or incident // **Atmosphere** // : the mood and feeling that appeals to extra-sensory as well as sensory perception evokes // **Colloquial** // : everyday, common, plain, relaxed // **Connotation** // : implied feeling or meaning // **Denotation** // : literal meaning // **Dialect** // : language or manner of speaking specific to one person or area/region // **Dialogue** // : spoken words between characters // **Diction** // : word choice; vocabulary // **Imagery** // : use of language to represent objects, actions, feelings, thoughts, ideas // **Pun** // : play on words // **Satire** // : use of ridicule in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice // **Stream-of-consciousness** // : depicts the flow of inner thoughts and feelings //
 * Epigram **// : a short, witty statement in verse or prose which may be complimentary, satiric, or aphoristic //
 * Flashback **// : any scene inserted to describe an event that happened at an earlier time //
 * Invective **// : speech/writing which is denunciatory, abusive, or vituperative //
 * Inversion **// : the turning of an argument against an opponent; reversal of normal word order of a sentence //
 * Sarcasm **// : harsh or bitter derision or irony; sneering or cutting remark //
 * Slang **// : the common, informal, non-standard speech //
 * Tone **// : the reflection of a writer’s attitude, manner, mood, and moral outlook //
 * Voice **// : the speaker of a written work //

**Figures of Speech** **Allusion** // : indirect reference // **Conceit** // : figurative metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or oxymoron intended to surprise with wit // **Euphemism** // : substitution of a mild or pleasant expression for a harsher one // **Hyperbole** // : exaggeration for emphasis // **Litotes** // : understatement for emphasis // **Metaphor** // : comparison of two unlike things in order to further illustrate, explain, or emphasize // **Metonymy** // : the term for one thing can be applied to another to which it is closely associated (e.g. reading Shakespeare) // **Onomatopoeia** // : formation and use of words to imitate sounds // **Personification** // : ascribing human characteristics to a non-human object or being // **Simile** // : comparison using like or as // **Synecdoche** // : a part stands for the whole, thus something else is understood within the statement, e.g. Give us this day our daily bread-bread means meals // **Synesthesia** // : mixing the experience of the senses // **Symbol** // : an inanimate object represents a difficult concept, belief, or feeling //
 * Apostrophe **// : addresses a thing, place, abstract quality, idea, or dead/absent person as if present and capable of understanding //

**Form**
 * Allegory **// : a story with a double meaning (surface and secondary) //
 * Essay **// : short literary composition usually analytical or interpretative //
 * Fable **// : short narrative which points a moral //
 * Genre **// : classifications; categories //
 * Novel **// : extended piece of prose fiction //
 * Novella **// : expanded short story restricted to a single event or conflict with suspense, unexpected turning point and surprise conclusion //
 * Parable **// : short simple story that points a moral //
 * Prose **// : direct form of language in ordinary usage //
 * Verse **// : metrical writing //

**Poetry** __** Sound **__ **Internal Rhyme** // : words within line // **Masculine Rhyme** // : single syllable correspond //
 * Alliteration **// : consonants/stressed syllables are repeated //
 * Assonance **// : repetition of similar vowel sounds //
 * Cacophony **// : harsh sounds //
 * Consonance **// : close repetition of consonant sounds before and after different vowels (slip-slop) //
 * Dissonance **// : the arrangement of harsh sounds for a particular effect //
 * Rhyme **// : //
 * End Rhyme **// : words at end //
 * Feminine Rhyme **// : two syllables correspond; the second is stressed //

__** Meter **__ **End-stopped line** // : sense and meter coincide in a pause at end of line // **Free verse** // : no regular meter or line length // **Iamb** // : metrical foot of unstressed syllable followed by stressed // **Meter** // : pattern of stressed or unstressed syllables in verse //
 * Blank verse **// : unrhymed 5 stress lines //
 * Cadence **// : the melodic pattern preceding the end of a sentence //
 * Caesura **// : a break or pause //

**Couplet** // : two successive rhyming lines // **Dirge** // : a song of lament // **Elegy** // : a poem of mourning or lament // **Lyric** // : a song, usually short, expressing the feeling of a single speaker // **Octave** // : group of 8 lines // **Pentameter** // : 5 foot line // **Quatrain** // : stanza of 4 lines rhymed or unrhymed // **Repetition** // : unifying element in all poetry // **Sestet** // : last 6 lines of the Italian sonnet // **Sonnet** // : 14 lines // **Italian** // : octave develops one thought, turns, sestet grows/completes thought // **Stanza** // : a group of lines of verse //
 * __ Form/Structure __**
 * Controlling image: **// the image repeated throughout the poem, giving it structure //
 * Refrain **// : phrase/line repeated at intervals during a poem //