literary terms

Question 1

alliteration

Answer 1

The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable: “descending dew drops”; “luscious lemons.” Alliteration is based on the sounds of letters, rather than the spelling of words; for example, “keen” and “car” alliterate, but “car” and “cite” do not. Used sparingly, alliteration can intensify ideas by emphasizing key words, but when used too self-consciously, it can be distracting, even ridiculous, rather than effective. See also assonance, consonance

Question 2

ambiguity

Answer 2

Allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word, phrase, action, or situation, all of which can be supported by the context of a work. Deliberate ambiguity can contribute to the effectiveness and richness of a work, for example, in the open-ended conclusion to Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” However, unintentional ambiguity obscures meaning and can confuse readers.

Question 3

antagonist

Answer 3

The character, force, or collection of forces in fiction or drama that opposes the protagonist and gives rise to the conflict of the story

Question 4

archetype

Answer 4

Typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature. Common literary archetypes include stories of quests, initiations, scapegoats, descents to the underworld, and ascents to heaven. The mentor and the trickster are two examples of archetypal characters.

Question 5

assonance

Answer 5

The repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same, for example, “asleep under a tree,” or “each evening.” Similar endings result in rhyme, as in “asleep in the deep.” Assonance is a strong means of emphasizing important words in a line.

Question 6

blank verse

Answer 6

Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse is the English verse form closest to the natural rhythms of English speech and therefore is the most common pattern found in traditional English narrative and dramatic poetry from Shakespeare to the early twentieth century. Shakespeare’s plays use blank verse extensively

Question 7

cliche

Answer 7

An idea or expression that has become tired and trite from overuse, its freshness and clarity having worn off. Clichés often anesthetize readers, and are usually a sign of weak writing.

Question 8

connation

Answer 8

Associations and implications that go beyond the literal meaning of a word, which derive from how the word has been commonly used and the associations people make with it. For example, the word eagle connotes ideas of liberty and freedom that have little to do with the word’s literal meaning.

Question 9

couplet

Answer 9

Two consecutive lines of poetry that usually rhyme and have the same meter. A heroic couplet is a couplet written in rhymed iambic pentameter

Question 10

denotation

Answer 10

The dictionary meaning of a word

Question 11

diction

Answer 11

A writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning. Formal diction consists of a dignified, impersonal, and elevated use of language; it follows the rules of syntax exactly and is often characterized by complex words and lofty tone. Middle diction maintains correct language usage, but is less elevated than formal diction; it reflects the way most educated people speak. Informal diction represents the plain language of everyday use, and often includes idiomatic expressions, slang, contractions, and many simple, common words. Poetic diction refers to the way poets sometimes employ an elevated diction that deviates significantly from the common speech and writing of their time, choosing words for their supposedly inherent poetic qualities. Since the eighteenth century, however, poets have been incorporating all kinds of diction in their work and so there is no longer an automatic distinction between the language of a poet and the language of everyday speech.

Question 12

elegy

Answer 12

A mournful, contemplative lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead, often ending in a consolation. Tennyson’s In Memoriam, written on the death of Arthur Hallam, is an elegy. Elegy may also refer to a serious meditative poem produced to express the speaker’s melancholy thoughts

Question 13

enjambment

Answer 13

In poetry, when one line ends without a pause and continues into the next line for its meaning. This is also called a run-on line

Question 14

epic

Answer 14

A long narrative poem, told in a formal, elevated style, that focuses on a serious subject and chronicles heroic deeds and events important to a culture or nation. Milton’s Paradise Lost, which attempts to “justify the ways of God to man,” is an epic

Question 15

epiphany

Answer 15

In fiction, when a character suddenly experiences a deep realization about himself or herself or the world

Question 16

euphony

Answer 16

(“good sound”) refers to language that is smooth and musically pleasant to the ear.

Question 17

foil

Answer 17

A character in a work whose behavior and values contrast with those of another character in order to highlight the distinctive temperament of that character (usually the protagonist). In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Laertes acts as a foil to Hamlet, because his willingness to act underscores Hamlet’s inability to do so.

Question 18

foot

Answer 18

The metrical unit by which a line of poetry is measured. A foot usually consists of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables. An iambic foot, which consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable (“away”), is the most common metrical foot in English poetry. A trochaic foot consists of one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (“lovely”). An anapestic foot is two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed one (“understand”). A dactylic foot is one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones (“desperate”). A spondee is a foot consisting of two stressed syllables (“dead set”), but is not a sustained metrical foot and is used mainly for variety or emphasis

Question 19

foreshadowing

Answer 19

The introduction early in a story of verbal and dramatic hints that suggest what is to come later

Question 20

free verse

Answer 20

Also called open form poetry, free verse refers to poems characterized by their nonconformity to established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza. Free verse uses elements such as speech patterns, grammar, emphasis, and breath pauses to decide line breaks, and usually does not rhyme.

Question 21

genre

Answer 21

A French word meaning kind or type. The major genres in literature are poetry, fiction, drama, and essays. Genre can also refer to more specific types of literature such as comedy, tragedy, epic poetry, or science fiction

Question 22

hyperbole

Answer 22

A boldly exaggerated statement that adds emphasis without intending to be literally true, as in the statement “He ate everything in the house.” Hyperbole (also called overstatement) may be used for serious, comic, or ironic effect.

Question 23

iambic pentameter

Answer 23

A metrical pattern in poetry which consists of five iambic feet per line for a total of ten syllables. (An iamb, or iambic foot, consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.)

Question 24

imagery

Answer 24

A word, phrase, or figure of speech (especially a simile or a metaphor) that addresses the senses, suggesting mental pictures of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, or actions. Images offer sensory impressions to the reader and also convey emotions and moods through their verbal pictures

Question 25

irony

Answer 25

A literary device that uses contradictory statements or situations to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true. It is ironic for a firehouse to burn down, or for a police station to be burglarized. Verbal irony is a figure of speech that occurs when a person says one thing but means the opposite. Sarcasm is a strong form of verbal irony that is calculated to hurt someone through, for example, false praise. Dramatic irony creates a discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what the reader or audience member knows to be true. Tragic irony is a form of dramatic irony found in tragedies such as Oedipus the King, in which Oedipus searches for the person responsible for the plague that ravishes his city and ironically ends up hunting himself. Situational irony exists when there is an incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens due to forces beyond human comprehension or control. The suicide of the seemingly successful main character in Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem "Richard Cory" is an example of situational irony.

Question 26

metaphor

Answer 26

A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, without using the word like or as. Metaphors assert the identity of dissimilar things, as when Macbeth asserts that life is a "brief candle." Metaphors can be subtle and powerful. An implied metaphor is a more subtle comparison; the terms being compared are not so specifically explained. For example, to describe a stubborn man unwilling to leave, one could say that he was "a mule standing his ground." This is a fairly explicit metaphor; the man is being compared to a mule. But to say that the man "brayed his refusal to leave" is to create an implied metaphor, because the subject (the man) is never overtly identified as a mule. Braying is associated with the mule, a notoriously stubborn creature, and so the comparison between the stubborn man and the mule is sustained. Implied metaphors can slip by inattentive readers who are not sensitive to such carefully chosen, highly concentrated language. An extended metaphor is a sustained comparison in which part or all of a poem consists of a series of related metaphors. Robert Francis’s poem "Catch" relies on an extended metaphor that compares poetry to playing catch.

Question 27

mood

Answer 27

The emotional atmosphere of a work of literature; how it makes the reader feel emotionally

Question 28

ode

Answer 28

A kind of poem devoted to the praise of a person, animal, or thing. An ode is usually written in an elevated style and often expresses deep feeling. An example is “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” by John Keats

Question 29

parody

Answer 29

A humorous imitation of another, usually serious, work. It usually exaggerates characteristics or the style of the original

Question 30

personification

Answer 30

A form of metaphor in which human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman things

Question 31

protagonist

Answer 31

The main character of a narrative; its central character who engages the reader’s interest and empathy.

Question 32

quatrain

Answer 32

A four-line stanza

Question 33

satire

Answer 33

The literary art of ridiculing a folly or vice in order to expose or correct it. The object of satire is usually some human frailty; people, institutions, ideas, and things are all fair game for satirists. Satire evokes attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation toward its faulty subject in the hope of somehow improving it

Question 34

simile

Answer 34

A common figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two things by using words such as like, as, than

Question 35

sonnet

Answer 35

A fixed form of lyric poetry that consists of fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter

Question 36

stream-of-consciousness

Answer 36

The most intense use of a central consciousness in narration. The stream-of-consciousness technique takes a reader inside a character’s mind to reveal perceptions, thoughts, and feelings on a conscious or unconscious level. This technique suggests the flow of thought as well as its content; hence, complete sentences may give way to fragments as the character’s mind makes rapid associations free of conventional logic or transitions.

Question 37

symbol

Answer 37

A person, object, image, word, or event that evokes a range of additional meaning beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance

Question 38

theme

Answer 38

The central meaning or dominant idea in a literary work. A theme provides a unifying point around which the plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbols, and other elements of a work are organized. It is important not to mistake the theme for the actual subject of the work; the theme refers to the abstract concept that is made concrete through the images, characterization, and action of the text.

Question 39

tone

Answer 39

The author’s implicit attitude toward the reader or the people, places, and events in a work as revealed by the elements of the author’s style. Tone may be characterized as serious or ironic, sad or happy, private or public, angry or affectionate, bitter or nostalgic, or any other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.