This glossary of literary terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the discussion, classification, analysis, and criticism of all types of
literature, such as poetry, novels, and picture books, as well as of grammar, syntax, and language techniques. For a more complete glossary of terms relating to poetry in particular, see
Glossary of poetry terms.
Any
noun used to describe the stress put on a certain
syllable while speaking a word. For example, there has been disagreement over the pronunciation of "Abora" in line 41 of "Kubla Khan" by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. According to Herbert Tucker of the website "For Better For Verse", the accent is on the first and last syllable of the word, making its pronunciation: AborA.[3][4]
Accentual verse is common in children's poetry. Nursery rhymes and the less well-known skipping-rope rhymes are the most common form of accentual verse in the English language.[2]
A poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable, or word of each line, paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. Example: An Acrostic (1829) by
Edgar Allan Poe.[5]
A descriptive word used to modify a
verb,
adjective, or another adverb. Typically ending in -ly, adverbs answer the questions when, how, and how many times.[3][11]
A figure of speech that makes a reference to or a representation of people, places, events, literary works, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication.[14]
The repetition of the last word of one
clause at the beginning of the following clause to gain a special effect; e.g. "Labour and care are rewarded with success, success produces confidence, confidence relaxes industry, and negligence ruins the reputation which diligence had raised." (The Rambler No. 21,
Samuel Johnson)[2]
A version of the
foot in poetry in which the first two
syllables of a line are unstressed, followed by a stressed syllable; e.g. intercept (the syllables in and ter are unstressed and followed by cept, which is stressed).[22]
A textual comment in a book or other piece of writing. Annotations often take the form of a reader's comments handwritten in the margin, hence the term
marginalia, or of printed explanatory notes provided by an editor. See also adversaria.[2]
A figure of speech in which a speaker breaks off from addressing the audience (e.g., in a play) and directs speech to a third party such as an opposing litigant or some other individual, sometimes absent from the scene.
The omission of
conjunctions between successive
clauses. An example is when John F. Kennedy said on January 20, 1961, "...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."[26]
A distinguished poet, especially one serving in an official capacity whose task it was, in many cultures of Celtic origin, to celebrate national events, particularly heroic actions and military victories.[2]
Bathos refers to
rhetorical anticlimax—an abrupt transition from a lofty style or grand topic to a common or vulgar one—occurring either accidentally (through artistic ineptitude) or intentionally (for comic effect).[27][28]
An "animal tale" or "beast fable" generally consists of a short story or poem in which animals talk. It is a traditional form of
allegorical writing.[29]
A story that follows the psychological and moral maturation of the
protagonist or main character from childhood to adulthood. It is a type of
coming-of-age story.[30]
A versifying game originating in 17th-century France in which the idea was, given certain
rhymes, to compose lines for them and make up a
poem which sounded natural.[2]
A type of
character in a dramatic work whose defining features derive largely from characters in the writings of English
Romantic poet
Lord Byron as well as from Byron himself. It is a variant of the archetypal
Romantic hero.[32]
A break or pause in a line of poetry, dictated by the natural rhythm of the language and/or enforced by punctuation. A line may have more than one caesura, or none at all. If near the beginning of the line, it is called the initial caesura; near the middle, medial; near the end, terminal. An accented or masculine caesura follows an accented
syllable, an unaccented or feminine caesura an unaccented syllable. The caesura is used in two essentially contrary ways: to emphasize formality and to stylize; and to slacken the stiffness and tension of formal metrical patterns.[2]
A body of writings established as authentic. The term often refers to biblical writings which have been accepted as authorized, as opposed to the
Apocrypha.[2]
A portrait in literature (as in art) which ridicules a person by exaggerating and distorting their most prominent features and characteristics. Caricatures often evoke genial rather than derisive laughter.[2]
A type of
Old Frenchepic poem popular between the 11th and 14th centuries which relates the heroic deeds of Carolingian noblemen and other feudal lords. Such works exhibit a combination of history and legend, and also reflect a definite conception of religious
chivalry.[2]
A metrical and rhyming scheme dating to the Middle Ages and related to
ballade forms. It consists of five eleven-line
stanzas rhyming in the pattern ababccddedE, followed by an
envoi rhyming in the pattern ddedE. There is also a
refrain (as indicated by the capital letters) at the end of each stanza and including the last line of the envoi. Typically, no rhyme word may be used twice except in the envoi.[2]
A form of popular literature sold by pedlars or chapmen, mostly from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Chapbooks consisted of
ballads,
pamphlets,
tracts, nursery rhymes, and fairy stories, and were often illustrated with wood-blocks.[2]
A reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses; e.g. "His time a moment, and a point his space." (An Essay on Man, Epistle I,
Alexander Pope) The device is related to
antithesis.[2]
An element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being trite or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.[34]
A technique of literary analysis that relies upon detailed, balanced, and rigorous critical examination of a text in order to discover its meanings and to assess its effects.[2]
The close repetition of identical
consonant sounds before and after different
vowels, e.g. "slip, slop"; "creak, croak"; "black, block".[2] Compare assonance.
That point in a story or play at which tension reaches a maximum and a resolution is imminent. There may be several crises, each preceding a
climax.[2]
The most literal and limited meaning of a word, regardless of what one may feel about it or the suggestions and ideas it
connotes (which may be much more affecting than or very different from its literal meaning).[2]
The resolution or unravelling of the complications of the
plot in a play or story, often following the
climax in a final scene or chapter in which mysteries, confusions, and doubtful destinies are clarified.[35] See also catastrophe.
A
plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly resolved by an unexpected and seemingly unlikely occurrence, typically so much as to seem contrived.[36]
The words selected for use in any oral, written, or literary expression. Diction often centers on opening a great array of lexical possibilities with the connotation of words by maintaining first the denotation of words.[37]
A pair of metrical
feet considered as a single unit. Dipodic verse, commonly found in
ballads and
nursery rhymes, is characterized by the pairing together of feet in which one usually has a stronger
stress.[35]
A type of
tragedy in which the leading characters belong to the
middle class rather than to the royal or noble ranks usually represented in tragic drama, and in which the action largely concerns family affairs rather than public matters of state.[35]
A French word which signifies something "given" in the sense of an idea or notion implanted in the mind or imagination; i.e. the original idea or starting point from which a writer elaborates a complete creative work.[35] It may be a phrase, a conversation, the expression on a person's face, a tune, indeed almost any kind of experience which precipitates a series of thoughts and ideas in the writer's mind.[2]
Collectively, the characters represented in a play or other dramatic work. This phrase is the conventional heading for a list of characters printed in a theatrical programme or at the beginning of the text.[35]
Any poetic
meter based on a
foot of two
syllables (i.e. a duple foot), as opposed to
triple meter, in which the predominant foot has three syllables. Most English metrical
verse is in duple meter, either
iambic or
trochaic, and thus displays an alternation of
stressed syllables with single unstressed syllables. In the context of classical Greek and Latin poetry, however, the term often refers to verse composed of
dipodies.[35]
A character who, during the course of a narrative, grows or changes in some significant way. Dynamic characters are therefore not only complex and three-dimensional but also develop as the
plot develops. In the Bildungsroman, for example, the growth of the
protagonist is coincident with the course of the plot.[38]
A figurative device which involves the substitution of one grammatical form for another. It is commonly used in
metaphor; e.g. "to palm someone off" or "to have a good laugh".[2] Compare hypallage.
The placing of a concept under suspicion by marking the word for it as crossed or struck through (e.g. "philosophy"), in order to signal to readers that it is both unreliable and at the same time indispensable. The device of placing words sous rature ("under erasure") has been adopted in modern philosophy and literary criticism, notably in
deconstruction.[35]
A kind of
rhyme in which the spellings of paired words appear to match but without true correspondence in pronunciation; e.g. "dive/give", "said/maid", "bear/dear". Some were originally true rhymes but have become eye rhymes through changes in pronunciation; these are sometimes called historical rhymes.[35]
An interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television, and other media.[19]
A type of
poetry that does not conform to any regular
meter: both the length of its lines and its use of
rhyme (if at all) are irregular. In lieu of a regular metrical pattern, free verse uses more flexible
cadences or rhythmic groupings, sometimes supported by
anaphora and other devices of repetition. Free verse should not be confused with
blank verse, which does observe a regular meter in its unrhymed lines.[35]
An
annotation that explains or translates a difficult word or phrase, usually added to a text by a later copyist or editor (as in many modern editions of
Chaucer). When placed between the lines of a text, it is known as an interlinear gloss, but it may also appear in the margin, as a footnote, or in an appendix, and may form an extended commentary.[35]
The error or false step that leads a
hero or
protagonist in a
tragedy to his or her downfall, as discussed by
Aristotle in his Poetics. The protagonist's misfortune may be caused by some moral shortcoming or defect of character, or by his or her own misjudgment, ignorance, or
hubris.[35]
A
figure of speech, used for emphasis, in which a single idea is expressed by means of two substantives joined by the
conjunction "and" (e.g. by two nouns, as with "house and home" or "law and order"), rather than by a noun qualified by an adjective; the substitution of a conjunction for a subordination. Examples may also combine two adjectives ("nice and juicy") or two verbs ("come and get it"). A combination of three substantives is a
hendiatris.[2][35]
A
figure of speech, used for emphasis, in which a single idea is expressed by means of three substantives joined by the
conjunction "and" (e.g. "wine, women and song" or "sex, drugs and rock and roll"). A combination of two substantives is a
hendiadys.[2]
A
figure of speech that alters the
syntactic order of the words in a sentence or separates words that are ordinarily associated with each other. The term may also be used more generally for all different figures of speech that transpose the natural word order in sentences.[42][43]
A metrical unit (i.e. a
foot) of poetic
verse, having one
unstressedsyllable followed by one stressed syllable, as in the word "beyond" (or, in Greek or Latin
quantitative verse, one short syllable followed by one long syllable). Lines of poetry made up predominantly of iambs are referred to as iambics or as iambic verse, which is by far the most commonly used metrical verse in English. Its most important form is the 10-syllable
iambic pentameter, either
rhymed (as in
heroic couplets and
sonnets) or unrhymed (in
blank verse).[35]
A word that is tacked onto a sentence in order to add strong emotion and which is grammatically unrelated to the rest of the sentence. Interjections are usually followed by an exclamation point.[11]
A view of literature and criticism propagated by the
Chicago School –
Ronald S. Crane,
Elder Olson,
Richard McKeon,
Wayne Booth, and others – that means "A view of literature and criticism that takes a pluralistic attitude toward the history of literature and seeks to view literary works and critical theories intrinsically."
The creation of new words, often arising from
acronyms, word combinations, direct translations, or the addition of
prefixes or
suffixes to existing words.[9]
A
genre of
fiction that relies on
narrative and possesses a considerable length, an expected complexity, and a sequential organization of action into story and plot distinctively. Novels are flexible in form (although
prose is the standard), generally focus around one or more characters, and are continuously reshaped and reformed by a speaker.[3]
A verse form in which each
stanza has eight
iambic pentameter lines following the rhyme scheme ABABABCC. An ottava rima was often used for long narratives, especially
epics and
mock-heroic poems.[3]
A sequence of two or more words forming a unit. In the poem “
Kubla Khan” by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the words “pleasure-dome” are a phrase read not only in this poem, but also in
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein when she uses also uses the phrase.[15]
A verb tense that describes actions just finished or continuing from the past into the present. This can also imply that past actions have present effects.[11]
An interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television, and other media.[19]
A measured pattern of words and phrases arranged by sound, time, or events. These patterns are [created] in verse or prose by use of stressed and unstressed syllables.[3][37]
A subdivision of an
act in a
play, an opera, or any other form of theatrical entertainment,[2] distinguished from preceding and following scenes by a curtain, the dimming of stage lights, and/or a brief emptying of the stage;[35] or more generally, a particular part of a story depicting actions happening in one place at one time and between specific characters, often defined by its continuity.
A 14-line poem written in
iambic pentameter. There are two types of sonnets: Shakespearean and Italian. The Shakespearean sonnet is written with three
quatrain and a
couplet in ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG rhythmic pattern. An Italian sonnet is written in two
stanzas with an
octave followed by a
septet in ABBA, ABBA, CDECDE or CDCDCD rhythmic pattern.[11]
A group of lines in a
poem offset by a space and then continuing with the next group of lines, with each group consisting of a set pattern or number of lines.[11]
Having lines of the same meter and length throughout, but not organized into regular
stanzas. An example is the form of
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Frost at Midnight".[3]
A
figure of speech involving the expression of an entire idea by something smaller, such as a phrase or a single word, such that a term for one part of something is used to refer to the whole, or vice versa.[11]
A
rhetorical device that describes or associates one sense (i.e., touch, taste, see, hear, smell) in terms of another, typically in the form of a
simile.[53]
A poem or other form of writing in which the last letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message.[57]
A turn or switch that emphasizes a change in ideas or emotions, often marked by the words “but” or “yet”. In a
sonnet, this change separates the
octave from the
sestet.[2]
^
abcJack Lynch.
"Guide to Grammar and Style". Archived from
the original on July 7, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2013.. Online edition of the book The English Language: A User's Guide by Jack Lynch.
^Keller, Stefan Daniel. The Development of Shakespeare's Rhetoric: A Study of Nine Plays. Volume 136 of Schweizer anglistische Arbeiten. Narr Francke Attempto, 2009.
ISBN9783772083242. p54
^Chambers, Frank M. An Introduction to Old Provenc̦al Versification:
Volume 167 of Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society. American Philosophical Society, 1985.
ISBN9780871691675 p32ff.
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