Glossary of Literary Terms
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Allegory
A literary work in which nearly all of the characters, events, settings, and other literal elements of the story
have a second, symbolic meaning. In most cases, allegories advance a very clear moral lesson.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegory in which the barnyard animals who overthrow the farmer and take
over the farm represent the Russian Revolution and its aftermath.
Alliteration
The repetition of an initial consonant sound in words that are close together, such as within a single
sentence or line of poetry.
The third stanza of Emily Dickinson’s “A narrow Fellow in the Grass” uses alliteration in both the second and
third lines:
He likes a Boggy Acre A Floor too cool for Corn But when a Boy and Barefoot
I more than once at Noon
Allusion
An indirect reference to something outside the text, usually a person, place, thing, or idea that is generally
familiar to the intended audience. Allusions often refer to historical events or people, other works of
literature, mythology, or popular culture.
The following lines from Romeo and Juliet contain an allusion to Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn.
But all so soon as the all-cheering sun
Should in the farthest east begin to draw
The shady curtain from Aurora’s bed . . . (1.1.124–126)
Anachronism
An historically inaccurate detail in a literary work, included by the author either unintentionally or
deliberately.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the characters refer to a clock striking three. This is an anachronism because
clocks had not been invented at the time Julius Caesar lived.
Anagram
A word or phrase that can be spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.
You may know the fiction writer Ashwin Sanghi by his pen name, Shawn Haigins, which is an anagram of his
real name.
Analogy
A comparison that explains how two dissimilar things are similar in some ways, usually with the purpose of
explaining complex ideas or making a persuasive argument.
The philosopher William Paley (1743–1805) used a famous analogy to argue for the existence of God. Paley
compared the universe to a watch made up of many small parts all working together for a clear purpose. Like
the watch, Paley argued, the universe must have been created by an intelligent designer because it was too
complex to have come into existence by chance.
Anaphora
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of sentences or clauses, usually creating a
rhythmic e!ect.
Martin Luther King, Jr. used anaphora frequently in his “I Have a Dream” speech:
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed . . .
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former
slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood . . .
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi . . . will be transformed into an oasis of
freedom and justice.”
Antagonist
A character or force in a story that opposes, or works against, the goals of the protagonist (main character).
In Shakespeare’s Othello, the villainous Iago serves as the antagonist, abusing Othello’s trust in order to
sabotage his happy marriage.
Antihero/Antiheroine
A protagonist (main character of a story) who lacks heroic qualities such as integrity, courage, and morality.
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, protagonist Holden Caulfield serves as an antihero, narrating his
misguided and unsuccessful attempts to make meaningful personal connections in a society he largely
despises.
Antithesis
A rhetorical technique that uses parallel grammatical structure to contrast two opposing ideas.
Many ancient proverbs use antithesis to promote one idea over another. Notice how the parallel sentence
structure in the following proverb sets up a clear contrast between two ideas, leaving no doubt about which is
better:
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Aphorism
A brief, memorable statement that captures a broad, universal truth or idea.
Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack contains many well-known aphorisms. Two of the most famous
are:
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
“God helps them that help themselves.”
Apostrophe
A rhetorical device in which a speaker addresses either an inanimate object or a person who is absent or
dead.
In the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet uses apostrophe when she asks, “O Romeo, Romeo!
Wherefore art though Romeo?” (2.2.33). Although Romeo is hiding below in the garden, Juliet does not know
that anyone is listening. Later in the play, Juliet uses apostrophe again when she speaks to Romeo’s dagger:
“O happy dagger, / This is thy sheathe!” (5.3.183–184).
Archetype
A literary element that is common in stories from many di!erent cultures and times and has similar,
universally recognizable attributes. Archetypes include common character types (e.g., heroes, villains,
tricksters), symbols (fire, water, light, darkness), themes, plotlines, or other elements.
The hero archetype appears in stories from nearly every culture in human history. Archetypal heroes face
certain universal challenges, such as unusual circumstances of birth, a traumatic event that initiates a
dangerous quest, and a great trial that tests the hero’s character and results in a sort of rebirth.
Assonance
Repetition of similar vowel sounds within words and phrases, commonly used for a lyrical e!ect in poetry
and other literary forms.
Emily Dickinson frequently used assonance in her poetry, as in the opening lines of her poem “Because I could
not stop for Death”:
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
Blank Verse
Poetry or prose that does not rhyme but has a consistent meter, usually iambic pentameter.
In Shakespeare’s plays, high-born characters usually speak in blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Each line consists of ten syllables, which alternate between unstressed and stressed (in bold).
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. (Romeo and Juliet, 2.1.2–6)
Caesura
A pause in the middle of a line of poetry or verse, sometimes marked by punctuation.
Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias” contains caesuras, marked with two vertical bars below.
Who said—”Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . || Near them, || on the sand . . .
My name is Ozymandias, || King of Kings; ||
Look on my Works, || ye Mighty, || and despair!
Nothing beside remains. || Round the decay . . .
Characterization
Any of the various techniques used by an author to reveal the traits of a character to the reader.
Although Satan is the antagonist in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, many readers feel that Milton’s
characterization of Satan portrays him in a heroic light.
Chiasmus
A figure of speech in which one phrase is followed by another that inverts its grammatical construction.
The following saying from Socrates employs chiasmus; the second clause is an inversion of the first:
“Bad men live that they may eat and drink; whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.”
Cinquain
In poetry, a five-line stanza or one of several established types of five-line poems.
Historically, many English poets structured their poems in cinquains, or five-line stanzas. Over time, poets
developed several types of poems that have a single cinquain. A limerick, for example, is a humorous cinquain
that follows a particular rhyme scheme and meter.
Climax
The point of highest tension in a story, in which the main conflict is faced and ultimately resolved.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the climax occurs after Ralph and Piggy demand that Jack return
Piggy’s stolen glasses. When Jack’s tribe kills Piggy and forces Ralph to flee into the jungle, it becomes clear
that Jack has triumphed over Ralph in their struggle for supremacy on the island.
Conflict
The central struggle that drives the plot of a story or, more generally, any struggle between opposing
forces in a story. Literary scholars often classify conflicts as internal, in which a character struggles with
some internal dilemma, or external, in which a character struggles against outside forces like nature, other
characters, or supernatural forces.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the main conflict pits the protagonist, Ralph, against the antagonist,
Jack. Throughout the story, the two boys compete to become the dominant leader of the boys stranded on the
island, with Ralph embodying the rules and order of civilization and Jack the opposing tendency toward terror
and violence.
Consonance
The repetition of one or more consonant sounds in words that are close together, such as within a single
sentence or line of poetry; may include both initial consonant sounds (alliteration) or sounds within words.
The following famous tongue-twister comes precariously close to using consonance in every word.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Couplet
In poetry or verse, a pair of consecutive lines of poetry that form a complete thought, usually rhyming and
having the same meter and sometimes placed in their own stanza.
A Shakespearian sonnet is a fourteen-line poem consisting of three quatrains (four-line stanzas) followed by a
rhyming couplet that often concludes the poem with an unexpected twist. For example, the couplet below
concludes a sonnet in which the speaker mostly laments the fact that age will someday degrade his lover’s
beauty. “This” in the first line refers to having a child through whom one’s own lost beauty can live on.
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel’st it cold.
(from Sonnet 2: “When Forty Winters Shall Besiege Thy Brow,” by William Shakespeare)
Diction
The word choice of a writer or speaker; style of writing or speaking, as related to word choice.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain uses informal, colloquial diction to develop the
character of his narrator, a poor, uneducated boy from Missouri. Huck’s use of regional slang and incorrect
grammar becomes an important part of his character, as is clear even from the novel’s opening lines:
You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly.
There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody
but lied one time or another. . . (Chapter 1)
Double Entendre
A figure of speech with two possible interpretations, one of which is usually ironic or lewd.
In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio uses a double entendre to tell the Nurse that it is noon:
“’Tis no less, I tell you, for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.” (Romeo and Juliet
2.4.56)
The line literally means that the hand of the clock is pointing toward the prick (mark) of noon, but it can also
be read as a reference to one’s hand being placed on a prick (penis).
Dramatic Irony
A literary device in which one or more characters in a story remain unaware of plot developments that
have already been revealed to the audience, giving rise to humor, suspense, or double meanings.
Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to create tension and humor throughout Othello. Iago, the play’s villain,
frequently reveals his diabolical schemes to the audience in monologues and asides, out of the hearing of
Othello and his other unwitting victims, who for some reason seem to trust him absolutely.
Elegy
A poem or song of lamentation written in honor of a deceased person.
The poem “In Memoriam A.H.H.” is an elegy written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in honor of his late friend Arthur
Henry Hallam.
Ellipsis
In literature, a device used to omit details from a narrative, usually for the purpose of allowing readers to
draw their own conclusions about what is missing. Sometimes ellipsis is denoted by three dots (. . .) at the
beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence, but in other cases ellipsis simply refers to the
intentional omission of details from a story.
American novelist Ernest Hemingway made frequent use of ellipsis in his stories. He subscribed to what he
called the Iceberg Theory, the notion that a writer should present only the most essential details in a story,
leaving the reader to deduce the unspoken details lurking beneath the surface.
Enjambment
In poetry or verse, the technique of breaking a line of verse in the middle of a phrase so that the phrase
continues on the next line without a natural pause between lines.
Wallace Stevens uses enjambment three times in this stanza from his poem “The Emperor of Ice-Cream,” as
shown by the underlined sections. The other lines in the stanza end with either a comma or a period, indicating
a pause or a stop.
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Epigram
A brief, witty, satirical statement that is generally memorable on account of being paradoxical, humorous,
or poetic.
Irish writer Oscar Wilde coined numerous epigrams, like this one from The Picture of Dorian Gray:
“. . . for there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked
about.”
Epilogue
A concluding section or speech at the end of a literary work, often used to provide closure.
Shakespeare’s plays often conclude with an epilogue in which one of the characters delivers a speech that
neatly sums up the outcome of the play’s events. For example, at the conclusion of The Tempest, Prospero,
the vengeful protagonist, delivers a speech in which he directly addresses the audience, asking them to
pardon him for his faults and “release” him from the stage with their applause.
Epithet
A descriptive phrase that accompanies or replaces the name of a character or thing.
Homer frequently uses epithets to refer to characters in The Iliad and The Odyssey, such as “swift-footed
Achilles” and “the man of twists and turns.”
Euphemism
A figure of speech that softens an unpleasant or o!ensive idea by substituting a polite phrase instead.
In Neal Shusterman’s sci-fi novel Arc of a Scythe, people called scythes are professionally trained in the art of
“gleaning,” a euphemism for selectively killing other people to keep human population growth in check.
Exposition
The introduction of background information necessary for the reader or audience to make sense of a story.
In most cases, the exposition occurs near the beginning of a story, revealing basic details about the setting
and characters who will drive the action.
Falling Action
The part of a story’s plot that immediately follows the climax (when the main conflict is resolved) and
moves the story toward its resolution.
The falling action of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart occurs after the climax, when Okonkwo realizes that
his killing of the District Commissioner’s messenger has failed to inspire his fellow tribesmen to unite against
the white colonizers. Utterly defeated, Okonkwo hangs himself, bringing his tragic story to a close.
Foot
In poetry, the basic unit of meter consisting of some combination of two or more stressed and unstressed
syllables. Di!erent types of poetic feet include the iamb (unstressed, stressed), trochee (stressed,
unstressed), dactyl (stressed, unstressed, unstressed), anapest (unstressed, unstressed, stressed), spondee
(stressed, stressed), and pyrrhic (unstressed, unstressed).
Each of the lines below contains five feet, each of which can be classified as an iamb because it consists of an
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
How do / I love / thee? Let / me count / the ways.
I love / thee to / the depth / and breadth / and height
My soul / can reach, / when feel/ -ing out / of sight.
(from “Sonnet 43” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
Foil
A character whose traits contrast with those of the protagonist or another main character,
thereby highlighting some aspect of that character.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the noble, loyal Banquo acts as a foil to Macbeth, the treacherous, treasonous
protagonist.
Foreshadowing
A detail in a literary work that hints at events that will occur later, often to create suspense or expectation.
From the very beginning of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses foreshadowing to hint at Gatsby’s tragic
downfall:
“No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the
wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded
elations of men.” (from Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby)
Free Verse
A form of poetry that does not follow a specific meter, rhythm, or rhyme scheme.
American poet Walt Whitman wrote most of his works in free verse. The form mirrors the poet's content, which
often celebrates the concept of freedom, as in these opening lines from "Song of the Open Road":
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Haiku
A form of poetry consisting of three lines that follow a syllable pattern of 5-7-5 and usually focus on the
natural world.
Although the haiku form originated in Japan, poets write haikus in many di"erent languages, including
English. A haiku translated into English from a di"erent language may not exactly follow the 5-7-5 syllable
pattern. Consider this haiku, translated by Harry Behn, from Matsuo Basho, a Japanese haiku master from the
17th century:
An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
Hero/Heroine
The main character (protagonist) of a literary work, especially one who exhibits admirable traits such as
courage and righteousness; in mythology, heroes/heroines also typically possess supernatural powers or
other qualities.
Elizabeth Bennet is the heroine of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. Harry is the hero of J.K.
Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
Hyperbole
An extreme exaggeration used to make a point, often humorously.
In The Catcher in the Rye, narrator Holden Caulfield often uses hyperbole to exaggerate his circumstances.
"At Pencey, you either froze to death or died of the heat." (Chapter 3)
Iambic Pentameter
A commonly used meter in English verse in which each line consists of ten syllables arranged in five iambs
(an iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable).
The lines below from Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” are written in iambic pentameter, as are all of his sonnets.
The stressed syllables are in boldface.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date . . . (lines 1–4)
Idiom
A commonly used figure of speech with a meaning that di!ers from its literal meaning. Many idioms are
specific to one language or region.
Idioms are often di#cult to translate into other languages because their literal meaning makes very little
sense. For example, take the idiom “The world is your oyster,” which roughly means, “You can accomplish
anything you want to.” This idiom traces its roots back to one of Shakespeare’s comedies, in which a character
colorfully explains that he can get his way by using his sword.
Why, then the world's mine oyster,
Which I with sword will open. (Merry Wives of Windsor, II.ii.2-3)
Imagery
Descriptive or figurative language that attempts to evoke mental images by appealing to the reader’s
senses of sight, sound, smell, texture, or taste.
In these lines from Robert Frost’s poem "Birches," the speaker uses vivid imagery to help the reader imagine
the sights, sounds, and feelings they might experience while surveying frozen birch trees after an ice storm.
Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Juxtaposition
The placement of two very di!erent ideas, characters, or actions close together in relation to each other,
usually to draw attention to their contrasting traits.
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses juxtaposition to contrast Elizabeth Bennet with the more proper and
pretentious women in the novel. In Chapter 7, Elizabeth walks three miles in bad weather to visit her sick sister,
“jumping over stiles and springing over puddles with impatient activity. . .” When Elizabeth arrives soaked and
muddy at Netherfield Park, she is met by Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst, two proper ladies who find the idea of a
lady walking alone in such bad weather "incredible" and improper.
Limerick
A type of poem, often humorous, made up of three long lines and two short lines that follow an aabba
rhyme scheme.
Poet Edward Lear is famous for his humorous limericks such as "There was an Old Man with a Beard."
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared!—
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!"
Litotes
A figure of speech consisting of an ironic understatement in which a positive statement is made by
negating the opposite.
Jonathan Swift uses litotes in the following line from his satirical essay “A Modest Proposal”:
I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least
objection.
When Swift says he hopes no one will object to his ideas, he really means that he hopes everyone agrees with
him.
Malapropism
A misuse or mispronunciation of a word or phrase, often in the form of a word being replaced with a
similar-sounding word; may be unintentional or intentional (usually for comic e!ect).
The word malapropism comes from Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 play The
Rivals. Mrs. Malaprop often speaks in malapropisms, using phrases like "pineapple of politeness" in place of
"pinnacle of politeness" and talking about scientific experiments done in the "lavatory" (instead of laboratory).
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