Abstract
An abstract style is typically complex, discusses intangible qualities like good and evil, and seldom uses examples to support its
points.
Academic
As an adjective describing style, this word means dry and theoretical writing. When a piece of writing seems to be sucking all the
life out of its subject with analysis, the writing is academic.
Accent
In poetry, accent refers to the stressed portion of the word. In “To be or not to be,” accents fall on the first “be” and “not.” It sounds
silly any other way. But accent in poetry is often a matter of opinion. Consider the rest of the first line of Hamlet’s famous
soliloquy, “That is the question.” The stresses in that portion of the line are open to a variety of interpretations.
Aesthetic
Aesthetic can be used as an adjective meaning “appealing to the senses.” Aesthetic judgment is a phrase synonymous with artistic
judgment. As a noun, aesthetic is a coherent sense of taste. The plural noun,, aesthetics, is the study of beauty. Questions like
what is beauty? and is the beautiful always good? fall into the category of aesthetics.
Allegory
A story illustrating an idea or a moral principle in which objects take on symbolic meanings. In Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy,"
Dante, symbolizing mankind, is taken by Virgil the poet on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise in order to teach him
the nature of sin and its punishments, and the way to salvation.
Alliteration
Used for poetic effect, a repetition of the initial sounds of several words in a group. The following line from Robert Frost's poem
"Acquainted with the Night," provides us with an example of alliteration,": I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet." The
repetition of the s sound creates a sense of quiet, reinforcing the meaning of the line.
Allusion
A reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work. T. S. Eliot, in "The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock" alludes (refers) to the biblical figure John the Baptist in the line Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald)
brought in upon a platter, . . . In the New Testament, John the Baptist's head was presented to King Herod on a platter.
Anachronism
The word anachronism is derived from Greek and means “misplaced in time.” If the actor playing Brutus in a production of Julius
Caesar forgets to take off his wristwatch, the effect will be anachronistic, and probably comic.
Analogy
A comparison based on certain resemblances between things that are otherwise unlike.
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short narrative.
Anthropomorphism
In literature, when inanimate objects are given human characteristics, anthropomorphism is at work. Anthropomorphism is often
confused with personification. But personification requires that the non-human quality of thing take on human shape.
Anticlimax
An anticlimax occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect. Anticlimax is frequently comic.
Sir, your snide manner and despicable arrogance have long been a source of disgust to me, but I have overlooked it until now.
However, it has come to my attention that you have fallen so disgracefully deep into that mire of filth which is your mind as to
attempt to besmirch my wife’s honor and my good name. Sir, I challenge you to a game of badminton!
Ambiguity
A statement which can contain two or more meanings. For example, when the oracle at Delphi told Croesus that if he waged war on
Cyrus he would destroy a great empire, Croesus thought the oracle meant his enemy's empire. In fact, the empire Croesus destroyed
by going to war was his own.
Analogue
A comparison between two similar things. In literature, a work which resembles another work either fully or in part. If a work
resembles another because it is derived from the other, the original work is called the source, not an analogue of the later work.
Anapest
In a line of poetry, two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable forming the pattern for the line or perhaps for the
entire poem. The example below is by Robert Frost. See Meter for more information.
Anecdote
A very short tale told by a character in a literary work. In Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," "The Miller's Tale" and "The Carpenter's
Tale" are examples.
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Antagonist
A person or force which opposes the protagonist in a literary work. In Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster," Mr.
Scratch is Daniel Webster's antagonist at the trial of Jabez Stone. The cold, in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" is the antagonist
which defeats the man on the trail. See Protagonist for more information.
Aphorism
A brief statement which expresses an observation on life, usually intended as a wise observation. Benjamin Franklin's "Poor
Richard's Almanac" contains numerous examples, one of which is Drive thy business; let it not drive thee. which means that one
should not allow the demands of business to take control of one's moral or worldly commitments.
Apostrophe
A figure of speech wherein the speaker speaks directly to something nonhuman. In these lines from John Donne's poem "The Sun
Rising" the poet scolds the sun for interrupting his nighttime activities:
Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through
windows, and through curtains call on us?
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. In William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," the Chamberlain, Polonius, confronts Hamlet. In a dialogue concerning Polonius'
daughter, Ophelia, Polonius speaks this aside:
How say you by that? Still harping on my daughter.
Yet he knew me not at first; 'a said I was a fishmonger.
'A is far gone. And truly in my youth I suffered much extremity for love,
very near this. I'll speak to him again.
Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds in a literary work, especially in a poem. Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells" contains numerous examples.
Consider these from stanza 2:
Hear the mellow wedding bellsand
From the molten-golden notes,
The repetition of the short e and long o sounds denotes a heavier, more serious bell than the bell encountered in the first stanza
where the assonance included the i sound in examples such as tinkle, sprinkle, and twinkle.
Atmosphere
The emotional one or background that surrounds a scene.
Autobiography
The story of a person's life written by himself or herself. William Colin Powell's "My American Journey" is an example. Ernest
Hemingway's Nick Adams stories, of which "Big Two-Hearted River" is a sample, are considered autobiographical.
Ballad
A story in poetic form, often about tragic love and usually sung. Ballads were passed down from generation to generation by singers.
Two old Scottish ballads are "Sir Patrick Spens" and "Bonnie Barbara Allan." Coleridges, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a
19th century English ballad.
Biography
The story of a person's life written by someone other than the subject of the work. Katherine Drinker Bowen's "Yankee from
Olympus" which details the life and work of the great jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. is an example. A biographical work is
supposed to be rigorously factual. However, since the biographer may by biased for or against the subject of the biography, critics,
and sometimes the subject of the biography himself or herself, may come forward to challenge the trustworthiness of the material.
Black humor
The use of disturbing themes in comedy.
Bombast
This is pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language. When one tries to be eloquent by using the largest, most uncommon words,
one falls into bombast.
Burlesque
A burlesque is a broad parody, one that takes a style or a form, such as tragic drama, and exaggerates it into ridiculousness. A
parody usually takes on a specific work, such as Hamlet.
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Blank Verse
A poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Consider the following from "The Ball Poem" by John Berryman:
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw
it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over-there it is in
the water!
See Iamb and Foot and Meter for more information.
Cacophony / Euphony
Cacophony is an unpleasant combination of sounds. Euphony, the opposite, is a pleasant combination of sounds. These sound effects
can be used intentionally to create an effect, or they may appear unintentionally. The cacophony in Matthew Arnold's lines "And
thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know,/Self-school'd, self-scann'd, self-honor'd, self-secure,/Didst tread on earth unguess'd
at," is probably unintentional.
Cadence
The beat or rhythm of poetry in a general sense. For example, iambic pentameter is the technical name for a rhythm. One sample
of predominantly iambic pentameter verse could have a gentle, pulsing cadence, whereas another might have a conversational
cadence, and still another might have a vigorous, marching cadence.
Caesura
A pause within a line of poetry which may or may not affect the metrical count (see #62. meter). In scansion, a caesura is usually
indicated by the following symbol (//). Here's an example by Alexander Pope:
Know then thyself,//presume not God to scan;
The proper study of Mankind//is Man
Canto
A subdivision of an epic poem. Each of the three books of Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" is divided into cantos. For example, in
each of the cantos of "The Inferno," Dante meets the souls of people who were once alive and who have been condemned to
punishment for sin.
Carpe Diem
A Latin phrase which translated means "Sieze (Catch) the day," meaning "Make the most of today." The phrase originated as the
title of a poem by the Roman Horace (65 B.C.E.-8B.C.E.) and caught on as a theme with such English poets as Robert Herrick and
Andrew Marvell. Consider these lines from Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time":
Gather ye rose-buds
while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles
today,
To-morrow will be dying.
Catastrophe
The scene in a tragedy which includes the death or moral destruction of the protagonist. In the catastrophe at the end of Sophocles'
"Oedipus the King," Oedipus, discovering the tragic truth about his origin and his deeds, plucks out his eyes and is condemned to
spend the rest of his days a wandering beggar. The catastrophe in Shakespearean tragedy occurs in Act 5 of each drama, and
always includes the death of the protagonist. Consider the fates of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello.
Catharsis
This is a term from Aristotle’s writings o tragedy. Catharsis refers to the cleansing of emotion an audience member experiences,
having lived (vicariously) through the experiences presented on stage.
Chorus
In Greek drama, this is the group of citizens who stand outside he main action on stage and comment on it.
Classic
What a troublesome word! Classic and classical have a number of different uses. Classic can mean typical, as in, oh, that was a
classic blunder. It can also mean an accepted masterpiece, for example, Death of a Salesman. Finally, classic can also refer to the
arts of ancient Greece and Rome, and the qualities of those arts.
Coinage (neologism)
A coinage is a new word, usually one invented on the spot. People’s names often become grist for coinages, as in, Oh, man, you just
pulled a major Wilson. Of course, you’d have to know Wilson to know what that means, but you can tell it isn’t a good thing. The
technical term for coinage is neologism.
Character
A person, or any thing presented as a person, e. g., a spirit, object, animal, or natural force, in a literary work. In a cartoon scene,
firemen may be putting out a fire which a coyote has deliberately started, while a hydrant observes the scene fearfully. The firemen,
the coyote and the hydrant would all be considered characters in the story. If a billowy figure complete with eyes, nose, and mouth
representing the wind thwarts the efforts of the firemen, the wind, too, qualifies as a character. Animals who figure importantly in
movies of live drama are considered characters. Mr. Ed, Lassie, and Tarzan's monkey Cheetah are examples.
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Characterization
The method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work: Methods may include (1) by what the character
says about himself or herself; (2) by what others reveal about the character; and (3) by the character's own actions.
Caricature
A picture or an imitation of a person’s features or mannerisms exaggerated to appear comic or absurd.
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.
Climax
The decisive moment in a drama, the climax is the turning point of the play to which the rising action leads. This is the crucial part
of the drama, the part which determines the outcome of the conflict. In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" the climax occurs at the end
of Marc Antony's speech to the Roman public. In the climax to the film "Star Wars," the empire's death star is ready to destroy the
rebel base. Luke Skywalker and rebel pilots attack the base, and after the deaths of some rebel pilots, Skywalker successfully fires
his missile into the death star's vulnerable spot and destroys the death star, saving the rebel forces. See Plot for more information.
Comedy
A literary work which is amusing and ends happily. Modern comedies tend to be funny, while Shakespearean comedies simply end
well. Shakespearean comedy also contains items such as misunderstandings and mistaken identity to heighten the comic effect.
Comedies may contain lovers, those who interfere with lovers, and entertaining scoundrels. In modern Situation Comedies,
characters are thrown into absurd situations and are forced to deal with those situations, all the while reciting clever lines for the
amusement of a live or television or movie audience.
Conceit
A far-fetched simile or metaphor, a literary conceit occurs when the speaker compares two highly dissimilar things. In the following
example from Act V of Shakespeare's "Richard II," the imprisoned King Richard compares his cell to the world in the following line:
I have been studying how I may compare
this prison where I live unto the world:
Conclusion
Also called the Resolution" the conclusion is the point in a drama to which the entire play has been leading. It is the logical outcome
of everything that has come before it. The conclusion stems from the nature of the characters. Therefore, the decision of Dr.
Stockmann to remain in the town at the conclusion of "An Enemy of the People" is consistent with his conviction that he is right and
has been right all along.
...I'll be hanged if we are going away! We are going to stay where we are, Katherine . . . This is the field of battle ...this is where the
fight will be. This is where I shall triumph! See Plot for more information.
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.
Conflict
In the plot of a drama, conflict occurs when the protagonist is opposed by some person or force in the play. In Henry Ibsen's drama
"An Enemy of the People" Dr. Thomas Stockmann's life is complicated by his finding that the public baths, a major source of income
for the community, are polluted. In trying to close the baths, the doctor comes into conflict with those who profit from them,
significantly, his own brother, the mayor of the town. Another example occurs in the film "Star Wars." Having learned that
Princess Lea is being held prisoner by the evil Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker sets out to rescue her. In doing so, he becomes
involved in the conflict between the empire and the rebels which Lea spoke of in her holograph message in the drama's exposition.
Since Luke is the protagonist of "Star Wars," the conflict in the drama crystallizes to that between Luke and Darth Vader. There
are five basic types of conflict:
Person vs. Person: One character in a story has a problem with one or more of the other characters.
Person vs. Society: A character has a problem with some element of society: the school, the law, the accepted way of doing things….
Person vs. Self: A character has a problem deciding what to do in a certain situation, due to some inner dispute or irresolution.
Person vs. Nature: A character has a problem with some natural happening: a snowstorm, an avalanche, the bitter cold, etc.
Person vs. Fate (God): A character must battle with what seems to be an uncontrollable problem. Whenever the conflict is a strange
or unbelievable coincidence, it can be attributed to fate.
See Antagonist, Exposition, and Plot for more information.
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Connotation and Denotation
The denotation of a word is its dictionary definition. The word wall, therefore, denotes an upright structure which encloses
something or serves as a boundary. The connotation of a word is its emotional content. In this sense, the word wall can also mean
an attitude or actions which prevent becoming emotionally close to a person. In Robert Frosts "Mending Wall," two neighbors walk a
property line each on his own side of a wall of loose stones. As they walk, they pick up and replace stones that have fallen. Frost
thinks it's unnecessary to replace the stones since thay have no cows to damage each other's property. The neighbor only says "Good
fences make good neighbors." The wall, in this case, is both a boundary (denotation) and a barrier that prevents Frost and his
neighbor from getting to know each other, a force prohibiting involvement (connotation).
Consonance
The repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry. Consider the
following example from Theodore Roethke's "Night Journey:"
We rush into a rain
That rattles double
glass.
The repetition of the r sound in rush, rain, and rattles, occurring so close to each other in these two lines, would be considered
consonance. Since a poem is generally much shorter than a short story or novel, the poet must be economical in his/her use of words
and devices. Nothing can be wasted; nothing in a well-crafted poem is there by accident. Therefore, since devices such as consonance
and alliteration, rhyme and meter have been used by the poet for effect, the reader must stop and consider what effect the inclusion
of these devices has on the poem.
Context
The set of facts or circumstances surrounding an event or situation in a piece of literature.
Convention
An established technique or device in literature or in drama. Deus ex machina (see below) is a common convention in Greek and
Roman drama.
Couplet
A stanza of two lines, usually rhyming. The following by Andrew Marvell is an example of a rhymed couplet:
Had we but world enough and time,
This coyness, lady,
were no crime.
See Stanza for more information.
Dactyl
In poetry, a metrical pattern consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables as in the following example
from "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson:
Note that the metrical pattern in the fourth foot consists of one stressed and one unstressed syllable, rather than the one stressed
and two unstressed syllables necessary to qualify the foot as dactylic. A metrical pattern need not be consistent throughout a line or
poem for the work to be labeled as composed in an identifiable meter. However, if enough of the work is written in an identifiable
metrical pattern for the reader to get a sense of a dominant pattern, then the reader is justified in labeling the pattern.
See Meter for more information.
Decorum
In order to observe decorum, a character’s speech must be styled according to his or her social status, and in accordance with the
ocaasion. A bum should speak like a bum about bumly things, while a princess should speak only about higher things, and in a
more delicate manner.
Denouement
The final outcome of a play or story.
Deus ex machina
A person or thing (perhaps a god or angel) that suddenly appears, providing a solution to a difficult problem. In classic drama, the
person or thing is lowered to the stage by means of a crane.
Dialogue
In drama, a conversation between characters. One interesting type of dialogue, stichomythia, occurs when the dialogue takes the
form of a verbal duel between characters, as in the following between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude. (William Shakespeare's
"Hamlet" - Act 3, scene 4):
QUEEN: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN: Come, Come, you answer with an idle tongue.
HAMLET: Go, Go, You question with a wicked tongue.
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Diction
An author's choice of words. Since words have specific meanings, and since one's choice of words can affect feelings, a writer's choice
of words can have great impact in a literary work. The writer, therefore, must choose his words carefully. Discussing his novel "A
Farewell to Arms" during an interview, Ernest Hemingway stated that he had to rewrite the ending thirty-nine times. When asked
what the most difficult thing about finishing the novel was, Hemingway answered, "Getting the words right." Types of diction
include:
Archaic words are words that are old-fashioned and no longer sound natural when used, as “I believe thee not.”
Colloquialism is an expression that is usually accepted in informal situations and certain locations, as in “You’ve blown it!”
Jargon (technical diction) is specialized language used by a specific group, as with computers: interface, upload, boot up.
Profanity is language that shows disrespect for something or someone regarded as holy or sacred.
Slang is language used by a particular group of people among themselves to add color and feeling: chill out, gnarly, veg out.
Trite expressions lack depth or originality, or are overworked and not worth mentioning in the first place.
Vulgarity is language that is generally considered common, rude, gross, and, at times, offensive.
Didactic Literature
Literature designed explicitly to instruct as in these lines from Jacque Prevert's "To Paint the Portrait of a Bird."
Paint first a cage
with an open door
paint
then
something pretty
something simple
something handsome
something useful
for
the bird
Dirge
This is a song for the dead, usually with a slow, heavy, depressed and melancholy tone.
Dissonance The grating of incompatible sounds.
Doggerel
Crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme. Limericks are a kind of doggerel.
Dramatic Monologue
In literature, the occurrence of a single speaker saying something to a silent audience. Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" is an
example wherein the duke, speaking to a non-responding representative of the family of a prospective new duchess, reveals not only
the reasons for his disapproval of the behavior of his former duchess, but aspects of his own personality as well.
Elegy
A lyric poem lamenting death. These lines from Joachim Du Bellay's "Elegy on His Cat" are an example:
I have not lost my rings, my purse,
My gold, my
gems-my loss is worse,
One that the stoutest heart must move.
My pet, my joy, my
little love,
My tiny kitten, my Belaud,
I lost, alas, three days ago.
Epic
In literature generally, a major work dealing with an important theme. "Gone with the Wind," a film set in the antebellum (preCivil War) and Civil War South, is considered an epic motion picture. In poetry, a long work dealing with the actions of gods and
heroes. John Milton's "Paradise Lost" is a book length epic poem consisting of twelve subdivisions called books. Homer's "The Iliad"
and "The Odyssey" are epic poems, the former concerning the Greek invasion of Troy; the latter dealing with the Greek victory over
the Trojans and the ten-year journey of Odysseus to reach his island home.
Epigraph
A brief quotation which appears at the beginning of a literary work. The following is the epigraph from T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song
of J. Alfred Prufrock. Quoted from Dante Allighieri's epic poem "The Inferno," the speaker, Guido di Montefeltrano, believing Dante
to be another soul condemned to Hell, replies thus to a question:
If I believed
my answer were being given
to someone who could ever return to the world,
this
flame (his voice is represented by a moving flame) would shake no more.
But
since no one has ever returned>
alive from this depth, if what I hear is true,
I will answer you without fear of infamy.
The epigraph here reveals one of the themes of the poem, Prufrocks urgent desire not to be revealed.
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Epigram
A short poem with a clever twist at the end or a concise and witty statement. Or, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge said:
What is an Epigram? A dwarfish whole;
Its body brevity, and wit its soul.
Epitaph
A short poem or verse written in memory of someone; often an inscription on a tombstone or monument in memory of the person
buried there.
Epithet
In literature, a word of phrase preceding or following a name which serves to describe the character. Consider the following from
Book 1 of Homer's "The Iliad:"
Zeus-loved Achilles, you bid me explain
The wrath of far-smiting Apollo.
Euphemism
A mild word of phrase which substitutes for another which would be undesirable because it is too direct, unpleasant, or offensive.
The word "joint" is a euphemism for the word prison. "W. C." is a euphemism for bathroom.
Exposition
In drama, the presentation of essential information regarding what has occurred prior to the beginning of the play. In the exposition
to William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," two servants of the house of Capulet discuss the feud between their master and the
house of Montague, thereby letting the audience know that such a feud exists and that it will play an important role in influencing
the plot. In the exposition to the film "Star Wars," Luke Skywalker sees a 3D holograph projection of the Princess Lea warning that
she is a prisoner of Darth Vader and begging for help. See Plot for more information.
Expressionism
A highly emotional form of dramatic expression exploring th ultimate nature of human experience. The expressionist playwrights
focused on subconscious feelings and desires. "Born in Germany in the late nineteenth century, expressionism reached its zenith as
an artistic and literary movement in the late 1920s. In general expressionist hold that “objective” depictions of circumstances and
thoughts (that is, from an external viewpoint) cannot accurately render an individual’s “subjective” or emotional experience of these
things. Expressionism has a more precise meaning in art criticism than it does in literary criticism . . . However, it quickly
influenced poets (such as Franz Weful) and fiction writers (for example, Franz Kafka) . . . Inheritors of the expressionist tradition
include Tennessee Williams, the Beat Writers, Joseph Heller, and Thomas Pynchon"
Existential character
A person, real or fictional, who, whatever his or her past or conditioning, can change by an act of will.
Fable
A brief tale designed to illustrate a moral lesson. Often the characters are animals as in the fables of Aesop.
Falling Action
The falling action is the series of events which take place after the climax. In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," Cinna, the poet, is
mistaken for Cinna, the conspirator, and killed; Antony and Octavius argue, Brutus and Cassius argue, the battle at Philippi is
agreed upon, and the ghost of Caeser appears to Brutus. In Ibsen's, "An Enemy of the People," Dr. Thomas Stockmann has been
declared an enemy of the people and he and his family and supporters are harassed by the townspeople. The Stockmanns decide to
leave the town. However, events occur which change Dr. Stockmann's mind about leaving. The falling action of a drama leads to the
conclusion See Plot for more information.
Farce
A type of comedy based on a humorous situation such as a bank robber who mistakenly wanders into a police station to hide. It is
the situation here which provides the humor, not the cleverness of plot or lines, nor the absurdities of the character, as in
situational comedy. Eugene Ionesco's "Les Chaises" (The Chairs), a one-act drama in which two old people, isolated on an island
prepare for visitors, is an example. The visitors are invisible, but the stage fills with chairs to accommodate them. In the end, a
deaf-mute narrator "addresses" the couple.
Feminine rhyme
Lines rhymed by their final two syllables, e.g., running and gunning. Properly, the penultimate syllables are stressed and the last
syllables are not stressed.
Figurative Language
In literature, a way of saying one thing and meaning something else. Take, for example, this line by Robert Burns, My luv is a red,
red rose. Clearly Mr. Burns does not really mean that he has fallen in love with a red, aromatic, many-petalled, long, thornystemmed plant. He means that his love is as sweet and as delicate as a rose. While, figurative language provides a writer with the
opportunity to write imaginatively, it also tests the imagination of the reader, forcing the reader to go below the surface of a literary
work into deep, hidden meanings.
Figure of Speech
An example of figurative language that states something that is not literally true in order to create an effect. Similes, metaphors
and personification are figures of speech which are based on comparisons. Metonymy, synecdoche, synesthesia, apostrophe,
oxymoron, understatement and hyperbole are other figures of speech.
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Flashback
A reference to an event which took place prior to the beginning of a story or play. In Ernest Hemingway's "The Snows of
Kilamanjaro," the protagonist, Harry Street, has been injured on a hunt in Africa. Dying, his mind becomes preoccupied with
incidents in his past. In a flashback Street remembers one of his comrades dying painfully on barbed wire on a battlefield in Spain.
Foil
A character in a play who sets off the main character or other characters by comparison. In Shakespeare's "Hamlet" Hamlet and
Laertes are young men who behave very differently. While Hamlet delays in carrying out his mission to avenge the death of his
father, Laertes is quick and bold in his challenge of the king over the death of his father. Much can be learned about each by
comparing and contrasting the actions of the two.
Foot
The basic unit of measurement in a line of poetry. In scansion, a foot represents one instance of a metrical pattern and is shown
either between or to the right or left of vertical lines, as in the following: See Meter for more information
The meter in a poem is classified according both to its pattern and the number of feet to the line. Below is a list of classifications:
monometer = one foot to a line
Dimeter = two feet to a line
Trimeter = three feet to a line
Tetrameter = four feet to a line
Pentameter = five feet to a line
Since the line above is written in iambic meter, four feet to the line, the line would be referred to as iambic tetrameter..
Foreshadowing
In drama, a method used to build suspense by providing hints of what is to come. In Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," Romeo's
expression of fear in Act 1, scene 4 foreshadows the catastrophe to come:
I fear too early; for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels and expire the term
Of a despised life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But He that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen.
Free Verse
Unrhymed Poetry with lines of varying lengths, and containing no specific metrical pattern. The poetry of Walt Whitman provides
us with many examples. Consider the following lines from "Song of Myself."
I celebrate myself and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loaf and invite my soul,
I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
Genre
A literary type or form. Drama is a genre of literature. Within drama, genre include tragedy, comedy and other forms.
Gothic Novel
A novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terror pervades the action. The setting is often a dark, mysterious
castle, where ghosts and sinister humans roam menacingly. Horace Walpole invented the genre with his Castle of Otranto. Gothic
elements include these:

Ancient prophecy, especially mysterious, obscure, or hard to understand.

Mystery and suspense

High emotion, sentimentalism, but also pronounced anger, surprise, and especially terror

Supernatural events (e.g. a giant, a sighing portrait, ghosts or their apparent presence, a skeleton)

Omens, portents, dream visions

Fainting, frightened, screaming women

Women threatened by powerful, impetuous male

Setting in a castle, especially with secret passages

The metonymy of gloom and horror (wind, rain, doors grating on rusty hinges, howls in the distance, distant sighs, footsteps
approaching, lights in abandoned rooms, gusts of wind blowing out lights or blowing suddenly, characters trapped in rooms or
imprisoned)

The vocabulary of the gothic (use of words indicating fear, mystery, etc.: apparition, devil, ghost, haunted, terror, fright)
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Haiku
A Japanese poetic form which originated in the sixteenth century. A haiku in its Japanese language form consists of three lines: five
syllables in the first and third lines, and seven syllables in the second line. A haiku translated may not contain the same
syllabication. Designed to capture a moment in time, the haiku creates images. Consider the following by the seventeenth-century
poet, Basho. Note the bringing together of the images of the clouds and the moon.
Clouds come from time to timeand bring to men a chance to rest
from looking at the moon.
Homophones
Words which sound exactly the same but which have different meanings ('maid' and 'made').
Hubris
Derived from the Greek word hybris, hubris usually is defined as “excessive pride”; however, according to philosopher Walter
Kaufmann, is better translated as “rash or outrageous action.”
Humanism
The new emphasis in the Renaissance on human culture, education and reason, sparked by a revival of interest in classical Greek
and Roman literature, culture, and language. Human nature and the dignity of man were exalted and emphasis was placed on the
present life as a worthy event in itself (as opposed to the medieval emphasis on the present life merely as preparation for a future
life).
Humours
In medieval physiology, four liquids in the human body affecting behavior. Each humour was associated with one of the four
elements of nature. In a balanced personality, no humour predominated. When a humour did predominate, it caused a particular
personality. Here is a chart of the humours, the corresponding elements and personality characteristics:
blood...air...hot and moist: sanguine, kind, happy, romantic
phlegm...water...cold and moist: phlegmatic, sedentary, sickly, fearful
yellow bile...fire...hot and dry: choleric, ill-tempered, impatient, stubborn
black bile...earth...cold and dry: melancholy, gluttonous, lazy, contemplative
The Renaissance took the doctrine of humours quite seriously--it was their model of psychology--so knowing that can help us
understand the characters in the literature. Falstaff, for example, has a dominance of blood, while Hamlet seems to have an excess
of black bile.
Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration occurs as in the following lines from Act 2, scene 2 of Shakespeare's
"Macbeth." In this scene, Macbeth has murdered King Duncan. Horrified at the blood on his hands, he asks:
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No. This my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
Literally, it does not require an ocean to wash blood from one's hand. Nor can the blood on one's hand turn the green ocean red. The
hyperbole works to illustrate the guilt Macbeth feels at the brutal murder of his king and kinsman.
Iamb
A metrical pattern of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. The following is an example:
Iambic pentameter: an unrhymed line of five feet in which the dominant accent usually falls on the second syllable of each foot (di
dúm), a pattern known as an iamb. The form is very flexible: it is possible to have one or more feet in which the expected order of
accent is reversed (dúm di). See Meter for more information.
Imagery
A word or group of words in a literary work which appeal to one or more of the senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. The
use of images serves to intensify the impact of the work. The following example of imagery in T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock,"
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table.
uses images of pain and sickness to describe the evening, which as an image itself represents society and the psychology of Prufrock,
himself.
Impressionism
The reading of events or situations as they have been impressed upon the mind as feelings, emotions, and vague thoughts; realism
deals with objective facts. A writer shares his boyhood impressions of winter:
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“…we waited to snowball the cats. Sleek and longs as jaguars and horrible-whiskered, spitting and snarling,
they would slink and sidle over the white back-garden walls, and the lynx-eyed hunters, Jim and
I, fur-capped and moccasined trappers from Hudson Bay, off Mumbles Road, would hurl our
deadly snowballs at the green of their eyes. The wise cats never appeared.”
-Dylan Thomas, A Child’s Christmas in Wales
Inference
A judgment based on reasoning rather than on direct or explicit statement. A conclusion based on facts or circumstances. For
example, advised not to travel alone in temperatures exceeding fifty degrees below zero, the man in Jack London's "To Build a Fire"
sets out anyway. One may infer arrogance from such an action.
In medias res
Latin for “in the middle of things”. One of the conventions of epic poetry is that the action begins in medias res.
Interior monologue
This is a term for novels and poetry, not dramatic literature. It refers to the mental talking that goes on inside a character’s head.
Inversion
Switching the customary order of elements inside a sentence or phrase. When done badly it can give a stilted, artificial, look-at-meI’m-poetry feel to the verse, but poets do it all the time. This type of messing with syntax is called poetic license. I’ll have one large
pizza with all the fixin’s – presto chango instant poetry – A pizza large I’ll have, one with the fixin’s all.
Irony
Irony takes many forms. In irony of situation, the result of an action is the reverse of what the actor expected. Macbeth murders his
king hoping that in becoming king he will achieve great happiness. Actually, Macbeth never knows another moment of peace, and
finally is beheaded for his murderous act. In dramatic irony, the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not.
For example, the identity of the murderer in a crime thriller may be known to the audience long before the mystery is solved. In
verbal irony, the contrast is between the literal meaning of what is said and what is meant. A character may refer to a plan as
brilliant, while actually meaning that (s)he thinks the plan is foolish. Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony.
Lament
A poem of sadness or grief over the death of a loved one or or some other intense loss.
Lampoon
A satire.
Local Color
A detailed setting forth of the characteristics of a particular locality, enabling the reader to "see" the setting.
Lyric Poem
A short poem wherein the poet expresses an emotion or illuminates some life principle. Emily Dickinson's "I Heard a Fly BuzzWhen I Died" is a lyric poem wherein the speaker, on a deathbed expecting death to appear in all its grandeur, encounters a
common housefly instead.
Malapropism
The type of pun, or play on words, that results when two words become jumbled in the speaker’s mind. The term comes from a
character in Sheridan’s comedy, The Rivals. The character, Mrs. Malaprop, is constantly mixing up her words, as when she says “as
headstrong as an allegory (she means alligator) on the banks of the Nile.”
Masculine rhyme
A rhyme ending of the final stressed syllable, i.e., regular old rhyme.
Melodrama
An exaggerated form of drama ( as in television soap operas) characterized by heavy use of romance, suspense, and emotion.
Metaphor
A figure of speech wherein a comparison is made between two unlike quantities without the use of the words "like" or "as."
Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," has this to say about the moral condition of his
parishioners:
There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm and big with thunder;
The comparison here is between God's anger and a storm. Note that there is no use of "like" or "as" as would be the case in a simile
See Simile for more information.
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Meter
A regular pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables in a line or lines of poetry. Below is an illustration of some commonly used
metrical patterns:
Metonymy
A figure of speech in which a word represents something else which it suggests. For example in a herd of fifty cows, the herd might
be referred to as fifty head of cattle. The word "head" is the word representing the herd.
Miracle play
An early play form, also known as a cycle play, dramatizing Christian history in episodes—from the beginning to the Last
Judgment. It could also refer to any type of religious drama in the medieval period.
Mood
The atmosphere or feeling created by a literary work, partly by a description of the objects or by the style of the descriptions. A work
may contain a mood of horror, mystery, holiness, or childlike simplicity, to name a few, depending on the author's treatment of the
work.
Moral
The particular value or lesson the author is trying to get across to the reader. The “moral in the story” is a common phrase in
Aesop’s fables.
Morality play
A type of allegorical drama (fifteenth century) making a moral or religious point. A morality play –Castle of Perseverance,
Everyman, etc. –gives appreciable shape to abstract concepts.
Motif
A recurrent device, formula, or situation that deliberately connects a poem with common patterns of existing thought.
Myth
An unverifiable story based on a religious belief. The characters of myths are gods and goddesses, or the offspring of the mating of
gods or goddesses and humans. Some myths detail the creation of the earth, while others may be about love, adventure, trickery, or
revenge. In all cases, it is the gods and goddesses who control events, while humans may be aided or victimized. It is said that the
creation of myths were the method by which ancient, superstitious humans attempted to account for natural or historical
phenomena. In Homer's, "The Odyssey," the Greek hero, Odysseus, is thwarted in his attempt to reach home by an angry Poseidon,
god of the sea and patron of Troy. the Trojan horse, the trick the Greeks used to gain entrance into the city of Troy when a ten-year
siege had failed, was the plan of Odysseus' creation. Poseidon, in his anger, kept Odysseus from reaching home for ten years after
the war ended.
Narration
Writing that relates an event or a series of events: a story.
Narrative structure
A textual organization based on sequences of connected events usually presented in a straightforward chronological framework.
Narrative Poem
A poem which tells a story. Usually a long poem, sometimes even book length, the narrative may take the form of a plotless dialogue
as in Robert Frost's "The Death of the Hired Man." In other instances the narrative may consist of a series of incidents, as in
Homer's "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," John Milton's "Paradise Lost."
Narrator
The person who is telling a story. (See Point of View)
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Naturalism
An extreme form of realism in which the author tries to show the relation of a person to the environment or surroundings. Often,
the author finds it necessary to show the ugly or raw side of that relationship.
Nemesis
The protagonist’s arch enemy or supreme and persistent difficulty.
Neoclassicism
The periods of English literature (through the eighteenth century) influenced by classical arts and literature.
Novel
A fictional prose work of substantial length. The novel narrates the actions of characters who are entirely the invention of the
author and who are placed in an imaginary setting. The fact that a so-called historical or biographical novel uses historically real
characters in real geographical locations doing historically verifiable things does not alter the fictional quality of the work. Nor does
it qualify a work labeled a novel by the author as a historical text.
Novella
A prose work longer than the standard short story, but shorter and less complex than a full-length novel.
Objectivity and Subjectivity
An objective treatment of a subject is an impersonal or outside view of events. A subjective treatment uses the interior or personal
view of a single observer and is typically colored with that observer’s emotional responses.
Ode
A poem in praise of something divine or expressing some noble idea. In' "Ode on a Grecian Urn," English poet John Keats expresses
his appreciation of the beauty and agelessness of a work by a Grecian artisan:
Thou still unravished bride of quietness,
Thou foster child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
Onomatopoeia
A literary device wherein the sound of a word echoes the sound it represents. The words "splash." "knock," and "roar" are examples.
The following lines end Dylan Thomas' "Fern Hill:"
Out of the whinnying green stable
On to the fields of praise.
The word "whinnying" is onomatopoetic. "Whinny" is the sound usually selected to represent that made by a horse.
Oxymoron
A combination of contradictory terms, such as used by Romeo in Act 1, scene 1 of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet:"
Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O heavy lightness, serious vanity;
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!
Parable
A brief story, told or written in order to teach a moral lesson. Christ's tale of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 30-7) is an example.
Paradox
A situation or a statement that seems to contradict itself, but on closer inspection, does not. These lines from John Donne's "Holy
Sonnet 14" provide an example:
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me,
The poet paradoxically asks God to knock him down so that he may stand. What he means by this is for God to destroy his present
self and remake him as a holier person.
Parallel Structure
A repetition of sentences using the same structure. This line from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address provides an example:
The world will little note nor long remember what we say here,
but it can never forget what they did here.
Parody
A literary work that imitates the style of another literary work. A parody can be simply amusing or it can be mocking in tone, such
as a poem which exaggerates the use of alliteration in order to show the ridiculous effect of overuse of alliteration. (See Satire)
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Pastoral
A literary work that has to do with shephards and rustic settings. Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shephard to His Love"
and Robert Burns' "Sweet Afton" are examples.
Pathetic Fallacy
A fallacy of reason in suggesting that nonhuman phenomena act from human feelings, as suggested by the word "pathetic" from the
Greek pathos; a literary device wherein something nonhuman found in nature-a beast, plant, stream, natural force, etc.-performs as
though from human feeling or motivation. In Jack London's To Build a Fire, "The cold of space," London writes, "smote the unprotected tip of the planet….” The word "smote" suggests nature deliberately striking the northern tip of the earth with severe cold.
The poetry of William Wordsworth is replete with instances of pathetic fallacy-weeping streams, etc.
Suggested by Richard Battin, Managing Editor - The News-Sentinel - Fort Wayne, Indiana. Definition agonized over by Sam
McClintic and Tom Campbell, Bell High School.
Pathos
A Greek root meaning suffering or passion. It usually describes the part in a play or story that is intended to elicit pity or sorrow
from the audience or reader.
Persona
The voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story and who may or may not share the values of the actual author.
Personification
A figure of speech in which something nonhuman is given human characteristics. Consider the following lines from Carl Sandburg's
"Chicago:"
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the big shoulders:
Carl Sandburg description of Chicago includes shoulders. Cities do not have shoulders, people do. Sandburg personifies the city by
ascribing to it something human, shoulders. "Justice is blind." is another example.
Picaresque novel
A novel consisting of a lengthy string of loosely connected events. It usually features the adventures of a rogue, or scamp, living by
his wits among the middle class. Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a picaresque novel.
Plaint
A poem or speech expressing sorrow.
Plot
The structure of a story. Or the sequence in which the author arranges events in a story. The structure of a five-act play often
includes the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. The plot may have a protagonist who is opposed by
antagonist, creating what is called, conflict. A plot may include flashback or it may include a subplot which is a mirror image of the
main plot. For example, in Shakespeare's, "King Lear," the relation ship between the Earl of Gloucester and his sons mirrors the
relationship between Lear and his daughters.
Poetic justice
A term that describes a character “getting what he deserves” in the end, especially if what he deserves is punishment. The purest
form of poetic justice results when one character plats against another but ends up being caught in his or her own trap.
Poetry
An imaginary response to experience reflecting a keen awareness of language.
Point of View
The point of vie is the perspective from which the action of a novel ( or narrative poem) is presented, whether the action is presented
by one character or from different vantage points over the course of the novel. Be sensitive to point of view, because ETS likes to
ask questions about point of view, and they also like you to talk about it in your essays.
Related to point of view is the narrative form that a novel or story takes. There are a few common narrative positions:

The omniscient narrator – this is a third person narrator who sees, like god, into each character’s mind and
understands all the action going on.

The limited omniscient narrator – this is a third person narrator who generally reports only what one character
(usually the main character) sees, and who only reports the thoughts of that one privileged character.

The objective, or camera eye narrator – This is a third person narrator who only reports on what would be
visible to a camera. The objective narrator does not know what the character is thinking unless the character
speaks of it.

The first person narrator – This is a narrator who is a character in the story and tells the tale from his or her
point of view. When the first person narrator is crazy, a liar, very young, or for some reason not entirely credible
the narrator is unreliable.
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
The stream of consciousness technique – This method is like first person narration but instead of the
character telling the story, the author places the reader insode the main character’s head and makes the reader
privy to all of the character’s thoughts as they scroll through their consciousness.
Prelude
An introductory poem to a longer piece of work.
Protagonist
The hero or central character of a literary work. In accomplishing his or her objective, the protagonist is hindered by some opposing
force either human (one of Batman's antagonists is The Joker), animal (Moby Dick is Captain Ahab's antagonist in Herman
Melville's "Moby Dick"), or natural (the sea is the antagonist which must be overcome by Captain Bligh in Nordhoff and Hall's "Men
Against the Sea," the second book in the trilogy which includes "Mutiny on the Bounty"). See Antagonist for more information.
Pseudonym
Known as “pen name”, means “false name” and applies to the name a writer uses in place of his or her given name. George Eliot is
the pseudonym of the novelist Ann Evans.
Pun
A play on words wherein a word is used to convey two meanings at the same time. The line below, spoken by Mercutio in
Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," is an example of a pun. Mercutio has just been stabbed, knows he is dying and says:
“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” Mercutio's use of the word "grave' renders it capable of two meanings: a
serious person or a corpse in his grave.
Quatrain
A four-line stanza which may be rhymed or unrhymed. A heroic quatrain is a four line stanza rhymed abab. John Donne's "A
Valediction Forbidding Mourning" is a poem of nine heroic quatrains: The following is the first stanza of the poem:
As virtuous men pass mildly away
And whisper to their souls, to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say,
The breath goes now, and some say, no:
See Stanza for more information
Realism
The practice in literature of attempting to describe nature and life without idealization and with attention to detail.
Refrain
A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of the poem.
Requiem
A song of prayer for the dead.
Rhapsody
An intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of love or praise.
Rhetorical Question
A question that suggests an answer. In theory, the effect of a rhetorical question is that it causes the listener to feel that she has
come up with the answer herself. Well, we can fight it out, or we can run – so, are we cowards?
Resolution
The part of a story or drama which occurs after the climax and which establishes a new norm, a new state of affairs-the way things
are going to be from then on. Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" climaxes with the death of the two lovers. Their deaths resolve the
feud between the two families. In the play's resolution, Lords Capulet and Montague swear to end their feud and build golden
monuments to each other's dead child. In the resolution of the film "Star Wars," Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca are
given medals by Princess Lea for destroying the death star and defeating the empire. See Plot for more information.
Rhyme
In poetry, a pattern of repeated sounds. In end rhyme, the rhyme is at the end of the line, as in these lines from "Ars Poetica" by
Archibald MacLeish:
A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit
Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb
When one of the rhyming words occurs in a place in the line other than at the end, it is called Internal rhyme. Eye rhyme is a form
of rhyme wherein the look rather than the sound is important. "Cough" and "tough" do not sound enough alike to constitute a
rhyme. However, if these two words appeared at the ends of successive lines of poetry, they would be considered eye rhyme. Half
rhyme occurs when the final consonants rhyme, but the vowel sounds do not (chill-Tulle; Day-Eternity).
Rhythm
Recurrences of stressed and unstressed syllables at equal intervals, similar to meter. However, though two lines may be of the same
meter, the rhythms of the lines may be different. For example, if one were to read the last two lines of Robert Frost's, "Stopping by
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Woods on a Snowy Evening" with equal speed, the lines would be the same in meter and rhythm. However, if one were to read
the last line more slowly (as it should be read), the meter would be the same but the rhythm different. This is because while the
meter of a line is identified by the pattern within each foot, the rhythm is accounted for by larger units than individual feet.
Rising Action
The part of a drama which begins with the exposition and sets the stage for the climax. In a five-act play, the exposition provides
information about the characters and the events which occurred before the action of the play began. A conflict often develops
between the protagonist and an antagonist. The action reaches a high point and results in a climax, the turning point in the play.
We discover in the exposition of Shakespeare's "Othello" that the Moor, Othello, has married the Venetian maid, Desdamona. Her
father objects strenuously to the marriage. However, during those objections, a messenger informs the Venetian council that the
Turks are on their way to invade the island of Cypress. Othello, who is sent with troops to defend the island, brings Desdamona
with him, planning a honeymoon to coincide with his military mission.
One of Othello's officers, Iago, plants a seed of doubt about Desdamona's faithfulness in Othello's ear. This seed grows to the point
where Othello becomes convinced that his wife is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio. The play climaxes with the
murder of Desdamona by Othello in a jealous rage. See Plot for more information.
Romance
In the Middle Ages, tales of exciting adventures written in the vernacular (French) instead of Latin. The medieval romances were
tales of chivalry or amorous adventure occurring in King Arthur's court. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is an example of a
medieval romance.
Saga
A story of the exploits of a hero, or the story of a family told through several generations. Stories of the exploits of Daniel Boone or
Davey Crockett are sagas in the former sense. Alex Haley's "Roots" would be considered a saga in the latter sense.
Sarcasm
A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually harshly or bitterly critical.
Satire
A piece of literature designed to ridicule the subject of the work. While satire can be funny, its aim is not to amuse, but to arouse
contempt. Jonathan swift's "Gulliver's Travels" satirizes the English people, making them seem dwarfish in their ability to deal
with large thoughts, issues, or deeds.
Scansion
A close, critical reading of a poem, examining the work for meter. See Meter for more information.
Setting
The time and place in which a story unfolds. The setting in Act 1, scene 1 of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," for example, is a
public square in Verona, Italy. A drama may contain a single setting, Or the setting may change from scene to scene.
Short Story
A short fictional narrative. It is difficult to set forth the point at which a short story becomes a short novel (novelette), or the page
number at which a novelette becomes a novel. Here are some examples which may help in determining which is which: Ernest
Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River" is a short story; John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" is a novelette; and Nathaniel
Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is a novel.
Simile
A figure of speech which takes the form of a comparison between two unlike quantities for which a basis for comparison can be
found, and which uses the words "like" or "as" in the comparison, as in this line from Ezra Pound's "Fan-Piece, for Her Imperial
Lord:" clear as frost on the grass-bade, In this line, a fan of white silk is being compared to frost on a blade of grass. Not the use of
the word "as." See Metaphor for more information.
Soliloquy
In drama, a moment when a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud. In the line "To be, or not to be, that is the
question:" which begins the famous soliloquy from Act 3, scene 1 of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" Hamlet questions whether or not life is
worth living, and speaks of the reasons why he does not end his life.
Sonnet
A lyric poem of fourteen lines whose rhyme scheme is fixed. The rhyme scheme in the Italian form as typified in the sonnets of
Petrarch is abbaabba cdecde. The Petrarchian sonnet has two divisions: the first is of eight lines (the octave), and the second is of
six lines (the sestet). The rhyme scheme of the English, or Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg. (See Rhyme Scheme) The
change of rhyme in the English sonnet is coincidental with a change of theme in the poem. See Theme. The meter is iambic
pentameter. See Meter for more information.
Spondee
A metrical pattern characterized by two or more successively-placed accented syllables. In the following example from
Shakespeare's "Othello," Othello's sleep has been disturbed by a fight. He angrily demands to know who started the fight that
disturbed him. Not receiving an immediate answer he says:
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This is the first instance in the play where Othello shows that he can be ruled by his emotions. The spondee in the first three
feet (followed by an iamb in the remaining feet) reminds the reader of a bowstring being drawn back before the arrow flies, or of a
bull pawing the ground before charging. This is the use of literary devices: to draw the reader's attention to some noteworthy
phenomenon within the literary work, either to illuminate or to intensify. See Meter for more information.
Stanza
A major subdivision in a poem. A stanza of two lines is called a couplet; a stanza of three lines is called a tercet; a stanza of four
lines is called a quatrain. Robert Frost's "Acquainted with the Night," consists of four rhymed tercets followed by a rhymed couplet.
The following illustrates the look of a stanza:
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain-and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
Stereotype
An author's method of treating a character so that the character is immediately identified with a group. A character may be
associated with a group through accent, food choices, style of dress, or any readily identifiable group characteristic. Examples are
the rugged cowboy, the bearded psychiatrist, and the scarred villain. A criticism leveled at TV drama is that those who produce
such dramas use outdated or negative qualities of groups to stereotype individuals. Ignoring the group's positive qualities, they
perpetuate and strengthen the group's negative image in the minds of viewers. Some examples are: the Jewish accountant, the
corrupt politician, the Black gambler in a zoot suit, and the voice on the phone in a Middle Eastern accent associated with a bomb
threat. A well-known tobacco company uses the stereotype of the rugged cowboy in its cigarette ads.
Structure
The organization or arrangement of the various elements in a work.
Stock characters
Standard or clichéd character types: the drunk, the miser, etc.
Stream of Consciousness See Point of View.
Style
Many things enter into the style of a work: the author's use of figurative language, diction, sound effects and other literary devices.
Ernest Hemingway's style derives, in part, from his short, powerful sentences. The style of the Declaration of Independence can be
described as elegant.
Subjective See objectivity.
Suspense
Suspense in fiction results primarily from two factors: the reader's identification with and concern for the welfare of a convincing
and sympathetic character, and an anticipation of violence. The following line from Elizabeth Spencer's "The Name of the Game" is
an example of a suspense maker:
He was an innocent, this boy; the other boys were out to get him.
Suspension of Disbelief
The demand made of a theater audience to accept the imitations of staging and supply the details with their imagination. Also, the
acceptance on an audience or reader’s part of the incidence in a play or story. If there are too many coincidences or improbable
events the viewer/reader can no longer suspend disbelief and subsequently loses interest.
Symbolism
A device in literature where an object represents an idea. In William Blake's "The Lamb," the speaker tells the lamb that the force
that made him or her is also called a lamb:
Little lamb, who made thee?
Little lamb, who made thee?
Little lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little lamb, I'll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a lamb;
The symbol of the lamb in the above lines corresponds to the symbolism of the lamb in Christianity wherein Christ is referred to as
The Lamb of God.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech wherein a part of something represents the whole thing. In this figure, the head of a cow might substitute for the
whole cow. Therefore, a herd of fifty cows might be referred to as "fifty head of cattle." In Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses" Ulysses
refers to his former companions as free hearts, free foreheads-
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Synesthesia
One sensory experience described in terms of another sensory experience. Emily Dickinson, in "I Heard a Fly Buzz-When I Died,"
uses a color to describe a sound, the buzz of a fly: with blue, uncertain stumbling buzz
Syntax
See diction.
Theatre of the Absurd
A drama based on an absurd situation. In Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," two characters spend the entire play waiting for
someone named Godot, who is supposed to solve their problems, but who never appears. Instead, Godot's servant appears, but only
to tell the two that Godot will not appear that day. The waiting commences again and is only broken by the occasional appearance of
the servant who tells them that Godot will, once again, not appear that day.
Eugene Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" is another example.
Theme
An ingredient of a literary work which gives the work unity. The theme provides an answer to the question What is the work about?
There are too many possible themes to recite them all in this document. Each literary work carries its own theme(s). The theme of
Robert Frost's "Acquainted with the Night" is loneliness. Shakespeare's "King Lear" contains many themes, among which are
blindness and madness. Unlike plot which deals with the action of a work, theme concerns itself with a work's message or contains
the general idea of a work.
Tone
Tone expresses the author's attitude toward his or her subject. Since there are as many tones in literature as there are tones of
voice in real relationships, the tone of a literary work may be one of anger or approval, pride or piety-the entire gamut of attitudes
toward life's phenomena. Here is one literary example: The tone of John Steinbeck's short novel "Cannery Row" is nonjudgmental.
Mr. Steinbeck never expresses disapproval of the antics of Mack and his band of bums. Rather, he treats them with unflagging
kindness.
Tragedy
According to A. C. Bradley, a tragedy is a type of drama which is pre-eminently the story of one person, the hero. "Romeo and
Juliet" and "Antony and Cleopatra" depart from this, however, and we may view both characters in each play as one protagonist.
The story depicts the trouble part of the hero's life in which a total reversal of fortune comes upon a person who formerly stood in
high degree, apparently secure, sometimes even happy. The suffering and calamity in a tragedy are exceptional, since they befall a
conspicuous person, e. g., Macbeth is a noble at first, then a king; Hamlet is a prince; Oedipus is a king. Moreover, the suffering and
calamity spread far and wide until the whole scene becomes a scene of woe. The story leads up to and includes the death (in
Shakespearean tragedy) or moral destruction (in Sophoclean tragedy) of the protagonist.
Tragic flaw
The weakness of an otherwise good or even great character that leads to his demise.
Tragic Hero
A character who experiences an inner struggle because of a character flaw. That struggle ends in the defeat of the hero.
Transcendentalism
A philosophy that requires human beings to go beyond (transcend) reason in the search for truth. 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.
Travesty
A grotesque parody.
Trochee
A metrical pattern in a line of poetry characterized by one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. The opening line to
Vachel Lindsay's "General William Booth Enters into Heaven" provides an example (below). See Meter for more information
.
Understatement
A statement which lessens or minimizes the importance of what is meant. For example, if one were in a desert where the
temperature was 125 degrees, and if one wee to describe thermal conditions saying "It's a little warm today." that would be an
understatement. In Shakespeare's "Macbeth," Macbeth, having murdered his friend Banquo, understates the number of people who
have been murdered since the beginning of time by saying "Blood hath been shed ere now."
The opposite is hyperbole. See Hyperbole for more information.
Unreliable Narrator
See Point of View.
Utopia
An idealized place. Imaginary communities in which people are able to live in happiness, prosperity, and peace. Several works of
fiction have been written about utopias.