Literary terms to discuss prose and verse • Sound Alliteration (initial rhyme): repetition of the initial sound (usually consonant) of words Assonance (vocalic rhyme): repetition of vowel sounds, usually close together Euphony: sweetness of sound, produced through the use of soft sounds, generally vowels, or liquid consonants; pleasant sound effect Cacophony: harshness of sound; unpleasant effect; the opposite of euphony Homophones: words which sound exactly the same but which have different meanings, like 'maid' and 'made' Onomatopoeia: 'meaning based on sound, word created to imitate sound Pun: play on words based on sound effect Phoneme : a basic unit of sound in a language; for ex. 'c' and 'k' may be the same or different phonemes (compare Celia, cause, kirk). Sibilance: recurrence of the hissing sounds called sibilants (usually spelt s, sh, c, zh) • Verse Blank verse : unrhymed; the meter most frequently used by Shakespeare. It consists of an unrhymed iambic pentameter. Free verse : verse free of rhyme and metrical patterns, flows according to the natural way of speech Caesura : pause within a line; it is a breathing-place about the middle of a metrical line, generally indicated by a pause in the sense. The word derives from a Latin word meaning 'cut or slice', so the effect can be quite violent. However in many lines of blank verse the caesura may be almost inaudible. A medial caesura is the norm: this occurs in the middle of a line. An initial caesura occurs near the start of a line; a terminal caesura near its end. A 'masculine caesura' occurs after a stressed syllable, and a 'feminine caesura' occurs after an unstressed syllable. end-stopped line/ end-stopping : when sense, syntax and meter coincide in a pause at the end of a line Enjambment /run-on line : a line of verse which runs into the next line without any grammatical break End-rhyme : rhyme at the end of the lines Internal rhyme : when two or more words rhyme within the same line, for ex. when a word in the middle of the line rhymes with the final word of the same line. Rhythm : in verse or prose, the sense of movement achieved by the arrangement of stressed, lightly stressed and unstressed syllables and the duration of these syllables Scansion (to scan a text) : analysis of the metrical patterns of verse, including the arrangement of accented and non-accented syllables into metrical feet and the grouping of lines according to the number of feet Stanza : a group of lines of verse, whose pattern is determined by the number of lines, the number of syllables in each line, the rhyming and metrical schemes. It is the unit of structure in a poem, and is usually left unbroken, unless the poet is looking to achieve specific effects. Combinations of lines of verse Alexandrine: a line of 6 iambic feet, traditionally used to mark a conclusion in a work written in heroic couplets. This term is also used in French poetry to mean a line of twelve syllables. Ballad : a song that tells an epic story from an external pov, mainly through dialogue and action, using simple vocabulary and little or no detail of surroundings or feelings. Its opening can be abrupt as its form is terse, and it focuses on a single line of action. Its theme is often tragic, imagery is sparse, and it usually contains a refrain. The folk or traditional ballad is anonymous and transmitted by word of mouth, whereas the literary ballad bears a poet's signature and more elaborate style. Couplet: a rhymed pair of lines, which are usually of the same length. If these are iambic pentameters, it is termed a heroic couplet. This form was made popular by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and became the dominant poetic form in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Couplets of four iambic feet (i.e. eight syllables in all) are called octosyllabic couplets. Lai or lay : a short narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets; term of French medieval origin, anglicized as Breton lay. Tercet or triplet : a group of three lines as a single stanza, or as part of a pair forming a sestet Quatrain : a stanza of four lines; the most common form in English poetry Sestet : a stanza of six lines Heptastich : a stanza of seven lines Octave or octet : a group of eight lines, either in stanza form, as in ottava rima, or as the first eight lines of a sonnet, in which case it usually rhymes abbaabba Rime Royal : a seven-line iambic pentameter stanza rhyming ababbcc Sonnet : a lyric poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines. There are several types of sonnet, each following a specific and intricate rhyming pattern. The most frequent types in English are as follows: The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet is composed of one octave and a sestet, rhyming abbaabba + cdecde (or variant); its subject matter is usually the hopes and pains of a male lover/admirer. The English or Shakespearean sonnet is composed of three quatrains and a final couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg; its variant, the Spenserian sonnet, rhymes abab bcbc cdcd ee, thereby linking each quatrain to the next. Terza Rima : composed of tercets interlinked by a common rhyme, aba bcb cdc, etc. Ottava Rima : an eight-line poem, rhyming abababcc. Spenserian stanza : a nine-line stanza composed of eight iambic pentameter and one iambic hexameter (Alexandrine), rhyming ababcbcc. Villanelle : a poem composed of a variable number of tercets (usually five) and a final quatrain, rhyming aba (x5) abaa. The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately as the third lines of the following tercets. Metrical patterns Foot : the basic unit for describing meter, usually consisting of a certain number and combination of stressed and unstressed syllables. Stressed and unstressed syllables form one or other of the recognised metrical forms Iamb (iambic): a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, in which the first is unstressed and the last is stressed: 'di dum' ◎◉ Trochee (trochaic) : a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, in which the first is stressed and the last is unstressed: 'dum di ' ◉◎ Spondee (spondaic) : a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, in which both are stressed; dum dum ◉◉ Phyrrhic (phyrrhic) : a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, in which neither is stressed; di di ◎◎ Anapaest : a metrical foot consisting of three syllables, in which the first two are unstressed and the last is stressed; 'di di dum' ◎◎◉ Dactyl: A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, in which the first is stressed and the last two are unstressed; 'dum di di' ◉◎◎ Monometer : 1 foot; dimeter : 2 feet; trimeter : 3 feet; tetrameter : 4 feet; pentameter : 5 feet; hexameter* : 6 feet; heptameter* : 7 feet; octameter : 8 feet *Alexandrine: a line of 6 iambic feet *Fouteener: a line of seven iambic feet (usually 4 + 3 ) • The sentence Hypotaxis (hypotactic) : the elements that form a sentence, or a sequence of complete sentences within a paragraph, are linked by connectives such as 'when, so, therefore', or by subordinate clauses Parataxis (paratactic) : the elements that compose the sentence are juxtaposed and at most connected by 'and' Periodic sentence : the full sense of the sentence remains suspended until the closure of the syntax. Highly composed syntactic structure Non-periodic sentence : so loosely composed that meaning would remain intact if a full-stop was inserted at one or more places before the actual close • Narrative techniques and devices, layers of meaning Denotation : literal meaning of a word Connotation : associated meaning Polysemy : several meanings in one word or sequence Foregrounding:drawing attention to the form of language itself through the use of devices and techniques that push the act of expression into the foreground Voice/ narrator/persona : Aristotle and Plato distinguish 3 types of narrator; the speaker or poet who uses their own voice, the narrator who adopts a persona or someone else's voice, and the one who uses both. The term persona stands for 'mask of the author'. Heteroglossia (heteroglossic) : the coexistence of conflicting voices Analepsis, retrospective or flashback: an event or narrative that reveals the past Prolepsis, foreshadowing : an event or narrative that hints at what is to be Diegesis (N), diegetic (adj) : the story Extradiegetic narrator : is above or outside the story level Intradiegetic narrator :at the story level Homodiegetic narrator : is involved in the story Heterodiegetic narrator : is not involved in the story hypodiegetic : when a story is embedded in another story, the level of the story is hypodiegetic, and so is its narrator Reliable narrator : one you can trust Fallible narrator : one who may not tell or know the whole story Focalisation : the zooming process that allows the reader to see through the eyes of a character Shift : a change in focalisation Authorial irony : when the author lets the reader hear his/her irony above the character or even above the narrator Dramatic irony : when the reader knows something the character doesn't Tragic irony : when that something can lead the character to his/her death or to great loss • Plot Anagnorisis : recognition or discovery by the protagonist of some fundamental element that leads to the resolution of the plot/denouement Exposition : essential information about the plot and the events to come given at the beginning of a play Initiating action : the events which bring about a state of tension Fulcrum : pivot or turning point Rising action or complication : the development of conflicts Climax : the highest point of tension Closure : conclusion, end, ending. Resolution, falling action, dénouement: untying of the complications of the plot • Figures of thought and of speech Rhetorical Figures : linguistic effect can be perceptible to the mind and/or the eye. Figures of thought appeal to the mind by twisting language in a way that is strictly improper, but licensed by usage. Thus the word 'is' is used improperly in the sentence 'John is a lion', but the metaphorical usage is permissible. Or when we hear the sentence 'All hands on deck', we understand that the word 'hands' is being used as a synecdoche for sailors. Figures of thought are sometimes called trope (from a Greek word meaning 'turn' or 'twist') or conceits (from a Latin word meaning 'concept', because the conceit appeals to the mind). Figures of speech are perceptible to the eye and the ear. Thus rhyme is a figure of speech, as are alliteration and anaphora. Figurative language uses figures of speech, like metaphors, alliterations, etc, and is distinct from literal language; eg. 'She flew at him like a bat' is figurative (metaphor + simile), whereas 'she went towards him in a fast and threatening way' is literal. Anaphora: repetition of the same word(s) at the beginning of consecutive syntactic units Antithesis : opposition; contrasting ideas sharpened by the use of opposites, for example 'to be or not to be' Hendiadys : one through two; association of two substantives to create an interwoven notion, for example 'darkness and the shadow of death' Hyperbole : exaggeration to emphasise something ; eg. I could eat a horse↬I am very hungry Simile : explicit comparison of two elements, usually connected by 'like', or 'as'; eg. : She is like a butterfly. (comparison: she is as beautiful and delicate as a butterfly) Metaphor : substitution; an implicit comparison of two unlike elements (no (like' or 'as'). eg. : She is a butterfly. So, a metaphor is the transfer of a quality or attribute from one thing or idea to another in such a way as to imply some resemblance between the two things or ideas: 'his eyes blazed' implies that his eyes become like a fire. Many metaphors have been absorbed into the structure of ordinary language to such an extent that they are all but invisible, thus becoming dead metaphors, and it is sometimes hard to be sure what is or is not dead metaphor: 'the fat book' may imply a metaphor. Mixed metaphors often occur when a speaker combines two metaphors from very diverse areas in such a way as to create something which is physically impossible or absurd ('the report of the select committee was a bombshell which got right up my nose'). These often result from the tendency of metaphors to become received idioms (dead metaphors) in which the original force of the implied comparison is lost. Metonymy : a metaphor by close association, for ex. “heat” for a stove, 'the crown' for the monarchy, 'Nb 10 (Downing Street)' for the Prime Minister of UK, 'Elizabeth Gaskell' for her work ('have you read E. Gaskell?') Synecdoche : the part stands for the whole: 'A myriad of hats entered the room' for the people wearing the hats, 'hands' for workers; or the whole stands for the part : 'Manchester' for one of the city's football teams Oxymoron (-ic) : combination of two contradictory terms in a compressed paradox; for ex. cruel kindness, living dead, darkness visible, cold sun Paradox : surprising association of two apparently contradictory terms that can or cannot be resolved; for ex. 'Everything I say is a lie', 'You have to be cruel to be kind'. A paradox can also lie in the very foundation of an idea or thesis, in which case it is a wider and/or more abstract form of it. Personification : attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects or animals Prosopopeia : same as above; also to make the dead (or absent) speak Pathetic fallacy : coined by John Ruskin; a derogatory term for personification; today used neutrally Pathos : suffering, feeling; the quality of a work of art which evokes tenderness, pity or sorrow. For ex., in Hamlet, Gertrude's speech describing Ophelia's death. Note that bathos is the excess of pathos, elevation, etc, which unintentionally turns the text into ridiculous exaggeration. Trope: a generic term for any figure of speech that transforms literal meaning into figurative meaning, i.e. metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, simile, allegory, etc. • For forms of expression, see: Direct speech Indirect/ Reported speech Dialogue Soliloquy Monologue Free indirect style Stream of consciousness Further reading A Glossary of Literary Terms, M.H. Abrams; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Dictionary of Literary Terms & Literary Theory, J.A. Cuddon/C.E. Preston; Penguin Books Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Chris Baldick; Oxford University Press How Fiction Works, James Wood, Vintage Books http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/vclass/terms.htm