Glossary of Literary Terms
allegory – a story that can be read on two levels: at a surface level that may or may not be realistic
and at a deeper level that is often didactic and moralistic, and sometimes satirical. An example is
George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
alliteration – repetition of the opening sounds of a sequence of words for a particular effect: ‘the
stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle’(Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen).
allusion – an indirect reference – implicit use of someone else’s words. Whereas quotations usually
come with acknowledged sources, allusions can be more indirect, even cryptic.
analogy – a comparison or correspondence between two things because of a third element that they
are considered to share. For example, an analogy for time: time is like a river. Just as the river flows
from higher to lower ground, so time flows from the past into the future.
anaphora – the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of a sequence of lines of verse or prose
sentences. ‘We will not be satisfied’ (Martin Luther King repeated this in his I Have a Dream speech).
aphorism – a short, compact saying, often one of a series, that states a principle, offers an insight, or
teaches a point.
assonance – repetition of vowel sounds for a particular effect: ‘which to the tune of flutes kept
stroke’ (Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare).
bathos – a term for an unintentional or deliberate anticlimax – the latter for humorous effect.
diction – literary meaning – a way or style of using words and phrases, especially in a literary
tradition: poetic diction. Also refers to a way of speaking and the range of vocabulary used by a
particular writer: Shakespearean diction; the diction of Robert Burns.
double entendre – a ‘double’ meaning, often used for comic effect. See pun.
dramatic irony – a situation where the audience (and possibly some of the characters) know
something that other characters don’t.
caesura – in verse, a pause or break within a line usually to either show transition from one clause to
another or to emphasise symmetry between the two.
enjambment – a line of verse which continues into the following line without a grammatical break.
(From the French word, ‘jambe’ – a ‘leg’ stepping over into the next line.) Also known as “run-on
lines”.
epic – a long narrative poem usually divided into books or parts and generally mythic or religious in
theme. It tells a tale of great actions and events that are usually important to a nation or culture - e.g.
Homer’s Illiad in Greece, Vyasa’s Mahabharata in India, Milton’s Paradise Lost in 17th century
England.
extended metaphor – the extending of a metaphor through expanded description. This can be an
extension which runs to a few lines of a text, or can be used more extensively.
figurative language – language in which figures of speech such as metaphors and similes freely occur.
Figurative: not literal.
foreshadow – to hint or suggest subsequent events or outcomes, often with mysterious or ominous
associations.
hyperbole – deliberate exaggeration for dramatic effect. (The opposite, and lesser used, term is
Litotes for understatement).
imagery – use of figures of speech such as metaphors and similes to create mental pictures or
images.
irony – words with an implication opposite to their usual meaning. Verbal irony may be humorous or
mildly sarcastic. Circumstantial irony is also incongruity between what is expected and what happens,
and an outcome that displays such incongruity.
metaphor – a figure of speech in which a person or thing is described as if it were something else: he
was a lion in battle.
onomatopoeia – words that mimic the sound of what is being described, for example buzz, hiss,
crash.
oxymoron – a figure of speech in which the writer combines two ideas that are opposites to create a
particular effect. ‘Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health’ (Romeo and Juliet, William
Shakespeare).
paradox – a statement which seems to contradict itself, but which contains an idea that brings the
opposites together. ‘My only love sprung from my only hate’(Romeo and Juliet).
parody – an amusing or mocking imitation of the style of a writer or speaker. Parody often
emphasises and exaggerates typical features of the original text or performance in order to make a
point, and whether friendly or hostile, exploits any possible weaknesses. Pastiche is close to parody,
but tends to be in the form of a text which borrows ideas, language, plot (and so on) from other
works but often shows a sincere expression of admiration for the original, rather than being
humorous or derisive.
pathetic fallacy – a phrase associated with personification, concerning the inclination common
among poets to attribute human qualities to nature: the violent wind; the impatient storm clouds. See
Tennyson’s In Memoriam. The term ‘pathetic’ refers to the arousal of feeling, not to pity – the
opinion of John Ruskin who coined the term in Modern Painters, 1856.
personification – the attributing of human characteristics to non-human elements, such as animals,
plants, aspects of nature and abstract ideas. The sun smiled warmly; Life can play some nasty tricks.
pun – a play on words, using words that have more than one meaning, often to create a comic effect.
rhetoric – the art of persuasive communication in speech or writing.
satire – a literary attack through ridicule, irony, and parody, in verse or prose, and intended to arouse
amused contempt for its target.
sibilance – a speech sound made with a hissing effect, e.g. s, sh (adjective: sibilant)
simile – the comparison of one thing to another, usually using ‘like’ or ‘as’: he is like a lion in battle.
soliloquy – where a character speaks alone on stage, or separated from other characters in some
way. It is as though the character is thinking out loud.