English 12
Literary Terms
1. Allegory
• A piece of literature where the narrative tells the reader of a idea or principle
or moral.
3. Analogy
• A comparison between two things
• Like a direct, intentional comparison for clarification
5. Apathy
• Not caring about things
• Detached from involving oneself in issues/community etc.
6. Active Voice
• Grammatical form of a sentence where the verb is in it’s active form as
opposed to being passive.
• Eg. ACTIVE: The dog bit the postman
• Eg. PASSIVE: The postman was bitten by a dog.
7. Apostrophe
• A poetic form where the writer is addressing a missing person/someone
who’s not there
8. Aside
• A short speech (usually one line) that only the audience or one character
overhears. Tells thoughts/plans/feelings of the character. Reveals innermost
thoughts that they don’t want everyone to know.
10. Atmosphere
• The feeling or mood of a piece of writing. Created by style/sentence
structure/content etc.
11. Ballad
• A long narrative poem that tells a story, usually about a hero and heroine.
12. Ballad stanza
• Four line stanza found in a ballad. Rhyme scheme is abcb, and the first and
third lines contain four accented syllables.
13. Blank verse
• Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter (ten syllables per line)
14. Caesura
• A pause within a line of poetry usually occurring in the middle of the line
• Often results from the natural break in the rhythm of the language
15. Caricature
• A presentation of a character with accentuated features for the purpose of
humour/political change
16. Chorus
• The repeated phrase in a song
• In Greek drama, a group of characters whose lines, originally sung comment
on the action of each episode.
18. Comedy
• Any literary work that aims to amuse by dealing with humorous, familiar
situations involving ordinary people speaking everyday language.
19. Conceit
• A far-fetched metaphor comparing two VERY different things for literary
effect.
23. Couplet
• Two consecutive lines that rhyme
25. Dialect
• The particular form of English/language that a person speaks, generally
indicative of the place from which they come.
26. Diary
• A piece of personal writing. We use diaries as historical documents in order
to better understand the life and times of the people who lived in them.
27. Diction
• Word choice. Choose formal style/informal etc.
29. Dramatic monologue
• A speech by one character in a piece of literature telling their innermost
thoughts and feelings.
30. Elegy
• A poem of sorrow or mourning. It has a sorrowful mood.
31. Emotional appeal
• Appeals to the emotions of a reader (often through telling of personal
stories)
• Idea of PATHOS
32. Epic
• A long narrative poem about a hero
33. Epigram
• A witty saying
• Often pair opposing or contradictory ideas
• Wilde “I can resist everything except temptation”
34. Epigraph
• A quotation at the beginning of a piece of literature to shed light on its
meaning/content
35. Essay types
• See non-fiction/essay lecture
36. Figurative language
• Language in literature that uses literary devices for effect
37. Foil
• When two characters in a story provide a mirror-like contradiction to one
another. Comparing these characters reveals meaning in the story.
38. Foreshadowing
• Clues in the text that suggest the future plot of a story
• The mood as created by setting can often foreshadow events
39. Form
• The physical characteristics of a poem
• In poetry, the form might be free verse or sonnet.
40. Free Verse
• Poems that have no set form or rhyme scheme
• This will be the form on your Exam
41. Genre
• The type of literature
42. Heroic Couplet
• Rhyming iambic pentameter lines
43. hyperbole
• An exaggeration for literary effect
• “And I will luv thee still, my dear
‘til all the seas gang dry”
46. Iambic Pentameter
• A poetic line of five iambic feet. Iambic pentameter is a common meter in
English poetry; it is the meter of Blank Verse, the sonnet, and the heroic
couplet.
“The Lost Symbols” Elizabeth Jennings
And minds were gutted too. Men learned to act
As though there were no meaning in the town
47. Image
• A picture that the author creates with
figurative language
48. Imagery
• Appealing to the five sense using
figurative language
49. Indeterminate Ending
• The ending of the story is not fully explained-the reader does not necessarily
know what the ending will lead to following the end of the story.
50. Internal rhyme
• Rhyme within one line of poetry.
51. Inversion
• The reversing of the normal order of a sentence.
• Eg. Never have I seen him in such a good mood.
52. Invocation
• At the beginning of an epic poem or other story/poem, the author calls
upon a muse (inspirational god/goddess)
54. Italian Sonnet
• 14 line lyric poem.
• Broken into two sentions- first 8 lines are the octave (poses problem), last six
lines are the sestet (offer a solution/resolution)
• Abba abba, cde cde
55. Archaic language
• Language that is very old and thus, differs from modern English.
58. Metaphysical
• Applied the 17th C. poets such as John Donne rebelling against traditional
love poetry.
• They saw contradiction and doubt in the world and wrote about it.
59. Meter
• The beats in a line of poetry.
• Pattern of accented and unaccented syllables.
61. Mock Epic
• Is a long, narrative poem that humorously breaks the conventions of the
traditional heroic epic poem.
62. Mood
• The feeling or emotion in a piece of literature.
• Can be based upon the setting of a piece.
63. Motif
• Recurring symbol in a piece of literature.
64. Narrative
• The story/plot
65. Narrator
• The entity that tells the story.
66. Octave
• See #54 Italian sonnet
67. Ode
• Long, elaborate poem
• Lyric poem that uses a dignified tone to honour someone or mark a special
occasion.
70. Paradox
• A statement that, while apparently contradictory, is true.
• Eg. “Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed”
–Emily Dickinson
72. Parable
• A short tale illustrating a moral lesson
73. Pastoral
• A poem having to do with shepherds and rural life
74. Pentameter
• A five foot line of poetry (see iambic pentameter)
75. Persona
• The “mask” or personality that the author creates to tell their story.
• It is not the author—rather it is a creation of the author for the purpose of
creating a particular VOICE from which to write.
77. Petrarchan sonnet
• See Italian sonnet
80. Pun
• A witty play on words.
81. Quatrain
• A four line stanza
82. Refrain
• A repeating phrase in a poem
83. Rhyme
• Similarity of sound in two words
86. Rhetoric
• The art of persuasion.
• Aristotle’s Rhetoric
• Logos, pathos, ethos
88. Sestet
• See Italian sonnet(#54)
90. Shakespearean sonnet
• A 14 line lyric poem written in iambic pentameter
• 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet
• Abab cdcd efef gg
94. Speaker
• The voice of a poem (can be a persona)
95. Syllogism
• A kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a
conclusion based on two or more propositions that are asserted or assumed
to be true.
97. Style
• The particular way that an author writes. This might apply to their sentence
length and variety, choice of words and literary devices, and tone.
100. Synecdoche
• A figure of speech where a part of something stands for the whole thing
• Eg. “I’ve got wheels”
101. Syntax
• Word order in a sentence
• It’s an important element of style
103. Tone
• The reflection in a work of the author’s attitude toward his or her subject,
characters, and readers
• Described with words such as “friendly” “brusque” “teasing”
104. Tragedy
• In the Greek tradition, a tragedy is when the protagonist dies.
• Hamlet
105. Voice
• The sense in a written work that conveys to a reader of its writer’s attitude,
personality, and character
106. Wit
• The ability to make brilliant, imaginative, or clever connections between
ideas—quickly, and with verbal deftness (intelligence).
107. Proverb
• A short saying that expresses a commonplace truth or bit of folk wisdom
concerning some aspect of practical life
• “A friend in need is a friend indeed”
108. Thesis
• The central argument or idea of a piece of writing
110. Jargon
• Special words or phrases specific to a particular vocation/job and it can be
difficult for others to understand.
118. Euphemism
• A way of expressing an idea, event, or emotion in a gentler, kinder way.
• Eg. HE DIED = He passed away