foil

A character that serves by contrast to highlight
or emphasize opposing traits in another
character.
analogy

A comparison in which the subject is compared
point by point to something far different, usually
with the idea of clarifying the subject by
comparing it to something familiar.
simile

A comparison of two different things or ideas
through the use of the words “like,” “as,”
“seems” etc.
metaphor

A comparison of two unlike things by saying
one is the other and not using “like” or “as.”
motif

A conspicuous recurring element, such as a
type of incident, a device, a reference, or
verbal formula, which appears frequently in
works of literature.
aside

A dramatic device in which a character speaks
to the audience. By convention the audience is
to realize that the character's speech is
unheard by the other characters on stage.
dead metaphor

A figure of speech that has lost its force and
imaginative effectiveness through frequent use.
oxymoron

A form of paradox that combines a pair of
opposite terms in to a single unusual
expression.
apostrophe

A form of personification in which the absent or
dead are spoken to as if present and the
inanimate, as if animate. These are all
addressed directly.
personification

A kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects
or abstract ideas human characteristics.
enjambment

A line of poetry having no pause or end
punctuation but having uninterrupted
grammatical meaning continuing into the next
line.
refrain

A line or set of lines at the end of a stanza or
section of a longer poem or song--these lines
repeat at regular intervals in other stanzas or
sections of the same work. Sometimes the
repetition involves minor changes in wording.
chiasmus

A literary scheme in which the author
introduces words or concepts in a particular
order, then later repeats those terms or similar
ones in reversed or backwards order.
sonnet

A lyric poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic
pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to
certain definite patterns. It usually expresses a
single, complete idea or thought with a
reversal, twist, or change of direction in the
concluding lines.
soliloquy

A monologue spoken by an actor at a point in
the play when the character believes himself to
be alone.
synecdoche

A part of something is used to signify the
whole.
aphorism

A pithy observation that contains a general
truth.
fixed form

A poem that follows a prescribed model.
monologue

A prolonged talk or discourse by a single
speaker, especially one dominating or
monopolizing a conversation.
allusion

A reference to a mythological, literary, or
historical person, place, or thing.
tragedy

A serious play in which the chief character, by
some peculiarity of psychology, passes through
a series of misfortunes leading to a final,
devastating catastrophe.
octave

A set of eight lines that rhyme according to the
pattern.
envoy

A short concluding stanza found in certain
poetic forms (e.g., the sestina) that often
provides a concise summing-up of the poem.
quatrain

A stanza of four lines, often rhyming in an
ABAB pattern.
tercet

A three-line unit or stanza of poetry.
hamartia

A tragic flaw, especially a misperception, a lack
of some important insight, or some blindness
that ironically results from one's own strengths
and abilities.
Tragic hero

An admirable character who appears as the
focus in a tragic play.
conceit

An elaborate or unusual comparison-especially one using unlikely metaphors,
simile, hyperbole, and contradiction.
sestina

An elaborate verse form of Italian origin,
normally unrhymed, consisting of six stanzas of
six lines each and a concluding tercet. The six
final words of the lines in the first stanza are
repeated in a different order in each of the
remaining five stanzas and also in the
concluding tercet.
sestet

Any six-line stanza or a six-line unit of poetry.
euphony

Attempting to group words together
harmoniously, so that the consonants permit an
easy and pleasing flow of sound when spoken.
hyperbole

Deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous
exaggeration.
Olfactory imagery

Descriptive language dealing with scent.
Auditory imagery

Descriptive language that evokes noise, music,
or other sounds.
Extended metaphor

Detailed and complex metaphors that continue
over a long section of a poem.
Gustatory imagery

Imagery dealing with taste.
paradox

Occurs when the elements of a statement
contradict each other. Although the statement
may appear illogical, impossible, or absurd, it
turns out to have a coherent meaning that
reveals a hidden truth.
rhyme

Occurs when the final sounds of lines are the
same.
Rhyme scheme

Pattern of end rhymes.
Stanzaic form

Poetry broken into standard “paragraphs” of
length.
villanelle

Poetry consisting of nineteen lines--five tercets
and a concluding quatrain. The form requires
that whole lines be repeated in a specific order,
and that only two rhyming sounds occur in the
course of the poem.
Masculine rhyme

Rhymes comprised of just one syllable.
Feminine rhyme

Rhymes comprised of more than one syllable.
Organic imagery

Sensory language describing internal
sensation: hunger, thirst, fatigue, fear.
Kinesthetic imagery

Sensory language that describes movement.
Visual imagery

Sensory language that evokes colors, shapes,
or things that can be seen.
English or Shakespearean Sonnet

Uses three quatrains; each rhymed differently,
with a final, independently rhymed couplet that
makes an effective, unifying climax to the
whole. Its rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef,
gg. Typically, the final two lines follow a "turn"
because they reverse, undercut, or turn from
the original line of thought to take the idea in a
new direction.
metonymy

Something closely related used to represent
another item.
synesthesia

Taking one type of sensory input (sight, sound,
smell, touch, taste) and commingling it with
another separate sense in an impossible way.
syntax

The arrangement of words and the order of
grammatical elements in a sentence.
mood

The atmosphere or predominant emotion in a
literary work.
connotation

The extra tinge or taint of meaning each word
carries beyond the minimal, strict definition
found in a dictionary.
Continuous form

the form of a poem in which the lines follow
each other without formal grouping, the only
breaks being dictated by units of meaning.
anaphora

The intentional repetition of beginning clauses
in order to create an artistic effect.
denotation

The minimal, strict definition of a word as found
in a dictionary, disregarding any historical or
emotional meaning.
Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet

Has an octave followed by a sestet. The octave
has two quatrains rhyming abba, abba, the first
of which presents the theme, the second
further develops it. In the sestet, the first three
lines reflect on or exemplify the theme, while
the last three bring the poem to a unified end.
The sestet may be arranged cdecde, cdcdcd,
or cdedce.
alliteration

The practice of beginning several consecutive
or neighboring words with the same sound.
assonance

The repetition of accented vowel sounds in a
series of words.
consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within a
anywhere in consecutive words or words close
in location.
cacophony

The use of words that combine sharp, harsh,
hissing, or unmelodious sounds.
Onomatopoeia

The use of words that mimic the sounds they
describe.
imagery

The words or phrases a writer uses to
represent persons, objects, actions, feelings,
and ideas descriptively by appealing to the
senses.
tone

The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward a
subject, character, or audience, and it is
conveyed through the author’s choice of words
and details.
couplet

Two lines--the second line immediately
following the first--of the same metrical length
that end in a rhyme to form a complete unit.
litotes

Understatement.
Tactile imagery

Verbal description that evokes the sense of
touch.
diction

Word choice intended to convey a certain
effect.
Internal rhyme

Words with similar ending sounds in one or
more syllables and occurring within lines.
Slant/approximate rhyme

Words with sounds that are very close but not
exact.