Abstract language
Anecdote
Atmosphere
Absurd, Theater of the
Antagonist
Author
Act
Anthropomorphism
Author’s note
Allegory
Aphorism
Author’s purpose
Alliteration
Apostrophe
Autobiography
Allusion
Archetype
Ambiguity
Argument
Analogy
Aside
Anapest
Assonance
Abstract language Language that expresses an
idea or intangible reality, as opposed to a specific
object or occurrence or a concrete reality. See
also CONCRETE LANGUAGE.
Absurd, Theater of the Drama, primarily of the
1950s and 1960s, that does not tell a story but
instead presents a series of scenes in which the
characters, confused and anxious, seem to exist
in a meaningless world. See also SURREALISM.
Act A major unit of a drama, or play. Modern
drama has one, two, or three acts. Older drama
may have five acts. Acts may be divided into one
or more scenes. See also DRAMA, SCENE.
Allegory A literary work in which all or most of the
characters, settings, and events stand for ideas,
qualities, or figures beyond themselves. The
overall purpose of an allegory is to teach a moral
lesson. See also SYMBOL.
Alliteration The repetition of consonant sounds
at the beginnings of words. It can be used to
reinforce meaning or create a musical effect. See
also SOUND DEVICES.
Allusion A reference to a well-known character,
place, or situation from history or from music, art,
or another work of literature. See pages 75, 657,
797, and 1152.
Ambiguity The state of having more than one
meaning. The richness of literary language lies in
its ability to evoke multiple layers of meaning.
Analogy A comparison that shows similarities
between two things that are otherwise dissimilar.
Writers often use an analogy to explain something
unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar.
See page 490. See also METAPHOR, SIMILE.
Anapest A metrical foot of three syllables; two
unaccented syllables are followed by an accented
one (˘˘´). See also FOOT, METER, SCANSION.
Anecdote A brief account of an interesting event.
Essayists often use anecdotes to support their
opinions, clarify their ideas, get a reader’s
attention, or entertain. Biographers often include
one or more anecdotes in a biography to illustrate
a point about their subject. See page 1154.
Antagonist A person or a force that opposes the
protagonist, or central character, in a story or
drama. The reader is generally meant not to
sympathize with the antagonist. See also
CONFLICT, PROTAGONIST.
Anthropomorphism The assignment of human
characteristics to gods, animals, or inanimate
objects.
Aphorism A short, pointed statement that
expresses a wise or clever observation about
human experience. See page 102. See also
MAXIM.
Apostrophe A figure of speech in which a
speaker addresses an inanimate object, an idea,
or an absent person. See page 700. See also
PERSONIFICATION.
Archetype A character type, descriptive detail,
image, or story pattern that recurs frequently in
the literature of a culture. It derives from a Greek
word meaning “the original example.” See pages
23, 240, and 898.
Argument A type of persuasive writing in which
logic or reason is used to try to influence a
reader’s ideas or actions. See page 211. See also
PERSUASION.
Aside In a play, a character’s comment that is
directed to the audience or another character but
is not heard by any other characters on the stage.
Asides, which are rare in modern drama, reveal
what a character is thinking or feeling.
Assonance The repetition of the same or similar
vowel sounds, especially in a line of poetry. See
also SOUND DEVICES.
Atmosphere The physical qualities that
contribute to the mood of a literary work, such as
time, place, and weather.
Author The original writer of a work. The word
author comes from a Latin word meaning “to
create.”
Author’s note A note accompanying a literary
work and containing explanatory information.
Author’s notes usually include helpful but
nonessential information.
Author’s purpose An author’s intent in writing a
literary work. Authors typically write for one or
more of the following purposes: to persuade, to
inform, to explain, to entertain, or to describe. See
pages 48, 86, 414, 969, and 1011. See also
DICTION, STYLE, THEME, TONE.
Autobiography The story of a person’s life
written by that person. Autobiographies can give
insights into the author’s view of himself or herself
and of the society in which he or she lived. See
pages 97, 338, 907, and 988. See also
BIOGRAPHY, MEMOIR, NONFICTION.
Ballad
Ballad Stanza
Bias
Biography
Blank Verse
Blues
Ballad A narrative song or poem. Folk ballads,
which usually recount an exciting or dramatic
episode, were passed down by word of mouth for
generations before being written down. Literary
ballads are written in imitation of folk ballads but
have a known author. See also FOLKLORE,
NARRATIVE POETRY, ORAL TRADITION.
Ballad stanza A quatrain, or four-line stanza, in
which the first and third lines have four stressed
syllables, and the second and fourth lines have
three stressed syllables. Only the second and
fourth lines rhyme. See also METER, QUATRAIN,
SCANSION, STANZA.
Bias An inclination toward a certain opinion or
position on a topic. See also NONFICTION.
Biography An account of a person’s life written
by someone other than the subject. Biographies
have been written about many of the writers in this
text. See also AUTOBIOGRAPHY, MEMOIR,
NONFICTION.
Blank verse Poetry or lines of dramatic verse
written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Each line
has five feet, with each foot made up of an
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable. Because it may attempt to imitate spoken
English, every line need not be perfectly regular.
See pages 705 and 723. See also FOOT, IAMBIC
PENTAMETER, SCANSION.
Blues A melancholy style of music that originated
among African Americans in the South. The blues
stanza has three lines, and the first two lines are
usually identical. Many writers have incorporated
the idea of the blues into their work, among them
See also STANZA.
Cadence
Colloquial language Consonance
Caesura
Comedy
Couplet
Catalog
Comic relief
Crisis
Character
Conceit
Characterization Concrete language
Classicism
Confessional poetry
Cliché
Conflict
Climax
Connotation
Cadence The rhythmic rise and fall of language
when it is spoken or read aloud. See also FREE
VERSE, METER.
Caesura A pause in a line of poetry, usually near
the middle of a line, with two stressed syllables
before and two after, creating a strong rhythm. A
caesura is used to produce variations in meter
and to draw attention to certain words. Some
pauses are indicated by punctuation, others by
phrasing or meaning. In the lines below, the
caesuras are marked by double vertical lines. The
pauses are indicated by punctuation. See also
RHYTHM.
Catalog The listing of images, details, people, or
events in a literary work. See page 1291.
Character A person portrayed in a literary work. A
main character is central to the story and is typically
fully characterized. A minor character displays few
personality traits and is used to help develop the story.
Characters who show varied and sometimes
contradictory traits are called round. Characters who
reveal only one personality trait are called flat. A
stereotype, or stock character, is typically flat. A
dynamic character grows and changes during the
story. A static character remains basically the same
throughout the story. See also CHARACTERIZATION,
STEREOTYPE.
Characterization The methods a writer uses to
reveal the personality of a character. In direct
characterization, the writer makes explicit
statements about a character. In indirect
characterization, the writer reveals a character
through his or her words, thoughts, and actions
and through what other characters think and say
about that character. See pages 229, 277, 505,
783, and 1248. See also CHARACTER.
Classicism A style that reflects the principles and
concerns of the art and literature of ancient
Greece and Rome. Typically, a classical style
displays simple, harmonious form.
Cliché A word or phrase that is so overused that
it is virtually meaningless. “Dead as a doornail,”
“piece of cake,” and “last but not least” are all
clichés.
Climax The point of greatest emotional intensity,
interest, or suspense in a literary work. Usually the
climax comes at the turning point in a story or
drama, the point just before the resolution of the
conflict. See also page 1067. See also
CONFLICT, DÉNOUEMENT, PLOT,
RESOLUTION.
Colloquial language Informal language used in
everyday conversation but not in formal writing or
speech. See also DIALECT, VERNACULAR.
Comedy A type of drama that is humorous and
often has a happy ending. See also DRAMA,
FARCE, HUMOR, PARODY, SATIRE, WIT.
Comic relief A humorous scene, event, or
speech in a serious drama. It provides relief from
emotional intensity, while at the same time
highlighting the seriousness of the story.
Conceit An elaborate figure of speech that
makes a comparison between two significantly
different things. The conceit draws an analogy
between some object from nature or everyday life
and the subject or theme of a poem. See also
ANALOGY, EXTENDED METAPHOR, IMAGERY.
Concrete language Specific language about
actual things or occurrences. Words like dog and
sky are concrete, while words like truth and evil
are abstract. See also ABSTRACT LANGUAGE.
Confessional poetry A movement in poetry
begun in the 1950s in which the poet writes about
his or her own personal experiences.
Confessional poets described their problems with
mental illness, alcohol abuse, and troubled
relationships in an open and direct style.
Conflict The central struggle between two
opposing forces in a story or drama. An external
conflict exists when a character struggles against
some outside force, such as another person,
nature, society, or fate. An internal conflict is a
struggle that takes place within the mind of a
character who is torn between opposing feelings,
desires, or goals. See pages 547, 591, 760, and
1106. See also ANTAGONIST, PLOT,
PROTAGONIST.
Connotation The suggested or implied meanings
associated with a word beyond its dictionary
definition, or denotation. A word can have a
positive, negative, or neutral connotation. See
also AMBIGUITY, DENOTATION, FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE.
Consonance The repetition of consonant
sounds, typically at the end of nonrhyming words
and preceded by different vowel sounds, as “metcat” or “morn-barn.” See also SOUND DEVICES.
Couplet Two consecutive, paired lines of rhymed
verse usually forming a stanza. See page 130.
See also HEROIC COUPLET, RHYME, SONNET,
STANZA.
Crisis In a narrative, a moment of high tension
that requires a decision. See also CLIMAX,
DRAMATIC STRUCTURE, RISING ACTION.
Dactyl
Diction
Dynamic character
Deism
Dimeter
Denotation
Drama
Dénouement
Dramatic convention
Description
Dramatic irony
Dialect
Dramatic monologue
Dialogue
Dramatic poetry
Diary
Dramatic structure
Dactyl A three-syllable metrical foot in which the
first syllable is stressed and the following two are
unstressed.
Deism The belief that God created the world but
no longer has influence or control over life or
nature. Many of America’s founders were deists.
Denotation The literal, or dictionary, meaning of
a word. See also CONNOTATION, LITERAL
LANGUAGE.
Dénouement The outcome, or resolution, of the
plot. The climax and dénouement may come close
together. See also CLIMAX, CONFLICT, PLOT,
RESOLUTION.
Description A detailed portrayal of a person, a
place, an object, or an event. Good descriptive
writing appeals to the senses through imagery.
See pages 135, 384, and 891. See also
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, IMAGERY.
Dialect A variation of a language spoken within a
particular region or class. Dialects may differ from
the standard form of a language in vocabulary,
pronunciation, or grammatical form. See pages
483 and 941. See also COLLOQUIAL
LANGUAGE, LOCAL COLOR, REGIONALISM,
VERNACULAR.
Dialogue Conversation between characters in a
literary work. Dialogue can contribute to
characterization, create mood, advance the plot,
and develop theme. See pages 914, 1023, and
1266.
Diary An individual’s daily record of impressions,
events, or thoughts, written for personal use rather
than for publication. See also JOURNAL.
Diction A writer’s choice of words. Diction is an
important element in the writer’s “voice” or style.
Skilled writers choose their words carefully to
convey a particular tone and meaning. See pages
61, 127, and 369. See also AUTHOR’S
PURPOSE, STYLE, VOICE.
Dimeter A line of verse consisting of two feet.
See also FOOT, METER.
Drama A story intended to be performed before
an audience by actors on a stage. The script of a
dramatic work may include stage directions that
explain how characters should look, speak, move,
and behave. The script might also specify details
of the setting and scenery, such as lighting, props,
and sound effects. A drama may be divided into
acts, which may also be broken up into scenes,
indicating changes in location or the passage of
time. See also COMEDY, PLAY, STAGE
DIRECTIONS, TRAGEDY.
Dramatic convention Any of several devices that
a theater audience accepts as a substitute for
reality. For example, an audience accepts that a
wood floor is a beach or a meadow, that a
recording of birdsong is the real thing, or that the
fifteen-minute interval between acts is a substitute
for a longer passage of time.
Dramatic irony See IRONY.
Dramatic monologue A form of dramatic poetry
in which a speaker addresses a silent listener.
See pages 500 AND 664. See also DRAMATIC
POETRY, MONOLOGUE.
Dramatic poetry Poetry in which characters are
revealed through dialogue and monologue, as
well as through description. See also DIALOGUE,
DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE.
Dramatic structure The structure of a serious
play. Common elements are exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action, and resolution. See
also PLOT.
Dynamic character See CHARACTER.
Elegy
Epiphany
Empathy
Epistle
End rhyme
Epitaph
Enjambment
Epithet
End-stopped line
Essay
Epic
Exaggeration
Epigram
Exposition
Epigraph
Extended metaphor
Elegy A poem mourning a death or another great
loss.
Empathy Close identification with a person, a
place, or an event, as when audience members
experience the same emotions as a character in a
play.
End rhyme The rhyming of words at the ends of
lines.
Enjambment See RUN-ON LINE.
End-stopped line A line of poetry that contains a
complete thought, thus requiring a semicolon or
period at the end. See also RUN-ON LINE.
Epic A long narrative poem that traces the
adventures of a hero. Epics intertwine myths,
legends, and history, reflecting the values of the
societies in which they originate. See also
LEGEND, MYTH, ORAL TRADITION.
Epigram A short, witty verse or saying. See also
APHORISM, MAXIM.
Epigraph A quotation from another work that
suggests the theme, or main idea, of the work at
hand. It is often up to the reader to determine how
the quoted work relates to the literature it
introduces.
Epiphany A sudden intuitive recognition of the
meaning or essence of something.
Epistle Any letter. Often the term is applied to a
more literary work than the informal
communication written by most people. Travel
letters are common and usually intended for
publication.
Epitaph A brief statement commemorating a
dead person, often inscribed on a gravestone.
Epithet A brief phrase used to characterize a
person, place, or thing.
Essay A short piece of nonfiction writing on any
topic. The purpose of the essay is to communicate
an idea or opinion. A formal essay is serious and
impersonal, often with the purpose of instructing
or persuading. Typically, the author strikes a
serious tone and develops a main idea, or thesis,
in a logical, highly organized way. An informal, or
personal, essay entertains while it informs, usually
in light, conversational style. See page 1303. See
also NONFICTION.
Exaggeration See HYPERBOLE.
Exposition See PLOT.
Extended metaphor A metaphor that compares
two unlike things in various ways throughout a
paragraph, a stanza, or a literary work. See pages
83 and 827. See also METAPHOR.
Fable
Flash-forward
Formal speech
Fairy tale
Flat character
Fourth wall
Falling action
Foil
Frame story
Fantasy
Folklore
Free verse
Farce
Folktale
Fiction
Foot
Figurative language
Foreshadowing
Figure of speech
Form
Flashback
Formal essay
Fable A short, often humorous, tale intended to
teach a lesson about human behavior or to give
advice about how to behave. Many fables end by
stating the moral or lesson to be learned, while
others leave it up to the reader to infer the moral.
In a beast fable, animals talk and act like humans.
See also LEGEND, PARABLE, THEME.
Fairy tale A type of folktale that features
supernatural elements, such as spirits, talking
animals, and magic. See also FOLKTALE.
Falling action See PLOT.
Fantasy A literary work that is set in an unfamiliar
world and that often features unbelievable
characters and events. See also SCIENCE
FICTION.
Farce A type of comedy with ridiculous situations,
characters, or events. See also COMEDY,
HUMOR, PARODY, SATIRE.
Fiction A narrative in which situations and
characters are invented by the writer. Some
aspects of a fictional work may be based on fact
or experience, however. Fictional works include
short stories, novels, and plays. See also DRAMA,
NONFICTION, NOVEL, SHORT STORY.
Figurative language Language used for
descriptive effect in order to convey ideas or
emotions. Figurative expressions are not literally
true but express some truth beyond the literal
level. Figurative language is especially common in
poetry. See pages 183, 1183, and 1224.
Figure of speech A specific kind of figurative
language such as metaphor, personification, or
simile.
Flashback An interruption in the chronological
order of a narrative to show an event that
happened earlier. A flashback gives readers
information that may help explain the main events
of a story. See pages 535 and 888. See also
FLASH-FORWARD.
Flash-forward An interruption in the
chronological sequence of a narrative to leap
forward in time. See page 901. See also
FLASHBACK.
Flat character See CHARACTER.
Foil A minor character whose contrast with a
main character highlights particular
characteristics, often flaws, of the main character.
See page 958. See also ANTAGONIST,
CHARACTER, CHARACTERIZATION,
PROTAGONIST.
Folklore Traditional beliefs, customs, stories,
songs, and dances of a culture. Folklore is passed
down through oral tradition and is based on the
concerns of ordinary people. See also BALLAD,
EPIC, FOLKTALE, LEGEND, MYTH, ORAL
TRADITION, TALL TALE.
Folktale An anonymous traditional story passed
down orally long before being written down.
Folktales include animal stories, trickster stories,
fairy tales, myths, legends, and tall tales. See also
EPIC, FAIRY TALE, FOLKLORE, LEGEND,
MYTH, ORAL TRADITION, TALL TALE.
Foot The basic unit in the measurement of a line
of metrical poetry. A foot usually contains one
stressed syllable ( ´ ) and one or more unstressed
syllables ( ˘ ). The basic metrical feet are the
anapest (˘ ˘ ´ ), the dactyl (´ ˘˘ ), the iamb (˘ ´ ), the
spondee (´ ´ ), and the trochee (´ ˘ ). See also
METER, RHYTHM, SCANSION, STANZA.
Foreshadowing An author’s use of clues to
prepare readers for events that will happen later in
a story. See pages 877 and 924. See also PLOT,
SUSPENSE.
Form The structure of a poem. Many modern
writers use loosely structured poetic forms instead
of following traditional or formal patterns. These
poets vary the lengths of lines and stanzas,
relying on emphasis, rhythm, pattern, or the
placement of words and phrases to convey
meaning. See page 667. See also RHYTHM,
STANZA, STRUCTURE.
Formal essay See ESSAY.
Formal speech A speech whose main purpose is
to persuade, although it may also inform and
entertain. The four main types of formal speech
are legal, political, ceremonial, and religious.
Fourth wall The imaginary wall that separates
the performers onstage in a play from the
audience watching the performance.
Frame story A story that surrounds another story
or that serves to link several stories together. The
frame is the outer story, which usually precedes
and follows the inner, more important story. Some
literary works have frames that bind together
many different stories. See page 1269.
Free verse Poetry that has no fixed pattern of
meter, rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement.
Although poets who write free verse ignore
traditional rules, they use techniques such as
repetition and alliteration to create musical
patterns in their poems. See pages 395, 1186,
and 1252. See also RHYTHM, RHYME, METER.
Genre
Gothic novel
Genre A category or type of literature. Examples
of genres are poetry, drama, fiction, and
nonfiction.
Gothic novel A novel that has a gloomy, ominous
setting and contains strong elements of horror,
mystery, and the supernatural.
Haiku
History
Harlem Renaissance
Humor
Heptameter
Hymn
Hero
Hyperbole
Heroic couplet
Hexameter
Historical fiction
Historical narrative
Haiku A traditional Japanese form of poetry that
has three lines and seventeen syllables. The first
and third lines have five syllables each; the middle
line has seven syllables. Usually about nature, a
haiku presents striking imagery to evoke a variety
of feelings and associations.
Harlem Renaissance A cultural and literary
movement among African Americans during the
1920s. The center of the movement was the
Harlem section of Manhattan, in New York City,
which attracted artists, musicians, and writers.
See page 785.
Heptameter A metrical line of seven feet. See
also FOOT, METER.
Hero The chief character in a literary work,
typically one whose admirable qualities or noble
deeds arouse admiration. Although the word hero
is applied only to males in traditional usage—
heroine being the term used for females—
contemporary usage applies the term to either
gender. See also EPIC, LEGEND, MYTH,
PROTAGONIST, TALL TALE, TRAGEDY.
Heroic couplet A pair of rhymed lines in iambic
pentameter that work together to express an idea
or make a point. A heroic couplet is based on the
poetic form used by ancient Greek and Roman
poets in their heroic epics. See page 130. See
also IAMBIC PENTAMETER, METER, RHYTHM.
Hexameter A line of verse consisting of six feet.
See also FOOT, METER.
Historical fiction Fiction that sets characters
against the backdrop of a period other than the
author’s own. Some works of historical fiction
include actual historical people along with fictitious
characters. See also FICTION.
Historical narrative A work of nonfiction that tells
the story of important historical events or
developments. See pages 402 and 820.
History A factual account of real events that
occurred in the past. Typically, a history is
arranged chronologically and seeks to provide an
objective description of what happened.
Humor The quality of a literary work that makes
the characters and their situations seem funny,
amusing, or ludicrous. Humor often points out
human failings and the irony found in many
situations. Humorous language includes sarcasm,
exaggeration, puns, and verbal irony. See also
COMEDY, FARCE, PARODY, PUN, SATIRE, WIT.
Hymn A lyric poem or song addressed to a divine
being or expressing religious sentiments. See also
LYRIC.
Hyperbole A figure of speech that uses
exaggeration to express strong emotion, to make
a point, or to evoke humor. See also FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE, UNDERSTATEMENT.
Iamb
Informal essay
Iambic pentameter
Interior monologue
Idiom
Internal conflict
Imagery
Internal rhyme
Imagism
Inversion
Impressionism
Irony
Iamb A two-syllable metrical foot consisting of
one unaccented syllable and one accented
syllable, as in the word divide.
Iambic pentameter A poetic meter in which each
line is composed of five feet (pentameter), most of
which are iambs. See also BLANK VERSE,
FOOT, HEROIC COUPLET, METER, RHYTHM,
SCANSION.
Idiom An expression whose meaning is different
from the literal meaning of the words that make it
up. Phrases such as “catch his eye,” “turn the
tables,” “over the hill,” and “keep tabs on” are
idiomatic expressions understood by native
speakers but often puzzling to non-native
speakers. Idioms can add realism to dialogue in a
story and contribute to characterization. See page
1014. See also DIALECT.
Imagery The “word pictures” that writers create to
evoke an emotional response. In creating effective
images, writers use sensory details, or
descriptions that appeal to one or more of the five
senses. See pages 89, 653, 975, and 1299. See
also FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, SENSORY
DETAILS.
Imagism A movement among early twentiethcentury poets who believed that the image was
the essence of poetry, conveying a poem’s
meaning and emotion. The language of poetry,
they believed, should be brief, clear, concrete, and
similar to spoken language. See also
MODERNISM.
Impressionism A nineteenth-century movement
in art and literature. In literature, characters and
scenes are presented as the author’s or a
particular character’s impressions rather than as
they actually are. See also POINT OF VIEW.
Informal essay See ESSAY.
Interior monologue A technique that records a
character’s emotions, memories, and opinions.
Interior monologue is a characteristic of the
stream-of-consciousness style of writing. See also
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
Internal conflict See CONFLICT.
Internal rhyme Rhyme that occurs within a single
line of poetry. Poets use internal rhyme to convey
meaning, to evoke mood, or simply to create a
musical effect. See also RHYME.
Inversion Reversal of the usual word order for
emphasis or variety. Writers use inversion to
maintain rhyme scheme or meter, or to emphasize
certain words.
Irony A contrast or discrepancy between
appearance and reality. Situational irony exists
when an occurrence is the opposite of someone’s
expectations. Verbal irony occurs when the
meaning of a statement is the reverse of what is
meant, as when someone says of a mean person,
“Nice guy!” Dramatic irony occurs when playgoers
have information unknown to characters onstage.
See pages 568 and 933.
Journal
Juxtaposition
Journal A daily record of events kept by a
participant in those events or a witness to them.
See page 361.
Juxtaposition The placing of two or more distinct
things side by side in order to contrast or compare
them. It is commonly used to evoke an emotional
response in the reader. See page 814.
Legend
Legendary Heroes
Literal language
Literary criticism
Local color
Lost Generation
Lyric
Legend A traditional story handed down from the
past, based on actual people and events, and
tending to become more exaggerated and
fantastical over time. See also FABLE,
FOLKLORE, FOLKTALE, HERO, MYTH, ORAL
TRADITION, TALL TALE.
Legendary Heroes Idealized figures, sometimes
based on real people, who embody qualities
admired by the cultural group to which they
belong. The adventures and accomplishments of
these heroes are preserved in legends or tales
that are handed down from generation to
generation. See also FOLKTALE.
Literal language Language that is simple,
straightforward, and free of embellishment. It is
the opposite of figurative language, which
conveys ideas indirectly. See also DENOTATION.
Literary criticism A type of writing in which the
writer analyzes and evaluates a literary work.
Local color The evocative portrayal of a region’s
distinctive ways of talking and behaving. See page
480. See also DIALECT, REGIONALISM,
VERNACULAR.
Lost Generation A term attributed to writer
Gertrude Stein describing a group of American
writers, many of whom lived abroad, who became
disillusioned at the end of World War I. Included
in this “generation” were Ernest Hemingway and
F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Lyric A poem that expresses a speaker’s
personal thoughts and feelings. Lyrics are usually
short and musical. See also POETRY.
Magical realism
Monologue
Maxim
Mood
Memoir
Moral
Metaphor
Motif
Meter
Motivation
Metonymy
Muckrakers
Minimalism
Myth
Modernism
Magical realism A literary style in which the
writer combines realistic events, settings,
characters, dialogue, and other details with
elements that are magical, supernatural, fantastic,
or bizarre. See page 1313.
Maxim A short saying that contains a general
truth or gives practical advice, particularly about
morality and behavior. Also known as an adage or
aphorism.
Memoir A type of narrative nonfiction that
presents the story of a period in the writer’s life. It
is usually written from the first-person point of
view and emphasizes the narrator’s own
experience of this period. It may also reveal the
impact of significant historical events on his or her
life. See also AUTOBIOGRAPHY, BIOGRAPHY.
Metaphor A figure of speech that compares or
equates two seemingly unlike things. In contrast to
a simile, a metaphor implies the comparison
instead of stating it directly; hence there is no use
of connectives such as like or as. See also
EXTENDED METAPHOR, FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE.
Meter A regular pattern of stressed ( ´ ) and
unstressed ( ˘ ) syllables that gives a line of poetry
a more or less predictable rhythm. The basic unit
of meter is the foot. The length of a metrical line
can be expressed in terms of the number of feet it
contains: dimeter, two feet; trimeter, three feet;
tetrameter, four feet; pentameter, five feet;
hexameter, six feet; heptameter, seven feet. See
page 801. See also FOOT, IAMBIC
PENTAMETER, SCANSION.
Metonymy A figure of speech in which a word or
phrase is substituted for another that is related.
For example, the executive branch of the U.S.
government is often referred to as the White
House. See page 187. See also FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE.
Minimalism A movement in visual arts, music,
architecture, and literature. Minimalist writers
include the fewest words possible in their works
and depict ordinary people.
Modernism A term applied to a variety of
twentieth-century artistic movements that shared a
desire to break with the past. In addition to
technical experimentation, modern playwrights,
writers, and artists in the first half of the twentieth
century were interested in the irrational or
inexplicable, as well as in the workings of the
unconscious mind. See also IMAGISM, STREAM
OF CONSCIOUSNESS, SYMBOLIST POETRY.
Monologue A long speech by a character in a
literary work. See also DRAMATIC
MONOLOGUE, SOLILOQUY.
Mood The emotional quality of a literary work. A
writer’s choice of language, subject matter,
setting, and tone, as well as sound devices such
as rhyme and rhythm, contribute to creating mood.
Mood is a broader term than tone, which refers to
the attitude of a speaker or narrator toward the
reader. It also differs from atmosphere, which is
concerned mainly with the physical qualities that
contribute to a mood, such as time, place, and
weather. See pages 823, 1173, 1200, and 1221.
See also ATMOSPHERE, SETTING, TONE.
Moral A practical lesson about right and wrong
conduct, often taught in a fable or parable.
Motif A significant word, phrase, image,
description, idea, or other element repeated
throughout a literary work and related to the
theme. See pages 690 and 1330.
Motivation The stated or implied reason or cause
for a character’s actions. See pages 281, 515,
743, and 955. See also PSYCHOLOGICAL
REALISM.
Muckrakers American writers who searched for
and exposed dishonesty in American government
and business in the early 1900s. See page 533.
Myth A traditional story that deals with
goddesses, gods, heroes, and supernatural
forces. A myth may explain a belief, a custom, or a
force of nature. See also EPIC, FOLKLORE,
FOLKTALE, LEGEND, ORAL TRADITION.
Narrative
Narrative poetry
Narrator
Naturalism
Nobel Prize
Nonfiction
Novel
Narrative Writing or speech that tells a story.
Narratives may be fiction or nonfiction, prose or
poetry. See also NARRATIVE POETRY.
Narrative poetry Verse that tells a story.
Narrative poetry includes ballads and epics as
well as shorter forms that are usually more
selective and concentrated than are prose stories.
See pages 243 and 1325. See also BALLAD,
EPIC, NARRATIVE.
Narrator The person who tells a story. The
narrator may be a character in the story, as in See
also NARRATIVE, POINT OF VIEW.
Naturalism The literary movement characterized
by a belief that people have little control over their
own lives. See pages 476 and 573. See also
PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM.
Nobel Prize A very prestigious award established
in 1901 by Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish
chemist and inventor, to honor individuals’
achievements in many fields, including medicine,
physics, and literature.
Nonfiction Literature that deals with real people,
places, and events. Written from either the first- or
third-person point of view, works of narrative
nonfiction tell a story and commonly have
characteristics of fiction, such as setting, characters,
theme, and plot. Biographies, autobiographies,
memoirs, and essays are types of narrative nonfiction.
Works of informative nonfiction include essays,
speeches, and articles that explain a topic or promote
an opinion. See also AUTOBIOGRAPHY,
BIOGRAPHY, ESSAY, FICTION.
Novel A book-length fictional prose narrative,
typically having a plot, character, setting, and
theme. A short novel is called a novelette or
novella. See also FICTION, SHORT STORY.
Octave
Octet
Ode
Onomatopoeia
Oral history
Oral tradition
Oratory
Oxymoron
Octave The first eight lines of a Petrarchan, or
Italian, sonnet. The octave usually presents a
situation, an idea, or a question. See also
SONNET.
Octet A group of eight lines in a poem.
Ode An elaborate lyric poem expressed in a
dignified and sincere way. Some odes celebrate a
person or an event; others are more private
meditations. See also LYRIC.
Onomatopoeia The use of a word or phrase that
imitates or suggests the sound of what it
describes. The words mew, hiss, caw, and buzz
are onomatopoetic words. See also SOUND
DEVICES.
Oral history The recording of people’s memories
and feelings. Oral history creates a more vivid and
personal picture of the past and gives a voice to
people who might have been hidden from ordinary
historical records. It is the oldest form of historical
inquiry, preceding the written word, and has
become a crucial tool, following the invention of
tape recorders in the 1940s.
Oral tradition Literature that passes by word of
mouth from one generation to the next. Oral
literature was a way of recording the past,
glorifying leaders, and teaching morals and
traditions to young people. See page 34. See also
BALLAD, EPIC, FOLKLORE, FOLKTALE,
LEGEND, MYTH, TALL TALE.
Oratory The art of effective public speaking, or
the use of persuasive skills when speaking.
Oratory is common in politics, law, and religion.
Today, oratory is usually called “public speaking.”
See page 355.
Oxymoron A figure of speech in which opposite
ideas are combined. Examples are “bright
darkness,” “wise fool,” and “hateful love.” See also
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, PARADOX.
Parable
Plain style
Prologue
Paradox
Play
Prose
Parallelism
Plot
Prose poem
Parody
Poetic license
Protagonist
Pastoral
Poetry
Proverb
Pentameter
Point of view
Psalm
Persona
Postmodernism
Psychological realism
Personification
Propaganda
Pun
Persuasion
Props
Punctuation mark
Petrarchan sonnet
Parable A simple story pointing to a moral or
religious lesson. It differs from a fable in that the
characters are people instead of animals. See
also FABLE.
Paradox A situation or statement that seems to
be impossible or contradictory but is nevertheless
true, literally or figuratively. See also
OXYMORON.
Parallelism The use of a series of words,
phrases, or sentences that have similar
grammatical structure. Parallelism emphasizes
relationships between ideas. See pages 113, 387,
and 1307. See also REPETITION.
Parody A humorous imitation of a literary work
that aims to point out the work’s shortcomings. A
parody may imitate the plot, characters, or style of
another work, usually through exaggeration. See
also COMEDY, FARCE, HUMOR, SATIRE.
Pastoral Poetry that idealizes the simple lives of
shepherds in a rural setting. Pastoral poems often
exaggerate the rural pleasures and the innocence
of country people living in harmony with nature.
Pentameter A metrical line of five feet. See also
FOOT.
Persona The mask or voice through which an
author speaks.
Personification A figure of speech in which an
animal, an object, a force of nature, or an idea is
given human characteristics. See pages 434, 439,
1227, and 1286. See also APOSTROPHE,
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.
Persuasion Writing, usually nonfiction, that
attempts to move readers to a particular
viewpoint. Writers of persuasive works use
appeals to logic or emotion, and other techniques
to sway their readers. See also ARGUMENT.
Petrarchan sonnet See SONNET.
Plain style A style of writing common among the
Puritan settlers that focused on communicating
ideas as clearly as possible. This marked a
change from the ornate style used by European
writers of that time. Colonial writers such as
William Bradford thought of writing as a practical
tool for spiritual self-examination and religious
instruction, not as an opportunity to demonstrate
cleverness.
Play A literary work of any length intended for
performance on a stage with actors assuming the
roles of the characters and speaking from a
playwright’s script. See also DRAMA.
Plot The sequence of events in a short story, novel, or drama.
Most plots deal with a problem and develop around a conflict, a
struggle between opposing forces. An external conflict is a struggle
between a character and an outside force, such as another
character, society, nature, or fate. An internal conflict takes place
within the mind of a character who struggles with opposing feelings.
The plot begins with exposition, which introduces the story’s
characters, setting, and situation. The rising action adds
complications to the conflicts, or problems, leading to the climax, or
the point of highest emotional pitch. Falling action is the logical
result of the climax, and the resolution, or dénouement, presents
the final outcome. See pages 928, 1018, and 1067. See also
CLIMAX, CONFLICT, DÉNOUEMENT, EXPOSITION, FALLING
ACTION, RESOLUTION, RISING ACTION.
Poetic license The freedom given to poets to
ignore standard rules of grammar or proper diction
in order to create a desired artistic effect.
Poetry A form of literary expression that differs
from prose in emphasizing the line, rather than the
sentence, as the unit of composition. Many other
traditional characteristics of poetry apply to some
poems but not to others. Some of these
characteristics are emotional, imaginative
language; use of figures of speech; division into
stanzas; and the use of rhyme and regular
patterns of meter.
Point of view The standpoint from which a story is told. In
a story with first-person point of view, the narrator is a
character in the story and uses the words I and me. In a
story told from thirdperson point of view, the narrator is
someone who stands outside the story and describes the
characters and action. Third-person omniscient, or allknowing point of view, means that the narrator knows
everything about the characters and events and may
reveal details that the characters themselves could not
reveal. If the narrator describes events as only one
character perceives them, the point of view is called thirdperson limited. See pages 55, 262, 374, 519, 1000, and
1277. See also NARRATOR, SPEAKER.
Postmodernism A movement in art, music, film,
literature, and other disciplines in the late
twentieth century. Unreliable narration, the
blending of multiple styles and genres within a
single work, and magical realism are all features
of postmodern literature. See also MODERNISM.
Propaganda Written or spoken material designed
to bring about a change or to damage a cause
through use of emotionally charged words, namecalling, or other techniques.
Props A theater term (a shortened form of
properties) for objects and elements of the
scenery of a stage play or movie or television set.
See also DRAMA.
Prologue An introductory section of a play,
speech, or other literary work.
Prose Written language that is not versified.
Novels, short stories, and essays are usually
written in prose.
Prose poem A short prose composition that uses
rhythm, imagery, and other poetic devices to
express an idea or emotion. Prose poetry does
not have line breaks; instead, the sentences
appear in standard paragraph form.
Protagonist The central character in a literary
work, around whom the main conflict revolves.
Generally the audience is meant to sympathize
with the protagonist. See also ANTAGONIST,
CONFLICT, HERO.
Proverb A saying that expresses some truth
about life or contains some bit of popular wisdom
such as “faint heart never won fair lady,” “marry in
haste, repent at leisure,” or “out of sight, out of
mind.”
Psalm A song of praise most commonly found in
the biblical book of Psalms. David, king of Israel
around 1000 B.C., wrote many of these psalms.
Occasionally a modern poet will title his or her
poem a psalm.
Psychological realism An attempt to portray
characters in an objective, plausible manner.
Above all else, psychological realism insists that
characters be clearly motivated; they should not
act without apparent reason. See also
MOTIVATION, NATURALISM, REALISM.
Pun A humorous use of words that are similar in
sound (merry and marry) or of a word with several
meanings.
Punctuation mark Any standard mark, such as a
period, semicolon, hyphen, or comma, inserted to
clarify meaning.
Quatrain
Quatrain A stanza of four lines. Edwin Arlington
Robinson’s poems “Richard Cory” and “Miniver
Cheevy,” pages 569 and 570, are written in fourline stanzas. See also COUPLET, OCTAVE,
SESTET, STANZA.
Rationalism
Rhyme scheme
Realism
Rhythm
Refrain
Rising action
Regionalism
Romanticism
Repetition
Round character
Resolution
Run-on line
Rhetorical question
Rhyme
Rationalism A philosophy that values reason
over feeling or imagination. See also
ROMANTICISM.
Realism A literary movement first prominent in
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Realism seeks to portray life as it is really lived.
Realistic fiction often focuses on middle- or
working-class settings and characters, often with
reformist intent. See page 474. See also
NATURALISM, PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM.
Refrain A line or lines repeated regularly, usually
in a poem or song. See page 331. See also
REPETITION.
Regionalism An emphasis on themes,
characters, customs, and settings of a particular
geographical region. See page 472. See also
DIALECT, LOCAL COLOR, VERNACULAR.
Repetition The recurrence of sounds, words,
phrases, lines, or stanzas in a speech or literary
work. Repetition increases the sense of unity in a
work and can call attention to particular ideas. See
page 810. See also PARALLELISM, REFRAIN.
Resolution See PLOT.
Rhetorical question A question to which no
answer is expected or the answer is obvious. See
page 107.
Rhyme The repetition of the same stressed vowel
sounds and any succeeding sounds in two or more
words. End rhyme occurs at the ends of lines of
poetry. Internal rhyme occurs within a single line.
Slant rhyme occurs when words include sounds that
are similar but not identical ( jackal and buckle). Slant
rhyme typically involves some variation of consonance
(the repetition of similar consonant sounds) or
assonance (the repetition of similar vowel sounds).
See page 424. See also ASSONANCE,
CONSONANCE, INTERNAL RHYME, RHYME
SCHEME, SOUND DEVICES.
Rhyme scheme The pattern that end rhymes
form in a stanza or a poem. Rhyme scheme is
designated by the assignment of a different letter
of the alphabet to each new rhyme. See pages
563 and 936. See also RHYME.
Rhythm The pattern of beats created by the
arrangement of stressed and unstressed
syllables, especially in poetry. Rhythm gives
poetry a musical quality, can add emphasis to
certain words, and may help convey the poem’s
meaning. Rhythm can be regular, with a
predictable pattern or meter, or irregular. See
pages 695 and 1197. See also IAMBIC
PENTAMETER, METER.
Rising action See PLOT.
Romanticism An artistic movement that began in
Europe and valued imagination and feeling over
intellect and reason. See page 162. See also
TRANSCENDENTALISM.
Round character See CHARACTER.
Run-on line Also called enjambment, the
continuation of a sentence from one line of a
poem to another. Run-on lines enable poets to
create a conversational tone, breaking lines at a
point where people would normally pause in
conversation, yet still maintaining the unit of
thought. See page 673. See also END-STOPPED
LINE.
Sarcasm
Short story
Stereotype
Satire
Simile
Stream of consciousness
Scansion
Slant rhyme
Structure
Scene
Slave narrative
Style
Science fiction
Soliloquy
Subject
Screenplay
Sonnet
Surprise ending
Sensory details
Sound devices
Surrealism
Septet
Speaker
Suspense
Sestet
Spondee
Symbol
Setting
Stage directions Symbolist poetry
Shakespearean sonnet Stanza
Synecdoche
Sarcasm The use of bitter or caustic language to
point out shortcomings or flaws. See also IRONY,
SATIRE.
Satire Writing that comments, sometimes
humorously, on human flaws, ideas, social
customs, or institutions. The purpose of satire may
be to reform or to entertain. See page 1234. See
also COMEDY, FARCE, HUMOR, PARODY,
SARCASM, WIT.
Scansion The analysis of the meter of a line of
verse. To scan a line of poetry means to note the
stressed and unstressed syllables and to divide
the line into its feet, or rhythmical units. Stressed
syllables (´) and unstressed syllables ( ˘ ) are
marked. See also FOOT, METER, RHYTHM.
Scene A subdivision of an act in a play. A scene
is shorter than an act. See also ACT, DRAMA.
Science fiction Fiction that deals with the impact
of science and technology—real or imagined—on
society and on individuals. Sometimes occurring
in the future, science fiction commonly portrays
space travel, exploration of other planets, and
possible future societies. See also FANTASY.
Screenplay The script of a film, which, in addition
to dialogue and stage directions, usually contains
detailed instructions about camera shots and
angles. See also STAGE DIRECTIONS.
Sensory details Evocative words or phrases that
appeal to one or more of the five senses. See
page 89. See also IMAGERY.
Septet A stanza of seven lines.
Sestet A six-line stanza. See also SONNET.
Setting The time and place in which the events
of a literary work occur. Setting includes not only
the physical surroundings, but also the ideas,
customs, values, and beliefs of a particular time
and place. Setting often helps create an
atmosphere or a mood. See pages 594, 739,
769, 1189, and 1214. See also ATMOSPHERE,
MOOD.
Shakespearean sonnet See SONNET.
Short story A brief fictional narrative that
generally includes the following major elements:
setting, characters, plot, point of view, and theme.
See also FICTION, NOVEL.
Simile A figure of speech that uses like or as to
compare seemingly unlike things. See page 1217.
See also ANALOGY, FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE,
METAPHOR.
Slant rhyme See RHYME.
Slave narrative Autobiographical account of the
life of a former enslaved person. These
documents helped expose the cruelty and
inhumanity of slavery. See page 67. See also
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, MEMOIR.
Soliloquy In a drama, a long speech by a
character who is alone on stage. A soliloquy
reveals the private thoughts and emotions of that
character. See also DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE,
MONOLOGUE.
Sonnet A lyric poem of fourteen lines, typically written in iambic
pentameter and usually following strict patterns of stanza
divisions and rhymes. The Shakespearean, or English, sonnet
consists of three quatrains, or four-line stanzas, followed by a
couplet, or pair of rhyming lines. The rhyme scheme is typically
abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The rhyming couplet often presents a
conclusion to the issues or questions presented in the three
quatrains. In the Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet, fourteen lines
are divided into two stanzas, the eight-line octave and the
sixline sestet. The sestet usually responds to a question or
situation posed by the octave. The rhyme scheme for the octave
is typically abbaabba; for the sestet the rhyme scheme is
typically cdecde. See page 787. See also COUPLET, RHYME
SCHEME, STANZA.
Sound devices Techniques used, especially in
poetry, to appeal to the ear. Writers use sound
devices to enhance the sense of rhythm, to
emphasize particular sounds, or to add to the
musical quality of their writing and rhyme. See
also ALLITERATION, ASSONANCE,
CONSONANCE, ONOMATOPOEIA, RHYME.
Speaker The voice speaking in a poem, similar to
a narrator in a work of prose. Sometimes the
speaker’s voice is that of the poet, sometimes that
of a fictional person or even a thing. The
speaker’s words communicate a particular tone,
or attitude, toward the subject of the poem. One
should never assume that the speaker and the
writer are identical, however. See also TONE.
Spondee A metrical foot of two accented
syllables. See also FOOT, METER.
Stage directions Instructions written by a
playwright to describe the appearance and actions
of characters, as well as the sets, costumes, and
lighting. See page 1046. See also DRAMA.
Stanza A group of lines forming a unit in a poem
or song. A stanza in a poem is similar to a
paragraph in prose. Typically, stanzas in a poem
are separated by a line of space. See page 831.
See also SONNET.
Stereotype A character who is not developed as
an individual, but instead represents a collection
of traits and mannerisms supposedly shared by all
members of a group. See also CHARACTER.
Stream of consciousness The literary
representation of a character’s free-flowing
thoughts, feelings, and memories. Stream-ofconsciousness writing does not always employ
conventional sentence structure or other rules of
grammar and usage. See pages 658, 775, and
776. See also SURREALISM.
Structure The particular order or pattern a writer
uses to present ideas. Narratives commonly follow
a chronological order, while the structure of
persuasive or expository writing may vary. Listing
detailed information, using cause and effect, or
describing a problem and then offering a solution
are some other ways a writer can present a topic.
See pages 1148 and 1168.
Style The expressive qualities that distinguish an
author’s work, including word choice and the
length and arrangement of sentences, as well as
the use of figurative language and imagery. Style
can reveal an author’s attitude and purpose in
writing. See pages 733, 1274, and 1322. See also
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE, DICTION, FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE, IMAGERY, TONE.
Subject The topic of a literary work.
Surprise ending An unexpected plot twist at the
end of a story. The ending might surprise readers
because the author provides misleading clues or
withholds important information.
Surrealism A literary and artistic style that
originated in Europe in the 1920s. Surrealist
works feature bizarre and impossible events
treated as if they were normal. Surrealist poetry
expresses the workings of the unconscious mind
and how these workings interact with outer reality.
This poetry is characterized by the use of images
from dreams and stream-of-consciousness
associations. See also STREAM OF
CONSCIOUSNESS.
Suspense A feeling of curiosity, uncertainty, or
even dread about what is going to happen next in
a story. Writers increase the level of suspense by
creating a threat to the central character and
raising questions in a reader’s mind about the
outcome of a conflict. Suspense is especially
important in the plot of an adventure or mystery
story. See pages 250 and 606. See also
PROTAGONIST.
Symbol Any object, person, place, or experience
that exists on a literal level but also represents, or
stands for, something else, usually something
abstract. See pages 266, 1281, and 1296. See
also ALLEGORY, FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.
Symbolist poetry A kind of poetry that
emphasizes suggestion and inward experience
instead of explicit description. See page 650. See
also IMAGISM, MODERNISM.
Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a part is
used for the whole or a whole is used for a part. In
“All nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues,” tongues (a part) is used for the whole
(languages).
Tall tale
Tone
Tercet
Tragedy
Terza rima
Transcendentalism
Tetrameter
Trimeter
Theater of the absurd
Triplet
Theme
Trochee
Thesis
Tall tale A type of folklore associated with the
American frontier. Tall tales are humorous stories
that contain wild exaggerations and inventions.
Typically, their heroes are bold but sometimes
foolish characters who may have superhuman
abilities or who may act as if they do. Tall tales are
not intended to be believable; their exaggerations
are used for comic effect. See also FOLKLORE,
FOLKTALE.
Tercet A stanza of three rhyming lines.
Terza rima A verse form with a sequence of
three-line stanzas rhyming aba, bcb, cdc, and
so on.
Tetrameter A metrical line of four feet. See also
FOOT, METER.
Theater of the absurd See ABSURD, THEATER
OF THE
Theme The central message of a work of literature, often
expressed as a general statement about life. Some works
have a stated theme, which is expressed directly. More
works have an implied theme, which is revealed gradually
through events, dialogue, or description. A literary work
may have more than one theme. Some themes are
universal, meaning that they are widely held ideas about
life. Themes and topics are different. The topic of a work
might be love; the theme would be what the writer says
about love, that it is painful or wonderful or both, for
example. See pages 179, 542, 679, and 869. See also
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE, FABLE, MORAL.
Thesis The main idea of a work of nonfiction. The
thesis may be stated directly or implied. See page
194. See also NONFICTION.
Tone An author’s attitude toward his or her
subject matter or the audience. Tone is conveyed
through elements such as word choice,
punctuation, sentence structure, and figures of
speech. A writer’s tone might convey a variety of
attitudes such as sympathy, objectivity, or humor.
See pages 123, 185, 492, 528, 873, 1209, and
1333. See also AUTHOR’S PURPOSE, DICTION,
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, MOOD, STYLE,
VOICE.
Tragedy A play in which a main character suffers
a downfall. That character, the tragic hero, is
typically a person of dignified or heroic stature.
The downfall may result from outside forces or
from a weakness within the character, which is
known as a tragic flaw. See page 1089. See also
DRAMA, HERO.
Transcendentalism A philosophical and literary
movement whose followers believed that basic
truths could be reached only by “going beyond,” or
transcending, reason and reflecting on the world
of the spirit and on one’s own deep and free
intuition. Transcendentalists believed that the
individual could transform the world—not only
through writing, but also through utopian
communities, antislavery activity, and other social
action. See page 170. See also RATIONALISM,
ROMANTICISM.
Trimeter A metrical line of three feet. See also
FOOT, METER
Triplet See TERCET.
Trochee A metrical foot made up of one accented
and one unaccen ted syllable. See also FOOT.
Understatement
Unreliable narrator
Understatement Language that makes
something seem less important than it really is.
See also HYPERBOLE.
Unreliable narrator A narrator whose account of
events is faulty or distorted in some way. Some
unreliable narrators intentionally mislead readers.
Others fail to understand the true meaning of the
events they describe. For example, if a story is
narrated by a small child, he or she might
misinterpret the behavior of adult characters. Most
stories with unreliable narrators are written in the
first person. See also POSTMODERNISM.
Verisimilitude
Vernacular
Verse paragraph
Voice
Verisimilitude The illusion of reality, often
achieved by presenting concrete, detailed
descriptions.
Vernacular Ordinary speech of a particular
country or region. Vernacular language is more
casual than cultivated, formal speech. Slang and
dialect are commonly described as vernacular
language. Regional writers sometimes employ
vernacular language for enhanced realism. See
also COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE, DIALECT,
LOCAL COLOR, REGIONALISM.
Verse paragraph A group of lines in a poem that
form a unit. Unlike a stanza, a verse paragraph
does not have a fixed number of lines. While
poems written before the twentieth century usually
contain stanzas, many contemporary poems are
made up of verse paragraphs. Verse paragraphs
help to organize a poem into thoughts, as
paragraphs help to organize prose. See page
1203. See also STANZA.
Voice The distinctive use of language that
conveys the author’s or narrator’s personality to
the reader. Voice is determined by elements of
style such as word choice and tone. See pages
406, 525, 791, and 1255. See also AUTHOR’S
PURPOSE, DICTION, NARRATOR, STYLE,
TONE.
Wit
Word choice
Wit An exhibition of cleverness and humor. See
also COMEDY, HUMOR, SARCASM, SATIRE.
Word choice See DICTION.
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