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Glossary of Literary Terms
Glossary of literary terms for analyzing English literature.
38
English
9th Grade
05/04/2011

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Term
Alliteration
Definition
Repetition of initial consonant sound.
Term
Apostrophe
Definition
Directly addressing an abstract quality or nonexistent person as though it were present.
Term
Assonance
Definition
Repetition of vowel sounds.
Term
Ballad
Definition
A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung.
Term
Blank verse
Definition
Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Term
Couplet
Definition
Two successive rhyming lines of poetry.
Term
Epic
Definition
An extended narrative poem, told in an elevated style and about a heroic theme.
Term
Figurative language
Definition
Variations from the normal order, structure, or meaning of words for effect.
Term
Figure of Speech
Definition
Devices of figurative language.
Term
Foot
Definition
A unit of rhythm within a line of poetry.
Term
Free verse
Definition
A poem without structured form or rhyme scheme.
Term
Heroic couplet
Definition
A pair of rhymed iambic pentameter lines.
Term
Hyperbole
Definition
A deliberate exaggeration for emphasis.
Term
Iambic pentameter
Definition
A line of verse made up of five feet, each containing one unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable.
Term
Irony
Definition
A difference between what the reader senses between the words that are spoken and what is true.
Term
Lyric
Definition
A short poem expressing the internal thoughts, emotional thoughts and feelings of a single speaker.
Term
Metaphor
Definition
A direct comparison by saying that one thing is something else.
Term
Metonymy
Definition
A closely related object is used to represent another.
Term
Metre
Definition
The pattern of stressed syllables which occurs at regular intervals and makes up the rhythm of verse.
Term
Mock epic
Definition
A poem written in the elevated style of an epic, but which deals with a trivial subject.
Term
Narrative
Definition
A story.
Term
Octave
Definition
The first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Term
Onomatopoeia
Definition
The use of words whose sounds reinforce their meaning.
Term
Oxymoron
Definition
Two apparently contradictory words which together make sense.
Term
Paradox
Definition
A statement that appears contradictory, but upon closer inspection reveals some truth.
Term
Personification
Definition
Giving human qualities to things or ideas.
Term
Quatrain
Definition
A four line stanza.
Term
Rhetorical question
Definition
A question not intending an answer.
Term
Rhyme
Definition
The repetition of a regular or similar sound.
Term
Rhyme scheme
Definition
The pattern of a rhyme in a piece of poetry.
Term
Rhythm
Definition
The sense of movement resulting from patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.
Term
Satire
Definition
A type of writing that ridicules with the purpose of inspiring change.
Term
Sestet
Definition
A six line stanza.
Term
Simile
Definition
A comparison using "like" or "as".
Term
Sonnet
Definition
A 14 line lyric poem, written in iambic pentameter.
Term
Synecdoche
Definition
A part of something represents the whole.
Term
Tone
Definition
The attitude the poet takes towards his audience.
Term
Understatement
Definition
When something is deliberately said to be less than it is.
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