Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Literary Terminologies
for Literature Subject Test (GRE)
34
English
Graduate
09/28/2011

Additional English Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Symbol
Definition
something that represents something else: functions as itself, and it implies meanings beyond itself
Term
Conventional symbol
Definition
something recognized by many people to represent certain ideas
Term
Literary or Contextual symbol
Definition
goes beyond traditional, public meanings: cannot be summarized in a word or two.
Term
Allegory
Definition
personification and a form of extended metaphor: events, actions, characters, settings, and objects represent specific abstractions or ideas (multi-valent in the case of Dante's Divine Comedy; Simple in the form of Pilgrim's Progress)
Term
Situational Irony
Definition
what happens is entirely different from what is expected
Term
Verbal irony
Definition
saying something different from what is meant
Term
Dramatic irony
Definition
speaker reveals more about themselves than about what they are speaking
Term
Cosmic irony
Definition
Crane's "A Man Said to the Universe"; Hardy's "Hap"
Term
Ballad
Definition
tells a story that was sung from one generation to the next until it was finally transcribed
Term
Eye rhyme
Definition
Spellings are similar; pronunciations differ
Term
Internal rhyme
Definition
at least one of the rhymed words within the line
Term
Masculine rhyme
Definition
rhyming of a single-syllable word
Term
Feminine rhyme
Definition
consists of a rhymed stressed syllable followed by one or more rhymed unstressed syllables
Term
Meter
Definition
pattern of stresses in a poem
Term
Prosody
Definition
made up of all metrical elements of a poem
Term
Scansion
Definition
consists of measuring the stresses in a line to determine the metrical pattern
Term
Foot
Definition
The iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, or spondee
Term
Iamb
Definition
-': away
Term
Trochee
Definition
'-: lovely
Term
Anapest
Definition
--': understand
Term
Dactyl
Definition
'--: desperate
Term
Spondee
Definition
'': dead set
Term
Caesura
Definition
pause at the end of a line of poetry
Term
End-stopped line
Definition
line has a natural-sounding pause at the end, often marked by puntuation
Term
Run-on line
Definition
A line that ends without a pause and continues into the next, resulting in enjambment
Term
Enjambment
Definition
In poetry, running over from one line to another
Term
Free-verse
Definition
open form poetry
Term
Fixed form
Definition
poetry with a definite pattern or lines / meters / rhymes / stanzas, etc.
Term
Heroic couplets
Definition
rhymed iambic pentameter: think Pope / Dryden
Term
Terza rima
Definition
aba, bcb, cdc, etc.
Term
Ballad stanza
Definition
alternating eight- and six-syllable lines (often tetrameter and trimeter)
Term
Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet
Definition
An octave (eight lines or two quatrains) followed by a sestet (six lines) normally rhyming abba abba cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdccdc. Involves problem then solution
Term
English (Shakespearean) sonnet
Definition
three quatrains followed by a couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. Involves escalating problem and sometimes a quick solution in the couplet
Term
Homily
Definition
passage of a religious nature; religious commentary on a particular section of scripture
Supporting users have an ad free experience!