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Analysis and Interp. of Lit
Glossary of Literary Terms
49
Literature
Undergraduate 1
12/30/2008

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Term
abstract language
Definition
Language that refers to concepts, ideas, qualities, or "abstracts" rather than particular people, places, or things.  Might refer to that which cannot be experienced by the five senses (sight, touch, sound, taste, or smell).  Love,pride,and bravery are all abstract, whereas rock, man, and care are all concrete and more specific.
Term
alexandrine
Definition
a line of poetry that contains six iambic feet.  Might also be referred to as iambic hexameter
Term
alliteration
Definition
the repetition of similar consonant sounds, usually occurring at the beginning of consecutive words.
Term
allusion
Definition
within a literary work, a reference to another character, setting, or literary work that calls into mind a concept, association, or memory that has acquired some significance for the reader.
Term
ambiguity
Definition
double or mulitple layers of meaning in a work that demand interpretation and defy easy definition.
Term
analogy
Definition
a comparison that uses a known thing or idea to explain something vague or unfamiliar.
Term
anapest
Definition
a metrical foot of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable (ie: jamboree)
Term
archaism
Definition
Literary use of outdated or obsolete language for effect or to complicate a definition
Term
assonance
Definition
the repetition of vowel sounds within a line, sentence, or stanza.  Assonance may be internal (ie: an "a" sound in the middle of consecutive words), or it may occur toward the end of lines to prompt a rhyme.
Term
ballad
Definition
a narrative poem that focuses on an event or episode and that is usually told without authorial comment.  The form for the ballad consists of four quatrains of alternating four- and three-stress iambic lines.  The second and fourth lines will rhyme.  Typically, ballads will also use a refrain; the last lines of each stanza are nearly identical.
Term
blank verse
Definition
Lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter.  The dominant metrical form of many of Shakespeare's plays.
Term
caesura
Definition
a stronge pause or break within a line of verse.  From the Latin for "cutting off."
Term
carpe diem
Definition
Used as a poetic convention in 16/17th century England, arging the reader to make much of time and to take advantage of ech day before time runs out.
Term
conceit
Definition
An extended metaphor or comparison
Term
concrete language
Definition
Language that employs vivid, graphic images that appeal to the senses, as opposed to abstract language
Term
consonance
Definition
A preetition of similar sounds (typically consonant sounds) at the end of words. IE: purse/curse or turn/burn
Term
couplet
Definition
Two rhymed lines of verse. Couplets may occur as a part of a stanza or may be self-contained and set away from the rest of the text. In this case, the two rhymed lines would be rrferred to a close couplet.
Term
dactyl
Definition
One stressed syllable followed ty two unstressed syllables (for example, the word syllable, admiral, or carousel
Term
dimeter
Definition
A line of poetry consisting of two metrical feet.
Term
dramatic monologue
Definition
A poem in which one speaker addresses another person (a character in the poem only recognizable to the speaker) in the form of a monologue. Made popular by Robert Browning, these peoms often allow the speaker to reveal facets of his or her personality gradually throughout the narrative. These monologues are the dramatic because the speaker is speaking at a particular time and place.
Term
elegy
Definition
Often, a poem on the occasion of the death of a particular person. More broadly, a poem on the sugject of death or human frailty and mortality
Term
end rhyme
Definition
a true rhyme, which sounds much like an echo of similar sounds. For example, the rhyming of tense/defense or pure/cure.
Term
end-stopped line
Definition
A line of verse that ends with a periiod, colon or semicolon.
Term
enjambment
Definition
Occurs when one line in a poem runs on to another without pause or punctuation
Term
epigraph
Definition
a short quotation or observation related to the theme of a work that is placed at the beginning of the piece or chapter.
Term
explication
Definition
A line-by-line explanation of a literary text. As opposed to interpretation, which refers to a more broad, subjective look at a work's significance or themes, and explication is a more literal, step-by-step reading of the work.
Term
feminine rhyme
Definition
Twoo-syallable rhymes in which the last syllables are unstressed such as flying/crying
Term
figurative language
Definition
Language used in poetry or prose that allows a writer to express a comparison without using a literal statement. Examples include metaphors and similes
Term
foot
Definition
The smallest unit of verse in a poem. A foot is usually composed of one stressed an one or more unstressed syllables. Some different kinds of metric feet include anapest, iamb, dactyl, trochee, and spondee
Term
free verse
Definition
Poetry htat is open in form and free of a patterned meter and rhyme. A form that allows for a less rigid structure and possesses its own pattern and rhythm
Term
heptameter
Definition
Verse line that consist of seven metrical feet
Term
hyperbole
Definition
Figurative language that includes overstatement or exaggeration.
Term
iamb
Definition
A metrical foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Ie: today/defer
Term
imagery
Definition
Figurative language that refers or makes reference to physical sensations (usually sight and touch). By applealing to the senses in this way, images illustrate concepts, things, or processes.
Term
masculine rhyme
Definition
Occurs when the last stressed syllable rhymes, as in dog/frog
Term
metaphor
Definition
A figure of speech containing two elements in which one elment is provided with certain attributes or characteristics by being equated with the second, different element. Or put simply, something described as though it were something else, as in "Life is a bowl of cherries."
Term
meter
Definition
Recurring patterns of syllables in lines of verse. These syllables may be either stressed or unstressed. Each metrical unit is called a foot; basic accented patterns include iambs, trochees, anapests, dactyls, and spondees
Term
monometer
Definition
verse line that consists of one metrical foot.
Term
near rhyme
Definition
Also referred to as eye rhyme, slant rhyme, or approximate rhyme. Ie: near rhyming of the words jail/jewel or close/lose.
Term
nonameter
Definition
Verse line that consists of nine metrical feet
Term
octameter
Definition
A stanza consisting of eight lines of an Italian sonnet that are followed by a sestet concludin the poem. The octave will often by rhymed abbaabba
Term
ode
Definition
A finely crafged poem reserved for solemn , important subjects that the writer wishes to pay homage to. These subjects may be people or places and occasionally things.
Term
off rhyme
Definition
Also known as oblique rhyme. Occurs when word of marginal structural relationship are made to function as a rhyme. Occurs when wordw of marginal structural relationship are made to function as a rhyme. Oftern the rhyme will be approximate since the syllables in the words meant to rhyme will not match comleetely. For example, a poet might use the off rhyme pearl/alscohol
Term
onomatopeia
Definition
Ina poem, the use of workd hose sounds seem to correspond to and reflect their meanings, lop "pop," "buzz," "hiss," or "stream."
Term
oxymoron
Definition
Literally means "acutally silly." A figure of speech in which contadictory ideas are combine to createa pradoxical phrase or statement. For exampl, "thunderous silence," "manice grace," or "wise fool."
Term
pentameter
Definition
A line of poetry that contains five metrical feet.
Term
persona
Definition
the assumed identity that the writer presents when speaking to the reader. The persona may be closely related to the real-life personality of the writer or may be more removed from it, serving as a mask or disguise.
Term
personification
Definition
Toattribute human qualities to non human things such as animals, certain aspects of nature, abstractions, or ideas.
Term
Petrarchan sonnet
Definition
Also referred toas an Italian sonnet. The Petrarchan sonnet begins with an eight-line segment oractave with a rhyme scheme ababba followed by sestet(six-line statement) with a rhyme scheme that varies (often cdcdee or cdecde). Usually , this type of sonnet will have turning point, or narrative turn, after the first two quatrains and before the concluding sestet
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