A figure of speech involving exaggeration. an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as

“to wait an eternity” to “eat a horse”

Comparison is expressed by the use of some word or phrase, such as “like, as, than, similar to, resembles, seems” it is a weaker comparison than metaphor:

“My love is like a red, red rose.”

A figurative term is substituted for or identified with the literal term. Comparison is implied (not stated as with simile) does not use "like".

Example: “you are a rising star”

stronger than simile

John swelled and ruffled his plumage.

(versus John is a bird)

Giving human qualities to inanimate objects or non-human creatures.

“The yellow leaves flaunted their color gaily in the breeze.”

The use of the part for the whole. part of something is used to signify the whole: wheels for car. the law for police, city hall for the government a part stands in for a whole.

"all hands on deck" "hands" stands for all the people on the ship's crew.

The use of something closely related for the thing actually meant. Substitute naming: an associated idea names the item: the

"pen" (meaning writing) is mightier than the sword.

The "white house" (president's administration) announced one thing stands for something else that is closely related to it "the crown" referring to the king. Refers to associations: a place with an activity.

A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply

 “O Death, where is thy sting?”

"Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own."

"Dear Ella
Our Special First Lady of Song
You gave your best for so long."

Ambiguity of words or phrases is the ability to express more than one interpretation.  The ability to mean more than one thing.

it is distinct from vagueness, which is a statement about the lack of precision contained or available in the information.  

The representation through language of sense experience.

Appeals to the sense ("vivid blend of colors, textures, tastes, and fragrances..) imagery is language that addresses the sense. most common images in poetry are visual. The pattern of related comparative aspects of language, particularly of images, in a literary work. Imagery of light and darkness pervade “Hamlet.” So, too, does religious imagery.

Something that means more than what it is. stands for something beyond itself.

The glass unicorn in The Glass Menagerie,

the rocking horse in “The Rocking-Horse Winner,”

the road in Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”—all are symbols in this sense. Types are image, metaphor and simile.

the crown, a heart, a peace sign, a cross.

Things that have become universal symbols for something.

anything in nature that can stand for something else.

 A river=time, the ocean, the moon.

written ridicule of human folly with the purpose of bringing about reform 

Ridicule (bitter or gentle) of human folly or vice primarily in written literature (rather than speech), with the purpose of bringing about reform or at least keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice.

A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or of keeping others from falling into folly or vice.

Verbal Irony

do not confuse with sarcasm and satire

Saying the opposite of what one means.... produced intentionally by speakers

statement in which the meaning that a speaker employs is sharply different from the meaning that is ostensibly expressed. The ironic statement usually involves the explicit expression of one attitude or evaluation, but with indications in the overall speech-situation that the speaker intends a very different, and often opposite, attitude or evaluation.

Something that is different from what it seems to be.

A literary device or figure that may be used in the service of sarcasm or ridicule or may not – always implies some sort of discrepancy or incongruity.

A difference between surface meaning of the words and implications that may be drawn from them. A contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and in literature. In Lapis Lazuli irony is that though the etched figures represent the struggle to reach the mountain top and in the imagination of the author they do – in reality they don’t because they are etched figures.

You know something the actor doesn’t know….

you can see someone creeping up behind them while they sit peacefully.

A character speaks in ignorance of a situation or event known to the audience or to the other characters.

Dramatic irony is the device of giving the spectator an item of information that at least one of the characters in the narrative is unaware of

A discrepancy or incongruity between the actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate or between what one anticipates and what actually comes to pass. The opposite of what is expected occurs. Class example:

Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” – the boat that has saved them becomes a trap, they must leave safety to be saved.

An example would be a man who takes a step aside in order to avoid getting sprinkled by a wet dog, and falls into a swimming pool."

Not all forms of irony are conscious, intentional or planned. For example, irony also occurs serendipitously through unintended and unexpected circumstances or through the evolution of situations. Situational irony focuses on the surprising and inevitable fragility of the human condition, in which the consequences of actions are often the opposite of what was expected

stems from the notion that the gods (or the Fates) are amusing themselves by toying with the minds of mortals with deliberate ironic intent. Closely connected with situational irony, it arises from sharp contrasts between reality and human ideals, or between human intentions and actual results. The resulting situation is poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended.

In O. Henry's story "The Gift of the Magi", a young couple are too poor to buy each other Christmas gifts. The wife cuts off her treasured hair to sell it to a wig-maker for money to buy her husband a chain for his heirloom pocket watch. She's shocked when she learns he had pawned his watch to buy her a set of combs for her long, beautiful, prized hair.

the use of one object to represent or suggest another object or an idea.

A symbol is an arbitrary or conventional sign or something that stands for or suggests something else. A symbol in its basic sense, is a conventional representation of a concept or quantity; i.e., an idea, object, concept, quality. In more psychological and philosophical terms, all concepts are symbolic in nature, and representations for these concepts are simply token artifacts that are allegorical to, but do not directly codify) a symbolic meaning or symbolism.

A compact paradox, one in which two successive words apparently contradict each other.

“jumbo shrimp”

A Grammatical pause – A pause introduced into the reading of a line by a mark of punctuation.

//

The measured pattern of rhythmic accents in poems.

the number of feet in a line

The basic unit of measure in poetry - composed of stressed and unstressed syllables.

There are:

'falling meter' feet:  trochee (' - ) (top sy), dactyle (' - -) (mer ri ly),

'rising meter' feet: iamb (- ') (de stroy") ,  and anapest (- - ') (in ter vene)

and the spondee  (' ') (a men) 

trochee, spondee and iamb are all two syllables.

The dactyl and the anapest are three syllables.

Iambic pentameter is 5 iambs or "feet" with each foot containing two syllables, the first unstressed, the second stressed

 baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM.

Was this / the face / that launched / a thous / and ships

-‘ / -‘ /  -‘ /  -‘ /  -‘

Two iambic feet per line

Dust of Snow

The way /  a crow
Shook down / on me
The dust / of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given / my heart
A change / of mood
And saved / some part
Of a day I had rued 

-‘ / -‘

3 anapestic feet in a line of poetry

An anapest is a foot of poetry that contains three syllables: two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable.

I must fin / ish my jour / ney a lone

--‘ / --‘ / --‘

"rising meter"

A line of poetry comprised of four dactylic feet.

A dactylic foot (or dactyl) is made up of three syllables. The first syllable is stressed, the second two are unstressed.

DUM da da or '--

So a Dactylic tetrameter is:

DUM da da / DUM da da / DUM da da / DUM  da da

'-- / '-- / '-- / '--

"falling meter"

The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

Pic ture your / self in a / boat on a / riv- er with / tan-

ger- ine / tree- ees and / marm- a- lade / skii- ii- es

An anapest is a foot of poetry that contains three syllables: two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable.

un – der – stand

I must fin / ish my jour / ney a lone

--‘ / --‘ / --‘

'rising' meter

A dactylic foot (or dactyl) is made up of three syllables. The first syllable is stressed, the second two are unstressed.

DUM da da or '--

So a Dactylic tetrameter is:

DUM da da / DUM da da / DUM da da / DUM  da da

'-- / '-- / '-- / '--

"falling meter"

a poetic foot containing two syllables, the first unstressed, the second stressed

-‘

 baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM.

Was this / the face / that launched / a thous / and ships

-‘ / -‘ /  -‘ /  -‘ /  -‘

Shall I / com pare / thee to / a sum/ mer's day/?

A trochee is a metrical foot consisting of two syllables: a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one.

bar-ter

Falling meter: ‘ _

A metrical foot consisting of two syllables equally or almost equally accented

true – blue

' ' 

Poetic meters such as iambic and anapestic that move or ascend from an unstressed to a stressed syllable

iambic:  - '

or

anapestic: - - '

A formal structural division of a poem, consisting of one or more feet arranged as a separate rhythmical entity.

Lines are commonly classified according to their length in feet:

Monometer - 1 foot

dimeter - 2 feet

trimeter - 3 feet

tetrameter - 4 feet

pentameter - 5 feet

hexameter - 6 feet

heptameter - 7 feet

octameter - 8 feet

A line of poetry with one foot

 “I slept”

A line of poetry with two feet

“I slept / alone”

A line of poetry with three feet

“I slept / alone / beneath”

A line of poetry with four feet

“I slept / alone / beneath / the Bridge”

A line of poetry with five feet

“I slept / alone / beneath / the Brook / lyn Bridge”

A line of poetry with six feet

“I slept / alone / beneath / the Brook / lyn Bridge / last night”

A line of poetry with seven feet

“I slept / alone / beneath / the Brook/ lyn Bridge / again / last night”

A line of poetry with eight feet

“I slept / alone / myself / beneath / the Brook/ lyn Bridge / again / last night”

A group of lines whose metrical pattern is repeated throughout the poem.

A division or unit of a poem that is repeated in the same form—either with similar or identical patterns or rhyme and meter, or with variations from one stanza to another. 

A run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next.

An enjambed line differs from an end-stopped line in which the grammatical and logical sense is completed within the line.

I am not prone to weeping, as our sex Commonly are; the want of which vain dew Perchance shall dry your pities; but I have That honourable grief lodged here which burns Worse than tears drown.

A long, stately poem in stanzas of varied length, meter, and form.

An ode is typically a lyrical verse written in praise of, or dedicated to someone or something which captures the poet's interest or serves as an inspiration for the ode

Usually a serious poem on an exalted subject, such as Horace’s “Eheu fugaces,” but sometimes a more lighthearted work, such as Neruda’s “Ode to My Socks.” An extended lyric, usually elevated in style and with an elaborate stanzaic structure

A voice assumed by the author of a poem Speaker created by the poet “the speaking voice”

The basis or a persona poem is a change in point-of-view. You aren’t just writing about another character, you are writing as if you were that other character.

A statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements.

An apparent contradiction that is nevertheless somehow true

It functions as a method of literary analysis which involves examining apparently contradictory statements and drawing conclusions either to reconcile them or to explain their presence.

fires of hell emit "no light, but darkness visible."

 "though this be madness, yet there is method in't"

A narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface one.

Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation, names.

Names of people that suggest their character: “Chastity”. Animal farm the pigs represent the Kremlin, the horses the workers,

Ex: hiss, snap, bang

The use of words which, at least supposedly, sound like what they mean.

the repetition of similar vowel sounds.

”I rose and told him of my woe”

“Do you like blue”

the resolution of the plot of a literary work.

The denouement of Hamlet takes place after the catastrophe, with the stage littered with corpses. During the denouement Fortinbras makes an entrance and a speech.

The dénouement comprises events between the falling action and the actual ending scene of the drama or narrative and thus serves as the conclusion of the story.

Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader.

In the plot of a story or play, the action following the climax of the work that moves it towards its denouement or resolution.

During the falling action, which is the moment of reversal after the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt. Summary: The falling action is that part of the story in which the main part (the climax) has finished and you're heading to the resolution.

1. Plot, 2. Character, 3. Theme, 4. Point of View, 5. Setting, 6. Tone, 7. Atmosphere

The angle of vision from which a story is narrated.

The perspective from which a speaker or writer recounts a narrative or presents information.

Depending on the topic, purpose, and audience, writers of nonfiction may rely on the

first-person (I, we),

second-person (you, your), or

third-person (he, she, it, they).

The conveys the implied attitude of a writer toward the subject and characters of a work. The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward his subject, his audience, or himself; the emotional coloring, or emotional meaning of a work.

Tone is primarily conveyed through diction, point of view, syntax, and level of formality.

Tone has three main strands: the writer's attitude toward subject, reader, and self.

"Each of these determinants of tone is important, and each has many variations. Writers may be angry about a subject or amused by it or discuss it dispassionately. They may treat readers as intellectual inferiors to be lectured (usually a poor tactic) or as friends with whom they are talking. Themselves they may regard very seriously or with an ironic or an amused detachment (to suggest only three of numerous possibilities). Given all these variables, the possibilities of tone are almost endless.

The first stage of a fictional or dramatic plot, in which necessary background information is provided.

At the beginning of a narrative, the exposition is the author's providing of some background information to the audience about the plot, characters' histories, setting, and theme. Exposition is considered one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration. Aside from the common usage of exposition in narratives such as novels, films, television shows, and plays, the concept may be used in some non-narrative settings, such as speeches or academic reports.