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Literary Terms 4
Definitions
30
English
12th Grade
03/25/2010

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Term
imagery
Definition
the sensory content of a literary work; images which evoke pictures, sensations, smells, sounds
Term
in medias res
Definition
stories begun "in the middle of things"
Term
invocation
Definition
an appeal to gods, spirits, the Muses for inspiration or truth or aid
Term
irony
Definition
a contrast between what is stated and what is suggested - something different from what you'd expect or think is so - the reverse of the ordinary
Term
lay or lai
Definition
a song, a short fanciful medieval tale of love and/or adventure
Term
lampoon
Definition
a literary verse or prose work that is a scurrilous personal attack
Term
leitmotif
Definition
a recurrent word, phrase, situation, object or idea, i.e. "rags to riches" motif
Term
light verse
Definition
playful poetry, may be polished and elaborate but always lighthearted, whimsical, or humorous
Term
limerick
Definition
a jingling poem of 3 long and 2 short lines, lines 1,2 and 5 rhyming with each other, and lines 3 and 4 rhyming with each other - often humorous or "dirty"
Term
litote
Definition
a form of understatement that affirms something by negating its opposite, as in "She's no fool"
Term
local color
Definition
the detailed presentation of regional realism, picturesque details of a scene particular to a region (dialect, customs, scenery, etc.)
Term
lyric
Definition
originally a poem sung to a lyre - now a poem primarily on the speaker's emotions or meditations (rather than a narrative content)
Term
masque
Definition
an entertainment during the Renaissance wherein noblepersons performed a dignified playlet, usually allegorical and mythological, and lavishly produced
Term
maxim
Definition
a pointed statement alleging a truth, such as "Hope springs eternal in the human breast"
Term
melodrama
Definition
a drama wherein "good" characters are pitted against "evil" ones in sensational situations filled with twists and suspense
Term
metaphor
Definition
a figure of speech wherein an explicit comparison is made between 2 things without using the words "like" or "as"
Term
meter
Definition
in a line or poetry the recognizable pattern of accented/stressed and unaccented/unstressed syllables
Term
metonymy
Definition
a figure of speech wherein the name of one thing is used for another which it suggests or is related to, such as "the White House reports" is metonymy for "the executive branch reports"
Term
monody
Definition
a long, complex funeral poem
Term
monologue
Definition
an extended solo speech during a play, given by one character, overheard but uninterrupted by others on stage
Term
mood
Definition
the "air" or atmosphere of a work (calm, sinister, excited, suspenseful, somber, etc.)
Term
motif
Definition
a recurrent word, phrase, situation, object or idea, repeated to unify a work
Term
myth
Definition
any idea, true or false, to which people subscribe and which gives philosophic meaning to the facts of ordinary life
Term
narrative
Definition
a story, a tale (story-telling is narration)
Term
naturalism
Definition
the portrayal of life in accurate, detached, non-selective realism
Term
nonsense verse
Definition
light verse which makes absurd, amusing assertions - often jingles using nonexistent words, i.e. Carroll's "Jabberwocky"
Term
novel
Definition
a fictional prose narrative of substantial length
Term
objective
Definition
personality-free point of view when art reveals little or nothing of the artist - characters and images speak of their own and not the author's attitudes or values/beliefs
Term
octave
Definition
the first 8 lines of a sonnet, rhyming in a set pattern, or any 8 line verse
Term
ode
Definition
originally a song in honor of gods/heroes, but now a lyric poem, usually of considerable length and characterized by lofty feeling
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