Last Updated on: 10/25/ :57:29 AM Poetry, Short Stories: Literary Terms English II: Price

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Last Updated on: 10/25/ :57:29 AM Poetry, Short Stories: Literary Terms English II: Price"

Alexia Johnson
5 years ago
Views:

1 Last Updated on: 10/25/ :57:29 AM Poetry, Short Stories: Literary Terms English II: Price Directions: CLASSWORK: highlight the terms in orange (TB pages R44-R49), write any term not in textbook on other pages terms in BOLD denotes new terms. HOMEWORK: you will make note cards (96 in all from Poetry list and 56 new ones total 152) with the term, definition, and an example (NOT the one provided on this handout.), make sure to number the cards correctly (should be the number from this list, including the abc) the note cards will be graded, and you will use them to study for WEEKLY literary terms test (dates are listed on the board and on my calendar online). 1. Allegory A symbolic narrative in which the surface details imply a secondary meaning, the characters represent moral qualities. This is different from symbolism (symbol) because this is a complete narrative. (Sonnet L by Francesco Petrarch or Up-Hill by Christina Rossetti) 2. Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, (alliteration of the w sound) 3. Allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art. 4. Analogy makes a comparison between two or more things that are similar in some ways but otherwise unalike. 5. Antagonist A character or force against which another character struggles. Even in poems, there are antagonists ( Never Say Die by Keith Bickerstaffe) 6. Anaphora repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line throughout a work or the section of a work. 7. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables. (weak and weary) 8. Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality, object, or idea 9. Ballad is a songlike poem that tells a story, often one dealing with adventure and romance. 10. Blank Verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines. 11. Cacophony (cack-ah-fun-ee) Discordant sounds in the jarring juxtaposition of harsh letters or syllables, sometimes inadvertent, but often deliberately used in poetry for effect, as in the opening line of Fences: Crawling, sprawling, breaching spokes of stone, 12. Caesura (sez-yoo-ra) A short but definite pause within a line of verse. (fancy way of saying pause, indicated by a comma, dash, ellipsis) 13. Chiasmus (kahy-az-muh s) is a crossing or reversal of two elements reversal of the same words in a grammatical structure. ( Old King Cole - Old King Cole/ Was a merry old soul, / and a merry old soul was he;) 14. Connotation of a word is the set of ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning (feel of the word) 15. Consonance is the repetition of final consonant sounds in stressed syllables with different vowel sounds, as in hat and sit. 16. Couplet is a pair of rhyming lines, usually of the same length and meter. 17. Denotation of a word is its dictionary meaning, independent of other associations that the word may have. 18. Dialect is a special form of a language, spoken by people in a particular region or group. It may involve changes to the pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentences structure of the standard form of the language. 19. Diction refers to an author s choice of words, especially with regard to range of vocabulary, use of slang and colloquial language, and level of formality. 20. Dramatic Poetry is poetry that utilizes the techniques of drama. 21. Elegy a lyric poem that laments (grieves) the dead. 22. Epic is a long narrative poem about the deeds of gods or heroes. 23. Figurative language is writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally. 24. Free Verse is poetry not written in a regular pattern of meter or rhyme. 25. Foot a metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllable.

2 26. `Haiku is a three-line verse form. The first and third lines of a haiku each have five syllables. The second line has seven syllables. A haiku seeks to convey a single vivid emotion by means of images from nature. 27. Hyperbole a figure of speech involving exaggeration 28. Iamb an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, to-day 29. Idiom is an expression that is characteristic of a language, region, community, or class of people. 30. Image is a word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell. 31. Imagery is the descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader. 32. Irony 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. a. Verbal irony words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant b. Dramatic irony contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader knows to be true. c. Situational irony an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters or the reader 33. Juxtaposition is setting ideas or details side by side. This effectively helps readers analyze the similarities and differences between two ideas. 34. Lyric poem is a poem written in highly musical language that expresses the thoughts, observations, and feelings of a single speaker. 35. Metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else. a. Extended metaphor a writer speaks or writes of a subject as though it were something else, but sustains the comparison for several lines or for an entire poem. b. Implied metaphor - is an ambiguous usage of a term or concept that may reasonably be considered to refer to a metaphoric context. This is a common conversational or literary device that may be used to bait people or to mislead readers. Implied metaphor: A less direct metaphor. example: John swelled and ruffled his plumage The sky grew dark and pierced its white arrows The car spun around and danced in the snow 36. Meter of a poem is its rhythmical pattern. 37. Mood (atmosphere) is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. The mood is often suggested by descriptive details. Often the mood can be described in a single word, such as lighthearted, frightening, or despairing. 38. Narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. 39. Narrator is a speaker or character who tells a story. (all poems have a speaker, NOT always the author) 40. Octave an eight-line unit, which may constitute a stanza; or a section of a poem 41. Ode a long, stately poem in stanzas of varied length, meter, and form, usually a serious poem on an exalted subject, but sometimes a more lighthearted work 42. Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate sounds. Whirr, thud, and hiss 43. Oxymoron is a combination of words, or parts of words, that contradict each other. Deafening silence 44. Paradox is a statement that seems contradictory but actually may be true. 45. Paraphrase to restate the meaning of lines in your own words. 46. Parody a humorous, mocking imitation of a literary work, sometimes sarcastic, but often playful and even respectfully in its playful imitation. 47. Personification is a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is give human characteristics. 48. Phonetic Symbolism - Sound suggestiveness; the association of particular word-sounds with common areas of meaning so that other words of similar sounds come to be associated with those meanings. It is also called sound symbolism. An example of word sounds in English with a common area of meaning is a group beginning with gl, all having reference to light, which include: gleam, glare, glitter, glimmer, glint, glisten, glossy and glow. 49. Poetic structure The basic structures of poetry are lines and stanzas.

3 a. A line is a group of words arranged in a row. A line of poetry may break, or end, in different ways. Varied line lengths care create unpredictable rhythms. b. An end-stopped line is one in which both the grammatical structure and sense are complete at the end of the line. c. Enjambment - A run-on line is one in which both the grammatical structure and sense continue past the end of the line. 50. Poetry one of the three major types of literature, make sure of highly concise, musical, and emotionally charged language, uses imagery, figurative language, and special devices of sound such as rhyme. 51. Point of view the angle of vision from which a story is narrated. a. First-person character in the story tells the story b. Second-person narrator/character addresses the reader (advertisements) c. Third-person character outside the story tells the story i. Omniscient the narrator is all knowing, the readers sees and hears all of the characters thoughts and actions ii. Limited the narrator sees the world through only one character, sees what other characters are doing, but only hears that one character s thoughts iii. Objective the facts are reported by a seemingly neutral, impersonal observer or recorder 52. Pun a play on words involving a word with two or more different meanings or two words that sound alike but have different meanings. 53. Prose Poem is a poetic form that looks like prose, or a non-poetic work, but reads like poetry. Prose poems lack the line breaks most often fund in poetry, but they contain other poetic techniques such as repetition or rhyme. 54. Protagonist the main character of a literary work, even in poetry there are protagonists. 55. Quatrain is a stanza, or section, of a poem made up of four lines, usually with a definite rhythm and rhyme scheme. 56. Refrain a repeated line or group of lines, usually in poetry (in songs it is usually the title repeated at the end of each verse) 57. Repetition the use of any element of language sound, a word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence more than once, is used for musical effects and for emphasis. 58. Rhetorical devices special patterns of words and ideas that create emphasis and stir emotion. a. Parallelism the repetition of a grammatical structure in order to create a rhythm and make words more memorable. b. Restatement expressing the same idea in different words. c. Rhetorical questions questions with obvious answers 59. Rhyme is the repletion of sounds at the ends of words. a. End rhyme occurs when the rhyming words come at the ends of lines b. Internal rhyme occurs when the rhyming words appear in the same line c. Exact rhyme involves the repetition of words with the same vowel and consonant sounds, like ball and hall. d. Slant rhyme involves the repletion of words that sound alike but do not rhyme exactly, like grove and love 60. Rhyme scheme is a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem indicated by letters of the alphabet. 61. Rhythm is the pattern of beats, or stresses, in spoken or written language. Some poems follow a very specific pattern, or meter, whereas prose and free verse may use the natural rhythms of everyday speech. 62. Satire is a literary work that ridicules the foolishness and faults of individuals, an institution, society, or even humanity in general. 63. Sensory language is writing or speech that appeals to one or more of the senses. 64. Sestet a six-line unit of verse constituting a stanza or section of a poem; last six lines of an Italian sonnet. 65. Setting the time and place of a literary work that establish its context. 66. Simile is a figure of speech in which the words like or as are used to compare two apparently dissimilar items. a. Epic or Homeric simile is an elaborate comparison of unlike subjects.

4 67. Sonnet is a 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter. a. Shakespearean three quatrains and a couplet, abab cdcd efef gg, usually the volta is line 9 (shift) b. Italian or Petrachan an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines), abbaabba, cdecde The octave states a theme or asks a question, sestet comments on the theme or answers the question 68. Speaker is the imaginary voice assumed by the writer of a poem, not identified by name and could be a person, an animal, a thing, or an abstraction 69. Stanza is a repeated grouping of two or more lines in a poem that often share a pattern of rhythm and rhyme. 70. Style refers to an author s unique way of writing. Elements determining style include diction; tone; characteristic use of figurative language, dialect, or rhythmic devices; and typical grammatical structures and patterns. 71. Symbol (symbolism) is anything that stands for something else. 72. Syntax the grammatical order of words in a sentence or line of verse or dialogue. 73. Tanka is a poem that has five unrhymed lines of five, seven, fie, seven, and seven syllables. 74. Theme is a central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work. a. The theme of a literary work may be stated directly or implied. When the theme of a work is implied, readers infer what the work suggests about people or life. b. Archetypal themes are those that occur in folklore and literature across the world and throughout history. (good vs evil) 75. Tone of a literary work is the writer s attitude toward his or her audience and subject. 76. Understatement a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker says less than what he or she means; the opposite of exaggeration. (last line of Robert Frost s Birches ) 77. Villanelle is a nineteen-line lyric poem that relies heavily on repetition. The first and third lines alternate throughout the poem, which is structured in six stanzas (five stanzas of three-lines (tercets) and ending in a four-line stanza (quatrain). 78. Volta - ( Italian: turn ) the turn in thought in a sonnet that is often indicated by such initial words as But, Yet, or And yet. 79. Voice (persona) is a writer s distinctive sound or way of speaking on the page: word choice, sentence structure, and tone. 80. Characters a person or an animal who takes part in the action of a literary work a. Foil character(s) a character who provides a contrast to another character b. Round character shows many different traits faults as well as virtues c. Flat character shows only one trait d. Dynamic character develops and grows during the course of the story e. Static character does not change 81. Motivation a reason that explains or partially explains why a character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in a certain way 82. Characterization is the act of creating and developing a character a. Direct characterization the author directly states a character s traits b. Indirect characterization the author gives clues about a character by describing what a character looks like, does, and says, as well as how other character react to him or her 83. Conflict the struggle between opposing forces (not always a physical conflict) a. External conflict the main character struggles against an outside force, types: man vs man; man vs nature; man vs fate; man vs society b. Internal conflict the character is in conflict with himself or herself: man vs self 84. Plot structure the order in which to present information a. Chronological order the order in which events occurred (day, month, year) b. Sequential order gives events in the order that they occurred in time (first, second, third) c. Cause-and-effect (cause) an event, action, or feeling and (effect) the result

5 d. Spatial order details are presented as they are (or were) located in space such as, left to right; top to bottom 85. Plot the sequence of events in a literary work a. Exposition the part of the work that introduces the characters, the setting, and the basic situation b. Opening located within the exposition and establishes the general feeling of a story c. Inciting incident introduces the central conflict d. Rising action events leading up to the climax e. Climax is the high point of interest or suspense or the turning point of the plot f. Falling action leads to the resolution g. Resolution a general insight or change is conveyed h. Dénouement (day-u-maw) not all plots contain this, it usually falls after the resolution and it neatly ties all elements together 86. Anticlimax (anticlimactic) is the point at which you learn that the story will not turn out in a way that truly resolves the problem or satisfies the reader (anticlimax is always a letdown) 87. Surprise ending is a conclusion that violates the expectations of the reader but in a way that is both logical and believable 88. Colloquialism regional slang; examples: to bamboozle (to deceive); go bananas (to go insane or be very angry) 89. Description is a portrait in words of a person, place, or object 90. Epiphany a character s sudden flash of insight into a conflict or situation 91. Fiction prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events a. Novel a long work of fiction, develops multiple characters, one main plot with subplots, multiple themes b. Novella more concise than novels but longer than short stories; focus on a few main characters and a main plot; may have more than one theme c. Short story a brief work of fiction; one main character, one main plot 92. Science fiction writing that tells about imaginary events involving science or technology; set in the future 93. Gothic literature a genre that features bleak or remote settings, character in psychological torment, plots that include violence or the supernatural, strongly dramatic and intensely descriptive language, and a gloomy, melancholy, or eerie mood 94. Flashback means by which authors present material that occurred earlier than the present time of the narrative 95. Foreshadowing the use in a literary work of clues that suggests events that have yet to occur; creates suspense 96. Prediction - a logical idea about what will happen 97. Inference is an insight you reach that is based on stated details about information that is not stated directly 98. Suspense a rising curiosity or anxiety in readers 99. Pacing the speed with which a narrator relates events; fast or slow pacing can increase or lessen the suspense 100. Nuance subtle details 101. Dialogue conversation between or among characters 102. Anecdote a brief story told to entertain or to make a point (usually within a larger piece of literature)

Language Arts Literary Terms

Language Arts Literary Terms Shires Memorize each set of 10 literary terms from the Literary Terms Handbook, at the back of the Green Freshman Language Arts textbook. We will have a literary terms test