Alliteration
Two or more words in a line of verse or a sentence of prose begin with the same sound. There are two types of alliteration: when the repeated sound is a vowel, it is sometimes called assonance. When the repeated sound is a consonant, it is sometimes calle
Allusion
A reference to another work of person, place, thing, or event in literature, history, or the arts.
Ex: She said to me, "You dance like Shakira
Argument
It is a strong statement of opinion that an author sets out to prove
Aka: Thesis sometimes
Blank verse
Refers to unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter
Elizabethan playwrights often use it
Ex: Shakespeare's work
Character
A person or animal who plays a role in a literary work OR the personality traits and type of the person or animal
Dialect
Colloquial, idiomatic speech used in everyday conversation among uneducated characters; also refers to speech patterns used in a specific geographic region; the grammatical and spelling patterns of these differ from those of Standard English.
Dialogue
Refers to the words spoken by characters in fiction, poetry, or drama and by the real people who are quoted in works of nonfiction
End-stopping
A verse line with a pause or a stop at the end of it
Enjambment
Occurs when lines do not end in punctuation marks, but rather express thoughts or ideas that continue without pause
Figurative Language
Any figure of speech that has a meaning beyond the literal definition of the
words
Free verse
Free" because it does not employ a regular rhythm, meter, or
rhyme scheme.
Hyperbole
Refers to gross exaggeration that no one could mistake for a literal statement of fact. It is usually used for humorous effect
Iambic Pentameter
A poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable
Ex: Shakespearean sonnets
Imagery
Any descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the five
senses
Ex: Crashing waves
Inference
A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. The reader must infer from what the author implies
Main Idea
The most important concept the author is writing about�the one he or she most wants the reader to think about
Metaphor
Direct comparison of two apparently unlike things, stating
that A is B. In an implied metaphor, the author does not say "A is B," but describes A as if it were B. An extended metaphor is one that the author continues to develop through several lines of pr
Meter
Refers to the number of times a rhythmic pattern occurs in a line of verse; measured in metric feet. Each repetition of a rhythmic pattern represents one metric foot
Ex: Iambic Pentameter is a type of this
Trimeter
Three feet per line
Tetrameter
Four feet per line
Mood
Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader, how it affects the reader
Narrator
Person telling the story
Paraphrase
To restate in other words; A statement that presents a given idea in new language
Personification
A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes
Ex: The walls are breathing
Plot
Sequence of events in a story
Point of view
the perspective from which the story is told (first, second, third)
Limited
The reader can only see into the thoughts and feelings of one character. Both first-person and third-person narrators can tell a story from a limited point of view.
Omniscient
Knowing everything; having unlimited awareness or understanding
Exact Rhyme
Repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem.
Slant Rhyme
Rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme
Rhythm
Refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse
Spondaic
Type of Rhythm: STRESSED/STRESSED/STRESSED
Ex: By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Anapestic
Type of Rhythm: UNSTRESSED UNSTRESSED STRESSED/UNSTRESSED UNSTRESSED STRESSED/UNSTRESSED UNSTRESSED STRESSED
Ex: Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house
Dactylic
Type of Rhythm: STRESSED UNSTRESSED UNSTRESSED/STRESSED UNSTRESSED UNSTRESSED/STRESSED UNSTRESSED UNSTRESSED
Ex: Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
Trochaic
Type of Rhythm: STRESSED UNSTRESSED/STRESSED UNSTRESSED/STRESSED UNSTRESSED
Ex: THROUGH the FORest HAVE I GONE.
Iambic
Type of Rhythm: UNSTRESSED STRESSED/UNSTRESSED STRESSED/UNSTRESSED STRESSED
Ex:
Setting
The context in time and place in which the action of a story occurs.
Simile
A comparison using "like" or "as"
Ex: Working with Phoenix is like gold
Sonnet
A fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter
Ex: Shakespeare
Italian Sonnet
Describes a problem or conflict in its first eight lines (the octave). With the final six lines (the sestet), the speaker's thoughts usually take a turn toward some kind of resolution of the conflict. The sestet is set off from the octave by a change in r
Shakespearean Sonnet
Asks a question or describes a problem in three quatrains of four lines each, rhymed either ABBA or ABAB, then sums up and resolves the situation in a final rhymed couplet
Speaker
The narrator of a poem
Summary
A brief statement or account of the main points of something
Symbolism
A device in literature where an object represents an idea beyond its face value
Ex: Food in "Like Water for Chocolate
Theme
Central idea of a work of literature, usually spoken of as being universal�common to human experience in all times, places, and cultures
Ex: American Dream in Gatsby
Tone
Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character, Author's mood about the work
Ex: Could be grim, dispassionate
Metonymy
A figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated
Ex. The White House is concerned wi terrorism. "The White House" refers to America
Synechdoche
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that refers to a part of something is substituted to stand in for the whole, or vice versa
Ex. I am digging your wheels. "Wheels" is a part standing for the whole.