Expansion
Adds an unstressed syllable and a contraction or elision removes an unstressed syllable in order to maintain the rhythmic meter of a line. This practice explains some words frequently used in poetry such as th' in place of the, o'er in place of over, and
Fable
A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans.
Feminine ending
Term that refers to an unstressed extra syllable at the end of a line of iambic pentameter.
Figurative language
Speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning. Speech or writing employing figures of speech.
Flashback
When a character remembers a past event that is relevant to the current action of the story
Flat character
A literary character whose personality can be defined by one or two traits and does not change over the course of the story. Flat characters are usually minor or insignificant characters.
Foil
A character that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another.
Folklore
The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally.
Foot: The metrical length of a line is determined by the number of feet it contains. Monometer: One foot, Dimeter: Two feet, Trimeter: Three feet, Tetrameter: Four feet, Pentameter: Five feet, Hexameter: Six feet, Heptameter: Seven feet (The most common f
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Lamb
An iambic foot has two syllables. The first is unstressed and the second is stressed. The iambic foot is most common in English poetry.
Trochee
A trochaic foot has two syllables. The first is stressed and the second is unstressed.
Dactyl
A dactylic foot has three syllables beginning with a stressed syllable; the other two unstressed.
Anapest
An anapestic foot has three syllables. The first two are unstressed with the third stressed.
Foreshadowing
Clues in the text about incidents that will occur later in the plot, foreshadowing creates anticipation in the novel.
Free verse
Type of verse that contains a variety of line lengths, is unrhymed, and lacks traditional meter.
Genre
A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.
Gothic novel
A genre of fiction characterized by mystery and supernatural horror, often set in a dark castle or other medieval setting.
Heroine
A woman noted for courage and daring action or the female protagonist.
Hubris
Used in Greek tragedies, refers to excessive pride that usually leads to a hero's downfall.
Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or comic/dramatic effect.
Illocution
Language that avoids meaning of the words. When we speak, sometimes we conceal intentions or side step the true subject of a conversation. Writing illocution expresses two stories, one of which is not apparent to the characters, but is apparent to the rea
Imagery
The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.
In medias res
A story that begins in the middle of things.
Inversion
In poetry is an intentional digression from ordinary word order which is used to maintain regular meters. For example, rather than saying "the rain came" a poem may say "came the rain". Meters can be formed by the insertion or absence of a pause.
Irony
When one thing should occur, is apparent, or in logical sequence but the opposite actually occurs. Example: A man in the ocean might say, "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink." Dramatic Irony: When the audience or reader knows something charac
Verbal Irony: When one thing is said, but something else, usually the opposite, is meant
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Cosmic Irony: When a higher power toys with human expectations
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Masculine ending
Stressed extra syllable at the end of a line.
Memoir
An account of the personal experiences of an author.
Meter
The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison; this comparison does not use like or as.
Metonymy
The use of a word or phrase to stand in for something else which it is often associated. ie. Lamb means Jesus
Motif
A dominant theme or central idea.
Narrator
Someone who tells a story. First person: The narrator is a character in the story Third person objective: The narrator does not tell what anyone is thinking; the "fly on a wall" Third person limited: The narrator is able to tell the thoughts of one charac
Novella
A short novel usually under 100 pages.
Neutral language
Language opposite from emotive language as it is literal or even objective in nature.
Oblique rhyme
Imperfect rhyme scheme.
Ode
A lyric poem of some length, usually of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanzaic structure. An ode celebrates something. John Keats is known for writing odes.
Onomatopoeia
The formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
Paradox
Statement which seems to contradict itself. i.e. His old face was youthful when he heard the news.
Parody
A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. i.e. SNL or Weird Al Yankovich.
Personification
A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form.
Poetic justice
The rewarding of virtue and the punishment of vice in the resolution of a plot. The character, as they say, gets what he/she deserves.