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verse

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any single line of poetry; any composition in lines or more or less regular rhythm

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paraphrase

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restatement in one's own words of what we understand a literary work to say

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summary

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brief condensation of the main idea or story of a literary work

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theme

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generally recurring subject or idea conspicuously evident in a literary work

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subject

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main topic of a poem, story or play

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carpe diem

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Latin for "seize the day"; applied to characterize much lyric poetry concerned with human mortality and the passing of time

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Surrealism

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modernist movement in art and literature that tries to organize art according to the irrational dictates of the unconscious mind; founded by French poet André Breton

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lyric

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short poem expressing the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker; often written in first person

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dramatic poetry

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any verse written for the stage, as in the plays of classical Greece, the Renaissance and neoclassical periods; also a kind of poetry that presents the voice of an imaginary character speaking directly, without any additional narration by the author

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dramatic monologue

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poem written as a speech made by a character at some decisive moment

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didactic poetry

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kind of poetry intended to teach the reader a moral lesson or impart a body of knowledge; aims for education over art

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tone

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attitude toward a subject conveyed in a literary work

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satiric poetry

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poetry that blends criticism with humor to convey a message

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persona

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fictitious character created by an author to be the speaker of a poem, story or novel; Latin for "mask"

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irony

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literary device in which a discrepancy of meaning is masked beneath the surface of the language

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ironic point of view

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perspective of a character or narrator whose voice or position is rich in ironic contradictions

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verbal irony

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statement in which the speaker or writers says the opposite of what is really meant

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sarcasm

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conspicuously bitter form of irony in which the ironic statement is designed to hurt or mock its target

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dramatic irony

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special kind of suspenseful expectation, when the audience or reader understands the implication and meaning of a situation onstage and foresees the oncoming disaster or triumph but the character does not

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tragic irony

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form of dramatic irony that ultimately arrives at some tragedy

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cosmic irony (irony of fate)

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irony that exists between a character's aspiration and the treatment he or she receives at the hands of fate

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concrete diction

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involves highly specific word choice in the naming of something or someone

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abstract diction

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contains words that express more general ideas or concepts

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diction

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word choice or vocabulary

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allusion

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brief (and sometimes indirect) reference in a text to a person, place or thing--fictitious or actual

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Augustan age (neoclassical period)

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originally referred to the greatest period of Roman literature under Emperor Augustus; refers secondly to the early eighteenth century in English Literature dominated by characteristically formal structure and diction

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poetic diction

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generally refers to elevated language intended for poetry rather than common use

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decorum

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propriety or appropriateness

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vulgate

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lowest level of formality in language, the diction of the common people with no pretensions at refinement or elevation; from the Latin word vulgus, "mob" or "common people"

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levels of diction

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four conventional levels of formality in word choice; vulgate, colloquial English, general English and formal English

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colloquial English

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casual or informal but correct language of ordinary native speakers, which may include contractions, slang and shifts in grammar

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general English

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ordinary speech of educated native speakers

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formal English

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heightened, impersonal language or educated person, usually only written, although possibly spoken on dignified occasions

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dialect

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particular variety of language spoken by an identifiable regional group or social class of persons

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villanelle

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fixed form developed by French courtly poets of the Middle Ages in imitation of Italian folk songs

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denotation

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literal, dictionary meaning of a word

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connotation

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association or additional meaning that a word, image or phrase may carry, apart form its literal dictionary definition

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image

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word or series of words that refers to any sensory experience

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visual imagery

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word or sequence of words that refers to the sense of sight or presents something one may see

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auditory imagery

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word or sequence of words that refers to the sense of hearing

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tactile imagery

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word or sequence of words that refers to the sense of touch

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imagery

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collective set of images in a poem or other literary work

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haiku

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Japanese verse form that has three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables

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figure of speech

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expression or comparison that relies not on its literal meaning, but rather on its connotations and suggestions

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simile

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comparison of two things, indicated by some connective, usually like, as, than or a verb such as resembles

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metaphor

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statement that one thing is something else, which, in a literal sense, it is not

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implied metaphor

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metaphor that uses neither connectives nor the verb to be

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mixed metaphor

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metaphor that trips over another metaphor--usually unconsciously--already in the statement

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personification

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figure of speech in which a thing, an animal or an abstract term is endowed with human characteristics

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apostrophe

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direct address to someone or something

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overstatement (hyperbole)

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exaggeration used to emphasize a point

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understatement

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ironic figure of speech that deliberately describes something in a way that is less than the true case

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metonymy

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figure of speech in which the name of a thing is substituted for that of another closely associated with it

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synecdoche

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use of a significant part of a thing to stand for the whole of it or vice versa

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transferred epithet

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figure of speech in which the poet attributes some characteristic of a thing to another thing closely associated to it

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paradox

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statement that at first strikes one as self-contradictory, but that on reflection reveals some deeper sense

Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing – Poetry – Flashcards

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