CUDDON`S LITERARY TERMS

Allegory - representation of abstract qualities - stories with an underlying meaning of morality, etc
Alliteration - repetition of consonant sounds "after life’s fitful fever" - Macbeth
Allusions - reference to historical or fictional characters, literature, quotations and events that are expected to be recognized by the reader. "Money was the snake in their garden."
Ambiguity - words carrying multiple meanings. Meanings are purposely uncertainty "It was his fall.." (Possibly his autumn of life or perhaps his downfall)
Anastrophe - inversion of normal word order for effect, rhythm, rhyme "Full fathom five his father lies." Tempest
Anecdote - brief narrative of a entertaining and true event
Antithesis - contrasting ideas balanced against each other "every king is a slave"
Apologue - story designed to illustrate the truth of a statement
Archetype - Universal symbol with many possible meanings
Aside - speech by a character that is unheard by other characters
Assonance - repetition of middle sounds "The bell’s tolling calls."
Atmosphere - Quality of light, weather, and so on that is often expressive of mood. "It was a dark and stormy night."
Baroque - grandly ornamented language or description "The vermilion banners wove their tittering traces in balmy breezes of the faun-like autumn afternoon."
Bathos - extreme sentimentality "Come, let us weep together for her sad, sad story."
Blank verse - unrhymed poetry
Burlesque - satirical imitation
Cacophony - noise; harsh, discordant sounds
Caesura - pause after in or after a line of poetry
Caricature - exaggerated description (features, postures, expressions, etc ) of a character
Catharsis - Literally "cleansing" to purge the audience of negative emotions
Cliche - Phrase used so often it has lost all freshness or meaning. "high as a kite"
Climax - Point at which the conflict is resolved, or at which the reader realizes that it will not be resolved. Often the point of greatest dramatic impact.
Closed couplet/ heroic couplet -Two line stanza in poetry/ when in iambic pentameter
Complication - plot weaving or interweaving
Compression - To speed up or foreshorten time in relationship to plot. To intensify and tighten up language by using words that have many meanings.
Conceit - elaborate figure of speech "The voice of the south wind sang its lonely song before creeping of to rest in the bosom of the western mountains."
Conflict - Tension or problem between the protagonist and himself, his antagonist or events.
Connotation - associated meaning Example: the color red may connote anger or passion.
Counterplot - contrasting subplot
Dead metaphor - cliched metaphor - "love is like a rose"
Decadence - The end of a era or period in which there is moral decay.
Denotation - dictionary or exact definition of something. "A pencil is an instrument for writing."
Denouement - Sometimes called "falling action" - the wrapping up of loose plot ends at the end of a tale. Sometimes the penalty paid for evil deeds.
Deus ex machina - Literally, "The god from the machine" A device in Greek theater in which the God is flown onto the stage to end the play. Any literary or dramatic device that is used to wrap up things quickly at the end of a tale.
Dialect - Local language "Y'all come up an' see me som'time."
Diction - Word choice
Didactic - Describing anything ( a speech, tale, lesson) that is meant to teach
Digression - Diversion from the main idea or topic
Dimension - Used to describe the depth of character. Generally a one dimensional character simply has a function (The Butler), two dimensional characters have function and some personality (Jeeves the Butler), three dimensional characters have function, personality and identifiable human qualities such as contradictions, weakness, involvements.
Dimeter - two metrical feet in a line
Dirge - song or chant for the dead
Discourse - spoken or written language
Distance - The amount of emotional or intellectual objectivity of the reader (or a character) towards events in a Literary work. Relative amount of involvement.
Doggerel - Sing-song, simple, nursery rhyme verse. "Mary had a little lamb..."
Dramatic irony - When a character unwittingly makes a remark that the audience knows to be a fateful or truthful statement.
Dystopia - an undesirably society - opposite of utopia
Ecologue - short pastoral poem
Elegiac stanza - 4 lines in iambic pentameter - abab
Elegy - poem for the dead
Elizabethan - period of Elizabeth I in England - 1550-1603
Encomium - warm praise for a person
End rhyme - rhymes at the end of lines of verse
End-stopped lines - when the meaning is complete at the end of lines
Epic - long narrative poem
Epigram - terse witty saying
"Love is the illusion that one woman is different from another." - O. Wilde
Epiphany - a moment of revelation
Episode - incident or event that is part of a greater narrative
Epithet - adjective applied to person or event that sums up an attribute - "lily-livered coward"
Equivoque - pun where a word has two meanings at once
"Look for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man." Romeo & Juliet
Eulogy - formal praise of someone or something
Euphony - sweet melodious sounds
"What a world of merriment their melody foretells.." - Bells by E.A. Poe
Exact rhyme - (also true rhyme) "moon/June", "merry/ fairy"
Exaggeration - Overstatement or stretching of the truth
Exegesis - detailed analysis of text
Expletives - swear words - strong language "Damn!"
Explication (de texte) detailed analysis of text
Exposition - background information needed for plot
Extended metaphor - a single metaphor that is expanded on and sustained for several lines. -
"How like a forest pool is she;
calm, deep, and round her
the wild denizens
gather to drink refreshing love."
Fabliau - medieval tale in 8 syllable verse
Falling meter - troches & dactyls
Fancy - imagination
Farce - broad and often low comedy filled with stereotypical characters and outlandish situations.
Feminine rhyme - rhymes ending in unaccented or soft syllables. "loving/singing"
Figurative language -
metaphor - comparison of two dissimilar objects "The seeds of hate."
simile - metaphor using "like" or "as" - "My hate is like a weed"
hyperbole - exaggeration of for effect - "I've told you a million times..."
personification - metaphor in which anything non-human is given human qualities. - The old tree wept for shame."
litotes - understatement for effect - "He was unseamed from nave to chops. I'll bet that hurt a little."
Figure of speech - imaginative use of figurative language "It hurt like sin"
Flat character - 2 dimensional character - see"dimensions".
focus - main point of interest in a literary work or composition
Foil - usually a character who, by contrast, points up qualities of another character
Folklore - traditional songs, myths, tale, etc of a people.
Foot - basic unit of rhythm in a poem - *see "scansion"
Foreshadowing - Suggestions or hints of what is to follow.
Free verse - No regular meter line length, or rhyme.
Genre - literary class or type (Sci-FI, romance, historical, etc)
Gestalt - a unified whole that is greater than the sum of its parts
Gloss - an explanation definition or interpretation of a difficult passage
Gravity - seriousness of a piece - weight of subject - serious in tone.
Grotesque - ugly, distorted, abnormal or bizarre
Half/slant rhyme - approximate rhyme - rhyme of the final consonant but not the vowel. "up/step" or "moon/tan"
Hamartia - error or flaw that causes downfall of tragic hero (tragic flaw)
Heptameter: seven feet
Hexameter: six feet
High and low comedy - Comedy of manners, grace, wit as opposed to slap-stick or physical comedy.
Hubris - pride or arrogance
Identical rhyme - homonyms or same word "their/there" or "moon/moon"
Idyll - short descriptive & narrative piece about country life

Imagery - use of language to create sensory recall - sights, sounds, smells, tastes or tactile effects. Can also mean creation of a strong state of mind. (see: "Red Wheel Barrow")
In media res - starting in the middle of the story.
Incantation - chanted or highly rhythmic words used to create a magical effect. "Double, double, toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble." Macbeth
Incongruity- incompatible not fitting
Inference - a general conclusion drawn from particulars
Innuendo - subtile suggestion that someone or something is wrong, valueless or degraded.
intensity - The strength, focus, power or a piece of writing.
Interior monologue - inner emotional experience or stream of consciousness
Internal rhyme - two or more rhymes within a single line. "She had a passion for the newest fashion."
Invective - name calling "Thou worm's meat..." Henry IV
Inversion - reversing normal order of sentence parts. "You must, with me, come."
Invocation - appeal to a god or goddess for redress at the beginning of an epic
Irony - recognition of incongruity between reality and appearance
Socratic - feigned ignorance of a point of view
Verbal - difference between meant and said
Situational - what is intended and what occurs
Irony of fate - manipulation of man by gods or fate
Jeremiad - prophecy that evil doing will bring on destruction
Kenning - using a compound word or phrase for a common noun. "whale-road" for sea
Lai (lay) - poem of adventure or romance intended to be sung
Lamentation - expression of deep sorrow or remorse.
Leitmotif - repetition of a significant word or phrase throughout an entire work.
Light verse - written to amuse "Your nose is red, your toes are blue/ You make me sick to my stomach too."
Lyric - short personal poem of emotion and thoughts rather than story
Malapropism - comic substitution (or mispronunciation) of a multisyllabled word. "She compressed her love for Joe."
Masque - big pageant or spectacle type performance - usually having an allegorical meaning
Melodrama - unbelievably good characters against unbelievably bad ones.
Memoir - an autobiographical account, a memory, journal or diary.
Metonymy - figure of speech substituted for a name such as "crown" for "monarchy", "Today the white house announced that..."
Minimalism - extreme simplicity of form and impersonal objectivity
Mixed metaphor - an incongruous or inapt comparison of two dissimilar parts. "My love is like a tree flowing through the valley."
Mock epic - satire of an epic
Monody - lament for a dead loved one usually in a soliloquy
Monologue - single person speaking alone
Mood - The feeling created in the audience or the feeling of a character.
Morality play - an allegory in dramatic form. Usually the characters represent moral (or immoral) qualities and may even be named for these qualities. For instance characters named "Everyman" "Temperance" "Chastity" etc.
Motif - a pattern or recurring theme.
Motivation - a character's reason for action or speech. Usually in terms of emotions. desires or instincts.
Mystery play - Plays of the middle ages based on biblical accounts - often about creation
Naive narrator - Narrator who seems (or is) unaware of the effect or meaning of his tale
Narration - Telling of a story
Nonsense verse - Verse that is not intended to make sense, although it often has an internal logic, however insane, to it. Often appearing highly symbolic, or based upon invented words.
Objective correlative - image that communicates emotion without explanation - haikus, imagistic poems, etc.
Objectivity - Quality of non-involvement, point of view that avoids emotional or personal involvement. Opposite of subjective.
Octameter- eight feet
Octave - first 8 lines
Ode - long lyric poem
Onomatopoeia - words that sound like the thing they represent. "Whoosh, splat, pow!"
Oxymoron - two contradictory words "living corpse" or "black light"
Panegyric - elaborate praise often poetic
Parable - tale illustrating a moral lesson
Paradox - true statement that seems contradictory "Less is more" "The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao"
Parody - ridicule of something by exaggerated imitation
Pastoral - poem about rural life (shepherds)
Pathos - quality arousing pity sympathy, or sorrow - usually in low characters (See Gertrude's speech concerning Ophelia's death)
Persona - voice created by author in which story is told.
Pertinence - Relevance or appropriateness.
Picaresque - Novel whose principal is a rogue living by wits and going through adventures (See Tom Jones)
Poetic justice - rewarding good and punishing bad
Poetic license - departure from normal word order for poetic effect. (See "inversion")
Poetics - study of the nature and technique of poetry
Point of view - The perspective from which a reader interprets a work, or from which an author tells a tale, or from which a character sees events.
Portmanteau words - blend of two words in which both meanings combine "Darth" (made up from "Death" and "dark")
Prose poem - a poem printed as prose but with noticeable elements of poetry
Protagonist - Main character
Proverb - short saying of commonplace truth "A stitch in time saves nine"
Pun - play on words "Not so, I am too much in the sun." ("sun" may also be understood to mean, "son")
Punch - power or strong effect of a line or short section.
Quatrain - four lines stanza
Recognition - moment when a character gains essential knowledge (Hamlet's, "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Hortatio.")
Refrain - repeated lines
Requiem - chant or dirge or poem for the dead
Reversal - sudden change in fortune
Rhetoric - art of persuasion in speaking or writing
Rhyme - coincidence or harmony of sounds.
Rhythm - patterned flow of sound
Rising action - events leading up to the climax of a piece
Roman a clef - novel in which real people are presented under fictitious names
Romance - adventure, extravagant characters, exotic places , mysterious, supernatural
Run-on-lines (enjambment) - In verse, when there is no grammatical break at the end of a line.
"I went out to the hazel wood
because a fire was in my head
and cut and peeled a hazel wand
and hooked a berry to a thread."
"Song of the Wandering Aengus" - Yeats
Saga - medieval Scandinavian prose narrative - any story of heroic deeds
Sarcasm - harsh, cutting personal remarks
Satire - irony, wit & humor coupled with criticism and meant to ridicule
Scansion - analysis of meter
Iambus: _ / - rising
Anapest: _ _ / - rising
Trochee: /_ - falling
Dactyl: / _ _ - falling
Spondee: / /
Sensibility - capacity for sensitive feeling and emotion
Sestet - six line poem
Shakespearean sonnet - 3 quatrains abab, cdcd, efef plus couplet gg
Slice of life - detailed unselective realism, intended to be as close to reality as possible.
Soliloquy - Monologue in which a character reveals inner thoughts and feeling.
Speaker - "voice" of the poem or other literary work
Stereotype - a character represented by general attributes
Stock character - stereotype used over and over
Stream of consciousness - inner workings of characters mind
Stress - emphasis
Subplot - story within a story
Subtlety - quality of being underplayed, clever, hard to interpret or not obvious.
Synecdoche - figure of speech in which part represents whole - "He has a nice a set of wheels"
Syntax - arrangement and grammatical relationship of words - ordering.
Tension - equilibrium or balance of opposites
Texture - stylistic elements not part of structure - tone, style, imagery, etc.
Theme - central idea
Threnody - song of death
Tone - Writer's (or voice's) attitude, manner, mood or moral outlook; especially toward the reader.
Tragic flaw - See "Hamartia"
Transition - link between ideas or scenes, etc. Change in tone, action, idea, etc.
Travesty - grotesque form of low comedy
Trimeter - 3 feet
True rhyme - vowel and ending consonant rhyme "moon/ June" "Sell/well/"
Turning point - meaningful change in protagonist’s circumstance
Understatement - a form of verbal irony - (see Figurative Speech")
Unities: of place - one place
of action - continuous plot
of time - one day
Unity - quality of oneness
Utopia - ideal world
Verbal irony - obvious (and usually sarcastic) contrast between what is said and what is meant
Verisimilitude - appearance of truth or reality
Vernacular - everyday spoken language
Voice - The writer's attitude, personality or character
Willing suspension of disbelief - Audiences willingness to forget they are watching a play. Said to be essential for the full affect of a dramatic work.
Wit - ability to make brilliant imaginative or clever, knowledge
Zeitgeist - spirit of the age