English Literature Terms

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Allegory

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A prose or poetic narrative in which the characters, behavior, and even the setting demonstrates multilevels of meaning and significance. e.g. Death portrayed as a black-cloaked grim reaper

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Alliteration

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The sequential initial repetition of a similar sound, usually applied to consonants, usually heard in closely proximate stressed syllables. "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

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Ambiguity

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Uncertainty, (an example of) the fact of something having more than one possible meaning and therefore possibly causing confusion:

We wish to remove any ambiguity concerning our demands.

There are some ambiguities in the legislation.

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Antagonist

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a person who is strongly opposed to something or someone:

The antagonists in this dispute are quite

unwilling to compromise.

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Archetype

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Recurrent designs, patterns of action, character types, themes or images which are identifiable in a wide range of literature.

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Assonance

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the similarity in sound between two syllables that are close together, created by the same vowels but different consonants

(e.g. "back" and "hat"),

or by the same consonants and different vowels (e.g. "hit" and "hat")

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Ballad stanza

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A common stanza form, consisting of a stanza of 4 lines that alternates four-beat & three-beat lines: 1 & 3 are unrhymed iambic tetrameter (4 beats), and 2 & 4 are rhymed iambic trimeter (3 beats).
In Scarlet Town, where I was born
There lived a fair maid dwellin;
Made many a youth cry well-a-day
And her name was Barbara Allen.

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Blank Verse

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The verse form that most resembles common speech, blank verse consists of unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter.

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Caesura

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A pause in a line of verse, indicated by natural speech patterns rather than due to specific metrical patterns.

Alas how changed! // What sudden horrors rise! A naked lover // bound and bleeding lies! Where, where was Eloise? // her voice, her hand, Her poniard, // had opposed the dire command.

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Binary oppositions

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A binary opposition is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another.

It is the contrast between two mutually exclusive terms, such as on and off, up and down, left and right.

Binary opposition is an important concept of structuralism, which sees such distinctions as fundamental to all language and thought

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Canon / canonization

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The process of defining the boundaries of the canon is endless. The philosopher John Searle has said, "In my experience there never was, in fact, a fixed 'canon'; there was rather a certain set of tentative judgments about what had importance and quality. Such judgments are always subject to revision, and in fact they were constantly being revised."

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Consecration

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to officially make something holy and able to be used for religious ceremonies:

The new cathedral was completed and consecrated in 2002.​

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Couplet

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two lines of poetry next to each other, especially ones that rhyme

(= have words with the same sounds)

and have the same length and rhythm:

a rhyming couplet

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Connotation

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a feeling or idea that is suggested by a particular word although it need not be a part of the word's meaning,

or something suggested by an object

or situation:

The word "lady" has connotations of refinement and excessive femininity that some women find offensive.

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Denotation

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the main meaning of a word, not including the feelings or ideas that people

may connect with the word

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Denouement

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Resolution:

the end of a story, in which everything is explained, or the end result of a situation

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Defamiliarization

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A theory and technique (art as technique, making it strange),

originating in the early 20th century,

in which an artistic or literary work presents

familiar objects or situations in an

unfamiliar way, prolonging the perceptive

process and allowing for a fresh perspective.

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Dramatic irony

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Irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation

of a drama and is understood by the audience

but not grasped by the characters in the play.

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Enjambment

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the running on of the thought from one line,

couplet, or stanza to the next

without a syntactical break.

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Exposition

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(in a play, novel, etc.) dialogue, description, etc.,

that gives the audience or reader

the background of the characters and the

present situation.

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Falling action

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the part of a literary plot that occurs after

the climax has been reached

and the conflict has been resolved.

Rising action: a related series of incidents

in a literary plot that build toward the

point of greatest interest.

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Figure of speech

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an expression of language, such as simile,

metaphor, or personification, by which

the usual or literal meaning of a word

is not employed

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In medias res

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a Latin expression (in the middle of things) that refers to a story, or the action of a play, etc. starting without any introduction:

The story begins in medias res, with Shay dead and Hano and Katie on the run.

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Limited narrator

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Limited narration means that there are things that the narrative voice does not know. It’s usually talked about in relation to third-person narratives, and contrasted with the idea of an ‘omniscient’ narrator (who has access to all information about the story.)

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Metonymy

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a figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one objector concept for that of

another to which it is related, or of which it is

a part, as “scepter” for “sovereignty,”

or “the bottle” for “strong drink,”

or “count heads (or noses)” for “count people.”.

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Metaphor

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a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is

applied to something to which it is not

literally applicable in order to suggest

a resemblance, as in

“A mighty fortress is our God.”.

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Metafiction

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writing about imaginary characters and events in which the process of writing is discussed

or described.

Fiction that discusses, describes, or analyses a

work of fiction or the conventions of fiction.

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Narrative

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1.a story or account of events, experiences, or

the like, whether true or fictitious.

2.a book, literary work, etc., containing such a

story.

3.the art, technique, or process of narrating,

or of telling a story:

Somerset Maugham was a master of narrative.

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Onomatopoeia

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the act of creating or using words that include sounds that are similar to the noises the words refer to

1.the formation of a word,

as cuckoo, meow, honk, or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or

associated with its referent.

2.a word so formed.

3.the use of imitative and naturally suggestive

words for rhetorical, dramatic, or poetic effect.

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Oxymoron

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A figure of speech by which a locution produces

an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory

effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly”

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Prose

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the ordinary form of spoken or written language,without metrical structure,

as distinguished from poetry or verse.

Also: matter-of-fact, commonplace,

or dull expression, quality, discourse,

etc.

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Rhyme scheme

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a regular pattern of rhyme at the end of the lines in a poem

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Scansion

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the rhythm of a line of poetry,

or the process of examining the rhythm

of a line of poetry.

The metrical analysis of verse.

The usual marks for scansion are ˘ for a short or unaccented syllable,

¯ or · for a long or accented syllable,

^ for a rest, | for a foot division,

and ‖ for a caesura or pause.

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Synecdoche

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a word or phrase in which a part of something is used to refer to the whole of it, for example "a pair of hands" for "a worker",

or the whole of something is used to refer to a part, for example

"the law" for "a police officer"

a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part,

the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail for ten ships

or a Croesus for a rich man.

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Trope

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Something such as an idea, phrase, or image that is often used in a particular artist's work, in a particular type of art, etc.:

Human-like robots are a classic trope

of science fiction.

Any literary or rhetorical device, as metaphor,

metonymy, synecdoche, and irony,

that consists in the use of words in other than their literal sense.

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Foil

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something or someone that makes another's good or bad qualities more noticeable:

The older, cynical character in the play is the perfect foil for the innocent William.

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Stock character

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a character in literature, theatre, or film of a type quickly recognized and accepted by the

reader or viewer and requiring no development

by the writer.

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Flat character

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an easily recognized character type in fiction

who may not be fully delineated

but is useful in carrying out some narrative

purpose of the author.

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Round character

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a character in fiction whose personality,

background, motives, and other features are fully delineated by the author.

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Dynamic character

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a literary or dramatic character who undergoes an important inner change,

as a change in personality or attitude:

Ebeneezer Scrooge is a dynamic character.

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Static character

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a literary or dramatic character who undergoes

little or no inner change;

a character who does not grow or develop.