Allegory​ -​ ​a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically 

a moral or political one 

 
Elegy​- a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead 
 
Caesura​- ​ a pause in a line that is formed by the rhythms of natural speech rather than
meter. A ​caesura​ will usually occur in the middle of a line of poetry but can occur at the
beginning or the end of a line. These types of ​caesurae​ are called medial, initial, and
terminal, respectively 
 
Ballad​- a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of 
unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next as part of 
the folk culture 
 
Epic​- a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and 
adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation 
 
Figure of speech​- an expression extending language beyond its literal meaning through simile, 
metaphor, allusion, etc 
 
Litotes​- an assertion of something by the denial of its opposite 
 
Masque​- random characters from history, mythology, and romance are put together and placed 
into a pastoral setting  
 
Verbal irony​- contrast between what is stated and what is wryly suggested 
 
Mixed metaphor-​ combination of metaphors often with absurd results  
 
Alliteration- ​a ​literary​ device where two or more words in a phrase or line of poetry share
the same beginning consonant sound

Effect-​ the impression made by a literary work on a reader or society

Cacophony​- ​the use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing, and unmelodious sounds – 
primarily those of consonants – to achieve desired results 
 
Farce- a
​ widely comedic play mocking dramatic and social conventions 
 
Burlesque-​ a work generally on the stage, treating the lofty & low style & the grandiose 
and rich lifestyle (Poor making fun of the rich by parodying their actions 
Sarcasm-​ crude and heavy-handed verbal irony 
 
Paradox-​ a statement that may seem absurd or contradictory but yet can be true, or at 
least makes sense 
 
Hamartia-​ tragic flaw or error of judgment of a main character in a tragic piece 
 
Personification-​ a form of figurative language in which something that is not human is 
given human characteristics 
 
Satire-​ literature that ridicules vices and follies  
 
Allusion- ​a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical,
cultural, ​literary​ or political significance

Denotation- ​refers to the literal, dictionary ​definition of​ a word

Catastrophe​- The concluding action of a tragedy where the principal character meets
death or significant defeat

Classicism-​ An emphasis on rational order, discipline, balance, symmetry, clarity, and

simplicity

Masculine rhyme-​ occurs when the ​rhyme​ is on the final syllable of the two ​rhyming
words

Lyric-​ When a poem emphasizes sound and pictorial imagery rather than narrative or
dramatic movement

Conceit-​ An ingenious fanciful notion or conception, elaborate analogy showing parallel

between dissimilar things

Metaphor- ​a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison

between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics

Round character- ​round characters​ are complex and undergo development,

sometimes sufficiently to surprise the reader

Tone- ​in written composition, is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience

Setting-​ the time and place in which the story takes place. The ​definition​ of ​setting​ can
also include social statuses, weather, historical period, and details about immediate
surroundings

Theme-​ an underlying idea the lesson the author wants the reader to learn by reading
the work

Comic relief-​ a humorous scene, incident or speech in the course of a series fiction or
drama

Invocation-​ asking for help from a god

Archetype-​ an image,motif, or pattern that has occurred so regularly as to have acquired

symbolic force

Simile-​ ​a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different
kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid

Symbol-​ an object, image, or action that is charged with meaning beyond its denotative value

Reversal-​ the thrilling change of luck for the protagonist at the last moment in a comedy or
tragedy

Soliloquy-​ ​an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any 
hearers, especially by a character in a play 
 
Recognition- t​ he moment at which a chief character recognizes the happier awful truth 
 
Apostrophe​- a figure of speech in which a person who is absent is directly addressed as if she 
or he were present  
 
Assonance​- t​ akes place when two or more words, close to one another repeat the same vowel
sound, but start with different consonant sounds
 
Carpe diem​- seize the day for time is short and youth is fleeting  
 
Connotation​- ​a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes 
explicitly 
 
Socratic irony​- pretending to be ignorant when in fact the person is just being cautious or 
tentative  
 
Denouement​- the falling action of the story 
 
Extended metaphor​- results when a metaphor becomes elaborate or complex  
 
Oxymoron- ​ a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect  
 
Paradox​- a
​ statement that may seem absurd or contradictory but yet can be true, or at 
least makes sense  
 
Pathetic fallacy​- a type of personification in which inanimate objects are given human emotions  
 
Catharsis- purgation or purification of the emotions of pity and fear from the viewing of a 
tragedy  
 
Motif- a theme, image or type of action that traces itself through a work heightening it’s appeal  
 
Comedy- any literary work but especially a play that aims primarily to amuse and ends happily  
 
Metonymy- substitute naming and associated idea names the item  
 
Consonants- a basic speech sound in which the breath is at least partly obstructed and which 
can be combined with a vowel to form a syllable 
Meter- a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse, or within the lines of a poem 
 
Free verse- a literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from limitations of regular 
meter or rhythm, and does not rhyme with fixed forms 
 
Dead metaphor- a metaphor that has lost its figurative value through overuse  
 
Irony- a surprise ending that you wouldn’t expect would happen but does  
 
Dramatic irony- affairs are the tragic reverse of what the participants have expected  
 
 
 
Context- c​ircumstances forming a background of an event, idea or statement  
 
Stereotype- a​ n over-generalized belief about a particular category of people 
 
Couplet- a pair of rhymed metrical lines usually in pacific patentemeter or tetro meter  
 
Stanza- a group of lines in poetry that results in units held together by recurrent patterns of 
rhyme  
 
Onomatopoeia- the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named  
 
Romance- fiction characterized by fanciful often idealistic treatment often love or adventure 
themes  
 
Mood- the atmosphere or emotional effect generated by the words images and situations in a 
literary work 
 
Protagonist- the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or 
other fictional text  
 
Myth- an anonymous story reflecting primitive beliefs or explaining natural mysteries of the 
universe  
 
Pastoral- any writing concerning itself with shepherds