Kenning

Metaphorical compound word or phrase substituted for simple nouns.

Caesura

A pause in a line that divides the line into two parts, with each part having

two accented syllables.

Oral Tradition

Literature that is passed from one generation to another by

performance or word of mouth.

Frame Story

Exists when a story is told within a narrative setting or frame, creating a

story within a story.

Prologue

An introductory scene in a drama.

Oxymoron/Paradox

A statement that seems to contradict or oppose itself but, in fact, reveals a

kind of truth.

Appositive

A noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it.

Iambic Pentameter

A metrical pattern of five feet each of which is made up of two syllables, the

first unstressed and the second stressed.

Soliloquy

A speech in a dramatic work in which a character speaks his or her thoughts aloud, usually while on the stage alone, not speaking to other characters,

and perhaps unaware of the audience.

Dramatic Monologue

A lyric poem in which a speaker addresses a silent or absent listener in a moment of

high intensity or deep emotion.

Comic Relief

Humorous scenes, incidents, or speeches that are included in a serious drama to

provide a reduction in emotional intensity.

Dramatic Irony

Occurs when the reader or viewer knows something that a character

does not know.

Sonnet

A lyric poem of 14 lines, commonly written in iambic pentameter. The English version

consists of three quatrains and a couplet and has a rhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs within a single line.

Satire

A literary technique in which ideas, customs, behaviors, or institutions are ridiculed for the purpose of improving

society.

Metaphysical Conceit

An extended metaphor that makes a surprising connection between two

quite dissimilar things.

Antithesis

A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting words, phrases, clauses or

sentences are juxtaposed to emphasize a point.

Claim

The writer’s position on an issue or problem.

Parody

Writing that imitates either the style or the subject matter of a literary work for the

purpose of criticism, humorous effect, or flattering tribute.

Counter Argument

An argument made to oppose another argument.

Verisimilitude

Refers to the appearance of truth or actuality.

Diction

A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words or phrases.

Imagery

Refers to language that appeals to the senses; words and phrases that create

vivid sensory experiences for the reader.

Allusion

An indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work with which the

author believes the reader will be familiar.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which an object, an abstract quality, or an absent or imaginary person is addressed directly as if present

and able to understand.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Symbolism

The use of people, places, or objects that have concrete meanings but also stand for something else (such as an idea or feeling).

Metaphor

A figure of speech that compares two things that have something in

common.

Couplet

A rhymed pair of lines.

Ode

A complex lyric poem that develops a serious and dignified theme; often

commemorates events or praises people or elements of nature.

Inference

A logical assumption that is based on observed facts and one’s own knowledge and experience.

Paraphrase

The restating of information in one’s own words.

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object, animal, or idea is given human

characteristics.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or

humorous effect.

Modernism

A literary movement that roughly spanned the time period between

the two word wars, 1914-1945.

Stream of Consciousness

A technique that was developed by modernist writers to present the flow of a

character’s seemingly unconnected thoughts, responses, and sensations.

Internal Conflict

A conflict between opposing forces within a character.

Motivation

The stated or implied reason behind a character’s behavior.

Rhythm

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables