70+ Literary Terms

+Poetry Terminology

HOLT Literature

tone

tone the writer’s attitude

Ex: optimistic, argumentative, lighthearted, etc.

claim

claim1. to demand by or as by virtue of a right; demand as a right or as due: to claim an estate by inheritance. 2. to assert and demand the recognition of (a right, title, possession, etc.); assert one's right to: to claim payment for services. 3. to assert or maintain as a fact: She claimed that he was telling the truth. 4. to require as due or fitting: to claim respect.

proposition

proposition

an important idea or opinion

argument

argumenta statement, reason, or fact for or against a point:

This is a strong argument in favor of her theory.

assertion

assertiona positive statement or declaration, often without support or reason: a mere assertion; an unwarranted assertion.

evidence

evidencefacts, statistics, anecdotes,quotes from experts that areused to support the claim orthesis

internalconsistency

internalconsistency

all of the parts of a text are connected and agree with what came before

coherence

coherenceFor a text to be logical, the parts of a text must sticktogether and be clearly understood

thesis

thesis1. a proposition stated or put forward for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or to be maintained against objections: He vigorously defended his thesis on the causes of war. 2. a subject for a composition or essay.

term

termdefinition/example

pun

punthe humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words.

plot

plotchain of related events that tells us what happens in a story

conflict

problem faced by a character

conflict

resolved

how the story turns out

resolved

complications

situations that create conflict

complications

climax

when the outcome of the conflictis decided

climax

resolution

the last part of the plot;the end of the story

resolution

subplots

parts that are part of the largerstory but are not as important

subplots

parallelepisodes

the storyteller repeats the main outline of an episode several times

parallelepisodes

proposition

propositionan opinion;usually in the beginning of a persuasivearticle

facts

factsthe results of scientific research and surveys

statistics

statistics

facts in number form

examples

examplesspecific instances that illustratereasons or facts

anecdotes

brief stories, such as personal experiences

anecdotes

opinion

opiniona belief or an attitude

foreshadowing

clues that hint at what will happen later

foreshadowing

characterization

the way a writer reveals character

characterization

motivation

motivationwhat makes people behave the way they do

motives

motiveswhy characters do the things they do

biography

biographythe story of someone’s life writtenby another person

actions

actionswhat characters say and do

character

characterthe way someone is

biased

biasedone-sided, treatment of a subject

autobiography

the story of a writers own life by the writer

autobiography

setting

settingwhere and when a story takes place

mood

moodatmosphere; the feeling of the story

chronology

chronologytime order; what happens first, next, and last

inference

inferenceeducated guess based on clues the writer gives you and your own experience

conclusion

conclusionfinal thought or judgement about what you have read

valid

validboth true and logical

generalization

a broad statement that can applyto many situations

generalization

theme

themeanswers the question“What does this reveal?”

the general idea or insightabout human existence

main idea

main ideathe message, opinion, or insight that is central to a pieceof non-fiction

refrain

refrainrepeated sounds, words, phrases,lines, or a group of lines

allusion

allusiona reference to features of a culture that people share(literature, religion, history,mythology, sports)

Ex: “I have a dream” speech

narrator

narratorperson telling the story

verbal irony

verbal ironywe say just the opposite of whatwe mean

situationalirony

situationalirony

what happens is different fromwhat we expect

dramatic irony

dramatic irony

we know something a characterdoesn’t know

fallaciousreasoning

fallaciousreasoning

“false thinking”when people draw incorrect or false conclusionsEx: Because the world is flat, you’ll fall off if you sail to the end.

sterotyping

stereotyping

stereotypingbelieving that all members of a group sharea certain characteristic

Ex: All teenagers are angry and rebellious, and they all sleep too late.

fallacy

fallacythe assumption that a problemor situation has only one possiblecause

Ex: If we don’t elect Jane classpresident, girls will have no say in running the school.

analogy

analogya comparison of two things to showhow they are alike; used to explainone concept by showing how it issimilar to another concept

personification

personification

a non-human thing is describedas if it were human or alive anddid something only living thingsdo

metaphor

metaphordirectly compares two very different things

Ex: The moon was a goldenGrapefruit high up in the sky.

simile

similecompares one thing to anotherusing like, as, than, resembles

Ex: The moon looked like a gleaming new penny.

lyrics (poem)

lyrics (poem)

poems that express feelings anddo not tell stories

narrativepoem

narrativepoem

a poem that tells a story

ballad

balladsong or a song like poem that tellsa story usually about lost love orbetrayal or death

tall tale

tall talean exaggerated, far fetched storythat betrayal or death is obviously not true

exaggeration

exaggeration

stretching the truth

epic

epiclong narrative poem written in formal or elegant language thattells about a series of eventsundertaken by a great hero

ode

odeoriginated in Ancient Greece;celebrate a particular poem or thing

sonnet

sonnetfourteen line poem

lambic

lambicverse in which the stressis on every other syllable,starting with the unstressedbeat

elegy

elegya poem of mourning

free verse

free versedoes not follow a regular rhyme,scheme, or pattern

alliteration

alliterationrepetition of consonant sounds

Ex: snow falling fast

onomatopoeia

onomatopoeia

the use of words whose soundsecho their meaning

Ex: the chains saw’s buzz

imagery

imagerylanguage that evokes sensationsof light, sound, smell, taste, andtouch

figures of speech

figures of speech

language that is based on comparisons and is not literally true (metaphors, similes, personification)

rhythm

rhythmthe rise and fall of the voice,produced by sounds

speaker

speakerthe person who tells the storyor talks to you in the poem

unity

unityall the story’s details support themain idea or topic

logic

logiccorrect reasoning

idiom

idiommeans something different fromthe literal meaning of each word

Ex: “Hold your tongue” meansdon’t speak in English

epilogue

epiloguea brief closing section to a pieceof literature

consumer

consumersomeone who buys somethingor uses what someone else buys

warranty

warrantyspells out exactly what happensif the product doesn’t work properly and what you are required to do to receive service

contract

contractspells out exactly what serviceswill and will not be provided

productinformation

tells what the product will do

productinformation

+Poetry Terminology

hypberole

hypberole

Unbelievable exaggerations

EX: It’s so hot outside, you couldfry an egg on the sidewalk!

stanza

stanzaThis is a division of a poem consistingof a series of lines grouped togetherin units. It is the equivalent of aParagraph.

couplet

couplet

two end rhymes in a row

rhythm

rhythm

sound effects that are fast, slow, lightsolemn

meter

metera poem that has a regular patternof stressed or unstressed syllables

a repeated pattern used throughoutthe poem

EX: See elements of Poetry sheet.

rhyme

rhymeRepetition of the sound of a Stressed or unstressed syllable

Ex: court/sport; day/may

end rhyme

end rhyme

occur at the end of a poem’s lines

Ex. There once was a great sport Played down by the tennis court.

internal rhyme

internal rhyme

occur within the lines

Ex. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew.

slanted rhyme

slanted rhyme

almost rhymes; sounds that arefamiliar but are not exactly the same

eye rhyme

eye rhyme

spelled similarly, but pronounceddifferently

Ex. tough/cough

real rhyme

real rhyme

end sounds are pronounced the same

Ex. tough/rough

rhyme scheme

rhyme schemeassign a new letter of the alphabetto each new end rhyme; assign the samealphabet letter to the end word that rhymeswith a previous end rhyme word

Ex. (a, a, b, b, a, a, b, b…) (a, b, c, a, b, c…)

free verse

free verse

regular pattern of stressed or unstressedsyllables; by having no rhymes, it soundslike ordinary speech

alliteration

alliteration

repetition of consonant soundsin words that are close together

Ex. “Peter Piper picked a peck ofpickled peppers.”

limerick

limerickhumorous, five line poem; rhymescheme with lines 1, 2, & 5 having the same # of syllables (8) and thesame end rhyme; and lines 3 & 4 having the same # of syllables (7) and thesame end rhyme: rhyme scheme a, a, b, b, a

Ex. Refer to Elements of Poetry sheet.

assonance

assonancealso called vowel rhyme; rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words, as in penitent  and reticence.

prose

prose

anything that is NOT poetry

compressedtext

compressedtext

the use of figurative language thatenables the poet to tell an entirestory in just a few lines or stanzas