Glossary
Terms used in the study of literature
The following terms are used to describe various features and techniques of literature. We don’t expect you to learn by heart all the terms in the following pages. However, you should familiarise yourself with the terms that relate to the genre of literature that you are studying.
Accent- in poetry, the vocal force or emphasis placed on a syllable or word. The regular, orderly repetition of accent contributes to the poetic quality of writing and fixes the rhythm of the line.
Action- The events that take place in a work of literature. In drama, stage action refers to any event that occurs on the stage. The action of a novel, short story or narrative poem is usually both external and internal. External action comprises those physical events that actually occur in relation to the characters, actions that affect them or in which they participate. Internal action refers to a character’s thoughts and feelings as they are reported by the author
Acts- Divisions of plays or operas. On the contemporary stage, the three-act play is most common.
Adage- a proverb or wise saying made familiar by long use
Adaptation- 1) The rewriting of a work written in a different genre or medium than it was originally written. For example, turning a novel into a play would be an ADAPTATION 2) the translation of a work from one language to another
Address- a speech or written statement, serious in intent and somewhat formal in style. Frequently, for example, the political head of a nation gives an address to the country’s citizens.
Allegory- Prose or verse in which the objects, events or people are presented symbolically, so that the story conveys a meaning other than and deeper than the actual incident or characters described. Often, the form is used to teach a moral lesson.
Alliteration- The repetition of the initial letter or sound in two or more closely associated words or stressed syllables. Alliteration is not restricted to poetry.
Allusion- A figure of speech making casual reference to a famous historical, literary or religious figure or event.
Ambiguity- The expression of an idea in such a way that more than one meaning is possible
Anachronism- The utilisation of an event, a person, an object, language in a time when that event, person, or object was not in existence.
Analogy- An extended comparison showing the similarities between two things.
Argument- A form of discourse in which reason is used to influence or change people’s ideas or actions
Aside- Words spoken by a character in a play, usually in an undertone, not intended to be heard by other characters on stage.
Assonance- The repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together, in a group of words.
Atmosphere- It is easy to get atmosphere confused with mood or, even, tone. Indeed we often use the same words to describe the atmosphere, mood and/or tone of a text. The best way to think of atmosphere is to think of the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell). A writer will often try to create (or re-create) an atmosphere of somewhere of something through one, or more, of the senses. The atmosphere gives us some sense of what it would be like to be there.
Autobiography- A person’s account of his or her own life.
Ballad- A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung. The earliest ballads, known as folk ballads or popular ballads, were composed anonymously and transmitted orally for generations.
Bathos- The effect produced by an anti-climax, from the sublime to the ridiculous with a ludicrous effect. Eg. The explosion destroyed three houses, a church and a flower pot.
Biography- An account of a person’s life written by another person.
Blank Verse- Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, where each line usually contains ten syllables and every other syllable is stressed.
Characterisation- The personality a character displays; also, the means by which an author reveals that personality
Characters- Persons-or animals, things, or natural forces presented as person- appearing in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem.
Characters may be described as either flat or round.
· Round characters are usually main characters and are fully developed so that the reader can understand their personality and motivations.
· Flat characters are usually minor characters who are barely developed or may be stereotypes.
A foil is a character who serves to contrast with another character. A hypocritical character, for example, may help emphasise the hero/heroine’s honesty.
Climax- That point of greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative.
Comedy- In general, a literary work that is amusing and ends happily.
Complication- A series of difficulties forming the central action in a narrative.
Conflict- A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem. Conflict can be internal or external, and it can take one of these forms:
Person against another person
Person against society
A person against nature
Two elements or ideas struggling for mastery within a person
Person against supernatural
Connotation- The emotion or association that a word or phrase may arouse. Connotation is distinct from denotation, which is the literal or dictionary meaning of a word or phrase.
Conventions- Devices, procedures or structures in a literary work that the reader (or audience) agrees to accept.
Contrast- This is one of the simplest, most common and yet the most effective techniques in literature. To put it simply it is merely the putting together of opposites (God and the Devil; Homer Simpson and Ned Flanders; the beauty of a rose and the pain inflicted by its thorns). A writer will use contrast to help explore an idea or a character in their text.
Couplet- Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
Crisis or Turning Point- A point of great tension in a narrative that determines how the action will come out.
Denotation- The literal or "dictionary" meaning of a word
Dénouement- The resolution of the plot in a literary work that follows the climax. It could be described as tying up the loose ends. Of course, in some literary works there is no dénouement.
Dialect- A representation of the speech patterns of a particular region or social group. Dialect, naturally, changes from location to location
Dialogue- The spoken exchanges between characters in a text.
Drama- A story acted out, usually on a stage, by actors and actresses who take the parts of specific characters. Dramas are usually divided into two types, those being tragedies (serious play in which the central characters meet an unhappy or disastrous end) and comedies (humorous plays that end happily). The stories are told through dialogue and stage directions, which tell the actors how they should move and react to certain happenings.
Dramatic Monologue- poetic form perfected by Robert Browning that consists of single speaker talking to one or more unseen listeners and often revealing more about the speaker than he or she seems to intend.
Dramatic Irony- A device whereby the audience (or reader) understands more of a situation or of what is being said than the character is aware of. Such speech or action has great significance to the audience or reader and little significance to the character speaking or performing the action.
Dramatic Poetry- Poetry in which one or more characters speak.
Enjambment- This occurs when the sense of a poetic line runs over to the succeeding line, e.g:
In that blest moment from his oozy bed
Old father Thames advanc'd his reverend head.
--Alexander Pope
Epic- A long narrative poem that relates the deeds of a hero. Epics incorporate myth, legend, folk tale, and history, and usually reflect the values of the society from which they originate.
Epithet- A descriptive adjective or phrase used to characterise someone or something.
Euphemism- polite language that refers to something disagreeable or embarrassing – used to soften the blow. Eg. He passed away.
Exposition- The kind of writing that is intending primarily to present information
Falling Action- All of the action in a play that follows the turning point. The falling action leads to the resolution or conclusion of the play.
Farce- A type of comedy based on a farfetched humorous situation, often with ridiculous or stereotyped characters.
Fiction- Anything that is invented or imagined, especially a prose narrative. Although fiction may be based on actual events or personal experiences, its characters and settings are invented. Even if a story is set in an actual place and involves recognizable characters or details, we understand the story itself to be fictitious.
Figurative Language- Language that is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. Figurative language always makes use of a comparison between different things. By appealing to the imagination, figurative language provides new ways of looking at the world.
Figure of Speech- A term applied to a specific kind of figurative language, such as a metaphor or simile. Everyday language abounds with many different figures of speech, in which we say one thing and mean another.
Flashback- A scene in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem that interrupts the action to show an event that happened at an earlier time.
Foil- A character who sets off another character by contrast. For example, having an angry character talking to a happy one.
Foreshadowing- The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest what action is to come. Foreshadowing helps to build suspense in a story because it suggests what is about to happen.
Framework Story- A narrative that contains another narrative. Both the framework story and the inner story add meaning to one another, and one is usually important to the outcome of the other. Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” is a famous example of several stories within a story.
Free Verse- Poetry that has no fixed meter or pattern and that depends on natural speech rhythms. Free verse may rhyme or not rhyme; its lines may be of different lengths; and like natural speech, it may switch suddenly from one rhythm to another.
Heroic Couplet- Two consecutive lines of rhyming poetry that are written in iambic pentameter and that contain a complete thought. In a heroic couplet, there is usually one pause at the end of the first line, and another heavier pause at the end of the second line.
Hyperbole- obvious exaggeration
Iambic Pentameter- The most common verse line in English poetry. It consists of five verse feet, with each foot an iamb-that is, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Shakespeare’s plays are written almost exclusively in iambic pentameter.
Imagery- Language that appeals to any sense or any combination of the senses.
Inversion- A reversal of the usual order or words to receive some sort of emphasis.
Irony- A contrast or an incongruity between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen. Two kinds of irony are: 1) verbal irony, in which a writer or speaker says one thing and means something entirely different; and 2) dramatic irony in which a reader or audience member perceives something that a character in the story does not
Juxtaposition- Two words or phrases deliberately placed next to each other to create a specific effect or contrast. Click here for more on juxtaposition.
Key scene- A term that applies to the study of drama which refers to a scene that is, in some way, significant in the play.
Key incident- A term that applies more to the study of prose which refers to an incident in the story that is, in some way, significant in the text as whole.
Literal Language- A fact or idea stated directly. When a writer intends something to be understood exactly as it is written, he or she is using literal language.
Literary Ballad- A story told in verse in which a known writer imitates a folk ballad.
Litotes- This is a deliberate understatement to imply indifference or bitterness or can be seen as a form of sarcasm or joke:
Eg. It’s a bit noisy here, don’t you think? (so says someone in the middle of an air-raid).
Lyric Poetry- Poetry that expresses a speaker’s personal thoughts or feelings. The elegy, ode, and sonnet are forms of the lyric.
Metaphor- A comparison between two unlike things with the intent of giving added meaning to one of them. Metaphor is one of the most important forms of figurative language. Unlike a simile, a metaphor does not use a connective word such as like, as, than, or resembles to state a comparison.
Meter- A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
Monologue- A long, uninterrupted speech (in a narrative or drama) that is spoken in the presence of other characters. Unlike a soliloquy and most aides, a monologue is heard by other characters.
Mood- Mood is often mixed up with tone. Mood, as the word suggests, has more to do with the emotional element of the text.
Narrative- The story of the text
Narrative Poetry- Poetry that tells a story. One kind of narrative poem is the epic, a long poem which sets form the heroic ideals of a particular society.
Narrative technique- This refers to how the narrative or story has been put together. It is a general term that refers to all the choices that the writer makes when they decide how they are going to tell a story.
Narrator- One who tells a story. A writer may choose to have a story told by a first person narrator, someone who is either a major or minor character. Or, a writer may choose to use a third person narrator, someone who is not in the story at all. Third person narrators are often omniscient, or "all knowing"- that is, they are able to enter into the minds of all the characters in the story.
Non-fiction- Any prose narrative that tells about things as they actually happened or that poses factual information about something. Autobiography and biography are the most common forms.
Novel- A fictional narrative in prose, generally longer than a short story. The author is not restricted by historical facts but rather is free to create fictional personalities in a fictional world.
Onomatopoeia- The use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning. The names of some birds are onomatopoetic, imitating the cry of the bird named. For instance, cuckoo, whippoorwill, owl, crow.
Oxymoron- A phrase combining two seemingly incompatible elements ("darkness visible").
Paraphrase- A summary or recapitulation of a piece of literature. A paraphrase does not enhance a literary work. It merely tells in the simplest form what happened.
Paradox- A statement that seems contradictory or incompatible. Eg. In the moment she loved him most, she hated hi most deeply (An oxymoron create the effect of a paradox in a phrase or two words – eg. happy funeral)
Personification- A figure of speech in which an animal, an object, a natural force, or an idea is given personality, or described as if it were human.
Plot- The sequence of events or happenings in a literary work. Plots may be simple or complex, loosely constructed or close-knit. But every plot is made up a series of incidents that are related to one another.
Generally, plots have the same basic elements:
· Exposition - the explanation of the story's premise and background material necessary for the reader to understand the story;
· Crisis - the peak in the story's action--the moment of highest dramatic tension;
· Climax - the scene which presents the story's decisive action;
· Resolution or denouement - the outcome of the story--the information that ties up all (or many) of the story's loose ends.
Poetry- Traditional poetry is language arranged in lines, with a regular rhythm and often a definite rhyme scheme. Non-traditional poetry does away with regular rhythm and rhyme, although is usually is set up in lines. The richness of its suggestions, the sounds of its words, and the strong feelings evoked by its line are often said to be what distinguish poetry from other forms of literature. Poetry is difficult to define, but most people know when they read it.
Point of View- The vantage point from which a narrative is told. It is the angle from which a story is told; i.e., the type of narrator the author chooses to use.
· In first-person narration the narrator uses "I" to tell his or her story. The first-person narrator may be a major character in the story or simply an observer. In third-person narration narrators are not actually characters in the story.
· Omniscient third-person narrators can reveal the thoughts of all their characters; they are "all-knowing."
· A limited omniscient narrator only reveals the thoughts and feelings of one (or possibly a limited few) character(s).
· An objective third-person narrator does not reveal anyone's thoughts and provides the sort of external, objective information that a camera (or an objective reporter) might record.
Protagonist- The central or main character in a literary work.
Pun- Usually, the humorous use of a word or phrase to suggest two or more meanings at the same time.
Quatrain- Usually a stanza or poem of four lines. However, a quatrain may also be any group of four lines. Unified by a rhyme scheme. Quatrains usually follow an abab, abba, or abcb rhyme scheme.
Refrain- A word, phrase, line, or group of lines repeated regularly in a poem, usually at the end of each stanza.
Repetition- The return of a word, phrase, stanza form, or effect in any form of literature. Repetition is an effective literary device that may bring comfort, suggest order, or add special meaning to a piece of literature.
Rhyme- The repetition of sounds in two or more words or phrases that usually appear close to each other in a poem. For example: river/shiver, song/long, leap/deep. If the rhyme occurs at the ends of lines, it is called end rhyme.
Rhyme Scheme- The pattern of rhymes in a poem. The rhyme scheme is indicated by a different letter of the alphabet for each new rhyme of the stanza.
Rhythm- The arrangement of stressed an unstressed syllables into a pattern. Rhythm is most apparent in poetry, though it is part of all good writing.
Rising Action- Those events in a play that lead to a turning point in the action.
Satire- A kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the weaknesses and wrongdoing of individuals, groups, institution, or humanity in general.
Setting- The time and place of action in a narrative. In short stories, novels, poetry, and non-fiction, setting is generally created by description. In drama, setting is usually established by stage directions and dialogue. Setting can be of great importance in establishing not only physical background but also mood or emotional intensity. In turn, the mood contributes to the plot and theme of the narrative.
Shakespearean Sonnet- A fourteen-line lyric poem consisting of three quatrains (four line stanza) and a concluding couplet (two rhyming lines). The Shakespearean, or English, sonnet was NOT invented by William Shakespeare, but is named for him because he is its most famous practitioner. Its rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.
Short Story- Narrative prose fiction that is shorter than a novel. Short stories vary in length. Some are no longer than five hundred words; other run to forty or fifty thousand words. An extended short story is sometimes referred to as a novelette, or when slightly longer, as a novella. The major difference between a short story and longer fictional forms, such as the novel, is that the main literary elements-plot, setting, characterization- are used with greater compression in the short story than in the longer forms.
Simile- A comparison made between two dissimilar things through the use of a specific word of comparison such as Like, as, than, or resembles. The comparison must be between two essentially unlike things.
Soliloquy- A speech, usually lengthy, in which a character, alone on stage, expresses his or her thoughts aloud. The soliloquy is a very useful dramatic device, as it allows the dramatist to convey a character’s most intimate thoughts and feelings directly to the audience.
Sonnet- A fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter (in lines of ten syllables with a stress on every other syllable). Sonnets vary in structure and rhyme scheme, but are generally of two types: the Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet and the Shakespearean, or English sonnet. Sonnets usually attempt to express a single theme or idea.
Sound- We all know what sound is, but when we study poetry we are often asked to comment on the sound of the poem. Of course, this should suggest that poetry is a genre of literature that needs to heard as well as read. You need to hear the words, lines and rhythms of the poem in order to comment on them. Poets use certain sound effects like onomatopoeia and alliteration (to name just two) frequently.
Speaker- The voice in a poem. The speaker may be the poet or a character created by the poet. The speaker may also be a thing or an animal.
Stanza- A group of lines forming a unit in a poem. Many stanzas have a fixed pattern-that is, the same number of lines and the same rhyme scheme." A stanza may be as short as the couplet, two rhyming lines. A favourite form of many English poets has been the heroic couplet, two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter. The triplet is a stanza of three lines often with one rhyme. The quatrain is a four line stanza with many patterns of rhyme and rhythm. In ballads, the second and fourth lines are usually rhymed while the first and third lines are unrhymed.
Stage Directions- words in a dramatic script--generally italicized--that define an actor's (apart from his/her dialogue) actions, movements, attitudes and so forth throughout the play.
Staging- This refers to how the text of play has been interpreted and produced for the stage. Each production of a play (each time it is “staged”), it will have a different feel or different interpretation. The director and actors involved with the play are first readers. The staging of the play will be influenced by their own interpretation of the text.
Structure- In very general terms this refers to how a text has been put together. We can talk about structure on different levels within a text. For example, we may refer to the structure of novel, ie. how that novel has been put together. We may also refer to the structure of a chapter; again this would simply refer to how pieces of that chapter were put together. At a more microscopic level, we can also talk about the structure of paragraphs, verses and lines; here we are referring to how the writer organises sentences and words.
Subplot- Secondary action that is interwoven with the main action in a play or story. Several subplots are not uncommon in a novel. The effect of one or more subplots maybe to provide some comic relief from a more serious main plot, or to create a certain atmosphere or mood, such as suspense or intrigue.
Suspense- That quality of a literary work that makes the reader or audience uncertain or tense about the outcome of events. Suspense makes the reader ask "What will happen next?". Suspense is greatest when it focuses attention on a sympathetic character. Thus, the most familiar kind of suspense involves a character hanging form the lee of a tall building, or tied to a railroad tracks as a train approaches.
Symbol- Any object, person, place, or action that has a meaning in itself and that also stands for something larger than it does, such as a quality, an attitude, a belief, or a value. For instance, a rose is often a symbol love and beauty while a skull is often a symbol of death.
Synecdoche- A form of the metaphor in which the part mentioned signifies the whole. A good synecdoche is based on an important part of the whole, the part most directly associated with the subject under discussion.
Syntax- The arrangement of words to form phrases, clauses and sentences; sentence construction. Syntax is also both the patterns of the aforementioned arrangements and the function of a word, phrase, or clause within a sentence.
Synthesis- The combination of two or more elements into a unified whole. Synthesis is the opposite of analysis, which involves detailed consideration of the separate elements or parts of a work. Synthesis is also the outcome of the dialectic process: thesis and antithesis combine to produce a synthesis.
Tale- A simple narrative. A tale is a more general term than a short story, since the latter is applied to a narrative that follows a fairly technical pattern, and the former denotes any short narrative.
Theme- The main idea or the basic meaning of a literary work. The theme of a work is not the same as the works’ subject. Not all literary works can be said to express a theme. Theme generally is not a concern in those works that are told primarily for entertainment; it is of importance in those literary works that comment on or present some insight about the meaning of life. In some literary works the theme is expressed directly, but more often, the theme is implicit-that is, it must be dug out and thought about. A simple theme can often be stated in a single sentence. But literary works of merit are rich and complex, and a paragraph or even an essay is needed to explore the theme.
Tome- A volume forming part of a larger work
Tone- The attitude a writer takes toward his or her subject, characters, and readers. Through tone, a writer can amuse, anger, or shock the reader. Tone is created through the choice of words and details.
Tragedy- In general, a literary work in which the central character meets an unhappy or disastrous end. Unlike comedy, which often portrays a central character of weak nature, tragedy often involves the problems of a central character of dignified or heroic stature. Through a related series of events, this main character, the tragic hero or heroine, is brought to a final downfall. The causes of the character’s downfall vary. In traditional dramas, the cause is often an error in judgement or a combination of inexplicable outside forces that overwhelm the character. In modern dramas, the causes range from moral or psychological weaknesses to the evils of society. The tragic hero or heroine, though defeated, usually gains a measure of wisdom and/or self-awareness. There may be more than one central character in a tragedy.
Transition- In a piece of writing, the passing from one subject or division of a composition to another. A good prose style accomplishes transition between sentences; paragraphs and chapters by proceeding smoothly and logically from one point to the next, so that the relationships appear clear and natural.
Triad- A group of three.
Trilogy- A literary composition, usually a novel or a play, written in three parts, each of which is a complete unit in itself.
Understatement- A form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is in fact.
Utopia- A place in which social, legal, and political justice and perfect harmony exist.
Vernacular- The domestic or native language of the people of a particular country or geographical area.
Verse- Divisions of lines in poetry.
Verse form- This refers to the type of poem. There are many different types (or forms) of poetry (eg. sonnet, free verse, dramatic monologue). Each form will have certain characteristics (eg, subject matter, number of lines in a verse, meter etc.) that poets will use and, playfully, abuse.
Vice- An evil habit or wicked tendency present in characters in a literary work or poem.
Whimsical- A critical term for writing what is fanciful or expresses odd notions.
Word choice- Quite simply the words and phrases used by a writer. This sounds simple but is often inadequately dealt with by students. When asked to comment on word choice you need to think about what the writer is trying to say; think about why, out of all the thousands of words available, was this one used; what does it make us think about?