7/27/2019 GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS.docx

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GLOSSARY OF SOME LITERARY TERMS

carpe diemLatin for seize the day, or enjoy lifes pleasure while you are able. The term isapplied to a THEME frequently found in LYRIC poetry.

foota group of syllables in VERSE usually consisting one accented syllable and one or moreunaccented syllables or a variety of combinations.

framea NARRATIVE device presenting a story or group of stories within the frame of a

larger narrative. In Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, the pilgrimage is the frameunifying and providing continuity for the stories told by the pilgrims.

iamba two-syllable metrical FOOT consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an

accented syllable.imagerythe sensory details that provide vividness in a literary work and tend to arouse

emotions or feelings in a reader that abstract language does not.lyrica poem, usually short, that expresses some basic emotion or state of mind. It usually

creates a single impression and is highly personal. It may be rhymed or unrhymed.A SONNET is a lyric poem.

meterthe pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in POETRY.moodthe overall atmosphere or prevailing emotional aura of work.pastorala conventional form of LYRIC poetry presenting an idealized picture of rural life.personathe mask or voice of the author or the authors creation in a particular work.rhymethe exact repetition of sounds in at least the final accented syllables of two or more

words.rhyme schemeany pattern of end rhyme in a STANZA.

rhythmthe arrangement of stressed and unstressed sounds into patterns in speech or writing.

Rhythm or METER, may be regular, or it may vary within a line or work. The fourmost common meters are IAMB (_), TROCHEE (_), ANAPEST (_ _ ), and

DACTYL (_ _).romancea long narrative in poetry or prose that originated in the medieval period. Its main

elements are adventure, love, and magic. There are elements of the romance in the

excerpts fromMorte DArthurand Sir Gawain and the Green Knights.romanticisma type of literature that, unlike REALISM, tends to portray the uncommon. The

material selected tends to deal with extraordinary people in unusual settings having

unusual experiences. In romantic literature there is often a stress on the past and anemphasis on nature.

satirethe technique that employs wit to ridicule a subject, usually some social institution or

human fault, with the intention of inspiring reform. IRONY and SARCASM areoften used in writing satire, and PARODY is closely related.

stylethe distinctive handling of language by an author. It involves the specific choices made

with regard to diction, syntax, figurative language, and so on.symbolsomething relatively concrete, such as an object, action, character, or scene, that

signifies something relatively abstract, such as concepts or ideas.themethe underlying meaning of a literary work. A theme may be directly stated but more

often is implied.

tonethe authors attitude, eitherstated or implied, toward his or her subject matter and towardthe audience.

versein its most general sense, a synonym for poetry. Verse may also be used to refer topoetry carefully composed as to RHYTHM and RHYME SCHEME, but of inferiorliterary value.