foil

A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character.

analogy

A comparison in which the subject is compared point by point to something far different, usually with the idea of clarifying the subject by comparing it to something familiar.

simile

A comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of the words “like,” “as,” “seems” etc.

metaphor

A comparison of two unlike things by saying one is the other and not using “like” or “as.”

motif

A conspicuous recurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in works of literature.

aside

A dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience. By convention the audience is to realize that the character's speech is unheard by the other characters on stage.

dead metaphor

A figure of speech that has lost its force and imaginative effectiveness through frequent use.

oxymoron

A form of paradox that combines a pair of opposite terms in to a single unusual expression.

apostrophe

A form of personification in which the absent or dead are spoken to as if present and the inanimate, as if animate. These are all addressed directly.

personification

A kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics.

enjambment

A line of poetry having no pause or end punctuation but having uninterrupted grammatical meaning continuing into the next line.

refrain

A line or set of lines at the end of a stanza or section of a longer poem or song--these lines repeat at regular intervals in other stanzas or sections of the same work. Sometimes the repetition involves minor changes in wording.

chiasmus

A literary scheme in which the author introduces words or concepts in a particular order, then later repeats those terms or similar ones in reversed or backwards order.

sonnet

A lyric poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to certain definite patterns. It usually expresses a single, complete idea or thought with a reversal, twist, or change of direction in the concluding lines.

soliloquy

A monologue spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character believes himself to be alone.

synecdoche

A part of something is used to signify the whole.

aphorism

A pithy observation that contains a general truth.

fixed form

A poem that follows a prescribed model.

monologue

A prolonged talk or discourse by a single speaker, especially one dominating or monopolizing a conversation.

allusion

A reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing.

tragedy

A serious play in which the chief character, by some peculiarity of psychology, passes through a series of misfortunes leading to a final, devastating catastrophe.

octave

A set of eight lines that rhyme according to the pattern.

envoy

A short concluding stanza found in certain poetic forms (e.g., the sestina) that often provides a concise summing-up of the poem.

quatrain

A stanza of four lines, often rhyming in an ABAB pattern.

tercet

A three-line unit or stanza of poetry.

hamartia

A tragic flaw, especially a misperception, a lack of some important insight, or some blindness that ironically results from one's own strengths and abilities.

Tragic hero

An admirable character who appears as the focus in a tragic play.

conceit

An elaborate or unusual comparison--especially one using unlikely metaphors, simile, hyperbole, and contradiction.

sestina

An elaborate verse form of Italian origin, normally unrhymed, consisting of six stanzas of six lines each and a concluding tercet. The six final words of the lines in the first stanza are repeated in a different order in each of the remaining five stanzas and also in the concluding tercet.

sestet

Any six-line stanza or a six-line unit of poetry.

euphony

Attempting to group words together harmoniously, so that the consonants permit an easy and pleasing flow of sound when spoken.

hyperbole

Deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration.

Olfactory imagery

Descriptive language dealing with scent.

Auditory imagery

Descriptive language that evokes noise, music, or other sounds.

Extended metaphor

Detailed and complex metaphors that continue over a long section of a poem.

Gustatory imagery

Imagery dealing with taste.

paradox

Occurs when the elements of a statement contradict each other. Although the statement may appear illogical, impossible, or absurd, it turns out to have a coherent meaning that reveals a hidden truth.

rhyme

Occurs when the final sounds of lines are the same.

Rhyme scheme

Pattern of end rhymes.

Stanzaic form

Poetry broken into standard “paragraphs” of length.

villanelle

Poetry consisting of nineteen lines--five tercets and a concluding quatrain. The form requires that whole lines be repeated in a specific order, and that only two rhyming sounds occur in the course of the poem.

Masculine rhyme

Rhymes comprised of just one syllable.

Feminine rhyme

Rhymes comprised of more than one syllable.

Organic imagery

Sensory language describing internal sensation: hunger, thirst, fatigue, fear.

Kinesthetic imagery

Sensory language that describes movement.

Visual imagery

Sensory language that evokes colors, shapes, or things that can be seen.

English or Shakespearean Sonnet

Uses three quatrains; each rhymed differently, with a final, independently rhymed couplet that makes an effective, unifying climax to the whole. Its rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Typically, the final two lines follow a "turn" because they reverse, undercut, or turn from the original line of thought to take the idea in a new direction.

metonymy

Something closely related used to represent another item.

synesthesia

Taking one type of sensory input (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) and commingling it with another separate sense in an impossible way.

syntax

The arrangement of words and the order of grammatical elements in a sentence.

mood

The atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work.

connotation

The extra tinge or taint of meaning each word carries beyond the minimal, strict definition found in a dictionary.

Continuous form

the form of a poem in which the lines follow each other without formal grouping, the only breaks being dictated by units of meaning.

anaphora

The intentional repetition of beginning clauses in order to create an artistic effect.

denotation

The minimal, strict definition of a word as found in a dictionary, disregarding any historical or emotional meaning.

Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet

Has an octave followed by a sestet. The octave has two quatrains rhyming abba, abba, the first of which presents the theme, the second further develops it. In the sestet, the first three lines reflect on or exemplify the theme, while the last three bring the poem to a unified end. The sestet may be arranged cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdedce.

alliteration

The practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound.

assonance

The repetition of accented vowel sounds in a series of words.

consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within a anywhere in consecutive words or words close in location.

cacophony

The use of words that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sounds.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words that mimic the sounds they describe.

imagery

The words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses.

tone

The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience, and it is conveyed through the author’s choice of words and details.

couplet

Two lines--the second line immediately following the first--of the same metrical length that end in a rhyme to form a complete unit.

litotes

Understatement.

Tactile imagery

Verbal description that evokes the sense of touch.

diction

Word choice intended to convey a certain effect.

Internal rhyme

Words with similar ending sounds in one or more syllables and occurring within lines.

Slant/approximate rhyme

Words with sounds that are very close but not exact.