English 467

English 467
Literary and Cultural Terms

The following list contains basic terms with which you should already be familiar, and more specialized terms that we
have used during the first part of this quarter. Further definitions can be found in the appendix “Literary and Cultural
Terms” beginning on page 1013 of the Longman Anthology (or any glossary of literary terms).
Rhythm and Meter feminine rhyme—two syllable rhyme with second
syllable unstressed
foot—the unit repeated that gives a steady rhythm to
poetry; generally an accented syllable with heroic couplets—poetry written in a series of closed
accompanying light syllable or syllables couplets
iamb (iambic foot)—unstressed followed by stressed: masculine rhyme—last syllable rhyme
unite, repeat, insist
quatrain—any four line stanza
trochee (trochaic foot)—stressed followed by unstressed:
sonnet—a poem consisting of fourteen lines of iambic
unit, reaper, instant
pentameter; Petrarchan or Italian sonnets emphasize
anapest (anapestic foot)—two unstressed followed by octave (8 lines) and sestet (6 lines) divisions while the
stressed: intercede, disarranged Shakespearian form divides into three quatrains (4 line
stanzas) and a closing couplet.
dactyl (dactylic foot)—stressed followed by two
unstressed: Washington, applejack Spenserian stanza—a nine-line stanza form rhyming
ababbcbcc devised by Spenser for The Faerie Queene
spondee (spondaic foot)—two stressed: heartbreak,
and used by Byron in Childe Harold
headline
stanza—a recurring unit of a poem
trimeter—a verse line of three feet
verse paragraphs—divisions in long blank verse or
tetrameter— a verse line of four feet
irregularly rhymed verse, usually marked like prose
pentameter— a verse line of five feet paragraphs (indented first lines)
hexameter— a verse line of six feet Figurative Language
caesura—strong pause (usually grammatically marked) allegory—a narrative where concepts are represented as
in a verse line persons who act out a plot; also when a progression of
events or images suggests a translation or them into a
end-stopped lines—verse lines that end with a strong conceptual language
mark of punctuation
allusion—a meaningful reference, such as when Yeats
enjambment—lines where the sense flows over the ends writes “Another Troy must rise and set,” calling to mind
into the next the tragic history of Troy
Sense and Sound analogy—comparison between things similar in a
alliteration—beginning with same consonant or number of ways; often used to explain the familiar by
consonant sound reference to the familiar
assonance—repetition of same or similar vowel sounds anthropomorphism—giving human attributes to

animals, plants, rivers, winds, and so on, or to such
consonance—repetition of pattern of consonant sounds entities as Grecian urns and abstract ideas
with varied vowels: languor/linger, reader/raider
antithesis—the placement of opposing ideas in parallel
Rhyme and Stanza grammar
ballad stanza—alternate tetrameter and trimeter lines apostrophe—an address to an absent or imaginary
usually rhyming abcb (or abab) person, a thing, or a personified abstraction
blank verse—unrhymed iambic pentameter archaism—deliberate use of an archaic or old-fashioned
canto—a major division in a long poem word; for example, o’er, ere, childe
closed couplet—couplet expressing a complete thought classical allusion—reference to classical literature or

(ending with semicolon or period) mythology
couplet—rhymed successive lines epic simile—an extended simile in which the thing
compared is described as an object in its own right
Garrett—English 467 1
hyperbole—willful exaggeration fancy, imagination—after Coleridge distinct terms; fancy
is the power of combining several known properties into
image—a concrete picture, either literally descriptive
new combinations; imagination is the faculty of using
such as “Red roses covered the white wall,” or
such properties to create something entirely new
metaphoric as in “She is a rose,” each carrying sensual
and emotive connotation frame narrative—a narrative enclosing one or more
separate narratives
metaphor—comparison that likens one thing to another
without a word of likening genre—genre is an established literary form or type,
such as the epic, the sonnet, the Pindaric Ode, a stage
oxymoron—the combination of seemingly incompatible
comedy, and so on;
ideas, such as “darkness visible,” or “fearful joy”
Gothic, Classic, Neoclassic—Gothic originally referred
paradox—a statement that on the surface seems
to German works, later adapted to refer to any work
improbable but which turns out to be rational, usually in
considered primitive or irregular; Classic implies lucid,
some unexpected sense
rational, orderly works, such as are usually attributed to
persona—a mask; the speaker or narrator of a work Greek and Roman writers of the classic era; Neoclassic
when not designated as a character in the work is implies an ideal of life, art, and thought deliberately
assumed to be a persona of the author modeled on Greek and Roman examples
personification—the technique of treating abstractions, imagination—see fancy
things or animals as persons
irony, sarcasm—ways of saying one thing but meaning
simile—comparison marked with specific word of another; irony implies an attitude on the part of the
likening, such as “like” or “as” speaker quite different from the thoughts being
expressed; sarcasm is a more broad and taunting form
symbol—something standing for its natural qualities in using apparent praise to denigrate
another context, with human meaning added—the eagle,
standing for the soaring dominance of Rome; symbols, lyric—a short poem emphasizing sound and pictorial
though, do not always point to a public and agreed upon imagery rather than narrative or dramatic movement
referent and thus are broader and more interpretable than
ode—a long lyric poem serious in subject and treatment,
allegories
written in an elevated style and using (often) an
Literary and Cultural Terms elaborate stanza.
ballad—a narrative poem in short stanzas pathos, bathos—pathos refers to scenes or passages
designed to evoke the feelings of pity or sympathetic
burlesque, mock heroic—forms of satire; the burlesque sorrow from an audience; bathos is the unintentional
ridicules its subject by cutting it down; the mock heroic descent from high to low which occurs when an author
does so by inflating it attempts to be lofty and ends up ridiculous
closet drama—a play written for reading in the “closet,” poetic diction—the distinctive language used by a poet
or private study and not for performance which is not current in the discourse of an age
decorum—in literary criticism, refers to the principle romance, novel—romances were verse narratives of
that there should be fitness between characters, actions adventure, usually involving quests, and both natural
and language and supernatural trials; the novel often attempts to be a
didactic—Greek for “teaching”; often applied to more realistic representation of common life and social
literature intended for instruction or containing a strong relationships
moralistic element satire—literary forms which diminish or derogate a
elegy—an elegy is a formal, usually long, poetic lament subject by making it ridiculous and by evoking toward it
for someone who has died amusement, scorn, or indignation
emphasis—stress placed on words, phrases, ideas to sensibility—sensitive feeling, emotion; used to denote
show their importance; in literature emphasis is often the tender undercurrent of feeling during the
shown through increased use of figurative language or Neoclassical period
poetic devices sublime—the effect of terror and pleasure produced by
Enlightenment—philosophical movement of the 17th and contemplation of the vast, obscure and powerful
18th centuries which held that reason could achieve all
knowledge, supplant organized religion and ensure
progress toward happiness and perfection
eulogy—eulogy is a work of praise for either a very
distinguished or recently dead person
Garrett—English 467 2

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English 467

Literary and Cultural Terms

assonance—repetition of same or similar vowel sounds anthropomorphism—giving human attributes to

closed couplet—couplet expressing a complete thought classical allusion—reference to classical literature or

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