Literary Terms
Literary Terms
1.Alliteration
Repetition of a consonant in two or more words.
2.Allusion
An implicit or indirect reference to another work of art or literature,to a historical person or event.
3.Anapaest
A metrical foot comprising three syllables of which the first two are unstressed and the third is stressed.
4.Aphorism
A terse expression of a universal truth.
5.Archaism
A word or a style of expression which has already been outdated.
6.Blank Verse
Poetry consisting of iambic pentameter lines without rhyme at the end.
7.Chorus
Chorus is a group of performers in a play who comment on the action and provide mood and atmosphere for it.Milton uses such a Chorus in Samson Agonistes.
8.Climax
The peak of importance in a play or in a story.It is the point at which the rise of action ends and the fall of action begins.
9.Connotation
The indirect meaning of a word.It is the suggestion or associated significance implied by a word.
10.Couplet
Two lines of verse rhyming together.
11.Dactyl
A metrical foot of three syllables of which the first one is stressed and the last two are unstressed.
12.Denouement
The final scene of a drama or fiction in which all the problems are solved,all the knots are untied and a satisfactory explanation of the dramatic situation is given.
13.Diction
The selection of words in a writing or speech .
14.Didactic
A kind of writing intended to instruct.
15.Dramatic Irony
A dialogue or a situation in a play which conveys one meaning to the character or characters on stage and a different meaning to the audience . It is used both in tragedy and in comedy to heighten respective effects.
16.Epic Simile
An open comparison between two dissimilar objects of which one is fairly elaborated . It is called epic simile because the epic poets introduced the tradition of such similes.
17.Epigram
A brief and witty statement which is apparently self-contradictory.
18.Episode
A part of a long story. It is often complete in itself.
19.Epithet
Basically an adjective used before a person or a thing.
20.Exposition
The beginning of a play which informs what has already happened and hints at what will happen next. In it the background of the plot is revealed and the oncoming events are suggested.It is also called beginning.
6.Blank Verse
Poetry consisting of iambic pentameter lines without rhyme at the end.
7.Chorus
Chorus is a group of performers in a play who comment on the action and provide mood and atmosphere for it.Milton uses such a Chorus in Samson Agonistes.
8.Climax
The peak of importance in a play or in a story.It is the point at which the rise of action ends and the fall of action begins.
9.Connotation
The indirect meaning of a word.It is the suggestion or associated significance implied by a word.
10.Couplet
Two lines of verse rhyming together.
11.Dactyl
A metrical foot of three syllables of which the first one is stressed and the last two are unstressed.
12.Denouement
The final scene of a drama or fiction in which all the problems are solved,all the knots are untied and a satisfactory explanation of the dramatic situation is given.
13.Diction
The selection of words in a writing or speech .
14.Didactic
A kind of writing intended to instruct.
15.Dramatic Irony
A dialogue or a situation in a play which conveys one meaning to the character or characters on stage and a different meaning to the audience . It is used both in tragedy and in comedy to heighten respective effects.
16.Epic Simile
An open comparison between two dissimilar objects of which one is fairly elaborated . It is called epic simile because the epic poets introduced the tradition of such similes.
17.Epigram
A brief and witty statement which is apparently self-contradictory.
18.Episode
A part of a long story. It is often complete in itself.
19.Epithet
Basically an adjective used before a person or a thing.
20.Exposition
The beginning of a play which informs what has already happened and hints at what will happen next. In it the background of the plot is revealed and the oncoming events are suggested.It is also called beginning.
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