Literary Terms – Page 2 Connotation - Haiku

Connotation The idea and feeling associated with a word as opposed to its dictionary definition (denotation). The word “childlike” has connotations of innocence or immaturity while the denotation is simply “like a child or bearing the characteristics of a child”

Consonance The repetition of consonant sounds anywhere within a line of poetry Alliteration is a specific type of consonance. I'll swing by my ankles. She'll cling to your knees. As you hang by your nose, From a high-up trapeze. But just one thing, please, As we float through the breeze, Don't sneeze. - The Acrobats by Shel Silverstein

Context Clues Hints or suggestions that may surround unfamiliar words or phrases and clarify their meaning. I hope we can reach an amicable agreement. I don’t like to fight. peaceful frank shrewd enthusiastic

Couplet A rhymed pair of lines in a poem. All of Shakespeare’s sonnets end with a couplet. “So long as men can breath and eyes can see, So long lives this; and this give life to thee.”

Denotation The opposite of connotation in that it is the exact or dictionary meaning of a word. Astute: having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one's advantage.

Dialect A form of language that is spoken in a particular place or by a particular group of people. "You mean, you mad 'cause she didn't stop and tell us all her business. Anyhow, what you ever know her to do so bad as y'all make out? The worst thing Ah ever knowed her to do was taking a few years offa her age and dat ain't never harmed nobody. Y'all makes me tired. De way you talkie' you'd think de folks in dis town didn't do nothin' in de bed 'cept praise de Lawd. You have to 'scuse me, 'cause Ah'm bound to go take her some supper." Pheoby stood up sharply. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

Dialogue The conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. A dialogue occurs in most works of literature. “But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.” - Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland -Lewis Carroll

Drama A form of literature meant to be performed by actors before an audience. In a drama, the characters’ dialogue and actions tell the story. Hamlet A Midsummer Night’s Dream Oedipus the King Death of a Salesman

Dramatic Monologue a literary device that is used when a character reveals his or her innermost thoughts and feelings, those that are hidden throughout the course of the story line, through a poem or a speech. This speech, where only one character speaks, is recited while other characters are present onstage. This monologue often comes during a climactic moment in a work and often reveals hidden truths about a character, their history and their relationships. Hamlet’s To Be or Not To Be

Elegy “O CAPTAIN! My Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But O heart! Heart! Heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up–for you the flag is flung–for you the bugle trills; 10 For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths–for you the shores a-crowding; For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! Dear father! This arm beneath your head; It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead. My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will; The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; 20 Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But I, with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.” a type of literature defined as a song or poem that expresses sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who has died. Written for Abraham Lincoln – Walt Whitman

Emjambment in poetry, the running over of a line or thought into the next line of verse ”It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead.” Oh, Captain! My Captain!

Epigram a short poem or verse that seeks to ridicule a thought or event, usually with witticism or sarcasm. “Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put and end to mankind.” – John F. Kennedy “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” –  Eleanor Roosevelt “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Oscar Wilde

Epic a long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero whose actions reflect the ideals and values of a nation or group. Beowulf

Epiphany a sudden moment of understanding that causes a character to change or to act in a certain way. When Hamlet realizes Claudius did, in fact, kill his father. “Why, let the stricken deer go weep, The hart ungalled play; For some must watch, while some must sleep: So runs the world away. Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers-- if the rest of my fortunes turn Turk with me--with two Provincial roses on my razed shoes, get me a fellowship in a cry of players, sir?”

Epitaph a short poem or verse written in memory of someone “And were an epitaph to be my story I’d have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.” Robert Frost

Essay a short work of nonfiction that deals with a single subject. Various Types of Essays 1.      descriptive essay is one that describes a particular subject. 2.      expository essay is one whose purpose is to explain and give information about a subject. 3.      formal essay is highly organized and thoroughly researched. 4.      humorous essay is one whose purpose is to amuse or entertain the reader. 5.      informal essay is lighter in tone and usually reflects the writer’s feelings and personality. 6.      narrative essay is an essay that tells a story. 7.      persuasive essay attempts to convince a reader to adopt a particular option or course of action.

Evaluating the process of judging the value of something or someone.  A work of literature can be evaluated in terms of such criteria as entertainment, believability, originality, and emotional power.  Literary lenses

Extended Metaphor a figure of speech that compares two essentially unlike things in great length.  “Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune–without the words, And never stops at all, “And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. “I’ve heard it in the chilliest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.” (Emily Dickinson)

Fable a brief tale that teaches a lesson about human nature. Fables often feature animals as characters. The Tortoise and the Hare

Fantasy a work of literature that contains at least one fantastic or unreal element. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Figurative Language/Figure of Speech expressions that are not literally true. see simile, metaphor, hyperbole, understatement, irony, oxymoron, cliché, metonymy

Flashback an interruption of the chronological sequence (as in a film or literary work) of an event of earlier occurrence. A flashback is a narrative technique that allows a writer to present past events during current events, in order to provide background for the current narration.  Their Eyes Were Watching God is told in flashback

Folklore traditions, customs and stories that are passed down within a culture. Folklore contains various types of literature such as legends, folktales, myths, and fables.

Folktale a simple story that has been passed from generation to generation by word of mouth.  Folktales are told primarily to entertain rather than to explain or teach a lesson. Often overlap with fables.

Foot a unit of meter within a line of poetry

Foreshadowing when the writer provides clues or hints that suggest or predict future event in a story.    “Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts.” Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Free Verse poetry without regular patterns of rhyme and rhythm.  Often used to capture the sounds and rhythms of ordinary speech. A noiseless patient spider, I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated, Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them. And you O my soul where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,……. Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold, Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul. A Noiseless Patient Spider – Walt Whitman

Genre a type or category of literature.  The four main literary genres include:  fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. 

Haiku a traditional form of Japanese poetry, usually dealing with nature.  A haiku has three lines and describes a single moment, feeling or thing.  The first and third lines contain five syllables and the second line contains seven syllables. You moths must leave now; I am turning out the light And going to sleep. -Richard Wright