Kenning Metaphorical compound word or phrase substituted for simple nouns.

Caesura A pause in a line that divides the line into two parts, with each part having two accented syllables.

Oral Tradition Literature that is passed from one generation to another by performance or word of mouth.

Frame Story Exists when a story is told within a narrative setting or frame, creating a story within a story.

Prologue An introductory scene in a drama.

Oxymoron/Paradox A statement that seems to contradict or oppose itself but, in fact, reveals a kind of truth.

Appositive A noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it.

Iambic Pentameter A metrical pattern of five feet each of which is made up of two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed.

Soliloquy A speech in a dramatic work in which a character speaks his or her thoughts aloud, usually while on the stage alone, not speaking to other characters, and perhaps unaware of the audience.

Dramatic Monologue A lyric poem in which a speaker addresses a silent or absent listener in a moment of high intensity or deep emotion.

Comic Relief Humorous scenes, incidents, or speeches that are included in a serious drama to provide a reduction in emotional intensity.

Dramatic Irony Occurs when the reader or viewer knows something that a character does not know.

Sonnet A lyric poem of 14 lines, commonly written in iambic pentameter. The English version consists of three quatrains and a couplet and has a rhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg.

Internal Rhyme Rhyme that occurs within a single line.

Satire A literary technique in which ideas, customs, behaviors, or institutions are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society.

Metaphysical Conceit An extended metaphor that makes a surprising connection between two quite dissimilar things.

Antithesis A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting words, phrases, clauses or sentences are juxtaposed to emphasize a point.

Claim The writer’s position on an issue or problem.

Parody Writing that imitates either the style or the subject matter of a literary work for the purpose of criticism, humorous effect, or flattering tribute.

Counter Argument An argument made to oppose another argument.

Verisimilitude Refers to the appearance of truth or actuality.

Diction A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words or phrases.

Imagery Refers to language that appeals to the senses; words and phrases that create vivid sensory experiences for the reader.

Allusion An indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work with which the author believes the reader will be familiar.

Apostrophe A figure of speech in which an object, an abstract quality, or an absent or imaginary person is addressed directly as if present and able to understand.

Blank Verse Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Symbolism The use of people, places, or objects that have concrete meanings but also stand for something else (such as an idea or feeling).

Metaphor A figure of speech that compares two things that have something in common.

Couplet A rhymed pair of lines.

Ode A complex lyric poem that develops a serious and dignified theme; often commemorates events or praises people or elements of nature.

Inference A logical assumption that is based on observed facts and one’s own knowledge and experience.

Paraphrase The restating of information in one’s own words.

Personification A figure of speech in which an object, animal, or idea is given human characteristics.

Hyperbole A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous effect.

Modernism A literary movement that roughly spanned the time period between the two word wars,

Stream of Consciousness A technique that was developed by modernist writers to present the flow of a character’s seemingly unconnected thoughts, responses, and sensations.

Internal Conflict A conflict between opposing forces within a character.

Motivation The stated or implied reason behind a character’s behavior.

Rhythm A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables