Lit Terms

Epic

long narrative poem recounting heroic deeds

anaphora

when a certain word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of clauses or sentences that follow each other. Ex-"Im sick and tired of... Im sick and tired of..."

Foil

a character who contrasts with another character Ex. protagonist and antagonist

Hyperbole

when author purposely exaggerates to an extreme. Ex. The suitcase weighed a ton!

Alliteration

words that begin with the same sound are placed close together Ex. She sells sea shells

Elegy

poem of mourning Ex. O captain my captain

Aphorism

short statement of a general truth, insight, or good advice Ex. If the shoe fits, wear it.

Connotation

feeling or idea that a word has Ex. stench, smell, aroma, scent, odor

Syntax

the set of rules that helps readers and writers make sense of sentences Ex. The boy ran hurriedly or hurriedly the boy ran

Tone

the "feel" of a piece of writing Ex. "I'll just swing by" or "I'll meet you in your office."

Rhetorical Question

a question that is not asked in order to receive an answer from the audience or reader Ex. "What's the deal with airline food?"

Conceit

extended metaphor Ex. "A broken heart is like a damaged clock."

Stanza

A dividing and organizing technique which places a group of lines in a poem together Ex. Couplet, tercet, quatrain

Mood

The atmosphere of the narrative Ex. indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional , subjunctive

Epistle

a letter in verse, usually addressed to a person close to the writer Ex. epistle of Paul in the bible.

Regionalism

style or genre of writing, fiction and poetry that focuses on the character particular to a specific region

Anti Hero

protagonist that displays qualities that do not align when the traditional hero Ex. Batman, Han Solo

Enjambment

continuing a line after the line break Ex. we were running to find what had happened beyond the hill

Mock Epic

small narrative poem in which the machinery and contentions of epic proper are employed in the treatment of trivial themes.

Pathetic Fallacy

about giving emotions to something non human Ex. the wind whispered through the trees

Allegory

story within a story Ex. Dune

Motif

symbolic image or idea that appears frequently in a story Ex. the typewriter

Physiognomy

a person's facial features or expression, especially when regarded as indicative of character or ethnic origin Ex. "stuck up"

Heroic Couplet

A form of poetry commonly used in epics and narrative poems

Parallelism

When phrases in a sentence have similar or the same grammatical structure. Ex. Marin Luther King Jr speech

Free Verse

poetry that doesn't use any strict meter or rhyme scheme Ex. The wheel barrow

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed but metered lines Ex. mending wall

Mock Epic

form of satire that adapts the elevated heroic style of the classical epic poem to a trivial subject

Kenning

concise compound or figurative phrase replacing a common noun Ex. Old Norse, Old Germanic and Old English poetry