Term 1: Literary Devices and Poetic Techniques, Quizzes of Literature

Download Term 1: Literary Devices and Poetic Techniques and more Quizzes Literature in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 diction DEFINITION 1 A writer's choice of words, phrases, sentence structures and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning. TERM 2 syntax DEFINITION 2 The ordering of words into meaningful patterns such as phrases, clauses, and sentences. TERM 3 tone DEFINITION 3 The author's implicit attitude toward the reader or the people, places, and events in a word as revealed by the elements of the author's style. TERM 4 carpe diem DEFINITION 4 The Latin phrase meaning "seize the day." This is a very common literary theme, especially in lyric poetry, which emphasizes that life is short, time is fleeting, and that one should make the most of present pleasures. TERM 5 allusion DEFINITION 5 The brief reference to a person, place, thing, event or idea in history or literature. TERM 6 image DEFINITION 6 A word, phrase or figure of speech (especially a simileor a metaphor) that addresses the senses, suggesting mental pictures of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings or actions. TERM 7 figure of speech DEFINITION 7 Way of using language that deviates from the literal, denotative meanings of words in order to suggest additional meanings or effects. TERM 8 simile DEFINITION 8 A common figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two things by using words such as like, as than, appears; and seems. TERM 9 metaphor (or synecdoche/metonymy) DEFINITION 9 A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, without using the words likeor as. TERM 10 personification DEFINITION 10 A form of metaphor in which human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman things. TERM 21 ballad DEFINITION 21 Traditionally, a ballad is a song, transmitted orally from generation to generation, that tells a story and that eventually is written down. As such, ballads usually cannot be traced to a particular author or group of authors. Typically, ballads are dramatic, condensed, and impersonal narratives, such as "Bonny Barbara Allan." TERM 22 literary ballad DEFINITION 22 A narrative poem that is written in deliberate imitation of the language, form, and spirit of the traditional ballad. TERM 23 onomatopoeia DEFINITION 23 A term referring to the use of a word that resembles the sound it denotes. Buzz, rattle, bang, and sizzle all reflect onomatopoeia. TERM 24 alliteration DEFINITION 24 The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable: "descending dew drops." TERM 25 assonance DEFINITION 25 The repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same, for example, "asleep under a tree." Similar endings result in rhyme, as in "asleep in the deep." TERM 26 euphony DEFINITION 26 Euphony("good sound") refers to language that is smooth and musically pleasant to the ear. TERM 27 cacophony DEFINITION 27 Language that is discordant and difficult to pronounce, such as this line from John Updike's "Player Piano": "never my thumb plunker fumbles." Cacophony ("bad sound") may be unintentional in the writer's sense of music, or it may be used consciously for deliberate dramatic effect. TERM 28 rhyme DEFINITION 28 The repetition of identical or similar concluding syllables in different words, most often at the ends of lines. TERM 29 eye rhyme DEFINITION 29 When words look alike but don't rhyme at all, for example, boughandcough, or browand blow. TERM 30 end rhyme DEFINITION 30 The most common form of rhyme in poetry, the rhyme comes at the end of the lines. TERM 31 internal rhyme DEFINITION 31 Places at least one of the rhymed words within the line. TERM 32 masculine rhyme DEFINITION 32 The rhyming of single-syllable words, such as grade or shade. Masculine rhyme also occurs in rhyming words of more than one syllable when the same sound occurs in a final stressed syllable, as in defend and contend, betray and away. TERM 33 feminine rhyme DEFINITION 33 Consists of a rhymed stressed syllable followed by one or more identical unstressed syllables, as in butter, clutter; gratitude, attitude; quivering, shivering. TERM 34 exact rhyme DEFINITION 34 Words share the same stressed vowel sounds as well as sharing sounds that follow the vowel. TERM 35 near rhyme (off rhyme/slant rhyme/ approximate rhyme) DEFINITION 35 The sounds of rhyming words are almost, but not exactly alike. A common form of near rhyme is consonance, which consists of identical consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds: home, same; worth, breath. TERM 46 terza rima DEFINITION 46 An interlocking three-line rhyme scheme: aba, bcb, cdc, ded,and so on. TERM 47 quatrain DEFINITION 47 A four-line stanza Quatrains are the most common stanzaic form in the English language. TERM 48 ballad stanza DEFINITION 48 A four-line stanza, known as a quatrain, consisting of alternating eight- and six-syllable lines. Uaually only the second and fourth lines rhyme (an abcbpattern) TERM 49 sonnet DEFINITION 49 A fixed form of lyric poetry that consists of fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. TERM 50 Italian sonnet (or Petrarchan sonnet) DEFINITION 50 Is divided into an octave, which typically rhymes abbaabba, and a sestet, which may have varying rhyme schemes. The octave often presents a situation, attitude, or problem that the sestet comments upon or resolves. TERM 51 octave DEFINITION 51 Eight lines of a poem. In sonnets, this portion often presents a situation, attitude, or problem. TERM 52 sestet DEFINITION 52 Six lines of a poem. In sonnets, this portion often resolves the situation, attitude, or problem presented in the octave. TERM 53 Shakespearean sonnet (or English sonnet) DEFINITION 53 Is organized into three quatrains and a couplet, which typically rhyme abab cdcd efef gg. This rhyme scheme is more suited to English poetry than the Italian sonnetbecause English has fewer rhyming words than Italian. TERM 54 villanelle DEFINITION 54 A type of fixed formpoetry consisting of 19 lines of any length divided into 6 stanzas: 5 tercetsand a concluding quatrain. The first and thrid lines of the initial tercet rhyme; these rhymes are repeated in eachsubsequenttercet (aba) and in the final two lines of the quatrain (abaa). TERM 55 sestina DEFINITION 55 A type of fixed formpoetry consisting of 36 lines of any length divided into 6 sestetsand a three-line concluding stanza called an envoy. The 6 words at the end of the first sestet's lines must also appear at the ends of the other five sestets, in varying order. The 6 words must also appear in the envoy, where they often resonate important themes. TERM 56 envoy DEFINITION 56 Three-line concluding stanza of a sestina. It must contain the 6 words at the end of the first sestet's lines in the sestina. TERM 57 epigram DEFINITION 57 A brief, pointed, and witty poem that usually makes a satiric or humorous point. TERM 58 limerick DEFINITION 58 A light, humorous style of fixed form poetry. Its usual form consists of five lines with the rhyme scheme aabba; lines 1 & 2 contain three feet, while lines 3 & 4 usually contain two feet. Limericks range in subject matter from the silly to the obscene. TERM 59 elegy DEFINITION 59 A mournful, contemplative lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead, often ending in a consolation. TERM 60 haiku DEFINITION 60 A style of lyric poetry borrowed from the Japanese that typically presents an intense emotion or vivid image of nature, which, traditionally, is designed to lead to a spiritual insight. Haiku is a fixed poetic form, consisting of 17 syllables organized into 3 unrhymed lines of 5-7-5 syllables.