Pikeville High School Academic Team
The Big List of Literary Terms
Abstract poetry Poetry that uses words for their sound qualities rather than
for their meaning. Like abstract painting, which uses colors and shapes to
convey meaning but represents no specific objects, abstract poetry does not
attempt to convey meaning in the traditional sense:
The Pterodactyl made its nest
And laid a steel egg in her breast --
Under the Judas colored sun.
Dame Edith Sitwell
Absurd, the Literature or drama that has as its basic premise the
meaninglessness of life in the 20th century, where man is separated from his
religious and philosophical roots and therefore lives in isolation in an alien
world. Works that depict the absurd use nightmarish fantasy, inconsistencies,
and even banal repetitions to suggest the absurdity of modern life. See
Beckett, Samuel; Ionesco, Eugene.
Accent Vocal prominence or emphasis given to a syllable, word, or phrase. In
poetry, accented syllables form metrical patterns by contrasting with
unstressed syllables.
Act A major division in a drama; minor divisions within an act are called
scenes.
Adage A short, quotable, wise saying that is well known from wide use over a
long period of time; usually of anonymous authorship.
Haste makes waste.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Adams, Henry (1838-1918) American historian and man of letters, the grandson
and great-grandson of presidents, he wrote studies of the Jefferson and Madison
presidencies. He also wrote The Education of Henry Adams (1918), an
autobiography in which he declared himself to be out of tune with his times.
(Also considered noteworthy because he never refers to his wife.)
Adaptation A literary or dramatic work rewritten for another medium.
Addison, Joseph (1672-1719) Essayist, who, together with Richard Steele, was
part of the most celebrated British literary partnership. Together they worked
on The Tatler and The Spectator, in which the essay as a literary form was
perfected.
Aeneid, Vergil This important Roman epic poem tells of the wanderings of
Aeneas, an exile from Troy after the Trojan War. Traveling with his father and
his son, Aeneas has a vision of founding a new empire in Italy. When he arrives
there, he is opposed by the local prince Turnus, but eventually kills his enemy
and founds the Roman Empire.
Aeschylus (524-456 B.C.) The earliest Greek dramatist, he composed about 90
plays, of which seven survive. Among these are Prometheus Bound, about the
sufferings of the Titan who stole fire from the gods to give to mankind and was
punished by a vengeful Zeus, and The Oresteia, the only trilogy existing today
from Greek tragedy, consisting of Agamemnon, The Libation-Bearers, and
Eumenides.
Aesop Little is known of this Greek writer of fables except that he was
reputed to have been a slave and legend associates him with wild adventures.
His short and charming moralistic tales have survived through the centuries and
Aesop's "lessons" are passed from generation to generation.
Aesthetic distance Refers to the "space" that must necessarily exist between
the work of art and the reader or viewer. Such a distance is necessary so that
there is no confusion between "art" and "life." A theatergoer might well become
enraged at a sadistic character on stage, but he remains knowledgeable enough
not to storm down the aisle and threaten the blackguard. Too great an
identification with a work of art leads to subjective feelings that will
distort the view of the artistic creation, but a lack of participation, a
"removal" from what is being presented, will also diminish the experience of
the work. See Suspension of disbelief.
Aiken, Conrad (1889-1973) This poet and novelist, a Georgia native, underwent
a traumatic experience at age 11, when his doctor father killed his mother and
then himself. Aiken devoted himself entirely to writing, and his poetry was
strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot. He had a strong interest in both medicine
and modern psychology. His major works were Punch (1921) and Collected Poems
(1953).
Albee, Edward (b. 1928) Adopted into a wealthy family, this clever and satiric
American playwright was sent to expensive boarding schools, as a child, but
broke at 20 with his parents. Author of The Zoo Story, his greatest success
came with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1962.
Alcott, Louisa May (1832-1889) The daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, idealist,
optimist, transcendentalist, and vegetarian, she grew up in Massachusetts in
the experimental colony Fruitlands. She worked as a seamstress before becoming
a popular children's writer. Little Women (1868) is her best-known work.
Alexandrine A line of poetry with six iambic feet, used widely in the 12th and
13th centuries to eulogize Alexander the Great. Spenser used it as a longer
ninth line, following eight iambic pentameter lines, to conclude each
Spenserian Stanza. Alexander Pope parodies the use of the Alexandrine in the
couplet:
A needless Alexandrine ends the song,
That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.
Alice in Wonderland (1865), Lewis Carroll A wonder-filled children's classic,
peopled by such outrageous characters as the Mad Hatter, Tweedledum and
Tweedledee, and the Cheshire Cat, next to whom Alice, whose wanderings hold the
tale together, is only a pale, if lovely, player. Although this work can also
be read on satiric and symbolic levels, it is still valued primarily as a
delightful children's fantasy.
All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), Erich Maria Remarque This German novel
captured the spirit of disillusionment that affected all of the West in the
wake of World War I. It is related by a young soldier who with the others in
his squad, becomes hard and cynical. At the end of the novel, the narrator
returns home to find his mother dying of cancer, a symbol of the diseased
society awaiting the returning soldiers.
Allegory A narrative poem or prose work in which persons, events, and objects
represent or stand for something else, frequently abstract ideas.
Alliteration The repetition of consonants in a series of words in poetry or
music.
The moan of doves in immemorial elms and murmuring of innumerable bees.
Tennyson
Note: Alliteration frequently refers only to the initial consonant sound, as in
"three tread tightly together." Compare Assonance.
Allusion An indirect or casual reference to a famous person or event in
history, the Bible, a literary work, mythology, or another known source. The
allusion may be obvious:
But sweeter than the Lids of Juno's eyes
Or Cytherea's breath.
Shakespeare
It may also be esoteric:
April is the cruelest month,
Breeding violets out of the dead land.
T.S. Eliot
The Ambassadors (1903), Henry James This novel tells the story of a man past
middle age who is made to realize through a visit to Paris how much of life he
has missed. In this work, as in many James novels, Europe stands for experience
and sophistication and America for both virtue and brashness.
An American Tragedy (1925), Theodore Dreiser This novel is a study of social
classes and of an individual's effort to rise from one class to another; it
also deals with the moral problem of guilt. Clyde Griffiths impregnates a young
factory girl and, when the opportunity arises for him to marry a wealthy
heiress, he kills his mistress. Ultimately, he is tried and executed for the
crime.
Anachronism The representing in literature of a person, scene, object, etc.,
in a time period that would have been impossible historically (Macbeth wearing
a Bulova watch).
Analogy An (implied) comparison between two different things that resemble
each other. Sometimes expressed as a simile: Joe is as crazy as an old hooty
owl.
Anapest In poetry, a metrical foot with two unaccented syllables followed by a
stressed syllable.
Anderson, Sherwood (1876-1941) Born in Ohio, with almost no formal education,
Anderson was the manager of a paint factory when he decided to give up business
and become a writer. In 1919 his collection of stories, Winesburg, Ohio,
brought him both critical and popular acclaim.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy Written between 1875 and 1877, this Russian novel
details the moral tragedy of Anna, who leaves her husband and young son to live
with and eventually to marry a handsome young count. But, unable to cope with
her decision and unsure of her second husband's love, she commits suicide.
Anouilh, Jean (b. 1910) This French playwright's chief contribution to modern
drama is his part in the revival of the tragic principle in the theater,
especially his concept of the tragic hero -- in his work often an individual
who will not compromise. Further, he is interested in the relationships between
illusion and reality. His best-known works are Antigone (1944), The Lark
(1955), and Becket (1960).
Antagonist The major "villainous" character in a work who opposes the hero
(protagonist). In Melville's Moby Dick, Captain Ahab is the "hero" and the
whale in the title is the antagonist.
Anticlimax The arrangement of details so that less important and trivial
matters come after the most important item. Also, frequently a lofty tone to
one that is followed by one much more mundane. Used unintentionally, anticlimax
can be a serious fault in the plot of a story, but it was often used
effectively for humor in satirical poetry of the 18th century, as follows:
Not louder shrieks to pitying heaven are cast,
When husbands, or when lap dogs breathe their last.
Pope
Antigone (442 B.C.), Sophocles This Greek tragedy deals with the struggle
between Creon, the king of Thebes, who forbids the burial of Polyneices, one of
those who tried to unseat him. Polyneices' sister Antigone contrives to give
the body a burial and is ordered shut up alive in a vault. Her fiance, Haemon,
the son of Creon, and Creon's wife Euridice then kill themselves. Simply put,
the theme is the conflict between public and private duty. Jean Anouilh's
Antigone, written during the German occupation of France, is a reexamination of
this ancient theme.
Antistrophe The second part of the classical Greek choral ode, one of the
stanzaic forms accompanying the strophe and the epode.
Antithesis A device in which sharply contrasting ideas are linked in parallel
words, phrases, or clauses.
Worth makes the man, and want of it, the fellow;
The rest is all but leather or prunella.
Pope
Apostrophe In literature, the addressing of an absent person, an abstract
quality (like melancholy), or a nonexistent or mythological personage (like the
muse) as though present.
O Goddess! hear these tuneless numbers, wrung
By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear.
Keats
Apothegm A concisely worded and often witty saying that is instructive and
usually more practical than an aphorism.
Civility costs nothing and buys everything.
Lady Mary Wortly Montagu
Argument A paragraph in prose, placed at the beginning of a long poetic work,
summarizing the action that is to follow.
Aristophanes (448-380 B.C.) This Greek playwright, considered the master of
Old Comedy, wrote approximately 44 plays, of which 11 survive. A conservative,
he was not a fan of popular democracy nor of the Peloponnesian War, but his
works abound with wholesomeness and good sense. Among his best known plays are
Lysistrata and The Frogs.
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) A Greek philosopher and a student of Plato, he is
important in literary history because of his work The Art of Poetry. In that
treatise he gives an extended definition of tragedy, influential even in the
20th century.
Arnold, Matthew (1822-1888) English poet and literary critic, the son of a
famous teacher and headmaster of Rugby, he attended Oxford and was subsequently
offered the professorship of poetry there. He later became the foremost
spokesman for the humanities against the rise of science that characterized his
century. His most famous poem is "Dover Beach," which is an excellent example
of Arnold's beautiful and quiet music.
The Art of Poetry, Aristotle This work by the Greek philosopher originally had
three sections, dealing with the epic, tragedy, and comedy. It survives only in
a mutilated form so that the section on tragedy is all that remains more or
less intact. It allegedly urged on the tragic and dramatic unity of action,
time, and place, and states that tragedy must arouse fear and pity to bring
about a catharsis of those emotions in the audience.
Asimov, Isaac (1920-1992) This Russian-born American science-fiction writer
was as diverse as he was creative. After publishing his first novel, Pebble in
the Sky in 1950, he went on to explore further the world of science fiction and
also to write nonfiction works on science and technology, Bible Studies, humor,
and mysteries. In 1979, the publication of Opus 200 marked his 200th book in
print.
Assonance The close repetition of similar vowel sounds, as in How now brown
cow or Like a diamond in the sky.
Auden, Wystan Hugh (W.H.) (1907-1973) English poet (first influenced by Gerard
Manley Hopkins and later by T.S. Eliot), who wrote in both an allegorical and
allusional style. In 1939, when he abandoned England for America, he
deliberately turned to writing for the general public, using delicate irony as
his signature.
Austen, Jane (1775-1817) This British novelist, daughter of a clergyman, was
unable to attend a university because of her sex and had great difficulty in
publishing the six books she wrote. She was the first realist in the English
novel and was a foe of the Romantic Movement. Her best-known works are Sense
and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Emma (1816), thought to
be her greatest work.
Autobiography A story of a person's life written by that person; also called
memoirs. Compare Biography.
Babbitt (1922), Sinclair Lewis This novel is a study of the American suburban
middle class. Babbitt is a real estate salesman in Zenith (Duluth, Minnesota)
who is aggressive, optimistic, and enthusiastic. At the age of 46 he begins to
realize the superficiality of his life, dabbles in radicalism, and has a brief
affair. But social pressures are too much for him and he sinks back into the
life of complacent vulgarity he has tried to escape. In his son, however, he
sees hope for a different future.
Baldwin, James (1924-1987) Born in Harlem, New York to a father who was a
factory worker and a lay preacher, Baldwin at 14 entered a ministry that was to
last for three years. After trying unsuccessfully to support himself in
America, this black novelist, essayist, and playwright, went to Paris in 1948:
there he wrote some of his best work, including the novel Go Tell It on the
Mountain (1953). He returned to the United States in 1957.
Ballad A poem that tells a story, often of folk origin, and is written to be
sung. A ballad has simple stanzas, and often a refrain. See early American folk
ballads "Barbara Allen" and "Tom Dooley," and literary ballads that include
Keats's "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner."
Ballad stanza A four-line stanzaic form used in the popular ballad, or folk
ballad, rhyming abcb. The first and third lines have four accented syllables,
the second and fourth only three.
Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone, (a)
With a link-a-down and a day, (b)
And there he met a silly old woman, (c)
Was weeping on the way. (b)
Balzac, Honore (1799-1850) French novelist who, in his youth, worked as a law
clerk, publisher, and printer. In the 1830s he established his reputation with
Eugenie Grandet (1833) and Pere Goriot (1835). During this period he had a busy
life as a man-about-town, a prodigious spender, and a furious worker, often
putting in 14-16 hours a day writing. He gradually developed the idea of
grouping his work so that it would form a unity titled The Human Comedy, of
which his greatest novel, Cousin Bette (1846), is a part. He is considered
France's finest novelist.
The Barber of Seville (1775), Beaumarchais This French comedy is important
less for its plot, involving a young couple's love triumphant over various
obstacles, than for the character of Figaro. Although from the lower class,
Figaro is far more intelligent and adroit than his so-called betters. Further,
he mouths a philosophy of equality rather shocking for the time.
Baroque A style in art, architecture, literature, and music characterized by
flamboyancy, elaborate ornamentation, and a symmetrical arrangement. The
baroque is a blend of the wild and fantastic with an ordered, formal style as
in the poetry of John Donne and the music of Bach.
Barrie, Sir James M. (1860-1937) British playwright and novelist who, although
criticized during his lifetime for his use of fantasy, is now held in high
esteem for that very "failing." His children's classic, Peter Pan (1904), has
been told and retold in this country from the Broadway stage to the Disney
animated film. Barrie's reputation as a novelist was established in 1891 with
the publication of The Little Minister, and his most lauded work is the
tragicomedy Dear Brutus, which is a skillful mix of humor and realism.
Baudelaire, Charles (1821-1867) This French Symbolist writer became the first
modern poet, his influence towering in the early 20th century. An important
influence on him was Poe, some of whose work he translated. His masterwork was
The Flowers of Evil, for many years considered depraved and obscene. His
primary theme is the inseparable nature of beauty and corruption.
Beat generation The 1950-1960 decade of American writers (primarily poets) who
expressed their feelings of alienation from society. "Beat" -- to be "beaten"
by modern life. Jack Kerouac was the undisputed leader of this literary
movement, which also included such fascinating figures as Allen Ginsberg and
Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Beat literature at first shocked some readers with its
frequent use of four-letter words and explicit references to drugs and sex.