fable

short tale often featuring nonhuman characters that act as people whose actions enable the author to make observations or draw useful lessons about human behavior

falling action

the action in a play or story that occurs adter the climax and that leads to the conclusion and often to the resolution of the conflict

farce

a comedy that contains an extravagant and nonsensical disregard of seriousness, although it may have a serious, scornful purpose

figure of speech

in contrast to literal language, language implies meanings; include metaphors, similies, personification, among many others

first-person narrative

a narrative told by a character involved in the story, using first-person pronouns such as I and we

flashback

a return to an earlier time in a story or play in order to clarify persent action or circumstances

foil

a minor chacter whose personality or attitude contrasts with that of the main character

foot

a unit of stressed and unstressed syllables used to determine the meter of a poetic line

foreshadowing

providing hints of things to come in a story or play

frame

a structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative

free verse

a kind of poetry without rhymed lines, rhythm, or fixed metrical feet

genre

a term used to describe literary forms, such as novel, play, and essay

Gothic novel

a novel in which supernatural horros and an atmosphere of unknown terrors pervades the action

heroic couplet

two rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter and used widely in eighteenth-centruy verse

hubris

the excessive pride that often leads tragic heroes to their death

hyperbole

overstatement; gross exaggeration for rhetorical effect

idyll

a lyric poem or passage that describes a kind of ideal life or place

image

a word or phrase representing that which can be seen touched, tasted, smelled, or felt

in medias res

a latin term for a narrative that starts not at the beginning of events but at some other critical point

irony

a mode of expression in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is stated, often implying ridicule or light sarcasm; a state of affairs or events that is the reverse of what might have been expected

lampoon

a mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation

light verse

a variety of poetry meant to entertain or amuse but sometimes with a satirical thrust

litotes

a form of understatement in which the negative of the countrary is used to achieve emphasis or intensity

lyric poetry

personal, reflective poetry that reveals the speaker's thoughts and feelings about the subject

melodrama

a literary form in which events are exaggerated in order to create an extreme emotional response

metaphor

a figure of speech that compares unlike objects

meter

the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables found in poetry

metonymy

a figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated

mock epic

a parody of traditional epic form

mood

the emotional tone in a work of literature

moral

a brief and often simplistic lesson that a reader may infer from a work of literature

motif

a phrase, idea, or event that through repetition erves to unify or convey a theme in a work of literature

naturalism

a term often used as a synonym for realism; also a view of experience that is generally characterized as bleak and pessimistic

non sequitur

a statement or idea that fails to follow logically from the one before

novella

a work of fiction of roughly 20,000 to 50,000 words-longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel

novel of manners

a novel focusing on and describing the social customs and habits of a particular social group

ode

a lyric poem usually marked be serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject

omniscient narrator

a narrator with unlimited awareness, understanding, and insight of characters, setting, background, and all other elements of the story

onomatopoeia

the use of words whose sounds suggest their meaning

oxymoron

a term consiting of contradictory elements juxtaposed to create a paradoxical effect