Set 6
The repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
alliteration
The force or character that opposes the main character, the protagonist.
antagonist
Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Most of Shakespeare’s plays are in this form.
blank verse
One who carries out the action of the plot in literature. Major, minor, static, and dynamic are types of _________.
characters
The turning point of action or character in a literary work, usually the highest moment of tension.
climax
A reference contained in a work.
allusion
Words spoken by an actor that are intended to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on stage.
aside
Harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage of a literary work.
cacophony
A clash between opposing forces in a literary work, such as man vs. man; man vs. nature; man vs. God; man vs. self.
conflict
The interpretive level of a word based on its associated images rather than its literal meaning.
connotation
The use of repeated conjunctions between words or clauses in a sentence to emphasize what's being said.
eg: "and raping / and murdering / and we can all move on"
-- “i am graffiti”
Polysyndeton
A love poem set at dawn which bids farewell to the beloved.
aubade
According to Aristotle, the release of emotion that the audience of a tragedy experiences.
catharsis
A traditional aspect of a literary work, such as a soliloquy in a Shakespearean play or a tragic hero in a Greek tragedy.
convention
Two lines of rhyming poetry; often used by Shakespeare to conclude a scene or an important passage.
couplet
Direct address in poetry. Yeats’s line “Be with me Beauty, for the fire is dying” is a good example.
apostrophe
A simple narrative poem, often incorporating dialogue that is written in quatrains, generally with a rhyme scheme of a b c b.
ballad
The inclusion of a humorous character or scene to contrast with the tragic elements of a work, thereby intensifying the next tragic event.
comic relief
A turn or a shift in a sonnet
volta
The literal or dictionary meaning of a word.
denotation
A break or pause within a line of poetry indicated by punctuation and used to emphasize meaning.
caesura
A type of poem that presents a conversation between a speaker and an implied listener. Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is a perfect example.
dramatic monologue
The author’s choice of words.
diction
A type of rhyme formed by words with similar but not identical sounds.
Eg: "Fair” and “sour” in Heaney’s “Blackberry Picking”
Half rhyme, near rhyme, or slant rhyme
The conclusion or tying up of loose ends in a literary work; the resolution of the conflict and plot.
denouement