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100

A four-line stanza.

Quatrain

100

A theme or pattern that recurs in a work.

Motif

100

Language that conveys a certain ideas by saying just he opposite.

Irony

100

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in the lines of a poem.

Meter

100

A story that illustrates a moral often using animals as the character.

Fable

200

A poem mourning the dead.

Elegy

200

The resolution of the conflict in a plot after the climax.

Denouement

200

A pair of rhyming lines in a poem often set off from the rest of the poem.

Couplet

200

The elements that create a plot.

Conflict

200

Poetry with no set
meter (rhythm) or
rhyme scheme.

Free Verse

300

Foreshadowing

A technique in which an author gives clues about something that will happen later in the story.

300

Monologue

A long speech by one character in a play or story.

300

Paradox

A seeming contradiction.

300

The action in the story.

Plot

300

The use of one things to represent another.

Symbolism

400

Archetype

A character who represents a certain type of person.

400

A story in which the characters represent
abstract qualities or ideas.

Allegory

400

Parody

A humorous, exaggerated imitation of another work.

400

Theme

The central idea of a work.

400

Antagonist

A major character who opposes the protagonist in a story or play.

500

Tone

The author’s attitude toward his or her subject.

500

Satire

A work that makes fun of something or someone.

500

Atmosphere

The overall feeling of a work, which is related to tone and mood.

500

Iambic Pentameter

Ten-syllable lines in which every other syllable is stressed.

500

Mood

The emotional atmosphere of a given piece of writing.

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