Literary Terms, SOL-WEL
Want to be able to distinguish your limericks from your haikus and your paeans from your panegyrics? Dive deep into literary terms and forms.
Literary Terms Encyclopedia Articles By Title
soliloquy, passage in a drama in which the thoughts or feelings of a character are expressed aloud while the character......
sonioù, lyrical poem in the Breton language that may serve as a love song, satire, carol, or marriage lay. One......
sonnet, fixed verse form of Italian origin consisting of 14 lines that are typically five-foot iambics rhyming......
sotie, short satirical play popular in France in the 15th and early 16th centuries, in which a company of sots......
South African literature, the body of writings in either Afrikaans or English produced in what is now the Republic......
Spanish literature, the body of literary works produced in Spain. Such works fall into three major language divisions:......
figure of speech, any intentional deviation from literal statement or common usage that emphasizes, clarifies,......
Spenserian stanza, verse form that consists of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by a ninth line of six iambic......
spondee, metrical foot consisting of two long (as in classical verse) or stressed (as in English verse) syllables......
spoonerism, reversal of the initial letters or syllables of two or more words, such as “I have a half-warmed fish......
sprung rhythm, an irregular system of prosody developed by the 19th-century English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.......
stand-up comedy, comedy that generally is delivered by a solo performer speaking directly to the audience in some......
stanza, a division of a poem consisting of two or more lines arranged together as a unit. More specifically, a......
State of the Union, in the United States, the annual address of the president of the United States to the U.S.......
stichomythia, dialogue in alternate lines, a form sometimes used in Classical Greek drama in which two characters......
stracittà, an Italian literary movement that developed after World War I. Massimo Bontempelli was the leader of......
strambotto, one of the oldest Italian verse forms, composed of a single stanza of either six or eight hendecasyllabic......
stream of consciousness, narrative technique in nondramatic fiction intended to render the flow of myriad impressions—visual,......
stringer, part-time or freelance journalist, videographer, or photographer typically assigned by a news organization......
strophe, in poetry, a group of verses that form a distinct unit within a poem. The term is sometimes used as a......
substitution, in Greek or Latin prosody, the replacement of a prosodic element that is required or expected at......
subtitle, a secondary or explanatory title. Such titles can explain the form of the work, as in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s......
superfluous man, a character type whose frequent recurrence in 19th-century Russian literature is sufficiently......
superhero, a fictional hero—widely popularized in comic books and comic strips, television and film, and popular......
supervillain, a fictional evildoer or antihero—widely popularized in comic books and comic strips, television and......
Swahili literature, that body of creative writing done in Swahili, a Bantu language of Africa. The earliest preserved......
Swedish Enlightenment, period of rich development in Swedish literature during the second half of the 18th century......
Swedish literature, the body of writings produced in the Swedish language within Sweden’s modern-day geographic......
Swiss literature, properly, the writings in the only language peculiar to Switzerland, the Rhaeto-Romanic dialect......
syllabic verse, in prosody, the metrical system that is most commonly used in English poetry. It is based on both......
synecdoche, figure of speech in which a part represents the whole, as in the expression “hired hands” for workmen......
Syriac literature, body of writings in Syriac, an eastern Aramaic Semitic language originally spoken in and around......
systole and diastole, in prosody, systole is the shortening of a syllable that is by pronunciation or by position......
tabloid journalism, type of popular, largely sensationalistic journalism that takes its name from the format of......
tail rhyme, a verse form in which rhymed lines such as couplets or triplets are followed by a tail—a line of different......
tall tale, narrative that depicts the wild adventures of extravagantly exaggerated folk heroes. The tall tale is......
Tamil literature, body of writings in Tamil, a Dravidian language of India and Sri Lanka. Apart from literature......
tanka, in literature, a five-line, 31-syllable poem that has historically been the basic form of Japanese poetry.......
Telugu literature, body of writings in Telugu, a Dravidian language spoken in an area north of Madras, India, and......
tenor and vehicle, the components of a metaphor, with the tenor referring to the concept, object, or person meant,......
tenson, a lyric poem of dispute or personal abuse composed by Provençal troubadours in which two opponents speak......
tercet, a unit or group of three lines of verse, usually containing rhyme, as in William Shakespeare’s “The Phoenix......
terza rima, Italian verse form consisting of stanzas of three lines (tercets); the first and third lines rhyming......
testament, in literature, a tribute or an expression of conviction, as in Thomas Usk’s prose allegory The Testament......
tetracolon, in classical prosody, a period made up of four colons, or a unit of four metrical sequences that each......
tetrameter, line of poetic verse that consists of four metrical feet. In English versification, the feet are usually......
texture, the concrete, physical elements of prose or poetry that are separate from the structure or argument of......
Thai literature, body of writings of the Thai (Siamese) people, historically fostered by the kings, who themselves......
Miguel de Cervantes died in Madrid on April 22, 1616. He was buried the next day in a convent. When the convent......
On April 23, 1616, English poet and playwright William Shakespeare died in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon......
When we think about pirates, there is a nearly universal image that comes to mind, which has been perpetuated throughout......
So reads part of the first installment of what would later be called the Great Moon Hoax. The series of six articles,......
God Sends Sunday was the last book of the Harlem Renaissance. It was published in 1931 by one of New York’s major......
Among his many literary achievements, Edgar Allan Poe is credited with creating the genre of detective fiction......
Sixty years after its publication in 1956, Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” still echoes loudly. Not only did it alter the......
war of the theatres, in English literary history, conflict involving the Elizabethan playwrights Ben Jonson, John......
Tibetan literature, body of largely religious and occult writings that has developed since the 7th century, when......
tongue twister, word or group of words made difficult to articulate by a close sequence of similar consonantal......
topographical poetry, verse genre of poetry characterized by the description of a particular landscape. A subgenre,......
tradición, in Spanish-American literature, short prose sketch in which a historical incident is related in an imaginative......
tragedy, branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered......
- Introduction
- Aeschylus, Ancient Greece, Drama
- Sophocles, Greek, Drama
- Euripides, Dark, Greek
- Long Hiatus, Greek Origins, Renaissance Revival
- Marlowe, Christian, Literature
- Shakespeare, Poetry, Drama
- Neoclassical, Drama, Catharsis
- Novel, Drama, Catharsis
- American Novel, Loss, Grief
- Greek, Drama, Catharsis
- Asian Drama, Absence, Elements
- Theory, Catharsis, Aristotle
- Elizabethan, Drama, Catharsis
- Romanticism, Catharsis, Aristotle
- Hegel, Catharsis, Aristotle
- Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Philosophy
- Critical Theory, 20th Century, Beyond
tragicomedy, dramatic work incorporating both tragic and comic elements. When coined by the Roman dramatist Plautus......
travesty, in literature, the treatment of a noble and dignified subject in an inappropriately trivial manner. Travesty......
trickster tale, in oral traditions worldwide, a story featuring a protagonist (often an anthropomorphized animal)......
trilogy, a series of three dramas or literary or musical compositions that, although each is in one sense complete,......
triolet, medieval French verse form that consists of eight short lines rhyming ABaAabAB (the capital letters indicate......
trochee, metrical foot consisting of one long syllable (as in classical verse) or stressed syllable (as in English......
troll, in early Scandinavian folklore, giant, monstrous being, sometimes possessing magic powers. Hostile to men,......
troubadour, lyric poet of southern France, northern Spain, and northern Italy, writing in the langue d’oc of Provence;......
trouvère, any of a school of poets that flourished in northern France from the 11th to the 14th century. The trouvère......
Turkish literature, the body of written works in the Turkish language. The Orhon inscriptions represent some of......
Turkmen literature, the body of written works produced by the Turkmen people of Central Asia. Reconstructing a......
type name, in dramatic practice, name given to a character to ensure that the personality may be instantly ascertained.......
ubi sunt, a verse form in which the poem or its stanzas begin with the Latin words ubi sunt (“where are …”) or......
Ukrainian literature, the body of writings in the Ukrainian language. The earliest writings of the Ukrainians,......
Ulster cycle, in ancient Irish literature, a group of legends and tales dealing with the heroic age of the Ulaids,......
unities, in drama, the three principles derived by French classicists from Aristotle’s Poetics; they require a......
urban legend, in folklore, a story about an unusual or humorous event that many people believe to be true but that......
Urdu literature, writings in the Urdu language of the Muslims of Pakistan and northern India. It is written in......
utopian poetry, poetry that describes a utopia or any sort of utopian ideal. Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516)—the......
Uzbek literature, the body of written works produced by the Uzbek people of Central Asia, most of whom live in......
vampire, in popular legend, a creature, often fanged, that preys upon humans, generally by consuming their blood.......
Venus and Adonis stanza, a stanza consisting of an iambic pentameter quatrain and couplet with the rhyme scheme......
verisimilitude, the semblance of reality in dramatic or nondramatic fiction. The concept implies that either the......
verismo, (Italian: “realism”), literary realism as it developed in Italy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.......
vers de société, (French: “society verse”), light poetry written with particular wit and polish and intended for......
vers libre, (French: “free verse”), 19th-century poetic innovation that liberated French poetry from its traditional......
verset, a short verse, especially from a sacred book, such as those found in the Song of Solomon and the Psalms,......
Vietnamese literature, body of literature produced by Vietnamese-speaking people, primarily in Vietnam. Like the......
villanelle, rustic song in Italy, where the term originated (Italian villanella from villano: “peasant”); the term......
virelai, one of several formes fixes (“fixed forms”) in French lyric poetry and song of the 14th and 15th centuries......
volta, the turn in thought in a sonnet that is often indicated by such initial words as But, Yet, or And yet. The......
waka, Japanese poetry, specifically the court poetry of the 6th to the 14th century, including such forms as the......
Walloon literature, the body of written works produced by Belgians in the local dialects of French and Latin origin......
The entertainment empire built by Walt Disney is sometimes called the “House of Mouse” in acknowledgment of the......
For many children living in the United States, especially those who have behaved well all year, the most exciting......
In April 1947 William Faulkner was invited to visit the University of Mississippi. While conducting a question-and-answer......
well-made play, a type of play, constructed according to certain strict technical principles, that dominated the......
Welsh literary renaissance, literary activity centring in Wales and England in the mid-18th century that attempted......
Welsh literature, body of writings in the Welsh language with a rich and unbroken history stretching from the 6th......