Literary Terms List 5

•From the Greek for “inscription” an inscription on a monument, then simply a short poem.

These are distinguished from run-on lines, which exhibit enjambment.

Lines exhibiting this characteristic do not end with grammatical breaks

•Protagonist: a hero of great stature/significance with traditional virtues of bravery/wisdom.

A novel whose plot is entirely developed through letters

A speech that comes at the end of a play, often requesting the appreciations of the audience

•Rhyme that occurs at the end of lines in verse.

French for “striding over,” a poetic statement that spans more than one line.

•A line of poetry whose meaning is complete in itself; ends with a grammatical pause

•An inscription on a tomb to commemorate the deceased.

•The plot entails noble, fantastic, and even superhuman efforts.

The last word of a line rhymes with the last word of another line.

This is distinguished from internal rhyme, which occurs within a line of verse

Using epic similes is a convention used in this form.

•A passage printed on the title page or fist page of a literary work

A sudden revelatory experience or a work in which such an experience occurs.

The concluding section of a work.

The work of a single poet, written in conscious imitation of the traditional style.

. These lines are also commonly referred to as run-on lines

Nearly all of these are written in prose, but a few have been composed in verse

•. An adjective or phrase applied to a noun to accentuate a certain characteristic.

A work containing a series of incidents/episodes loosely connected by a larger subject matter

A fourteen-line sonnet consisting of three quatrains

Writing exhibiting elevated style to complement mythic stature of the characters and actions.

These often contain basic biographical information as well as memorial phrases

One convention used in this form is: starting the narrative in medias res.

These are derived from oral tradition

A letter

One convention used in this form includes invoking muse’s aid and posing a question to her.

•From the Greek for “manifestation” or “showing-forth”