ALLEGORY a work in which concrete elements (for instance, a pilgrim, a road, a splendid city) stand for abstraction (humanity, life, salvation), usually in an unambiguous, one-to-one relationship. The literal items (the pilgrim and so on) thus convey a meaning, which is usually moral, religious, or political. A nonliterary example: The Statue of Liberty holds a torch (enlightenment, showing the rest of the world the way to freedom), and at her feet are broken chains (tyranny overcome).

ALLITERATION repetition of a beginning sound, usually a consonant, in two or more words of a phrase, line of poetry, etc. Example: full fathom five thy father lies.

ALLUSION a casual or indirect reference. Example: By the end of the day, the apprentice was a virtual mad hatter. (the allusion, mad hatter, suggests, to the informed reader, the character from Alice in Wonderland. Note: While the effectiveness of an allusion depends on an informed reader, its use adds considerable vitality and enrichment to written works.

ANALOGY a comparison in which two objects are compared with the more complex explained in terms of the simpler. Example: The instructor complained that manuals were not compatible with the computer. "It's like having a sewing machine manual to explain how to play the pipe organ."

APOSTROPHE address to an absent figure, or to a thing as if it were present and could listen. Example: "Oh rose, thou art sick!"

BALLAD a short narrative poem, especially one that is sung or recited, often in a stanza of four lines, with 8, , 8, 6 syllables, with the second and fourth lines rhyming.

BLANK VERSE unrhymed iambic pentameter, that is, unrhymed lines of ten syllables, with every second syllable stressed.

CONNOTATION any idea suggested by or associated with a word, phrase, etc. in addition to its basic or literal meaning, or denotation.

COUPLET a pair of lines or verse, usually rhyming

DENOTATION the basic or literal meaning; opposite of connotation. The dictionary meaning of a word.

DIDACTIC pertaining to teaching; having a moral purpose

DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE a poem spoken entirely by one character, but addressed to one or more other characters, whose presence is strongly felt.

ELEGY a lyric poem, usually a meditation on a death

ELISION an omission (usually a vowel or unstressed syllable), as in o'er (over) and in"Th' inevitable hour"

END RHYME identical sounds at the ends of lines of poetry

ENGLISH OR SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET a poem of 14 lines (three quatrains and a couplet), rhyming ababcgcgefefgg

ENJAMBMENT a line of poetry in which the grammatcial and logical sense run on, without pause, into the next line or lines

EPIC a long narrative, especially in verse, which usually records heroic material in an elevated style

EPIGRAM a brief, witty poem or saying

EPISTLE a letter, in prose or verse.

EYE RHYME words that look as though they rhyme, but do not rhyme when pronounced. Example: come/home

FIGURE OF SPEECH an expression with an unusual or fanciful meaning used to add vividness, etc. to what is said. Figures of speech include hyperbole, metaphor, personification, simile, and symbol.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE words intended to be understood in a way that is other than literal. A "lemon" usually refers to a citrus fruit, but "lemon" used figuratively refers to a defective machine, especially a defective automobile. among the commonest kinds of figures of speeche are apostrophe, metaphor, and simile

FOOT a metrical unit, consisting of two or three syllables, with a specified arrangement of the stressed syllable or syllables.

FREE VERSE poetry in lines of irregular length, which is usually unrhymed

HYPERBOLE exaggeration used for effect, not meant literally. Example: He's as strong as an ox.

IMAGERY 1. mental images, as produced by memory or imagination 2. descriptions and figures of speech, as in the imagery of a poem. In writing, usually refers specifically to sensory images, i.e., those created through the five senses.

INTERNAL RHYME rhyme within a line

IRONY 1. a method of humorous or sarcastic expression in which the meaning given to the words is the opposite of their usual sense. Example: She used irony when she said the stupid plan was clever. 2. an event or result opposite to what might be expected. Example: That the fire station burned down was an irony.

ITALIAN SONNET a poem of fourteen lines, consisting of an octave (rhyming abbaabba) and a sestet (usually cdecde or cdccdc)

LYRIC POEM a short poem, often songlike, with the emphasis not on narrative but on the speakers emotion or reverie

METAPHOR a figure of speech that suggest likeness by speaking of one thing as if it were another. Example: Her moods are the endless myriads of a kaleidoscope.

METER a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

NARRATIVE Narrative poems tell stories. Nearly all narrative poems stress action and suggest a conflict. Many focus on a moral choice or difficult decision.

ODE a lyric exalting someone (for instance, a hero) or somethng (for instance, a season)

ONOMATOPOEIA words (or use of words) that sound like what they mean. Examples: buzz, whir

OPEN FORM lyrics poems that do not follow any particular pattern or structure

OXYMORON a compact paradox, as in "a mute cry," "a pleasing pain," "proud humility."

PARADOX an apparent contradiction, as in Christ's words: "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it."

PARODY a humorous imitation of a literary work, especially of its style.

PERSONA literally, a mask; the "I" or speaker of a work, sometimes identified with the author but usually better regarded as the voice or mouthpiece created by the author

PERSONIFICATION a figure of speech in which a thing or idea is represented as a person. Example: The sunshine brushed my face with a warm hand.

QUATRAIN a stanza of four lines

REFRAIN a repeated phrase, line, or group of lines in a poem, especially a ballad

RHETORICAL QUESTION a question to which no answer is expected, or to which only one answer is plausible. Example: Do you think I am unaware of your goings-on?

RHYME likeness of sound at the ends of word or line of verse.

RHYTHM 1. the flow or movement having a regularly repeated pattern of accents, beats, etc. 2. the form or pattern of the regularly repeated stressed and unstressed or long and short syllables.

SARCASM crudely mocking or contemptuous language; heavy verbal irony.

SATIRE literature that entertainingly attacks folly or vice; amusingly abusive writing.

SIMILE a figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another, using the word like or as. Example: His muscles were loose as last year's slingshot.

SONNET a lyric poem of fourteen lines

STANZA a group of lines forming a unit that is repeated in a poem

STRESS relative emphasis on one syllable as compared to another

SYMBOL a thing that stands for another thing; especially, an object that stands for an idea, quality, etc.

SYNECDOCHE a kind of figurative language in which the whole stands for a part ("the law," for a police officer), or a part ("all hands on deck," for all persons) stands for a whole.

THEME what the work is about; an underlying idea of a work; a conception of human experience suggested by the concrete details. thus the theme of Macbeth is often said to be that "Vaulting ambition o'erleaps itself."

TONE the prevailing attitude (for instance, ironic, genial, objective) as perceived by the reader

UNDERSTATEMENT a figure of speech in which the speaker says less than what he or she means; an ironic minimizing, as in "You've done fairly well for yourself" said to the winner of a multimillion-dollar lottery.

VERSE 1-a line of poetry; 2-a stanza of a poem

VERS LIBRE free verse, unrhymed poetry

VILLANELLE a poem with 5 stanzas of 3 lines rhyming aba, and a concluding stanza of four lines, rhyming abaa. The first and third lines of the first stanza rhyme. The entire first line is repeated as the third line of the second and fourth stanzas; the entire third line is repeated as the third line of the third and fifth stanzas. These two lines form the final two lines of the last (four-line) stanza.

Sorenson, Sharon. Webster's New World Student Writing Handbook New York: Prentice Hall, 1992.

Barnett, Berman, Burto. Literature for Composition Boston: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1988.