Glossary of Literary Terms

GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS

alliteration - repetition of the same sounds or of the same type of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables

assonance - repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds

consonance - repetition of consonants or of a consonant pattern, especially at the ends of words

ellipsis - omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete construction of a phrase or sentence but not necessary for understanding

foot - a section from a line of verse

free verse - verse with no regular pattern in either rhyme or line length

half-rhyme - partial or imperfect rhyme, often using assonance or consonance (also known as imperfect rhyme and pararhyme)

iambic - a foot of verse which uses unstressed, followed by stressed syllables

iambic pentameter - a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable

imagery - use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas

metaphor - figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison

onomatopoeia - formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions to which they refer

oxymoron - figure of speech in which contradictory terms are combined

parable - simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson

simile - figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, in a phrase containing such words as: like or as

syntax - the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences, to express a meaning