In the minds of ESL exam candidates, e ssay writing is one of the most daunting tasks they are required to complete, regardless of the level of the exam, the administering body or the ease with which they themselves use the language. The same applies to students who are asked to write an essay by their teachers at school. In the previous sample essays posted on the blog, the main point I stress is the need to become acquainted with this form of writing (as opposed to writing a letter, review or report, for instance), to get a feel of what authorial voice is and how to organize and progressively express the arguments you wish to make in a coherent manner. Unfortunately, the best way to prepare for exam writing or learn how to write good essays for school is to read as many essays from as many sources as possible, then write as
The following is a list of terms used in Literature along with definitions. The list is by no means comprehensive.
Literary Terms List
1) poetry: a literary genre characterized by rhythmical patterns of language
(meter, rhyme, stanza, etc…)
2) prose: non-verse writing (anything that isn’t poetry)
3) stanza: grouped set of lines within a poem, usually set off from other
stanzas by a blank line
4) rhythm: A measured pattern of words These patterns are created in verse or
prose by use of stressed and unstressed syllables
5) metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things without using the words
‘like’ or ‘as’
6) simile: a comparison between two unlike things using the words ‘like’ or
‘as’
7) hyperbole: he use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device to overemphasize a
statement to produce a greater effect
8) personification: a literary devices where human characteristics are attached to
inanimate objects, phenomena or animals
9) alliteration: a literary device where words are used in quick succession and
begin with letters belonging to the same sound group (either vowels or
consonants)
10) assonance: repetition of sounds produced by vowels within a sentence or
phrase
11) internal rhyme: rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse (poetry) (eg. “We
were the first that ever burst.”)
12) end rhyme: rhyme between line ending
13) free verse: form of poetry which has no fixed meter or rhyme patterns
14) blank verse: form of poetry written with regular meter but without rhyme
15) sonnet: 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter with 2 stanzas (an
octave followed by a septet) in abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd rhythmic pattern
16) Shakespearean sonnet: 14- line poem
written in iambic pentameter, with 3 quatrains and a couplet in abab, cdcd,
efef, gg rhythmic pattern
17) foot: a unit of stressed and unstressed syllables
18) iamb: a foot consisting of an unstressed (less stressed) syllable
followed by a stressed syllable
19) meter: pattern of
stressed syllables alternating with syllables of less stress (unstressed) in
poetry
a. monometer: a line of poetry with 1 foot
b. dimeter: a line of poetry with 2 feet
c. trimeter: a line of poetry with 3 feet
d. tetrameter: a line of poetry with 4 feet
e. pentameter: a line of poetry with 5 feet
20) iambic: adjective describing a foot of 1 unstressed + 1 stressed syllables
a. trochaic: adjective describing a foot of 1 stressed + 1 unstressed syllables
b. anapestic: adjective describing a foot of 2 unstressed + 1 stressed syllables
c. dactylic: adjective describing a foot of 2 stressed + 1 unstressed syllables
21) couplet: 2 lines of poetry usually with rhyming ends and that have the same
meter
a. tercet: 3 lines of poetry forming a stanza or complete poem
b. quatrain: 4 lines of poetry forming a stanza or complete poem
c. quintain: 5 lines of poetry forming a stanza or complete poem
22) literally: in the strict sense of a word, without exaggeration or
metaphorical meaning
23) scansion: method or practice of determining and representing the meter of a line of poetry
(stressed/unstressed syllables)
24) ambiguity: an idea or situation that can be understood in more than one way
25) carpe diem: Latin aphorism (expression) translated to "seize the
day"
26) catharsis: refers to a literary theory first developed by Aristotle, who
believed that cleansing our emotions was the purpose of a good story,
especially a tragedy. Catharsis applies to any form of art or media that makes
us feel strong negative emotions which are purged as a result of feeling them
27) classic:
a) relating to Greek and Roman antiquity, especially with reference to literature and art
b) serving as a standard, model, or guide
28) deus ex machina: (Latin for “a god from the machine.”) A plot device whereby a
seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the inspired
and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or object
29) explication: interpretation of a text based on detailed yet relatively
objective examination of structure, style, imagery, and other aspects of a work
30) genre: type or
category of literature or film marked by certain shared features or conventions
31) in medias res: (“in the middle of things”) literary device where a text opens in
the midst of the action without an exposition (which gives background
information eg. setting, characters, plot)
32) pathos: an appeal to the emotions of the audience to elicit feelings
(evoking a feeling of pity, or of sympathetic and kindly sorrow or compassion)
33) propaganda: information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help
or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation
34) Realism: a theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar, or mundane
aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner
that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is (the attempt to represent
subject matter truthfully, without artificiality)
35) Idealism: treatment of subject matter in a work of art in which beauty or
form are stressed, characterized usually by the selection of particular
features based on a standard of perfection
36) Romanticism: an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement
emphasizing intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience,
placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe.
This style of literature encourages freedom of treatment, emphasizes
imagination, emotion, and introspection, and often celebrates nature, the
ordinary person, and freedom of the spirit
37) stereotype: any thought widely adopted about specific types of individuals or
certain ways of behaving intended to represent the entire group of those
individuals
38) tragic flaw: the character defect that causes the downfall of the protagonist
of a tragedy (aka. hamartia)
39) Nobel Prize: set of annual international awards bestowed in several categories
by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural or
scientific advances
40) Pulitzer Prize: an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online
journalism, literature, and musical composition in the US
41) suspension of disbelief: a willingness to suspend one's critical abilities and believe
something surreal; the sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment