Literature文学术语.doc

Literary Terms Poetry Glossaryallegory A story in which people, things, and events have another meaning. Examples of allegory are Bunyans Pilgrims Progress, Spensers Faerie Queene, and Orwells Animal Farm. alliteration The repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginning of words. Gnus never know pneumonia is an example of alliteration, because despite the spellings, all four words begin with the n sound. allusion A reference in a work of literature to something outside the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work. Lorraine Hansberrys title A Raisin in the Sun is an allusion to a phrase in a poem by Langston Hughes. When T. S. Eliot writes, To have squeezed the universe into a ball in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, he is alluding to the lines Let us roll all our strength and all / Our sweetness up into one ball in Marvells To His Coy Mistress. In Hamlet, when Horatio says, ere the mightiest Julius fell, the allusion is to the death of Julius Caesar. ambiguity Multiple meanings a literary work may communicate, especially two meanings that are incompatible. apostrophe Direct address, usually to someone or something that is not present. Keatss Bright star! Would I were steadfast is an apostrophe to a star, and To Autumn is an apostrophe to a personified season. assonance The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds. A land laid waste with all its young men slain repeats the same a sound in laid, waste, and slain. attitude A speakers, authors, or characters disposition toward or opinion of a subject. For example, Hamlets attitude toward Gertrude is a mixture of affection and revulsion, changing from one to the other within a single scene. Jane Austens attitude toward Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice combines respect for his wit and intelligence with disapproval of his failure to take sufficient responsibility for the rearing of all of his daughters. ballad meter A four-line stanza rhymed