Essential Literary Terms, Movements, and Poetic Forms

Poetic Forms and Structure

Sonnet Structures

• Shakespearean Sonnet: A 14-line poem structured with three quatrains (ABAB CDCD EFEF) followed by one couplet (GG).
• Italian Sonnet (Petrarchan): A 14-line poem structured with two quatrains (ABBA ABBA) followed by a sestet (often CDECDE or CDCDCD).

Literary Movements and Historical Context

Key Revolutions

Historical shifts that influenced literary thought:

• Industrial Revolution: Focus on Nature and the pastoral.
• Scientific Revolution: Boom in science and rationality.
• French Revolution: Emphasis on emotional and political upheaval.

Major Literary Movements

Metaphysical Poetry

John Donne is considered one of the great metaphysical poets: a poetic genre characterized by the use of paradox and complicated (often taboo) subjects.

Romanticism (1700–1800)

Romanticism is a literary movement that originated in Europe during the late 17th century. It is characterized by its focus on emotion, individualism, nature, and rebellion, often against organized religion, rationality, and traditionalism. This movement was a response to the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.

• Key Works/Authors: "The Tyger" (William Blake), "We Are Seven" (William Wordsworth), "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" (John Keats).

Gothic Literature (1800–1900)

Like Romanticism, the Gothic movement began in the late 1700s. In response to the Enlightenment, the Gothic focuses on the supernatural, terror, and passion over reason.

• Key Works/Authors: "The Tell-Tale Heart" (Edgar Allan Poe), "My Last Duchess" (Robert Browning).
• Setting: Often set in manors, castles, or houses. Gothic literature also features sublime natural environments, such as isolated villages, foreign towns, cliffs, and wilderness.

Critical Theory and Narrative Concepts

Death of the Author

The biographical context of the author is not needed to interpret the text; the text stands alone.

New Historicism

New Historicism is a literary approach that argues that all art must be understood through the context of the history and culture that produced it.

Unreliable Narrator

A storyteller who withholds information, lies to, or misleads the reader, casting doubts on the narrative's veracity.

Literary Devices and Rhetoric

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity, usually in consecutive words within the same sentence or line.

Allusion

A brief reference within one literary text to a person, place, event, or outside text.

Dramatic Irony

When the reader is aware of something important, though characters in the story are not.

Foil Character

A character whose purpose is to accentuate or draw attention to the qualities of another character, most often the protagonist.

Foreshadowing

Where future events in a story, or perhaps the outcome, are suggested by the author before they happen.

Imagery

Language which describes a visual object in careful detail, appealing to the senses.

Juxtaposition

Places two or more dissimilar characters, themes, or concepts side by side, where the profound contrast highlights their differences.

Metaphor

A comparison of two dissimilar things by stating that one of them is the other, without using the words "like" or "as."

Motif

A repeated element that has a symbolic significance to a story, such as a recurring image, phrase, or action.

Paradox

A statement that asks people to think outside the box because it seems contradictory yet expresses a possible truth.

Personification

Where an abstract concept, such as a particular human behavior or a force of nature, is represented as a person or living entity.

Repetition

Where a specific word, phrase, or structure is repeated several times to emphasize a particular idea.

Rhyme

A repetition of similar sounds, typically in the final syllables of two or more words.

Slant Rhyme

A rhyme with words that have similar, but not identical sounds (also known as near rhyme or half rhyme).

Symbolism

The use of specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas.

Theme

The central idea explored throughout a text.

Tone

A literary device that reflects the writer's attitude toward the subject matter or audience of a literary work.

Aesthetic Concepts and Mythology

The Sublime

In 1757, philosopher Edmund Burke popularized the concept of The Sublime. The Sublime refers to any aesthetic object or sight that exceeds the limits of individual understanding. It is a sight that inspires feelings of awe and terror simultaneously.

Myth and Greek Mythology

Myth is a narrative genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in the traditions and beliefs of a society, community, or culture. Myths are typically understood as stories that were communicated and exchanged within early civilizations, often to explain natural or social phenomena.

Greek Mythology

Some of the earliest records of Greek mythology date back to 900–800 BC and onward. One of the most dominant fields of myth studies, Greek mythology largely focuses on the origin and nature of the world and the relationship between mankind and the gods.

Miscellaneous Notes

Extra Credit Answers:

• Frankenstein
• Macbeth
• Edgar Allan Poe lived in the Bronx.
• The NFL team is the Baltimore Ravens.