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Abridged edition
Condensed or shortened version of a work.
Absence
1. It is a modern term which is used to explain a work of art on the basis of aspects which are absent rather than those which are manifestly present in the work.
Acronym
1. A word formed from the initial letters of other words, e.g. NOIDA for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority.
2. The word may be considered synonym ous to 'acrostic'.
Acrostic
1. It is a form of literary exercise in which the first letters of each line in a poem form a word as we read downwards.
2. Here are two Acrostics by H.S. Bhatia : (i) 'Wait, O little child, wait!
I. the wind lies thy message, Not in the hubbub of the worldly; Else you may repent, says the sage.' (The word formed is 'WINE'
Act
Major division in a dramatic work.
Adage
Maxim or proverb.
Addendum
Addition or appendix to a book.
Aesthetic Realism
1. (i) According to Hudson, 'Esther Waters' by George Moore was a landmark in this movement toward aesthetic realism. (ii) This movement was the vehicle of the new realists of which Moore and Gossing were representatives. (iii) According to Hudson, 'they mistook mere ugliness for frankness and 'seeing life steadily and seeing it whole.'
Alexandrine
1. It is a line of six iambic feet instead of five.
2. It is not known for certain how this line originated.
3. It appears that it was evolved by Spenser by adding the Alexandrine to the eight-line stave (a b a b b c b c) of Chaucer that he used in the Monkeys Tale.
Alienation Effect
It was a term devised by the famous German playwright, Bartolt Brecht, who wanted to bring home the need, for realization of a kind of 'alienation' of the audience and the actors from the stage during the performance of a play, as the play being a play and not a part of real life.
Allegory
1. When the abstract or spiritual ideas are presented through living images, the result is the allegory.
Examples of Allegorical Works
1. The Pilgrim Progress
2. The Scarlet Letter
3. The Faery Queene
4. Morality Plays, such as 'Everyman'.
5. Seven Deadly Sins in Dr. Faustus, etc.
Alliteration
1. It signifies the repetition of initial consonant sounds, e.g. The furrow followed free.
Almanac
Book or table comprising a calendar of days, weeks and months indicating special occasions or events.
Anagnorisis
It means Discovery or Reversal in a Tragedy.
Anagram
Letters or word or phrase which, when re-arranged, form a new word.
Anapaest
It comprises two unaccented syllables followed by an accented one: (i) Redeploy (ii) Introduce (iii) Camouflage
Androcentrism
The term implies the predominance of man in all social and intellectual activities.
Anecdote
Brief account or story about an individual. 'Angry Young Men'
It was a movement which came into existence in the second half of the twentieth century, mainly as a result of Osborn's play: 'Look Back In Anger.'
Annotation
Textual comment on a book.
Anthology
Collection of poetry or prose from diverse sources.
Anticipated Future
See 'Prosopopaeia'
Antithesis
1. It signifies the setting of one thing against another, often of opposite sense e.g. 'A friend never betrays, an enemy always does.
2. 'Antithesis' can be expressed in literature also by presenting two aspects (of life) side by side, e.g. the real and the marvellous.
Aphorism
Short statement of a truth or dogma couched in memorable terms.
Apostrophe
I. implies an exclamatory address to a person. (usually a dead one), some inanimate object or an abstract idea, e.g. 'Milton! thou shouldst be living with us at this hour...'
Archaism
It is a word or phrase which is no longer in use, e.g. loon, quoth, yclept, eftsoon(s), etc.
Archetypal Approach to Criticism
1. This Approach is also called Mythological, Ritualistic or Totemic Approach.
2. It endeavours to study literature on the basis of myth.
Areopagitica
This is the name of Milton's famous prose pamphlet, pleading for freedom, freedom of the press, in particular.
Argot
Slang or coarse vernacular language.
Aside
1. It is a kind of device similar to 'soliloquy' (being probably comparatively brief) when a character speaks to himself.
2. The best example of an 'aside' may be Shylock's words : 'How like a fawning publican he looks' in
Act, I sc. 3 of The Merchant of Venice.
Assonance
Unlike the alliteration (which signifies the repetition of consonant sounds), it signifies the repetition of vowel sounds, e.g.
1. I hear him bear the mark of a seer on his head.
Autobiography
An account of a person's life by himself or herself.
Avant-garde
Without going into historical aspects of the word, one can say that it implies those (persons) who support or create the newest ideas, fashions (generally literary or artistic), techniques, styles, etc. in an art, piece of literature, etc.
Ballad
1. Broadly-speaking, there are two kinds of ballads: (i) Traditional Ballads such as those pertaining to Robin Hood, Chevy Chase, etc. (ii) Modern Ballads, such as The Rime of Ancient Mariner, etc.
Bathos
1. It is a term to denote anticlimax.
2. It is generally used when there is sudden descent or fall from the sublime to the trite or ridiculous, e.g. Delay not thine departure hence, For thou mightst have a hot pudding, Awaiting thee.
Belles lettres
Essays on literary studies and the aesthetics of literature.
Bibliography
List of works on a particular subject or author.
Biography
An account of a person's life.
Blank verse
Poetry with unrhymed line endings (usually written in iambic pentameters).
Blurb
These are the words of praise or description of a book in a nutshell, inserted usually by the publisher on the cover page or jacket of the book, to attract the reader's eye.
Bound verse
Verse based on metrical pattern.
Burlesque
It is a way of writing which generates irony, humour and satire, e.g. Cervantes' Don Quixote, Samuel Butler's Hudibras, etc.
Bowdlerize
To 'cleanse' a work by omitting or cutting out indecent passages, phrases or words.
Cacophony
When the excessive use of high sounding words is made such that the meaning is lost or diminished in value in the sound, the result is cacophony instead of euphony.
Cadence
Rhythm and phrasing of language.
Caesura
1. In classical prosody, 'Caesura' means 'break between words within a metrical foot.' (Concise Oxford).
2. In English prosody, it means 'pause about middle of line.' (ibid.).
3. A Caesura 'which does not immediately follow the ictus' is known as 'Feminine Caesura' (Chambers 20th century).
(Note : In modern connotation, Caesura implies natural pause in a line of verse and not an unnatural or forced one)
Canon
Collection of works established as genuine.
Canto
Division of an epic or narrative poem.
Caption
Short description accompanying an illustration.
Caricature
The chief characteristics of characters are sometimes so exaggerated by the author that the characters look like some humorous or even funny creatures. The result is the creation of caricatures. This is what Dickens (more than any other author) has done.
Catalogue
List of books or works.
Catastrophe
1. It signifies the complete (often sudden) devastation of the fortunes of a character (often the hero and/or the heroine) in a play or piece of fiction.
Catharsis
This is the term used for the ousting of the emotions of pity and fear in the tragedy.
Chronicle Plays
1. These are the plays based on (English) History.
2. Such plays became very popular among the people in the sixteenth century.
3. These plays contain almost every important character, real or legendary, in the period of the times concerned.
Cipher
Writing that employs sub-stitution or transposition of letters.
Classic
(i) A classic (in reality, any book) is 'the expression of man' as an individual.
(ii) It is also the expression of his mindset and the stance taken by him.
Cliche
Any word, phrase or expression that has lost its real effect for having been too frequently used by authors or laymen is called a cliche which may otherwise be quite lovable,
e.g.
(i) The news is too good to be true.
(ii) The sorrow was too deep for tears.
(iii) Thanking you in anticipation, etc.
Climax
1. It is the main point of interest in a play or novel which is reached usually in the third act (or sometimes
4th of a 5 act of a play) or towards the end.
2. The resolution often takes place after the Climax or the forces for it start working or increase their intensity after it.
Colloquial
1. In speech, we sometimes make use of certain words and phrases which are not acceptable in standard speech
2. Such colloquial expressions should be avoided in all formal speech or writing.
Colonialism
1. The term differs from 'colonization' as the term may imply political or economic control of policies in a political unit without real annexation of land.
Colonisation
Literately, the most significant modernist theories in the matter of (i) colonisation (ii) post colonisation (iii) decolonisation, and (iv) neo-colonisation have been provided and practised by— (a) Ngugiwa Thiong'o (b) Soyinka (c) Achebe Chinua, etc.
Comedy
Humorous dramatic piece; high comedy has welldrawn characterization and witty dialogue; low comedy, or slapstick has absurd situations and boisterous action; farce is exaggerated comedy; tragi-comedy is a blend of the tragic and comic; satire uses sarcasm and wit to ridicule people's follies and vices (originally in verse).
Comic Relief
1. It is the name given to the brief light or comic dramatic action within the performance of a regular serious play to bring about a relief to the spectators to regain their real selves, for a short while to relax their strained nerves and prepare for further action, often more serious and culminating into breath-taking, gasping climax before denouement.
Conceit
1. A conceit is a far-fetched or highly complex and even obscure or unintelligible comparison between two, often dissimilar, persons or objects.
2. It was com m only used b y th e Elizab ethans particularly the Metaphysical poets, especially Donne.
Concordance
Alphabetical index of words in a work, or works by a single author.
Confidant/Confidante
1. In a play when a character takes upon himself/herself the task of some secret or information characteristic about a character to another, the character indulging in such an activity is known as a 'confidant' (mas.) or 'confidante' (fem.)
2. Such information or secret is generally in the matter of love.
3. A good example of a 'confidante' is Nerissa in the Merchant of Venice.
Connotation
1. It signifies the suggested or implied meaning of word as against the transparent or literary meaning.
2. Connotative devices are brought into play by the artists, poets in particular to enhance pleasure and acceptability conveyed by w ords and oth er expressions.
3. Poets like Keats and T.S. Eliot frequently resort to the device of suggestiveness which is akin to connotation.
Consummation
1. When a work achieves complete satisfaction on all counts-literary as well as artistic, it is consummation that results.
2. An artist who has the knack, calibre or skill to make this achievement, is a consummate artist.
Copyright
Protective law to prevent pirating or plagiarism of an author's work.
Couplet
Two successive rhyming lines in poetry.
Court Comedy
1. It is opposed to the Domestic Comedy in the sense that instead of domestic scenes it contains other elements which attract a different kind of audience, e.g. (i) endless play of words (ii) elaborate dialogues (iii) repartees, jests, retorts, etc.
Cycle
Group of works united by an overall theme.
Dactyl
1. Dactyl means one accented syllable followed by two unaccented ones, e.g. (i) Lazily (ii) Separate (iii) Unspoken.
Decayed (or Constant) Metaphor
See Metaphor
Deism
1. A 'deist' is a theist who believes in the existence of God but rejects the idea of a revealed religion.
Denouement
1. It is the final resolution of the problem in a piece of dramatic performance.
2. The best document comes about when it arises naturally out of the action of the play and not through the 'Deus ex machina'.
Detonation
When a word refers to its literal meaning independent of the meaning which the author may intend to convey, it is the device of 'Detonation' which is at play.
Diabolus Ex Machina
1. The term literally means 'devil out of the machine'.
2. When all of a sudden a person or an event spoils the whole good game, causing unmitigated misery, it is the work of 'Diabolus Ex Machina'.
3. Thus, the term signifies sudden, unexpected turn of events for a plightful situation.
Dialect
Manner of speaking pertaining to a particular class or geographical region.
Dialectic
1. It was used originally to refer to the nature of a logical argument.
2. Later, it began to be linked to Kant, Hegel and Marx in varying forms.
3. The three generally accepted aspects of 'dialectic' are: (i) Thesis: It is akin to the (original) idea. (ii) Antithesis: It implies the inherent opposition in the thesis, which may operate after some time. (iii) Synthesis: It implies the resolution of the conflict to evolve a higher (or final) truth.
Dialogue
1. Dialogue is something very important in any poetic or prose play or a piece of prose fictions.
2. (i) The nature of the dialogue, including its language depends upon the kind of the play—a tragedy, comedy, romance, etc. or the kind of the scene prevailing there at the time and place of the dialogue.
(ii) Much also depends upon the taste of the spectators or audience which again is related to the spirit of the age :
A Dialogical Novel
1. It is a kind of novel in which a number of voices, interactive in the scheme, operate in work, resulting in a kind of dialogue (or series of dialogues) as against the Monologic Presentation.
Diary
Sequential private record of personal and other events kept by an individual.
Diction
1. It refers to the selection, arrangement and order of words.
2. The term which has become more popular in literary world is 'Poetic Diction' to which a lot of space has been devoted by Wordsworth in his 'Preface to Lyrical Ballads.'
Dictionary
Book containing the words of a language, and their definitions, alphabetically; two-language dictionaries contain the corresponding words of both languages and their meanings, also alphabetically; any book that gives words and phrases about a particular subject, arranged alphabetically.
Didactic
A work is didactic in nature when it undertakes to teach a moral, e.g. much of Wordsworth's poetry.
Digest
Publication where works are abridged.
Digression
1. When a writer, instead of carrying on the main plot or incident, starts indulging in a side story, dialogue or descriptive narration, it is digression that results.
2. Digression gives extraneous pleasure which is not inherent in or indispensable to the main story.
3. Digression can sometimes enhance the value of a work but more often it mars its spirit.
Documentary
Form of fiction or drama based on documentary evidence provided by newspapers, recent historical reports or other contemporary or recent factual evidence.
Doggerel
Rough, ill-constructed verse.
Domestic Comedy
1. One of the earliest examples of the Domestic Comedies is 'Gammer Gurton's Needle' (Cir. 1562)
2. It presents realistic life of the peasant class of its times.
3. It is full of fun and coarse humour.
Double entendre
Ambiguity in a word or expression, one of whose meanings is usually bawdy or frivolous.
Drama
Work to be performed on a stage by actors.
Dramatic Irony
It is a device occurring in a drama when a character on the stage is unaware of a fact which the audience know and understand.
Dramatic Monologue
1. It is a kind of drama or piece of dramatic poetry in which only one character speaks out throughout the performance and script.
Dramatis Personae
Characters in a play.
Duologue
Conversation between two characters in a play, story or poem.
Edition
Total number of copies of a book printed from unchanged set of type.
Electicism
The term implies the gleaning of facts or ideas from different sources instead of depending on just one source (or a few sources).
Elegy
Serious meditative poem; often lamenting death.
Empathy
I. a play or novel, when the reader or spectator begins to feel like the hero/heroine or some particular character as if he/she were that character, it is 'empathy' which is at play.
Empiricism
Empiricism implies the importance of experiment and experience in the matter of gaining knowledge, Encyclopedia
Comprehensive work encompassing and describing many asp ects of know ledg e; specialist wo rk covering comprehensively a subject or discipline.
Epic
Long narrative poem incorporating myth, legend, folklore and history, about the deeds of heroes, warriors, important people; a grandiose treatment of an individual's or nation's story.
Epic Style
1. It is a style which is dignified and exalted (as grand style is), as: (i) Paradise Lost by Milton (ii) Aeneid by Virgil (iii) Iliad by Homer (iv) Hyperion by Keats, etc.
2. Sometimes, it is, also referred to as 'heroic' style.'
Epigram
1. It signifies some brief, witty word, saying or piece of writing.
2. Po pe's work, for instance, is a m o del of 'Epigrammatic' style.
3. Bacon's essays are a bundle of Epigrams.
Epilogue
I. is the last item in a work of art (as in a drama) which often declares or comments upon the conclusion of the work.
Epistle
Direct address to another person, a 'letter' in the form of verse.
Epitaph
Valediction to dead person or persons; inscription on a tomb or grave.
Epithet
1. It comprises a word or group of words to describe the chief characteristics of a person, e.g. (i) Alexander the Great (ii) The Holy Bible.
Eponymous
Person whose name becomes the title of the work.
Erastianism
1. It implies the doctrine that the state should have supremacy over the church in ecclesiastical matters.
2. Erastianism was one of the doctrines which was vehemently opposed by the followers of the Oxford Movement
3. The doctrine is probably wrongly ascribed to Erastus.
Essay
Short composition, usually in prose, discussing a topic or variety of topics.
Euphemism
1. When an unpleasant expression has to be made in a comparatively pleasant or less harsh way, the mellowed or toned down words which are used express euphemism, e.g. (i) Instead of saying about a person 'He acted foolishly, we can say, 'He should have acted more wisely.' (ii) Instead of saying about a person that he has died, we sometimes say, 'God Almighty has called him' or 'He has left for his heavenly abode.'
Euphony
1. It signifies the pleasant combination of words which create desirable rhythms and tonal effects without interfering with the intended meaning.
2. An excessive use of such devices can lead to tautology or bombasticism and sound superficial or facile.
3. The generally accepted antonym of euphony is 'Cacophony'.
Euphuism
1. An ornate, floral style of writing popularized by Lyly.
Exposition
I. signifies a way of writing where explanations are not withheld or suppressed but manifestly made clear to the reader for immediate response based on clarity.
Fable
A short narrative in prose or verse, often with animals, that points a moral.
Fiction
General term for an imaginative work, usually in prose.
Figure of Speech (or of Rhetoric)
It signifies the unusual use of words to heighten their effect.
First person
Style of novel, etc., in which narrator is a character.
Flashback
1. When a writer while presenting a situation suddenly refers to a past situation or event, it is the device of 'flashback' that he exploits.
2. Browning, T.S, Eliot and Stream of consciousness novelists, in particular, take advantage of this device.
Folk tale
Story handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation.
Foot
In poetry, rhythmic unit of two or three syllables.
Foreshadowing
1. It is a device in which the author himself prepares the spectators (or readers) for the catastrophe or some important event which may be on the cards.
2. Such a device checks the readers, etc. from suffering from the malady of disbelief.
3. Shakespeare is probably one of the greatest masters of this device, and it is sometimes believed that one of the main reasons of Shakespeare's grand success was his convincing mastery over the technique of foreshadowing.
Foreword
Short introduction to a work.
Free verse (vers libre)
Poetry free from mechanical restrictions such as metre and rhyme, cadenced according to meaningful stress.
Fustian
It means the use of pompous, ornate, Euphuist or bombastic language.
Gazetteer
Geographical dictionary or index.
Ghost writer
Person who undertakes literary work for another who takes the credit.
Glossary
Alphabetical list of unfamiliar or uncommon words, usually appended to work in which they appear.
Haiku
According to Oxford Dictionary, 'A Haiku is a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven and fine traditionally evoking images of the natural world.'
Haplology
'Omission in utterance of a sou nd resem blin g a neighbouring sounds (as 'idolatry' for 'idololatry') (ibid.)
Haplography
The inadvertent writing once of what should have been written twice.' (Chambers 20th Century Dictionary)
Heroic Couplet
1. A couplet written in iambic pentametre is known as a 'heroic couplet'.
Heroic verse
1. A poem written in heroic couplets is known as 'heroic verse,' e.g. Pope's poems such as: (i) Essay Man (ii) Essay in Criticism (iii) The Rape of the Lock, etc.
Homily
1. It is a term pertaining to a work which instead of laying stress on artistic or aesthetic standards, undertakes to urge the readers on to a high moral life.
2. It is just like a sermon in a church.
3. Such are the most of the poems of Longfellow.
Homograph
1. It implies a word which has the same spelling and pronunciation as another, but is different in meaning and origin from the other, e.g. : (i) bear (n) an animal (ii) bear (v) (to) tolerate (iii) bear (v) (to) carry
Homonym
1. (i) It is 'a word having the same sound and perhaps the same spelling as another, but a different meaning and origin' (Chambers.....) (ii) Hence, Homonymous means: ' having the same name : having different significations and origin but the same sound.' (ibid.)
Hurd, Bishop
1. He aro used great interest in the Goth ic and imaginative literature with his 'Letters on Chivalry and Romance' (1762)
Hyperbole
1. It is a figure of speech which expresses an exaggerated statement to heighten the effect of a rhetorical statement, e.g. (i) O child, may you never die! (ii) Child is Father of the Man
Idiom
Form of expression of phrase peculiar to its language and possessing a meaning other than its literal one.
Idolatry
1. It means the worship of an image which is believed to be the abode of a superhuman being.
Idyll
Short pastoral poem conveying mood of happy innocence.
Imagism
School of poetry (early 1900s) concerned with precise language, direct treatment, and freedom of form.
Imperialism
1. It means the state policy for a country (as of England and certain other European countries, in particular during certain periods of history) to expands its area by annexing foreign lands and sub-during the natives.
Impersonality
1. It means that the author himself should not be palpably visible in a piece of literature, in other words, the work should be done on highly objective lines.
Indianism
When an expression is commonly used in India but is not used by the English, it is called an 'Indianism,' e.g. (i) 'demise' instead of 'death' (ii) 'bearer' instead of 'waiter' (iii) 'left for his heavenly abode' instead of 'died,' etc.
Interior Monologue
1. It is a device, as used by James Joyce in Ulysses, to express the thoughts, feelings and emotions of a character on usually more than one levels of consciousness.
2. It is a sort of inner debate which may or may not be conflict in essence.
Interludes
1. Just as Miracles passed into Moralities, the latter gradually passed into Interludes, as the people wanted entertainment along with instruction.
Introduction
Essay stating author's intention to reader.
Inversion
I. is the figure of speech (much used by Milton but ridiculed by many modern critics) in which words are presented in their unnatural order, e.g.
O God's glory I sing, And to His Mercy I pray.
Irony
1. It is a device used to convey a meaning which is the opposite of the apparent meaning, e.g. What a brave son of India Jai Chand was!
Jingle
Verse or verses with strong rhyme and rhythm.
Journal
Paper, periodical or magazine.
Judicial Criticism
1. It is the kind of criticism which is a sort of judgement on a writer or his work of art.
2. Such kind of best example is Pope's 'Essay on Criticism'.
Legend
Story about a particular person containing myth and historical fact; explanation of symbols on a map or chart.
Lexicon
Dictionary, especially for Classical and Middle Eastern languages.
Limerick
1. It is a kind of humorous verse written in five jingling lines.
2. The form seems to have derived 'from a refrain formerly used, referring to 'Limerick' in Ireland.' (Chambers 20th Century Dictionary)
Linguistics
The scientific study of language.
Litotes
1. It is akin to 'understatement' which is sometimes used by writers to emphasise the desired meaning, e.g. India is not lagging in Information Technology.
2. However, more often it is an 'understatement used ironically, especially using a negative to express the category as : 'I shan't be sorry when it's over' meaning 'I shall be very glad', or 'It was no easy matter' for 'It was very difficult.'' (Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
Lyric Usually short, song-like poem in which the poet expresses personal feelings.
Manuscript
Book or work written by hand.
Maxim
Short statement or even sentence containing a general truth about human conduct and human nature
Melodrama
1. It was a crude form of drama which appealed to the groundings who were not much interested in the artistic minuteness such as the plot, characterization, etc.
2. They wanted only entertainment through striking scenes and absorbing movement of incidents and situations.
Metaphor
1. It is a kind of simile when a comparison is suggested rather than explicitly stated, such that 'as' or 'like' is not used in such a case, e.g. (i) Lala Lajpat Rai was the Lion of Punjab. (ii) I see a lily on thy face.
Meter
Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse.
Metonymy
1. It implies the use of the name of some person or thing for another person or thing, e.g. (i) Have you studied 'Milton'?
(Milton here means Milton's works). (ii) In the 'light' of these remarks: ('light' here means in view of....) (iii) Sceptre and Crown (i.e. monarchy)
Must tumble down.
Metre
I. may not be possible or even necessary to describe it here in full detail, but we can have a cursory look at the following :
1. Monometre : It means a line (or verse) with a single iamb (foot)
2. Dimetre: It means a line with two iambs.
3. Trimetre: It means a line with three iambs.
4. Tetrametre: It means a line with four iambs.
5. Penta metre: It means a line with five iambs.
6. Hexta metre: It means a line with six iambs.
7. Hepta metre: It means a line with seven iambs.
Miracle and Mystery Plays
1. These plays were sponsored by the church and were originally held within the premises of the church, but later, as the number of audience swelled, the boundaries of the church seemed too limited and the plays began of be held outside the church.
2. (i) The Miracle plays represented the lives of saints, and later for any biblical theme. (ii) The Mystery plays represented scenes from the life of Jesus Christ.
Mock Heroic
When an apparent epic is presented in a light vein, it is known as a 'mock heroic' poem piece of fiction, etc., e.g. (i) The Rape of the Lock
Modernism
1. Towards the close of the 20th century, a movement against such modes as realism and naturalism started in all forms of literature and art such as poetry, drama, novel, music, painting, architecture, sculpture, etc. which continued unabated during the first world war period and partly upto the middle of the century.
Modulation
1. Of necessity poetry is musical.
2. As in music, to avoid poetry from falling into 'monotony,' there is the system of 'modulation' which here means, changing the key or tone, to introduce the element of variety to give or enhance pleasure.
Monologue
Single person addressing an audience alone, in drama, verse or prose. Interior monologue: unspoken but thought speech in verse or prose.
Moralities or Morality Play
1. They were basically allegories on the same lines as Miracles, or Mysteries but without direct represent of scriptural or Christ-concerned events or personages.
2. In Moralities abstract virtues and vices like Wisdom, Goodness, Justice, Evil, Vice, Greed, Lethargy, Lust, etc. were personified and presented on stage as persons.
Myth
Non-factual story that embodies explanation of how something comes to exist, usually involving supernatural or superhuman creatures.
Narrative
Story or tale in prose or verse.
Narratology
1. It means the study of different forms and structures of a narrative work in the matter of its various syntactical, literary and grammatical frameworks.
Neoclassicism
Movement of late 17th and 18th century reviving classical values in English literature, emphasizing discipline, reason and clarity.
Neologism
Newly-coined word.
New Wave (la Nouvelle Vague)
Movement in literature and cinema originating in France in late 1950s that attempted to eschew fixed values, revealing a character by the way he experienced objects and events, which were often meticulously described.
Nom de plume
Term used to indicate a fictitious name used by a writer to represent his work.
Novel
Extended piece of prose fiction.
Novelette
Long short story of some 15,000 words.
Novella
Prose fiction longer than a short story, shorter than a novel (about 30,000 words), concentrating upon a single event.
Obscurity
1. When a writer's language is not (or not easily) intelligible to the reader, the work concerned is termed as obscure.
Ode
Lyric poem describing an event or feelings about a person, object or event. Pindaric Ode (Greece) written for choral recitation in units of three stanzas; Horatian Ode (Rome) consisted of succession of stanzas following pattern of first one.
Omniscient Author
I. is a device used by some outstanding modern novelists to move freely from the objective narrative to the internal or subjective psyche of a character or characters and then comm ent freely and apparently unattached on the significance, possibility or outcome of any or some events.
Onomatopoeia
When the very sound (pronunciation) of a word conveys the sense of the object producing such sound, the use of onomatopoeia becomes clear e.g., (i) The lashing of waves on the sea-shore (ii) The rustle of leaves (iii) The hissing of the snake (iv) The jungle of coins (v) The clanging of arms.
Oxymoron
1. It is a figure of speech in which two apparently contradictory words or terms are used to convey, a paradoxical sense, e.g. (i) 'busy-idle days' (Lamb in Dream children) (ii) Life in Death (Coleridge in 'Rime.....').
Pantomime
1. Pantomimes became popular in England particularly in the first quarter of the 18th century.
2. A Pantomime is a dramatic representation pertaining to some myth, legend or traditional tale (or it may have some fairy element in it).
Parable
A story which conveys a moral lesson is known as a parable, as for instance, the biblical parables.
Paradox
I. is a figure of speech in which a truth is brought home through the use of self-contradictory statement, e.g. (i) Cowards die many a time before their death. (ii) Discretion is the better part of valour. (iii) After death, we awake into an eternal life.
Parallelism
1. It is a rhetorical device where balancing sentences, phrases or words are used to enhance effect, e.g. What is important is not what you say, but what is important is what you mean.
2. Excessive use of this device leads to monotony and superficiality.
Parody
Comic imitation of serious words, style, sense, subject of a writer to make them appear ridiculous.
Pastoral
Literature depicting idealized rural life.
Pathetic Fallacy
When nature is shown as sympathising with human lot, the device used is called 'pathetic fallacy,' e.g. (i) Byron's description of the battle of Waterloo in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. (ii) The behaviour of slow-moving nature in Tennyson's 'Lotos-eaters'.
Pedantry
1. The term refers to the excessive display of knowledge such as: (i) Foreign words and phrases
(ii) Allusions (iii) Archaic words (iv) high sounding and sesquipedalian words (v) cataloguing, etc. when these are not strictly needed within the context of the work.
Periodic Sentence
A sentence in which the Principal clause occurs at the end when it is preceded by one or more subordinate clauses, such that the sense is clear only when the whole sentence is read, is known as a 'periodic sentence'.
Periodical
Magazine or journal published regularly.
Periphrasis
1. It means a round about way of saying a thing, e.g. An idle singer of an empty day, etc.
2. The term is close to circumlocution and euphemism in sense and effect.
Personification
1. It is a device where inanimate objects are shown as those having life and behaving likewise, e.g. 'But yonder comes the powerful king of day.'
—Thomson
Pessimists
Although in English literature, we have a number of pessimist poets or a good number of poets expressing at times pessimistic ideas or writing sometimes in a pessimistic mood, yet two of the poets are known in particular, as 'Pessimists.' They are: (i) Thomas Hardy (ii) A.E. Housman
Philology
Study of literature, language and linguistics.
Picaresque
Chronicle of adventures of a rogue; originated in 16-century Spain.
Plagiarism
Wrongful appropriation and publication of another's work as one's own.
Platitude
It means a truth or generalization which is too well-known mainly because of its overuse, e.g. Truth is evergreen.
Pleonasm
(a) It means the use of words more than those which are absolutely necessary, e.g.
1. He sat down on the ground.
2. He looked up high towards the sky.
3. He has got sole monopoly over such kind of business. (b) In essence, it is akin to Tautology or circumlocution.
Plot
Plan or organization of events and characters in a play, work of fiction or poem as to induce curiosity and suspense in the audience or reader.
Poem
Literary work which may be in rhyme, blank verse or a combination of the two.
Poetic Diction
1. Diction stands chiefly for choice of words.
2. In poetry, poetic diction is unavoidable as mere metre is not enough to make a poem a literary piece of work.
3. In other words, mere versification or combination of words in rhyme or any other verse form does not make poetry.
4. The poets resort to several devices in this regard, some of which are : (i) Use of similes, metaphors, symbols, inversions, and other figures of speech as such as hyperbole, irony, antithesis, personification, etc. (ii) Omission of some parts of speech or grammatical rules. (iii) Use of archaic or uncommon words. (iv) Change in order of words, etc. (v) Use of picturesque phrases and expressions (vi) Use of other ornamental devices such as epithets (vii) Use of highly musical lies, fanciful flights etc.
Poetic Justice
1. It means the reward or punishment handed down to the characters at the end of a work of art according to their deeds.
Poetry
Any kind of metrical composition in a literary work.
Pornography
Work in which there is a deliberate emphasis on the sexual behaviour of characters, in order to arouse sexual excitement.
Potboiler
Work written essentially to gain the author a livelihood.
Precis
Concise statement; short summary of a work.
Preface
Introduction to a work.
Prologue
I. is often the original statement by the writer (as in a drama) which highlights the chief aim of the work which is going to be unfolded or staged.
Propaganda
Work devoted to the dissemination of an idea or belief, usually biased.
Prose
Writings not in verse. (Modern) Prose Style
1. The English prose style started by Bacon, flourished in the hands of Addison and Steele and numerous essayists and prose stylists that followed.
2. As a fine example of the latest modern prose style, Naipaul who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001 deserves to be mentionéd.
Prosody
Study of the handling of language in poetry.
Prosopopaeia
1. This figure of speech is used when: (i) The past (called the Historic Present) is written in the present tense:
Sohrab and Rustam clash with their full might. (ii) The (anticipated) future is written in the present tense:
Here, we go to our new house tomorrow with all our belongings carried in a lorry and then tucked in elegant mahogany almirahs.
Pseudonym
Name other than the true one used by an author to represent his work.
Psychological Process
I. is the process applied to the study of a piece of literature to penetrate another's mind and to study the activities, utterances, etc. of various characters, as, for instance, to arrive at the exact nature of Hamlet's madness whether there was 'method' in it or not.
Pun
1. When a word gives several meanings (often for fun) as in a play, it is the 'pun' that is used.
2. Shakespeare is a great master of this device.
3. Example : (i) This is the book. (ii) It means (a) any book (b) a holy book, often the Bible.
Realism
Literature that attempts to depict life objectively and faithfully.
Refrain
Phrase, line or lines repeated at intervals or at the end of a stanza in poetry.
Review
Notice or critical article on musical, artistic or literary work.
Revue
Theatrical entertainment made up of sketches, dances, songs, recitals and improvised pieces, usually humorous, satirical or topical.
Rhetoric
Art of using language, in speaking or writing, to persuade.
The persuasive style (rather than the content) of a work.
Rhythm
1. It signifies the measured regular beat or movement of sounded words in language.
2. Rhythm is a must in poetry as well as prose, as it introduces or enhances the element of pleasure, interest and curiosity.
Rhyme
Echoing sound or audible similarity in two or more words, especially at endings. Device used to construct much poetry.
Riddle
Puzzle, question or enigma; conundrum.
Roman a clef
Novel based upon actual people under disguised names.
Romance
Tale of chivalry, originally written in verse (Medieval times); term applied now to any wonderful or mysterious tale far removed from reality.
Romance Languages
1. Languages which have emerged straightaway from Latin and/or Greek, are called Romance Languages.
Romanticism
Movement originating in late 18th century as revolt against neoclassicism, emphasizing imaginative style.
Saga
Lengthy prose work, sometimes in several parts, describing the history and events surrounding medieval kings, warrriors and, recently, fictitious families.
Satire
Any work in which wickedness, folly, vice and corruption in individuals and society is exposed by ridicule and scorn.
Science fiction
Literature based on scientific fact or fantasy, on earth or on other worlds in space, often set in periods in the distant future.
Semantics
Branch of linguistics dealing with meaning, and the change of meaning, in words.
Semiology
General study or science of signs with which humans communicate with each other (including words and their use in every context).
Sermon
Verbal instruction of some length, usually religious.
Short story
Work of fiction usually revolving around single event.
Sic
Included in brackets after a printed word or quoted passage to indicate that it is quoted accurately, however actually incorrect.
Simile
1. When we draw comparison between two persons by using (usually 'like', as-so or as) it is the 'simile' that we make use of, e.g. (i) As red as a rose (ii) As happy as a lark (iii) She looked like a violet, half-hidden behind the rock.
2. An Exaggerated Simile: It is a simile in which the sense is clearly exaggerated, e.g. (i) He ran as fast as lightning (ii) He has in himself the force as much as there is in ten horses.
Slang
Colourful and vernacular language of the street, marketplace, barrack room, workplace, sportsplace and playground.
Soliloquy
Kind of monologue in which a stage character expresses his thoughts and feelings.
Song
Poem or verse set to music.
Sonnet
14-line poem of set rhyme-scheme; Elizabethan (Shakespearean) ababcdcdefefgg, Italian abbaabba cdcdcd (or cdecde).
Stanza
Group of lines of verse in definite pattern, usually repeated in a poem.
Strophe and Anti Strophe
1. Strophe is 'the song sung by the chorus (in a Greek play) as it moved towards one side, answered by an exact counterpart.' (Cham bers 2 0th Century Dictionary)
2. Anti-Strophe is the term for the Strophe, 'as it returned: part of any ode thus answered...' (ibid.)
Style
Characteristic manner of expression in prose or verse; the way in which a thing is written by an author.
Stock Material
Material necessary for a writer to write.
Stock Characters
Characters that are commonly found in most of pieces of dramas or fiction.
Stock Situations
Situations which are frequently presented byauthors in their works.
Synthesis, Poetry of
The term 'Poetry of Synthesis' is referred to by I.A. Richards, and it has been thus explained by Cleanth Brooks— '... a poetry which does not leave out what is apparently hostile to its dominant tone, and which, because it is able to fuse the irrelevant and disordant, has come to terms with itself and invulnerable to irony.'
Structure
The structure meant is a structure of meaning, evaluations and interpretations : and the principle of unity which informs it seems to one of balancing and harmonizing connotations, attitudes and meanings.'
Tragedy of Blood (And Thunder)
1. It was basically a melodramatic presentation of horrible, gory scenes.
2. The first famous tragedy of this kind is Kyd's 'Spanish Tragedy'.
Sublimity
1. It is a term which is used to describe inexplicable beauty which is beyond any rules to describe or measure.
Symbolism
French poetic movement of late 19th century that developed as revolt against realism, concentrating on evoking emotions by use of indirect suggestion (symbol and metaphor); flourished in Russia at turn of century as literary movement, and later in British novel.
Synecdoche
1. This figure of speech is used when the understanding of one thing by means of another is employed.
2. This can be done in several ways, some of which are mentioned below : (i) When a part stands for a whole or genus, e.g.
We have fifty hands in our factory. (hands = workers) (ii) When a whole or genus stands for a part, e.g. He belongs to a different world from yors (world = category, social set-up, economic status, etc.) (iii) When an individual represents a class, e.g.
He is the Nestor of our village. (Nestor = the oldest man)
Syntax
It means : (i) The way a sentence is constructed (ii) Arrangement of words in writing (or in speech) according to the rules of grammar (iii) Rules pertaining to this system or arrangement.
Synonym
A word similar in meaning to another.
Synopsis
Outline of the main points of a work; a summary.
Tale
Spoken or written narrative.
Tautology
Overuse of synonyms or repetition of ideas in sentence.
Theme
Central idea of a work, rather than its subject.
Thesis
Long essay or treatise on a subject, usually expository; work presented to examiners for academic qualification.
Third person
Style of novel, etc., in which narrator is outside action.
Tract
Short printed treatise on religious or political subject.
Tragedy
I. is 'a drama in which the principal characters are involved in desperate circumstances or led by overwhelming passions. It is invariably serious and dignified. The movement is always stately, but grows more and more rapid as it approaches the climax ; and the end is always calamitous, resulting in death or dire misfortune of the principals.'
Tragic Flaw
1. In Shakespeare's tragedies, in particular, we often find a particular flaw in the character of the hero which ultimately leads to the fall of his destiny, along with the fall of his state or estate.
Transferred Epithet
When an epithet is transferred from a person to a thing, it is known as a 'transferred epithet', e.g. (i) It is a foolish idea (ii) Let happy days come.
Translation
Rendering of a work into another language.
Treatise
Formal work examining a subject and the principles underlying it.
Trochaic Line Metre
1. A line in verse is known as a 'trochaic' line when the first, third and other odd syllables in it are accented (as in the 'Iambic metre') irrespective of the length of the line.
2. A poem comprising such lines is known as having been written in the 'Trochaic' metre.
Understatement
1. It is practically the opposite of hyperbole and is sometimes used by the writers to emphasise indirectly the desired meaning.
Vade mecum
Manual or handbook carried for frequent reference.
Verisimilitude
It is the likeness of truth presented in a work of art that makes it similar to the characteristics or situation in real life and that enables the readers to accept it ungrudgingly as truth (and may be, sometimes, more than real happening in life).
Vernacular
Domestic or native language.
Versification
Study of how traditional verse is constructed.
Wit (i) Dryden defines (in 'Annus Mirabilis') wit as 'delightful imagining of persons, actions, passions or things.'
Yarn
Story or tale, sometimes improbable and far-fetched.
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