Literary Terms, GEN-IRA
Want to be able to distinguish your limericks from your haikus and your paeans from your panegyrics? Dive deep into literary terms and forms.
Literary Terms Encyclopedia Articles By Title
genre
genre, a distinctive type or category of literary composition, such as the epic, tragedy, comedy, novel, and short......
genteel comedy
genteel comedy, early 18th-century subgenre of the comedy of manners that reflected the behaviour of the British......
Geography of Homerâs Odyssey: Mapping Odysseusâs Epic Voyage
A cave that deceptively offers shelter, an island overrun by wild animals, a strait flanked by deadly sea monstersâOdysseusâs......
Georgian literature
Georgian literature, the body of written works in the Georgian language, kartuli ena. The origins of Georgian literature......
Georgian poetry
Georgian poetry, a variety of lyrical poetry produced in the early 20th century by an assortment of British poets,......
georgic
georgic, a poem dealing with practical aspects of agriculture and rural affairs. The model for such verse in postclassical......
German literature
German literature, German literature comprises the written works of the German-speaking peoples of central Europe.......
gest
gest, a story of achievements or adventures. Among several famous medieval collections of gests are Fulcher of......
ghazal
ghazal, in Islamic literatures, genre of lyric poem, generally short and graceful in form and typically dealing......
giant
giant, in folklore, huge mythical being, usually humanlike in form. The term derives (through Latin) from the Giants......
giftbook
giftbook, an illustrated literary miscellany, or collection of verse, tales, and sketches. The giftbook was popular......
Glossary of Jane Austen Terms
âMr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike: he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners.â......
gnome
gnome, in European folklore, dwarfish, subterranean goblin or earth spirit who guards mines of precious treasures......
gnomic poetry
gnomic poetry, aphoristic verse containing short, memorable statements of traditional wisdom and morality. The......
goblin
goblin, in Western folklore, a wandering sprite and bogeyman of sorts that is usually mischievous but often malicious.......
Gods and Monsters in Homerâs Odyssey
The gods are ubiquitous in Greek mythology, causing chaos as well as restoring order in human lives. In Homerâs......
golden shovel
golden shovel, a poetic form in which a line from a preexisting poem is used to create a new one. Essentially,......
goliard
goliard, any of the wandering students and clerics in medieval England, France, and Germany, remembered for their......
gonzo journalism
gonzo journalism, a style of reporting that places the reporter at the centre of the story in a highly personal......
good-night
good-night, sensational type of broadside ballad (q.v.), popular in England from the 16th through the 19th century,......
Gothic novel
Gothic novel, Romantic pseudomedieval fiction having a prevailing atmosphere of mystery and terror. Its heyday......
Governor Generalâs Literary Awards
Governor Generalâs Literary Awards, series of Canadian literary awards established in 1936 by the Canadian Authors......
graphic novel
graphic novel, in American and British usage, a type of text combining words and imagesâessentially a comic, although......
Greek literature
Greek literature, body of writings in the Greek language, with a continuous history extending from the 1st millennium......
griot
griot, West African troubadour-historian. The griot profession is hereditary and has long been a part of West African......
Gujarati literature
Gujarati literature, literature of the Gujarati language, a major tongue of India. The oldest examples of Gujarati......
guslar
guslar, the traditional name in the Bosniak-Croatian-Serbian language for an epic singer who performs long narrative......
gwersiou
gwersiou, narrative ballad in the Breton language that dramatically describes local events, history, legends, and......
gyascutus
gyascutus, an imaginary, large, four-legged beast with legs on one side longer than those on the other, for walking......
género chico
gĂ©nero chico, (Spanish: âlittle genreâ), Spanish literary genre of light dramatic or operatic one-act playlets,......
hag
hag, in European folklore, an ugly and malicious old woman who practices witchcraft, with or without supernatural......
hagiography
hagiography, the body of literature describing the lives and veneration of the Christian saints. The literature......
haikai
haikai, a comic renga, or Japanese linked-verse form. The haikai was developed as early as the 16th century as......
haiku
haiku, unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively.......
Haka
Haka, Maori posture dance that involves the entire body in vigorous rhythmic movements, which may include swaying,......
half rhyme
half rhyme, in prosody, two words that have only their final consonant sounds and no preceding vowel or consonant......
hamartia
hamartia, (hamartia from Greek hamartanein, âto errâ), inherent defect or shortcoming in the hero of a tragedy,......
Happy 100th Birthday, Beverly Cleary!
Beloved childrenâs author Beverly Cleary turned 100 on April 12, 2016. Once a childrenâs librarian, she turned......
hard news
hard news, journalistic style and genre that focuses on events or incidents that are considered to be timely and......
hard-boiled fiction
hard-boiled fiction, a tough, unsentimental style of American crime writing that, beginning in the 1920s, brought......
Harry Potter Turns 18
If books were people, the Harry Potter series would be all grown up. The first installment, Harry Potter and the......
headless line
headless line, in prosody, a line of verse that is lacking the normal first syllable. An iambic line with only......
Hebrew literature
Hebrew literature, the body of written works produced in the Hebrew language and distinct from Jewish literature,......
Hellenistic romance
Hellenistic romance, adventure tale, usually with a quasi-historical setting, in which a virtuous heroine and her......
hellhound
hellhound, a dog represented in mythology (such as that of ancient Greece and Scandinavia) as standing guard in......
Hermeticism
Hermeticism, modernist poetic movement originating in Italy in the early 20th century, whose works were characterized......
hero
hero, in literature, broadly, the main character in a literary work; the term is also used in a specialized sense......
heroic couplet
heroic couplet, a couplet of rhyming iambic pentameters often forming a distinct rhetorical as well as metrical......
heroic play
heroic play, a type of play prevalent in Restoration England during the 1660s and 1670s. Modeled after French Neoclassical......
heroic poetry
heroic poetry, narrative verse that is elevated in mood and uses a dignified, dramatic, and formal style to describe......
heroic prose
heroic prose, narrative prose tales that are the counterpart of heroic poetry in subject, outlook, and dramatic......
heroic stanza
heroic stanza, in poetry, a rhymed quatrain in heroic verse with rhyme scheme abab. The form was used by William......
heroic verse
heroic verse, the verse form in which the heroic poetry of a particular language is, or according to critical opinion......
hexameter
hexameter, a line of verse containing six feet, usually dactyls (âČ Ë Ë). Dactylic hexameter is the oldest known......
hiatus
hiatus, in prosody, a break in sound between two vowels that occur together without an intervening consonant, both......
Hindi literature
Hindi literature, the writings of the western Braj Bhasa and Khari Boli and of the eastern Awadhi and Bundeli dialects......
Hisperic style
Hisperic style, a style of Latin writing that probably originated in the British Isles in the 7th century. It is......
historical novel
historical novel, a novel that has as its setting a period of history and that attempts to convey the spirit, manners,......
Homeric Hymns
Homeric Hymns, collection of 34 ancient Greek poems in heroic hexameters, all addressed to gods. Though ascribed......
Homerids
Homerids, a historical clan on the Aegean island of Chios, whose members claimed to be descendants of the ancient......
Hong Kong literature
Hong Kong literature, the body of written works, primarily in Chinese but occasionally in English, produced in......
Horatian ode
Horatian ode, short lyric poem written in stanzas of two or four lines in the manner of the 1st-century-bc Latin......
Houyhnhnm
Houyhnhnm, any member of a fictional race of intelligent, rational horses described by Anglo-Irish author Jonathan......
How can you tell if a poem is a ballad?
In its simplest definition, a ballad is a poem or song that tells a story. Many ballads were passed down through......
How did Albert Camus die?
In the afternoon on January 4, 1960, French philosopher Albert Camus, author of The Stranger (1942) and The Myth......
How Did the World Learn About Emmett Tillâs Murder?
On August 31, 1955, the body of Emmett Till was found at the bottom of the Tallahatchie River in northern Mississippi.......
How old was Anne Frank when she wrote her diary?
Anne Frank received her red-and-white plaid diary as a gift on her 13th birthday on June 12, 1942, and began writing......
huaju
huaju, form of Chinese drama featuring realistic spoken dialogue rather than the sung poetic dialogue of the traditional......
Hugo Award
Hugo Award, any of several annual awards presented by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). The awards are......
huitain
huitain, French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line. The form was......
humours, comedy of
comedy of humours, a dramatic genre most closely associated with the English playwright Ben Jonson from the late......
Hungarian literature
Hungarian literature, the body of written works produced in the Hungarian language. No written evidence remains......
hymn
hymn, (from Greek hymnos, âsong of praiseâ), strictly, a song used in Christian worship, usually sung by the congregation......
hyperbaton
hyperbaton, a transposition or inversion of usual word order. The device is often used in poetry, as in line 13......
hyperbole
hyperbole, a figure of speech that is an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect. Hyperbole is common......
hypercatalexis
hypercatalexis, in prosody, the occurrence of an additional syllable at the end of a line of verse after the line......
I novel
I novel, form or genre of 20th-century Japanese literature that is characterized by self-revealing narration, with......
iamb
iamb, metrical foot consisting of one short syllable (as in classical verse) or one unstressed syllable (as in......
iambe
iambe, French satiric verse form consisting of alternating lines of 8 and 12 syllables. The total number of lines......
iambic pentameter
iambic pentameter, in poetry, a line of verse composed of ten syllables arranged in five metrical feet (iambs),......
Icelandersâ sagas
Icelandersâ sagas, the class of heroic prose narratives written during 1200â20 about the great families who lived......
Icelandic literature
Icelandic literature, body of writings in Icelandic, including those from Old Icelandic (also called Old Norse)......
icon
icon, in literature, a description of a person or thing, usually using a figure of speech. To semioticians, icons......
idyll
idyll, also spelled Idyl (from Greek eidyllion, âlittle pictureâ), a short poem of a pastoral or rural character......
imram
imram, in early Irish literature, a story about an adventurous voyage. This type of story includes tales of Irish......
in medias res
in medias res, the practice of beginning an epic or other narrative by plunging into a crucial situation that is......
In Memoriam stanza
In Memoriam stanza, a quatrain in iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of abba. The form was named for the pattern......
incremental repetition
incremental repetition, a device used in poetry of the oral tradition, especially English and Scottish ballads,......
Indian literature
Indian literature, writings of the Indian subcontinent, produced there in a variety of vernacular languages, including......
Indianista novel
Indianista novel, Brazilian literary genre of the 19th century that idealizes the simple life of the South American......
Indo-Aryan literature
Indo-Aryan literature, body of writings in the Indo-Aryan family of languages. It is difficult to pinpoint the......
Indonesian literatures
Indonesian literatures, the poetry and prose writings in Javanese, Malay, Sundanese, and other languages of the......
infotainment
infotainment, television programming that presents information (as news) in a manner intended to be entertaining.......
interlude
interlude, in theatre, early form of English dramatic entertainment, sometimes considered to be the transition......
internal rhyme
internal rhyme, rhyme between a word within a line and another word either at the end of the same line or within......
intrigue, comedy of
comedy of intrigue, in dramatic literature, a comic form in which complicated conspiracies and stratagems dominate......
introverted quatrain
introverted quatrain, a quatrain having an enclosed rhyme. An example of an introverted quatrain is the In Memoriam......
invocation
invocation, a convention of classical literature and of epics in particular, in which an appeal for aid (especially......
ionic foot
ionic foot, in prosody, a foot of verse that consists of either two long and two short syllables (also called major......
Iranian literature
Iranian literature, body of writings in the Iranian languages produced in an area encompassing eastern Anatolia,......