Literary Terms, PHI-SAT
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Literary Terms Encyclopedia Articles By Title
philosophe
philosophe, any of the literary men, scientists, and thinkers of 18th-century France who were united, in spite......
phlyakes
phlyakes, farces adopted from Greek Middle Comedy plays and especially popular in southern Italy in the 4th and......
physical poetry
physical poetry, poetry (such as Imagist poetry) that is primarily concerned with the projection of a descriptive......
picaresque novel
picaresque novel, early form of novel, usually a first-person narrative, relating the adventures of a rogue or......
Pindaric ode
Pindaric ode, ceremonious poem by or in the manner of Pindar, a Greek professional lyrist of the 5th century bc.......
pixie
pixie, in the folklore of southwestern England, tiny elflike spirit or mischievous fairy dressed in green who dances......
ploce
ploce, the emphatic repetition of a word, with particular reference to its special significance (as in “a wife......
plot
plot, in fiction, the structure of interrelated actions, consciously selected and arranged by the author. Plot......
poet laureate
poet laureate, title first granted in England in the 17th century for poetic excellence. Its holder is a salaried......
poetic diction
poetic diction, grandiose, elevated, and unfamiliar language, supposedly the prerogative of poetry but not of prose.......
poetic imagery
poetic imagery, the sensory and figurative language used in poetry. The object or experience that a poet is contemplating......
poetic justice
poetic justice, in literature, an outcome in which vice is punished and virtue rewarded, usually in a manner peculiarly......
poetic license
poetic license, the right assumed by poets to alter or invert standard syntax or depart from common diction or......
Poetry
Poetry, literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response......
point of view
point of view, in literature, the vantage point from which a story is presented. A common point of view is the......
Polish literature
Polish literature, body of writings in Polish, one of the Slavic languages. The Polish national literature holds......
polyphonic prose
polyphonic prose, a freely rhythmical form of prose that employs characteristic devices of verse other than strict......
polyptoton
polyptoton, the rhetorical repetition within the same sentence of a word in a different case, inflection, or voice......
Portuguese literature
Portuguese literature, the body of writing in the Portuguese language produced by the peoples of Portugal, which......
Poststructuralism
Poststructuralism, movement in literary criticism and philosophy begun in France in the late 1960s. Drawing upon......
poulter’s measure
poulter’s measure, a metre in which lines of 12 and 14 syllables alternate. Poulter is an obsolete variant of poulterer......
poète maudit
poète maudit, (French: “accursed poet”), in literary criticism, the poet as an outcast of modern society, despised......
praise song
praise song, one of the most widely used poetic forms in Africa; a series of laudatory epithets applied to gods,......
preciosity
preciosity, style of thought and expression exhibiting delicacy of taste and sentiment, prevalent in the 17th-century......
prequel
prequel, a literary or dramatic work whose story precedes that of an earlier-written work. For example, Lillian......
press and government relations
The development of news media is closely tied to the emergence of modern government. Indeed, news media have always......
press pools
The term press pools is a reference to journalists working as a group, rather than in the traditional mode of competing......
Prix Goncourt
Prix Goncourt, French literary prize, one of the most important in France. It was first conceived in 1867 by the......
problem play
problem play, type of drama that developed in the 19th century to deal with controversial social issues in a realistic......
prolepsis
prolepsis, a figure of speech in which a future act or development is represented as if already accomplished or......
prologue
prologue, a preface or introduction to a literary work. In a dramatic work, the term describes a speech, often......
prose poem
prose poem, a work in prose that has some of the technical or literary qualities of a poem (such as regular rhythm,......
protagonist
protagonist, in ancient Greek drama, the first or leading actor. The poet Thespis is credited with having invented......
Provençal literature
Provençal literature, the body of writings in the Occitan, or Provençal, language of Provence and neighbouring......
proverb
proverb, succinct and pithy saying in general use, expressing commonly held ideas and beliefs. Proverbs are part......
psychological novel
psychological novel, work of fiction in which the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of the characters are of......
public television journalism
Public television news is an alternative to commercial news programming that positions the audience as information-seeking......
puck
puck, in medieval English folklore, a malicious fairy or demon. In Old and Middle English the word meant simply......
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes are prestigious awards presented annually for outstanding public service and achievement in......
pun
pun, a humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest different meanings or applications, or a play on words,......
Punjabi literature
Punjabi literature, body of writing in the Punjabi language. Punjabi developed a written literature later than......
pure poetry
pure poetry, message-free verse that is concerned with exploring the essential musical nature of the language rather......
Pushkin Prize
Pushkin Prize, Russian literary prize established in 1881 in honour of Aleksandr Pushkin, one of Russia’s greatest......
putative author
putative author, the author of a work as defined in the work rather than the actual author, or the person or character......
pyŏlgok
pyŏlgok, Korean poetic form that flourished during the Koryŏ period (935–1392). Of folk origin, the pyŏlgok was......
qaṣīdah
qaṣīdah, poetic form developed in pre-Islamic Arabia and perpetuated throughout Islamic literary history into the......
quantitative verse
quantitative verse, in prosody, a metrical system based on the duration of the syllables that make up the feet,......
quatrain
quatrain, a piece of verse complete in four rhymed lines. The word is derived from the French quatre, meaning “four.”......
Race, milieu, and moment
milieu, and moment Race, according to the French critic Hippolyte Taine, the three principal motives or conditioning......
Raven cycle
Raven cycle, collection of trickster-transformer tales originating among the Native Americans of the Northwest......
readerly and writerly
readerly and writerly, opposite types of literary text, as defined by the French critic Roland Barthes in his book......
Reading the Partition of India: A List of Essential Works
At midnight on August 14–15, 1947, India gained independence from the British. The event was closely followed by......
Rediscovered Artists: 6 Big Names That Time Almost Forgot
For every artist who becomes enduringly famous, there are hundreds more who fall into obscurity. It may surprise......
redondilla
redondilla, a Spanish stanza form consisting of four trochaic lines, usually of eight syllables each, with a rhyme......
refrain
refrain, phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals throughout a poem, generally at the end of the stanza.......
renga
renga, genre of Japanese linked-verse poetry in which two or more poets supplied alternating sections of a poem.......
Restoration literature
Restoration literature, English literature written after the Restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660 following......
Return to normalcy
Return to normalcy, central campaign slogan of Republican nominee Warren G. Harding’s successful campaign for the......
revenge tragedy
revenge tragedy, drama in which the dominant motive is revenge for a real or imagined injury; it was a favourite......
rhapsode
rhapsode, a singer in ancient Greece. Ancient scholars suggested two etymologies. The first related the word with......
rhetoric
rhetoric, the principles of training communicators—those seeking to persuade or inform. In the 20th century it......
rhupunt
rhupunt, one of the 24 metres of the Welsh bardic tradition. A rhupunt is a verse composed of three, four, or five......
rhyme
rhyme, the correspondence of two or more words with similar-sounding final syllables placed so as to echo one another.......
rhyme royal
rhyme royal, seven-line iambic pentameter stanza rhyming ababbcc. The rhyme royal was first used in English verse......
rhyme scheme
rhyme scheme, the formal arrangement of rhymes in a stanza or a poem. If it is one of a number of set rhyme patterns,......
rhythm
rhythm, in poetry, the patterned recurrence, within a certain range of regularity, of specific language features,......
riddle
riddle, deliberately enigmatic or ambiguous question requiring a thoughtful and often witty answer. The riddle......
rime riche
rime riche, in French and English prosody, a rhyme produced by agreement in sound not only of the last accented......
rime suffisante
rime suffisante, in French and English prosody, end rhyme produced by agreement in sound of an accented final vowel......
rispetto
rispetto, a Tuscan folk verse form, a version of strambotto. The rispetto lyric is generally composed of eight......
robinsonade
robinsonade, any novel written in imitation of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719–22) that deals with the problem......
robāʿī
robāʿī, in Persian literature, genre of poetry consisting of a quatrain with the rhyme scheme aaba. Together with......
roman à clef
roman à clef, novel that has the extraliterary interest of portraying well-known real people more or less thinly......
roman-fleuve
roman-fleuve, series of novels, each one complete in itself, that deals with one central character, an era of national......
romance
romance, literary form, usually characterized by its treatment of chivalry, that came into being in France in the......
romance novel
romance novel, a fiction book that focuses on the themes of love and romantic relationships. More specifically,......
romance stanza
romance stanza, a six-line verse stanza common in metrical romances in which the first, second, fourth, and fifth......
romancero
romancero, collective body of Spanish folk ballads (romances), which constitute a unique tradition of European......
Romanian literature
Romanian literature, body of writings in the Romanian language, the development of which is paralleled by a rich......
romantic comedy
romantic comedy, movie genre produced since the 1930s by Hollywood and other film industries. The romantic comedy,......
Romantic literature
Romantic literature, the body of written works produced during Romanticism, an attitude or intellectual orientation......
rondeau
rondeau, one of several formes fixes (“fixed forms”) in French lyric poetry and song of the 14th and 15th centuries.......
rondel
rondel, a fixed poetic form that runs on two rhymes. It is a variant of the rondeau. The rondel often consists......
roundelay
roundelay, a poem with a refrain that recurs frequently or at fixed intervals, as in a rondel. The term is also......
rove-over
rove-over, having an extrametrical syllable at the end of one line that forms a foot with the first syllable of......
Russian literature
Russian literature, the body of written works produced in the Russian language, beginning with the Christianization......
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, annual prize given by the Poetry Foundation—an independent literary organization and publisher—to......
récit
récit, a brief novel, usually with a simple narrative line. One of the writers who consciously used the form was......
ríma
ríma, versified sagas, or episodes from the sagas, a form of adaptation that was popular in Iceland from the 15th......
rāwī
rāwī, (Arabic: “reciter”), in Arabic literature, professional reciter of poetry. The rāwīs preserved pre-Islāmic......
sacra rappresentazione
sacra rappresentazione, (Italian: “holy performance”), in theatre, 15th-century Italian ecclesiastical drama similar......
saga
saga, in medieval Icelandic literature, any type of story or history in prose, irrespective of the kind or nature......
samizdat
samizdat, (from Russian sam, “self,” and izdatelstvo, “publishing”), literature secretly written, copied, and circulated......
Sangam literature
Sangam literature, the earliest writings in the Tamil language, thought to have been produced in three sangams,......
Sanskrit literature
Sanskrit literature, body of writings produced by the Aryan peoples who entered the Indian subcontinent from the......
sarcasm
sarcasm, form of verbal irony used to convey the opposite of what is actually spoken, especially in order to criticize......
Satanic school
Satanic school, pejorative designation used by Robert Southey, most notably in the preface to his A Vision of Judgement......
satire
satire, artistic form, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings......
Saturnian verse
Saturnian verse, the ancient Latin verse used mainly by Livius Andronicus and Gnaeus Naevius before the adoption......
satyr play
satyr play, genre of ancient Greek drama that preserves the structure and characters of tragedy while adopting......