Literary Term Review - 8th Grade

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Assonance - the repetition at close intervals of the vowels of accented syllables or important words (e.g., hAt, rAn, Amber)

Consonance - the repetition at close intervals of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words ( e.g., thiCK, booK, plaQUE)

Dialect - an aspect of diction, which refers to a variety of English based on differences in geography, education or social background.

Elegy - A sustained and formal poem seeting forth meditations on death or another solemn theme.

Epic - A long narrative poem in elevated style presenting characters of high position in adventures - all of which are in relation to a central heroic figure and episodes in the history of a nation or race (e.g., Beowulf or The Odyssey by Homer)

Most Epics share certain characteristics:

     1. The hero is of imposing stature, of national or international importance, and of great historical or legenday significance.

     2. The setting is vast, covering great nations, the word or the universe.

     3. The action consists of deeds of valor and superhuman courage.

     4. Supernatural forces - gods, angels and demons - interest themselves in the action.

     5. A style of sustained elevation is used.

     6. The poet retains a measure of objectivity

Flashback - A technique used in narrative writing in which a sequence of events is interrupted to recall an earlier event.

Ode - A single unified strain of exalted lyrical verse directed to  a single purpose and dealing with one theme

Propaganda - Material created for the single purpose of advocating a political or ideological position.

Thesis - The central idea in a work of writing, to which everything else in the work refers; often essays are organized under a thesis statement, which acts as a promise or guide to the reader of what the essay will discuss/deliver.

Sonnet - A poem of 14 lines that employs one of several rhyme schemes, but the two most common shcemes are the Italian and English sonnets:

     1. Italian or Petrarchan - the sonnet is divided into two parts, an octave - the first eight lines- and sestet the final 6 lines: the octave rhyming       

        abba abba and the sestet cdecde, cdccdcd, or cdedce

     2. English or Shakespearean - the sonnet is broken up into four quatrains, eache with its own rhyme scheme, followed by a rhyming couplet; the

         typical rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg

Subplot - A subordinate or minor story in a piece of fiction; sometimes the subplots can take the form of parallel episodes - events and happenings that

                mirror the primary plot of the story.