A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z   <<  >>

Terms for subject Literature (1061 entries)

O.Henry ending	A surprise ending to a short story, named after the American writer whose stories are characterised by a surprise or twist at the end.
objective point of view	The narrator assumes the position of an observer, detached from the narrative.
occasional poem	A poem which has been written to commemorate a special event or occasion.
octave	A stanza or section of verse, otherwise known as an octet, which contains eight lines. These eight lines generally have a rhythm or pattern.
ode	A relatively long, often intricate stanzaic poem of varying line lengths and sometimes intricate rhyme schemes, dealing with a solemn subject matter and considering it reverently.
OED	The standard abbreviation for The Oxford English Dictionary, which is an historical dictionary, and considered the most authoritative and scholarly dictionary of English. It attempts to record all words in usage in English with citations for when the word in that usage entered the language.
oedipal complex	Freud argued that male children, envious of sharing their mother's attention with a father-figure, would come to have an unconscious incestuous desire to murder their fathers and have sex with their mothers. In most healthy adults Freud argued this desire would be repressed.
literary	of, relating to or characteristic of literature or knowledgeable about literature
Old English	Also known as Anglo-Saxon, Old English is the ancestor of Middle English and modern English. It is a Germanic language that was introduced to the British Isles by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in a series of invasions in the fifth century, it is thus regarded as the language that existed between 449AD and 1066 (when the Norman Conquest occurred)
Old English Period	Also known as the Anglo-Saxon Period, the time frame this period falls in is debatable, however broadly speaking it is between the mid-fifth century and mid-twelfth century.
Old Mill Stream Toastmasters Club	OMS
omniscient narrator	This is a narrator who is 'all knowing'. The omniscient narrator, often found in third person narratives, has a detailed and full knowledge of the story's events and characters, from every perspective.
one-act play	This type is now less popular than in the past. It was a drama performed with no interval and was generally less than an hour long.
oneiromancy	Fortune-telling through dreams.
onomatopoeia	The application of sounds that are comparable to the noise they represent for an artistic effect. For instance, buzz, click, rattle, and grunt make sounds similar to the noise they represent.
open couplet	A couplet in a poem where the idea is not complete by the end of the couplet or second line, instead the concept is carried over into the next lines.
open stage	A stage where the audience is not separated from those acting. This type of staging has become more popular recently.
opera	A powerful type of drama, where a majority of the words are solely sung.
Optimistic Orators Toastmasters Club	O2
Optimistic Orators Toastmasters Club	OO