English ⇄ thesaurus

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Terms for subject Literature (1001 entries)

alliteration	The use of repeated consonants in neighbouring words. It appears most often at the beginning of those words, e.g. wonderful wilderness. It can create a strong effect by introducing pattern into the language.
allusion	A casual reference to any aspect of another piece of literature, art, music, person or life in general. Authors suppose that the reader will identify the original source and relate the meaning to the new context. An example of allusion is TS. Eliot's The Waste Land.
alternate rhyming couplets	The rhyming of alternate lines, also identified as "abab" rhyme scheme. See rhyme, rhyming couplets.
alternative literature	Literatures that, during their time, seem to be outside the conventional. Such writing, if it has value, often becomes a part of the mainstream. An example of this is elements from the Beat movement.
ambience	Broadly an alternative word for atmosphere. Specifically the word ambiance relates to the atmosphere or mood of a specific setting or location. See mood, tone
ambiguity	When words, sentences and texts have more than one meaning. This can be deliberate or unintentional. The idea of ambiguity has been considered by Empson in his SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY. Generally, ambiguity is a negative expression applied to a vague or equivocal expression when accuracy would be more practical. Occasionally, however, deliberate ambiguity in literature can be a commanding method.
ambivalence	When the reader has mixed feelings or opposing views towards an event, character or object.
American dream	An idea in American literature, film, and art that articulates positive imaginings for self-improvement, freedom, and self-sufficiency available in America. It has been suggested that the term can have no fixed meaning because the ideas desired are individual to each person according to that time. Generally, it has implications of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Examples of these would be Miller's De ath of A Salesman and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
American English	The English language as it has developed in North America. Differences from British English occur in terms of diction, spelling and grammatical use and accent.
American renaissance	The period which covers American literature written between 1828-65.
Americanism	A phrase or word which is considered to typify English as used in the USA.
amphibrach	A poetic term referring to a foot with three syllables - short, long, short.
amphimacer	Apoetic term referring to a foot with three syllables - long, short, long.
amphitheatre	A performance arena consisting of a stage and seats rising in tiers, usually in a circular shape.
amplification	A rhetorical device where language is used to emphasise or extend. For example Charles Dickens used the technique in his opening passages to BLEAK HOUSE, creating an atmosphere of fog, literal and metaphorical.
1. The Petrarchan sonnet (or Italian sonnet)	an eight line stanza, called an octave, which is followed by a six line stanza, called a sestet. The initial octave has two quatrains (4 lines) that generally rhyme abba, abba. The first of these quatrains offers the theme, whilst the second develops this main idea. Later in the sestet, the primary three lines offer a reflection on or exemplify the theme. The final three lines bring the poem to a cohesive end. The sestet is sometimes arranged cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdedce.
anachorism	An action, event, character or scene which is out of time sequence. Sometimes this device is a deliberate part of the structure. See flashback, in media res, prolepsis.
anachronism	Something which is too early or too late for the given time, ie Placing an event, person, item, or verbal expression in the wrong historical period. It may be a mistake, but more frequently it is an intentional device in literature or dramatic productions to stress the timelessness of the universe. For example the setting of HENRY V within the context of the Falklands War, by the English Shakespeare Company in 1987, gives a sense of the play having a contemporary meaning.
anacrusis	An unstressed syllable, before the regular rhythm begins, at the beginning of a line of verse.
anadiplosis	From the Greek for 'doubling'. Repetition used in rhetoric where a phrase or word from the proceeding sentence is used at the beginning of the next.