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The best-selling Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (formerly the Concise dictionary) provides clear, concise, and often witty definitions of the most troublesome literary terms from abjection to zeugma.
- Action
- Ad Hominen
- AdAge
- Adventure
- Allegory
- Alliteration
- Allusion
- Ambiguity
- Amplification
- Anagram
Also called “action-adventure,” action is a genre of film, TV, literature, etc., in which the primary feature is the constant slam-bang of fights, chases, explosions, and clever one-liners. Action stories typically do not explore complex relationships between human beings or the subtleties of psychology and philosophy.
Ad hominem is Latin for “against the man,” and refers to the logical fallacy(error) of arguing that someone is incorrect because they are unattractive, immoral, weird, or any other bad thing you could say about them as a person.
An adage is a brief piece of wisdom in the form of short, philosophical, and memorable sayings. The adage expresses a well-known and simple truth in a few words.
Adventure (pronounced ad-ven-cher) was originally a Middle English word derived from the Old French aventure meaning “destiny,” “fate,” or “chance event.” Today, we define adventure as a remarkable or unexpected journey, experience, or event that a person participates in as a result of chance. This last detail, a result of chance, is a key element ...
An allegory is a story within a story. It has a “surface story” and another story hidden underneath. For example, the surface story might be about two neighbors throwing rocks at each other’s homes, but the hidden story would be about war between countries.
In alliteration, words that begin with the same sound are placed close together. Although alliteration often involves repetition of letters, most importantly, it is a repetition of sounds.
Allusion is basically a reference to something else. It’s when a writer mentions some other work, or refers to an earlier part of the current work. In literature, it’s frequently used to reference cultural works (e.g. by alluding to a Bible story or Greek myth).
Ambiguity is an idea or situation that can be understood in more than one way. This extends from ambiguous sentences (which could mean one thing or another) up to ambiguous storylines and ambiguous arguments.
Amplification involves extending a sentence or phrase in order to further explain, emphasize, or exaggerate certain points of a definition, description, or argument.
An anagram is a type of word play in which the letters of a word or phrase are rearranged to create new words and phrases.
Fowler’s seminal Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms. Bringing together original entries written by such celebrated theorists as Terry Eagleton and Malcolm Bradbury with new definitions of current terms and controversies, this is the essential reference book for students of literature at all levels. This book includes:
- 1MB
- 273
In this article, we'll help you get familiar with most commonly used literary devices in prose and poetry. We'll give you a clear definition of each of the terms we discuss along with examples of literary elements and the context in which they most often appear (comedic writing, drama, or other).
Dec 6, 2012 · With new entries and sensitive edits, this fifth edition places J.A. Cuddon’s indispensable dictionary firmly in the 21st Century. Written in a clear and highly readable style; Comprehensive historical coverage extending from ancient times to the present day; Broad intellectual and cultural range
Find definitions of literary terms like metaphor, simile, irony, satire, plot, allegory, motif and literary devices used in poetry in the SparkNotes glossary.
Literature, Explained Better. Our guides use color and the interactivity of the web to make it easier to learn and teach literature. Far beyond just the classics, LitCharts covers over 2000 texts read and studied worldwide, from Judy Blume to Nietzsche.
