Term

Description

Allegory

A story in which the obvious meaning is hidden and symbolizes another meaning.

Alliteration

Beginning two or more consecutive words with the same letter or sound.

Ballad

A poem describing a historical or legendary event. Ballads were very popular in the Middle Ages.

Blank Verse

A form of poetry based on un

rhyming ten syllable lines with alternate syllables stressed.

Comedy

A play with a happy ending and sometimes with comic characters and scenes.

Couplet

Two successive lines of verse that rhyme with one another.

Drama

A story written in dialogue or conversation form, so that it can be spoken or acted .

Elegy

A poem mourning a death or on some other mourning theme.

Epic

A long narrative poem about heroic historical or legendary events and people. Homer's Odyssey is an example of an epic.

Essay

A short composition in prose in which the author expressse his or her views.

Fable

A short tale with a moral lesson in which animals act and talk like people.

Fiction

Any narrative which is not pure fact.

Folk Tale

A traditional story passed on by word of mouth from one generation to another.

Idyll

An ancient kind of poem set against a background of idealized sheperd life and often dealing with such themes as love and youth.

Limerick

A comic nonsensical poem of five lines.

Narrative Poem

A long poem that tells a story.

Ode

A medium length poem, usually in praise of something.

Parable

A tale with a moral lesson.

Rhyme

Agreement in sound of two syllables.

Romance

A form of adventure story set in and popular in ancient and medeival times.

Romantic

Belonging to the Romantic period, the early 1800's, when writers stressed liberty and chose exotic themes and settings.

Science Fiction

Fantastic adventure stories based, sometimes, on scientific fact and often dealing with space, time and set on other worlds.

Sonnet

A 14 lined poem with various rhyming schemes. There are two major types, the English sonnet and the Italian sonnet.

Synonym

Word having the same general meaning as another, but often with a small distinction.

Tragedy

Generally a play with an unhappy ending.

Verse

A line of poetry or a complete stanza or even the poem.