GLOSSARY OF SOME LITERARY TERMS carpe diem Latin for seize the day, or enjoy lifes pleasure while

e you are able. The term is applied to a THEME frequently found in LYRIC poetry. foot a group of syllables in VERSE usually consisting one accented syllable and one or more unaccented syllables or a variety of combinations. frame a NARRATIVE device presenting a story or group of stories within the frame of a larger narrative. In Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, the pilgrimage is the frame unifying and providing continuity for the stories told by the pilgrims. iamb a two-syllable metrical FOOT consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. imagery the sensory details that provide vividness in a literary work and tend to arouse emotions or feelings in a reader that abstract language does not. lyric a poem, usually short, that expresses some basic emotion or state of mind. It usually creates a single impression and is highly personal. It may be rhymed or unrhymed. A SONNET is a lyric poem. meter the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in POETRY. mood the overall atmosphere or prevailing emotional aura of work. pastoral a conventional form of LYRIC poetry presenting an idealized picture of rural life. persona the mask or voice of the author or the authors creation in a particular work. rhyme the exact repetition of sounds in at least the final accented syllables of two or more words. rhyme scheme any pattern of end rhyme in a STANZA. rhythm the arrangement of stressed and unstressed sounds into patterns in speech or writing. Rhythm or METER, may be regular, or it may vary within a line or work. The four most common meters are IAMB (_), TROCHEE (_), ANAPEST (_ _ ), and DACTYL (_ _). romance a long narrative in poetry or prose that originated in the medieval period. Its main elements are adventure, love, and magic. There are elements of the romance in the excerpts from Morte DArthur and Sir Gawain and the Green Knights. romanticism a type of literature that, unlike REALISM, tends to portray the uncommon. The material selected tends to deal with extraordinary people in unusual settings having unusual experiences. In romantic literature there is often a stress on the past and an emphasis on nature. satire the technique that employs wit to ridicule a subject, usually some social institution or human fault, with the intention of inspiring reform. IRONY and SARCASM are often used in writing satire, and PARODY is closely related. style the distinctive handling of language by an author. It involves the specific choices made with regard to diction, syntax, figurative language, and so on. symbol something relatively concrete, such as an object, action, character, or scene, that signifies something relatively abstract, such as concepts or ideas. theme the underlying meaning of a literary work. A theme may be directly stated but more often is implied. tone the authors attitude, either stated or implied, toward his or her subject matter and toward the audience. verse in its most general sense, a synonym for poetry. Verse may also be used to refer to poetry carefully composed as to RHYTHM and RHYME SCHEME, but of inferior literary value.