a slight, but definite pause within a line of poetry

the purification of emotions by vicarious experience, especially through drama

the method used by an author to develop the personality of a character in a literary work

a figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of the analogous words(Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary.)

the use of informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing

a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor

the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story

the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition

the repetition of consonant sounds in two or more successive words or stressed syllables that contain different vowel sounds

a pair of rhyming verse lines

a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter

explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meaning associated with it or suggested by it

the clearing up or “untying” of the complications of the plot in a play or story

items or parts that make up a larger picture or story.

Chaucer’s “Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales is celebrated for its use of a few details to bring the characters to life. The miller, for example, is described as being brawny and big-boned, able to win

a particular form of language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group

the conversation between characters in a novel, drama, etc.

a speaker or writer’s choice of words

literature that has the character or manner of a teacher or instructor; characterized by giving instruction; having the giving of instruction as its aim or object; instructive, perceptive. The primary intention of didactic art is not to entertain, but to teach the audience a moral or theme

the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed by the use of descriptive adjectives, phrases, or epithets.

This occurs when the reader or audience is told what the character’s personality is, directly

the harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds

a pun in which a word or phrase has a second, usually sexual meaning

a Latin term meaning “the god from the machine”; in ancient dramas, a god would often descend to the stage to rescue the protagonist from doom; thus, this term is used to refer to any power, event, person, or thing that comes in the nick of time to solve a difficulty