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Literary Definitions | Literary Terms |Poetry Terms|Literary Devices – 3

POETRY TERMS: Welcome to Part 3 of our series on literary definitions and literary terms for UGC NET, SET, PGT, TGT, LT Grade, GATE English, and other competitive exams. This guide covers 50 new literary terms in simple language, tailored for exam success. Each term includes a definition, example, exam relevance, originator or key figure, famous poets or writers, and additional details, Competitive Perfect for students, teachers, and literature enthusiasts, this post will enhance your literary terminology knowledge and boost your English literature quiz performance!

Explore these types of literary terms to ace your exams. Missed Part 1 or Part 2? Check them here and here.

101. Aporia

Definition: A rhetorical expression of doubt or uncertainty, often to provoke thought.

Example: Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1600).

Exam Relevance: Appears in UGC NET and SET, linked to rhetorical analysis and Shakespearean drama.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric (Plato’s dialogues).

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Donne (Holy Sonnets, 1633).

Additional Details: Aporia creates dramatic tension by questioning truths. Exams may ask its role in metaphysical poetry (Donne) or soliloquies (Hamlet). It differs from ambiguity (multiple meanings). Key texts include Hamlet and Donne’s works.

102. Aubade

Definition: A poem about dawn or lovers parting at morning.

Example: Donne’s “The Sun Rising” (1633).

Exam Relevance: Asked in PGT and M.A. entrance exams, linked to Renaissance poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from medieval French poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Donne, Philip Larkin (Aubade, 1977).

Additional Details: Aubades contrast with serenades (evening poems). Exams test themes of love or time in Donne’s metaphysical verse or Larkin’s modern tone. Key texts include Donne’s Songs and Sonnets.

103. Bildungsroman

Definition: A novel depicting a protagonist’s moral and psychological growth.

Example: Dickens’ Great Expectations (1861).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and SET, linked to 19th-century fiction.

Originator: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, 1795).

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre, 1847).

Additional Details: Focuses on coming-of-age. Exams test character arcs (e.g., Pip’s growth). Key texts include Victorian novels. Questions may compare it to picaresque novels.

104. Burlesque

Definition: A humorous imitation exaggerating a style or genre.

Example: Pope’s The Rape of the Lock (1712).

Exam Relevance: Asked in PGT and GATE English, linked to 18th-century satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from 17th-century theater.

Famous Poets/Writers: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift.

Additional Details: Burlesque mocks high forms (epics). Exams test its satirical intent in Pope’s mock-heroic style. Key texts include The Rape of the Lock.

105. Carpe Diem

Definition: A theme urging to seize the day or live in the moment, often in poetry.

Example: Herrick’s “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” (1648).

Exam Relevance: Common in TGT and SET, linked to Cavalier poetry.

Originator: Horace (Odes, 23 BCE).

Famous Poets/Writers: Robert Herrick, Andrew Marvell (To His Coy Mistress, 1681).

Additional Details: Urges fleeting youth’s enjoyment. Exams test its theme in Marvell’s persuasive tone. Key texts include 17th-century lyric poetry.

106. Catastrophe

Definition: The final disastrous event in a tragedy, resolving the plot.

Example: The deaths in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1597).

Exam Relevance: Asked in UGC NET and GATE English, linked to tragedy structure.

Originator: Aristotle (Poetics, c. 335 BCE).

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Sophocles.

Additional Details: Follows climax, leading to resolution. Exams test its role in tragic closure (e.g., Othello). Key texts include Greek and Shakespearean tragedies.

107. Closet Drama

Definition: A play written for reading, not performance.

Example: Milton’s Samson Agonistes (1671).

Exam Relevance: Appears in SET and M.A. entrance exams, linked to Restoration literature.

Originator: No single coiner; popularized in Renaissance.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Milton, Percy Bysshe Shelley (Prometheus Unbound, 1820).

Additional Details: Emphasizes intellectual themes. Exams test its form in Milton’s biblical drama. Key texts include Samson Agonistes.

108. Denotation

Definition: The literal, dictionary meaning of a word.

Example: “Rose” as a flower, not love, in prose.

Exam Relevance: Asked in TGT and B.Ed exams, linked to language analysis.

Originator: No single coiner; from linguistics.

Famous Poets/Writers: Ernest Hemingway (minimalist prose), George Orwell.

Additional Details: Contrasts with connotation (implied meaning). Exams test its use in clear prose (Orwell’s 1984). Key texts include modernist literature.

109. Deus ex Machina

Definition: An improbable plot device resolving a conflict.

Example: The gods’ intervention in Euripides’ Medea (431 BCE).

Exam Relevance: Common in PGT and GATE English, linked to Greek drama.

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek theater.

Famous Poets/Writers: Euripides, William Shakespeare (As You Like It, 1599).

Additional Details: Often criticized as contrived. Exams test its use in comedies or tragedies. Key texts include Greek plays and Shakespeare.

110. Diatribe

Definition: A bitter, abusive verbal attack in literature.

Example: Swift’s satire in A Modest Proposal (1729).

Exam Relevance: Asked in SET and M.A. entrance exams, linked to satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Jonathan Swift, Juvenal.

Additional Details: Uses irony to criticize. Exams test its tone in Swift’s works. Key texts include 18th-century satires.

111. Dirge

Definition: A mournful song or poem for the dead.

Example: Shelley’s “Dirge for the Year” (1821).

Exam Relevance: Appears in TGT and LT Grade exams, linked to elegiac poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from funeral rites.

Famous Poets/Writers: Percy Bysshe Shelley, W.H. Auden.

Additional Details: Shorter than elegies. Exams test its mournful tone. Key texts include Romantic poetry.

112. Ekphrasis

Definition: A vivid description of a visual artwork in literature.

Example: Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (1819).

Exam Relevance: Common in UGC NET and SET, linked to Romantic poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Keats, W.H. Auden (Musée des Beaux Arts, 1938).

Additional Details: Blends art and poetry. Exams test its imagery in Keats’ odes. Key texts include Romantic and modernist poetry.

113. Epigraph

Definition: A quotation or motto at a work’s beginning, setting its theme.

Example: The epigraph from Dante in Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922).

Exam Relevance: Asked in M.A. entrance exams, linked to modernist literature.

Originator: No single coiner; common in novels and poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway.

Additional Details: Frames the text’s meaning. Exams test its thematic role. Key texts include The Waste Land.

114. Epilogue

Definition: A concluding section reflecting on a work’s events.

Example: The epilogue in Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1611).

Exam Relevance: Appears in PGT and TGT exams, linked to drama.

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek drama.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Milton.

Additional Details: Provides closure. Exams test its function in plays. Key texts include Shakespearean dramas.

115. Epiphany

Definition: A sudden realization or insight by a character.

Example: The boy’s disillusionment in Joyce’s “Araby” (Dubliners, 1914).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and M.A. entrance exams, linked to modernist fiction.

Originator: James Joyce (Stephen Hero, 1944).

Famous Poets/Writers: James Joyce, Virginia Woolf.

Additional Details: Marks character growth. Exams test its role in modernist narratives. Key texts include Dubliners.

116. Epithet

Definition: A descriptive phrase characterizing a person or thing.

Example: “Swift-footed Achilles” in Homer’s Iliad (8th century BCE).

Exam Relevance: Asked in TGT and LT Grade exams, linked to epic poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from oral traditions.

Famous Poets/Writers: Homer, Virgil.

Additional Details: Aids memorability. Exams test its use in epics. Key texts include Iliad.

117. Epode

Definition: The third part of a lyric ode, following strophe and antistrophe.

Example: Pindar’s odes (5th century BCE).

Exam Relevance: Rare, but appears in SET, linked to classical poetry.

Originator: Pindar.

Famous Poets/Writers: Pindar, Horace.

Additional Details: Completes the ode’s structure. Exams test its form in classical odes. Key texts include Pindar’s works.

118. Eristic

Definition: Argumentative discourse aimed at winning rather than truth.

Example: Socratic dialogues in Plato’s works (c. 380 BCE).

Exam Relevance: Asked in M.A. entrance exams, linked to rhetoric.

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek philosophy.

Famous Poets/Writers: Plato, Thomas Hobbes.

Additional Details: Contrasts with dialectic. Exams test its use in philosophical texts. Key texts include Plato’s dialogues.

119. Ethos

Definition: A rhetorical appeal establishing a speaker’s credibility.

Example: King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (1963).

Exam Relevance: Appears in TGT and B.Ed exams, linked to rhetoric.

Originator: Aristotle (Rhetoric, c. 335 BCE).

Famous Poets/Writers: Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln.

Additional Details: Builds trust. Exams test its use in speeches. Key texts include oratory works.

120. Exegesis

Definition: Critical interpretation of a text, often religious or literary.

Example: Biblical commentary in Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667).

Exam Relevance: Asked in UGC NET and SET, linked to literary criticism.

Originator: No single coiner; from biblical scholarship.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Milton, Northrop Frye.

Additional Details: Deepens textual understanding. Exams test its role in Milton’s epic. Key texts include Paradise Lost.

121. Frame Narrative

Definition: A story within a story, providing context.

Example: Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1387).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in PGT and SET, linked to narrative structure.

Originator: No single coiner; from medieval literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: Geoffrey Chaucer, Mary Shelley (Frankenstein, 1818).

Additional Details: Adds layers. Exams test its use in Chaucer’s pilgrimage. Key texts include Canterbury Tales.

122. Gothic

Definition: A genre featuring mystery, horror, and the supernatural.

Example: Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764).

Exam Relevance: Common in UGC NET and M.A. entrance exams, linked to 18th-century fiction.

Originator: Horace Walpole.

Famous Poets/Writers: Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe.

Additional Details: Uses dark settings. Exams test its elements in Radcliffe’s novels. Key texts include Gothic fiction.

123. Homily

Definition: A sermon or moral discourse in literature.

Example: Bunyan’s sermons in The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678).

Exam Relevance: Asked in SET and PGT, linked to religious literature.

Originator: No single coiner; from Christian tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Bunyan, John Donne.

Additional Details: Teaches morality. Exams test its role in allegories. Key texts include Pilgrim’s Progress.

124. Invective

Definition: Harsh, abusive language targeting a person or group.

Example: Pope’s attacks in The Dunciad (1728).

Exam Relevance: Appears in TGT and M.A. entrance exams, linked to satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift.

Additional Details: Sharpens satire. Exams test its tone in Pope’s works. Key texts include 18th-century satires.

125. Lampoon

Definition: A satirical attack on an individual.

Example: Dryden’s Mac Flecknoe (1682).

Exam Relevance: Asked in PGT and SET, linked to Restoration satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from 17th-century literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Dryden, Alexander Pope.

Additional Details: Personal and humorous. Exams test its target in Dryden’s poem. Key texts include Mac Flecknoe.

126. Leitmotif

Definition: A recurring theme or motif associated with a character or idea.

Example: The ring in Wagner’s Ring Cycle (1876).

Exam Relevance: Appears in M.A. entrance exams, linked to modernist literature.

Originator: Richard Wagner (in music); applied to literature later.

Famous Poets/Writers: James Joyce, Thomas Mann.

Additional Details: Reinforces themes. Exams test its use in Joyce’s Ulysses. Key texts include modernist novels.

127. Logos

Definition: A rhetorical appeal to logic and reason.

Example: Paine’s arguments in Common Sense (1776).

Exam Relevance: Asked in TGT and B.Ed exams, linked to rhetoric.

Originator: Aristotle (Rhetoric, c. 335 BCE).

Famous Poets/Writers: Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill.

Additional Details: Uses evidence. Exams test its use in essays. Key texts include political writings.

128. Lyric

Definition: A short poem expressing personal emotions.

Example: Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (1807).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and SET, linked to Romantic poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Wordsworth, John Keats.

Additional Details: Subjective and musical. Exams test its tone in Romantic works. Key texts include Lyrical Ballads.

129. Melodrama

Definition: A dramatic work with exaggerated emotions and sensationalism.

Example: Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1838).

Exam Relevance: Asked in PGT and TGT, linked to Victorian fiction.

Originator: No single coiner; from 19th-century theater.

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins.

Additional Details: Appeals to emotions. Exams test its style in Dickens’ novels. Key texts include Oliver Twist.

130. Monologue

Definition: A long speech by one character in a play or story.

Example: Browning’s “My Last Duchess” (1842).

Exam Relevance: Common in GATE English and UGC NET, linked to Victorian poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from drama.

Famous Poets/Writers: Robert Browning, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Reveals character. Exams test its psychology in Browning’s poems. Key texts include Dramatic Lyrics.

131. Mythopoeia

Definition: The creation of myths or myth-like narratives.

Example: Tolkien’s The Silmarillion (1977).

Exam Relevance: Appears in M.A. entrance exams, linked to fantasy literature.

Originator: J.R.R. Tolkien (coined the term).

Famous Poets/Writers: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis.

Additional Details: Builds fictional worlds. Exams test its role in Tolkien’s works. Key texts include The Lord of the Rings.

132. Parody

Definition: A humorous imitation of a serious work.

Example: Austen’s Northanger Abbey (1817) parodies Gothic novels.

Exam Relevance: Asked in SET and PGT, linked to satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: Jane Austen, Miguel de Cervantes.

Additional Details: Exaggerates style. Exams test its humor in Austen’s novel. Key texts include Northanger Abbey.

133. Pathetic Fallacy

Definition: Attributing human emotions to nature.

Example: The stormy weather in Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847).

Exam Relevance: Common in UGC NET and SET, linked to Romanticism.

Originator: John Ruskin (coined in 1856).

Famous Poets/Writers: Emily Brontë, William Wordsworth.

Additional Details: Enhances mood. Exams test its use in Romantic works. Key texts include Wuthering Heights.

134. Peripeteia

Definition: A sudden reversal of fortune in a story.

Example: Oedipus’ realization in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex (c. 429 BCE).

Exam Relevance: Asked in GATE English and UGC NET, linked to tragedy.

Originator: Aristotle (Poetics, c. 335 BCE).

Famous Poets/Writers: Sophocles, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Pivotal in plots. Exams test its role in tragedies. Key texts include Oedipus Rex.

135. Pastiche

Definition: A work imitating another’s style, often respectfully.

Example: Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) imitates various styles.

Exam Relevance: Appears in M.A. entrance exams, linked to modernism.

Originator: No single coiner; from 19th-century literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: James Joyce, T.S. Eliot.

Additional Details: Differs from parody (less humorous). Exams test its use in modernist texts. Key texts include Ulysses.

136. Polyptoton

Definition: Repetition of words from the same root with different forms.

Example: “Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks” in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 (1609).

Exam Relevance: Asked in TGT and LT Grade exams, linked to rhetorical devices.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Donne.

Additional Details: Adds emphasis. Exams test its effect in sonnets. Key texts include Shakespeare’s works.

137. Prolepsis

Definition: Anticipating and addressing objections or future events.

Example: Dickens’ foreshadowing in A Tale of Two Cities (1859).

Exam Relevance: Appears in SET and PGT, linked to narrative techniques.

Originator: No single coiner; from rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, George Eliot.

Additional Details: Enhances suspense. Exams test its use in novels. Key texts include Victorian fiction.

138. Prosody

Definition: The study of poetic meter, rhythm, and sound.

Example: The iambic pentameter in Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667).

Exam Relevance: Common in TGT and LT Grade exams, linked to poetic form.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical poetics.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Milton, Alexander Pope.

Additional Details: Involves scansion. Exams test meter analysis. Key texts include epic poetry.

139. Romance

Definition: A narrative genre featuring adventure, love, and the supernatural.

Example: Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590).

Exam Relevance: Asked in UGC NET and SET, linked to Renaissance literature.

Originator: No single coiner; from medieval literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: Edmund Spenser, Sir Walter Scott.

Additional Details: Idealizes heroism. Exams test its themes in Spenser’s epic. Key texts include The Faerie Queene.

140. Scansion

Definition: The analysis of a poem’s metrical structure.

Example: Scanning iambic pentameter in Shakespeare’s sonnets (1609).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in TGT and LT Grade exams, linked to poetry analysis.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical poetics.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Milton.

Additional Details: Identifies stress patterns. Exams test scansion in sonnets. Key texts include Renaissance poetry.

141. Sublime

Definition: A quality of awe-inspiring grandeur or beauty in literature.

Example: The Alps in Wordsworth’s The Prelude (1850).

Exam Relevance: Common in UGC NET and SET, linked to Romanticism.

Originator: Edmund Burke (A Philosophical Enquiry, 1757).

Famous Poets/Writers: William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Additional Details: Evokes transcendence. Exams test its role in Romantic poetry. Key texts include The Prelude.

142. Synaesthesia

Definition: Blending sensory experiences in description.

Example: Baudelaire’s “Correspondences” (1857).

Exam Relevance: Asked in M.A. entrance exams, linked to Symbolism.

Originator: No single coiner; from Romantic and Symbolist poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Baudelaire, John Keats.

Additional Details: Creates vivid imagery. Exams test its use in Baudelaire’s verse. Key texts include Les Fleurs du Mal.

143. Synecdoche

Definition: Using a part to represent the whole or vice versa.

Example: “All hands on deck” for all people.

Exam Relevance: Frequent in TGT and LT Grade exams, linked to rhetoric.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Ezra Pound.

Additional Details: Differs from metonymy. Exams test its use in poetry. Key texts include Shakespeare’s plays.

144. Tautology

Definition: Redundant repetition of an idea.

Example: “Free gift” in advertising or prose.

Exam Relevance: Appears in TGT and B.Ed exams, linked to style.

Originator: No single coiner; from rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Emphasizes ideas. Exams test its effect in prose. Key texts include Victorian novels.

145. Terza Rima

Definition: A three-line stanza with interlocking rhymes (ABA, BCB).

Example: Dante’s Divine Comedy (1320).

Exam Relevance: Asked in SET and M.A. entrance exams, linked to epic poetry.

Originator: Dante Alighieri.

Famous Poets/Writers: Dante Alighieri, Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Additional Details: Creates continuity. Exams test its structure in Dante’s work. Key texts include Divine Comedy.

146. Travesty

Definition: A grotesque imitation of a serious work.

Example: Fielding’s Shamela (1741) mocks Richardson’s Pamela.

Exam Relevance: Appears in PGT and SET, linked to satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from 18th-century literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: Henry Fielding, Jonathan Swift.

Additional Details: Exaggerates for humor. Exams test its satirical intent. Key texts include Shamela.

147. Trochee

Definition: A metrical foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one.

Example: “Double, double, toil and trouble” in Macbeth (1606).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in TGT and LT Grade exams, linked to scansion.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical prosody.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Additional Details: Creates a falling rhythm. Exams test its use in poetry. Key texts include Macbeth.

148. Utopian Literature

Definition: Works depicting an ideal society.

Example: More’s Utopia (1516).

Exam Relevance: Asked in UGC NET and M.A. entrance exams, linked to Renaissance literature.

Originator: Thomas More.

Famous Poets/Writers: Thomas More, H.G. Wells.

Additional Details: Contrasts with dystopian literature. Exams test its themes. Key texts include Utopia.

149. Volta

Definition: The turn or shift in a thought or argument in a sonnet, typically between the octave and sestet.

Example: The shift in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 (1609): “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare.”

Exam Relevance: Common in TGT and SET, linked to sonnet analysis.

Originator: No single coiner; associated with Petrarchan sonnets.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Petrarch.

Additional Details: Marks a thematic change. Exams test its role in sonnets. Key texts include Shakespeare’s sonnets.

150. Zeugma

Definition: A word applied to multiple parts of a sentence with different senses.

Example: “She broke his car and his heart” in Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1838).

Exam Relevance: Appears in TGT and LT Grade exams, linked to rhetorical devices.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, Alexander Pope.

Additional Details: Creates wit. Exams test its effect in prose. Key texts include Oliver Twist.

Why These Literary Terms Matter for Competitive Exams

These literary definitions are essential for UGC NET, SET, PGT, TGT, and other exams, appearing in:

  • Poetry Analysis: Terms like ekphrasis or volta in Keats or Shakespeare.

  • Drama: Catastrophe or peripeteia in Sophocles or Shakespeare.

  • Novels: Bildungsroman or frame narrative in Dickens or Chaucer.

  • Rhetoric: Aporia or logos in Donne or Swift.

Master these types of literary terms to excel in MCQs, essays, and short answers.

Tips to Use This Guide

  1. Create flashcards for terms like aporia or zeugma.

  2. Apply terms to texts (e.g., find ekphrasis in Keats).

  3. Check syllabi for focus areas.

  4. Practice mock MCQs.

  5. Read primary texts (e.g., Divine Comedy).

Explore More Resources

Check out MCQs on English Literature to test your knowledge. Stay tuned for more literary terms and exam tips!

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