Literary Definitions | Literary Terms |Poetry Terms|Literary Devices – 4

Welcome to Part 4 of our series on literary definitions, literary devices, and literary terms for UGC NET, SET, PGT, TGT, LT Grade, GATE English, and other competitive exams. This guide introduces 50 new literary terms in simple language, crafted for exam success. Each term includes a definition, example, exam relevance, originator or key figure, famous poets or writers, and additional details, Ideal for students, educators, and literature enthusiasts, this post enhances your literary terminology and English literature quiz performance!

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Dive into these types of literary terms to excel in your exams. Missed earlier parts? Visit Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3.

Table of Contents

151. Anadiplosis

Definition: Repeating the last word of one clause at the start of the next.

Example: “Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate” in Yoda’s dialogue (Star Wars).

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 Milton.

Additional Details: Creates emphasis and flow. Exams test its use in speeches or poetry (e.g., Milton’s Paradise Lost, 1667). Key texts include rhetorical works.

152. Anagnorisis

Definition: A moment of critical discovery or recognition by a character.

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

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

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

Famous Poets/Writers: Sophocles, Arthur Miller.

Additional Details: Pivotal in plot resolution. Exams test its role in tragedies like Death of a Salesman (1949). Key texts include Greek drama.

153. Antanaclasis

Definition: Repeating a word with different meanings in each instance.

Example: “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana” (attributed to Groucho Marx).

Exam Relevance: Appears in TGT and SET, linked to wordplay.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde.

Additional Details: Creates wit. Exams test its use in Shakespeare’s puns (e.g., Romeo and Juliet, 1597). Key texts include comedies.

154. Anticlimax

Definition: A disappointing drop in tension after a buildup.

Example: “He lost his life, his wallet, and his car keys” in satirical prose.

Exam Relevance: Asked in PGT and B.Ed exams, linked to narrative tone.

Originator: No single coiner; from literary criticism.

Famous Poets/Writers: Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain.

Additional Details: Often humorous. Exams test its effect in Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726). Key texts include satires.

155. Antistrophe

Definition: The second part of a Greek choral ode, responding to the strophe.

Example: Choral odes in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon (458 BCE).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek theater.

Famous Poets/Writers: Aeschylus, Sophocles.

Additional Details: Mirrors strophe’s meter. Exams test its structure in Greek plays. Key texts include Oresteia.

156. Apophasis

Definition: Mentioning something by claiming not to mention it.

Example: “I won’t speak of his failures” in Cicero’s orations.

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Cicero, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Creates irony. Exams test its use in speeches (e.g., Julius Caesar, 1599). Key texts include oratory works.

157. Apostrophe

Definition: Addressing an absent or imaginary entity as if present.

Example: “O Death, where is thy sting?” in Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10 (1633).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Donne, William Wordsworth.

Additional Details: Heightens emotion. Exams test its use in metaphysical poetry. Key texts include Donne’s sonnets.

158. Archaism

Definition: Using outdated language for effect.

Example: “Thee” and “thou” in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590).

Exam Relevance: Asked in PGT and TGT, linked to Renaissance literature.

Originator: No single coiner; from literary tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: Edmund Spenser, John Milton.

Additional Details: Evokes historical tone. Exams test its use in epic poetry. Key texts include The Faerie Queene.

159. Asyndeton

Definition: Omitting conjunctions between clauses for effect.

Example: “I came, I saw, I conquered” (Julius Caesar).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway.

Additional Details: Creates urgency. Exams test its use in speeches or prose. Key texts include Julius Caesar.

160. Bathos

Definition: An abrupt shift from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Example: Pope’s “Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, / Dost sometimes counsel take—and sometimes tea” in The Rape of the Lock (1712).

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

Originator: Alexander Pope (coined term).

Famous Poets/Writers: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift.

Additional Details: Mocks grandeur. Exams test its humor in mock-heroic poetry. Key texts include The Rape of the Lock.

161. Cacophony

Definition: Harsh, discordant sounds in language.

Example: “Grate, grind, clash” in Poe’s The Bells (1849).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from literary criticism.

Famous Poets/Writers: Edgar Allan Poe, T.S. Eliot.

Additional Details: Evokes tension. Exams test its use in Gothic poetry. Key texts include The Raven.

162. Caesura

Definition: A pause within a line of poetry, often marked by punctuation.

Example: “To be, or not to be—that is the question” in Hamlet (1600).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and TGT, linked to scansion.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Milton.

Additional Details: Adds rhythm. Exams test its effect in blank verse. Key texts include Paradise Lost.

163. Chiasmus

Definition: A rhetorical reversal of terms in parallel clauses.

Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” (JFK, 1961).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: John F. Kennedy, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Creates balance. Exams test its use in speeches. Key texts include oratory works.

164. Circumlocution

Definition: Using many words where few would suffice.

Example: “The gentleman who resides in the executive mansion” for “the president.”

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

Originator: No single coiner; from rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, Henry James.

Additional Details: Adds formality. Exams test its use in Victorian prose. Key texts include Bleak House.

165. Connotation

Definition: The implied or emotional meaning of a word beyond its literal sense.

Example: “Dove” suggesting peace in poetry.

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

Originator: No single coiner; from linguistics.

Famous Poets/Writers: Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost.

Additional Details: Contrasts with denotation. Exams test its use in poetry. Key texts include Because I could not stop for Death.

166. Consonance

Definition: Repetition of consonant sounds, typically at word ends.

Example: “Blank and think” in Owen’s Strange Meeting (1918).

Exam Relevance: Asked in UGC NET and TGT, linked to sound devices.

Originator: No single coiner; from poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: Wilfred Owen, Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Additional Details: Enhances rhythm. Exams test its use in war poetry. Key texts include Poems of Wilfred Owen.

167. Dactyl

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

Example: “This is the forest primeval” in Longfellow’s Evangeline (1847).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical prosody.

Famous Poets/Writers: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Alfred Tennyson.

Additional Details: Creates a galloping rhythm. Exams test its use in narrative poetry. Key texts include Evangeline.

168. Didacticism

Definition: Literature aiming to teach or instruct, often morally.

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

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

Originator: No single coiner; from religious literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Bunyan, Alexander Pope.

Additional Details: Prioritizes lessons. Exams test its intent in allegories. Key texts include Pilgrim’s Progress.

169. Elegy

Definition: A mournful poem lamenting the dead or a loss.

Example: Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and SET, linked to 18th-century poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: Thomas Gray, Alfred Tennyson.

Additional Details: Reflective tone. Exams test its themes in Gray’s work. Key texts include In Memoriam.

170. Ellipsis

Definition: Omitting words for brevity or effect, often with dots (…).

Example: “And then… darkness” in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from literary style.

Famous Poets/Writers: Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf.

Additional Details: Creates suspense. Exams test its use in modernist prose. Key texts include Mrs. Dalloway.

171. Enjambment

Definition: Continuing a sentence across a line break in poetry.

Example: “I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high…” in Wordsworth’s Daffodils (1807).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and TGT, linked to poetic structure.

Originator: No single coiner; from poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Wordsworth, John Milton.

Additional Details: Enhances flow. Exams test its effect in Romantic poetry. Key texts include Lyrical Ballads.

172. Epistrophe

Definition: Repeating the same word at the end of successive clauses.

Example: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” (Lincoln, 1863).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

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

Additional Details: Emphasizes ideas. Exams test its use in speeches. Key texts include oratory works.

173. Euphony

Definition: Pleasant, harmonious sounds in language.

Example: “The lark’s sweet song” in Shelley’s To a Skylark (1820).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from literary criticism.

Famous Poets/Writers: Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats.

Additional Details: Creates beauty. Exams test its use in Romantic poetry. Key texts include Ode to a Nightingale.

174. Exordium

Definition: The introductory part of a discourse, capturing attention.

Example: The opening of Cicero’s Catiline Orations (63 BCE).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Cicero, Edmund Burke.

Additional Details: Sets tone. Exams test its use in orations. Key texts include classical speeches.

175. Farce

Definition: A comedic genre with exaggerated, improbable situations.

Example: Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from medieval theater.

Famous Poets/Writers: Oscar Wilde, Molière.

Additional Details: Relies on absurdity. Exams test its humor in Wilde’s plays. Key texts include Tartuffe.

176. Foreshadowing

Definition: Hints of future events in a narrative.

Example: The witches’ prophecies in Macbeth (1606).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and PGT, linked to narrative techniques.

Originator: No single coiner; from storytelling.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Charlotte Brontë.

Additional Details: Builds suspense. Exams test its use in tragedies. Key texts include Jane Eyre.

177. Hamartia

Definition: A tragic flaw leading to a protagonist’s downfall.

Example: Macbeth’s ambition in Macbeth (1606).

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

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

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Sophocles.

Additional Details: Drives tragedy. Exams test its role in character arcs. Key texts include Oedipus Rex.

178. Hubris

Definition: Excessive pride leading to a character’s downfall.

Example: Creon’s arrogance in Sophocles’ Antigone (c. 441 BCE).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek tragedy.

Famous Poets/Writers: Sophocles, Christopher Marlowe.

Additional Details: Triggers catastrophe. Exams test its role in Doctor Faustus (1592). Key texts include Greek plays.

179. Hypallage

Definition: Transferring an adjective to a different noun than expected.

Example: “The drunken sailor’s ship” for the sailor’s drunkenness.

Exam Relevance: Rare, appears in TGT, linked to figurative language.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Milton.

Additional Details: Creates vivid imagery. Exams test its use in poetry. Key texts include Paradise Lost.

180. Hyperbaton

Definition: Inverting normal word order for emphasis.

Example: “This I must see” in Shakespeare’s King Lear (1606).

Exam Relevance: Asked in TGT and SET, linked to syntax.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Donne.

Additional Details: Adds drama. Exams test its effect in verse. Key texts include Shakespeare’s plays.

181. Iamb

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

Example: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” in Sonnet 18 (1609).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical prosody.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Milton.

Additional Details: Mimics natural speech. Exams test its use in sonnets. Key texts include Shakespeare’s sonnets.

182. In medias res

Definition: Starting a narrative in the middle of the action.

Example: Homer’s Odyssey (8th century BCE).

Exam Relevance: Asked in UGC NET and SET, linked to epic structure.

Originator: No single coiner; from epic poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: Homer, Virgil.

Additional Details: Engages readers. Exams test its use in Aeneid (19 BCE). Key texts include epics.

183. Irony

Definition: A contrast between expectation and reality, often verbal, situational, or dramatic.

Example: Oedipus seeks the murderer, unaware it’s himself in Oedipus Rex (c. 429 BCE).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and PGT, linked to narrative techniques.

Originator: No single coiner; from literary tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: Sophocles, Jane Austen.

Additional Details: Enhances meaning. Exams test its types in Pride and Prejudice (1813). Key texts include tragedies and novels.

184. Juxtaposition

Definition: Placing contrasting elements side by side for effect.

Example: Wealth and poverty in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities (1859).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from literary style.

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, T.S. Eliot.

Additional Details: Highlights differences. Exams test its use in Victorian novels. Key texts include The Waste Land.

185. Litotes

Definition: Understatement using a double negative for emphasis.

Example: “Not bad” meaning “very good” in Austen’s Emma (1815).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Jane Austen, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Subtle emphasis. Exams test its use in dialogue. Key texts include Emma.

186. Malapropism

Definition: Misusing a word comically due to similar sound.

Example: “Dance a flamingo” for “flamenco” in Sheridan’s The Rivals (1775).

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

Originator: Named after Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals.

Famous Poets/Writers: Richard Brinsley Sheridan, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Creates humor. Exams test its use in plays. Key texts include The Rivals.

187. Metonymy

Definition: Substituting a related term for the thing itself.

Example: “The crown” for the monarchy in Shakespeare’s Henry V (1599).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and TGT, linked to figurative language.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Donne.

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

188. Motif

Definition: A recurring element reinforcing a theme.

Example: The green light in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from literary criticism.

Famous Poets/Writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce.

Additional Details: Supports symbolism. Exams test its role in novels. Key texts include The Great Gatsby.

189. Oxymoron

Definition: Combining contradictory terms for effect.

Example: “Sweet sorrow” in Romeo and Juliet (1597).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in TGT and SET, linked to figurative language.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Donne.

Additional Details: Creates tension. Exams test its use in poetry. Key texts include Shakespeare’s plays.

190. Paradox

Definition: A statement that seems contradictory but reveals truth.

Example: “Less is more” in Browning’s poetry.

Exam Relevance: Asked in UGC NET and SET, linked to poetic devices.

Originator: No single coiner; from literary tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: Robert Browning, Oscar Wilde.

Additional Details: Provokes thought. Exams test its use in metaphysical poetry. Key texts include Men and Women.

191. Parataxis

Definition: Placing clauses side by side without conjunctions or subordination.

Example: “The sun rose. Birds sang. We walked.” in Hemingway’s prose.

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

Originator: No single coiner; from literary style.

Famous Poets/Writers: Ernest Hemingway, Walt Whitman.

Additional Details: Creates simplicity. Exams test its use in modernist prose. Key texts include The Sun Also Rises.

192. Pathos

Definition: A rhetorical appeal to emotions.

Example: The suffering in Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891).

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

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

Famous Poets/Writers: Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens.

Additional Details: Evokes sympathy. Exams test its use in novels. Key texts include Oliver Twist.

193. Periphrasis

Definition: Using a longer phrase instead of a simple term.

Example: “The silver orb of night” for moon in Shelley’s poetry.

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

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Milton.

Additional Details: Adds grandeur. Exams test its use in Romantic poetry. Key texts include Prometheus Unbound.

194. Personification

Definition: Giving human traits to non-human entities.

Example: “The wind whispered” in Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and TGT, linked to figurative language.

Originator: No single coiner; from literary tradition.

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

Additional Details: Enhances imagery. Exams test its use in Romantic poetry. Key texts include Lyrical Ballads.

195. Pleonasm

Definition: Using more words than necessary, often for emphasis.

Example: “I saw it with my own eyes” in everyday prose.

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

Originator: No single coiner; from rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Adds intensity. Exams test its use in dialogue. Key texts include Great Expectations.

196. Polysyndeton

Definition: Using multiple conjunctions for effect.

Example: “We ate and drank and laughed and cried” in Whitman’s prose.

Exam Relevance: Appears in TGT and SET, linked to rhetoric.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Walt Whitman, Ernest Hemingway.

Additional Details: Creates rhythm. Exams test its use in prose. Key texts include Leaves of Grass.

197. Refrain

Definition: A repeated line or phrase in a poem or song.

Example: “Nevermore” in Poe’s The Raven (1845).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from oral tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: Edgar Allan Poe, W.B. Yeats.

Additional Details: Reinforces themes. Exams test its use in narrative poetry. Key texts include The Raven.

198. Satire

Definition: Using humor or irony to criticize societal flaws.

Example: Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726).

Exam Relevance: Frequent in UGC NET and SET, linked to 18th-century literature.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope.

Additional Details: Reforms through critique. Exams test its types (Horatian, Juvenalian). Key texts include A Modest Proposal.

199. Symbolism

Definition: Using symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

Example: The albatross in Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from literary tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Additional Details: Deepens meaning. Exams test its use in Romantic works. Key texts include The Scarlet Letter.

200. Syncope

Definition: Omitting letters or sounds within a word for poetic effect.

Example: “O’er” for “over” in Shakespeare’s sonnets (1609).

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

Originator: No single coiner; from poetic tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Donne.

Additional Details: Fits meter. Exams test its use in Renaissance poetry. Key texts include Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Why These Literary Terms Matter for Competitive Exams

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

  • Poetry Analysis: Devices like enjambment or oxymoron in Wordsworth or Shakespeare.
  • Drama: Anagnorisis or hamartia in Sophocles or Miller.
  • Novels: Foreshadowing or motif in Brontë or Fitzgerald.
  • Rhetoric: Chiasmus or apophasis in speeches or Swift’s satire.

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 anadiplosis or litotes.
  2. Apply terms to texts (e.g., find irony in Austen).
  3. Align with exam syllabi (e.g., UGC NET’s literature section).
  4. Practice mock MCQs.
  5. Read primary texts like The Great Gatsby or Macbeth.

Download This Guide

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