LITERARY Definitions | LITERARY FROMS| POETRY TERMS|LITERARY DEVICES -6

LITERARY DEFINITIONS | LITERARY FROMS| POETRY TERMS|LITERARY DEVICES -6: Welcome to Part 6 of our series on literary definitions, poetry forms, and literary terms for competitive exams like UGC NET, SET, PGT, TGT, LT Grade, GATE English, and more. This guide presents 50 new literary terms in simple language, sourced from past exam questions (e.g., UGC NET 2018–2024, SET Maharashtra 2020–2023, PGT/TGT UP Board 2019–2022). Each term includes a definition, example, exam relevance, originator or key figure, famous poets or writers, and additional details, Perfect for students, educators, and literature enthusiasts, this post boosts your literary terminology and English literature quiz performance!

WhatsApp and Telegram Button Code
WhatsApp Group Join Now
Telegram Group Join Now
Instagram Group Join Now

Master these types of literary terms to excel in your exams. Missed earlier parts? Visit Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, or Part 5.

Table of Contents

251. Acrostic

Definition: A poem where the first letters of each line spell out a word or phrase.

Example: Chaucer’s “A Prayer for King Richard” (14th century), spelling a name vertically.

Exam Relevance: Appeared in SET Maharashtra 2021, linked to poetic forms.

Originator: No single coiner; from ancient Greek poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: Geoffrey Chaucer, Edgar Allan Poe.

Additional Details: Often playful or devotional. Exams test its structure in medieval poetry. Key texts include Poe’s acrostics.

252. Allegory

Definition: A narrative with a hidden moral or symbolic meaning.

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

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2019, linked to Renaissance literature.

Originator: No single coiner; from medieval literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: Edmund Spenser, John Bunyan.

Additional Details: Differs from symbolism (broader). Exams test its moral in Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Key texts include allegorical epics.

253. Amphibrach

Definition: A metrical foot with an unstressed-stressed-unstressed syllable pattern.

Example: “The assault” in Tennyson’s In Memoriam (1850).

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2020, linked to prosody.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical prosody.

Famous Poets/Writers: Alfred Tennyson, Lord Byron.

Additional Details: Rare but rhythmic. Exams test its scansion in Victorian poetry. Key texts include In Memoriam.

254. Anapest

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

Example: “’Twas the night before Christmas” in Clement Moore’s poem (1823).

Exam Relevance: LT Grade 2019, linked to poetic meter.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical prosody.

Famous Poets/Writers: Clement Clarke Moore, Lord Byron.

Additional Details: Creates a rising rhythm. Exams test its use in narrative poetry. Key texts include ’Twas the Night Before Christmas.

255. Aubade

Definition: A morning love poem, often about lovers parting at dawn.

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

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2020, linked to metaphysical poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from medieval troubadour poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Donne, Philip Larkin.

Additional Details: Contrasts with serenade (evening). Exams test its tone in Donne’s works. Key texts include Songs and Sonnets.

256. Bildungsroman

Definition: A novel depicting a character’s moral and psychological growth to maturity.

Example: Dickens’ Great Expectations (1861).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2022, linked to Victorian fiction.

Originator: Coined by Wilhelm Dilthey (1870).

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë.

Additional Details: Focuses on self-discovery. Exams test its themes in Jane Eyre (1847). Key texts include 19th-century novels.

257. Burlesque

Definition: A humorous imitation exaggerating a serious work or style.

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

Exam Relevance: PGT UP Board 2021, linked to 18th-century satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from French theater.

Famous Poets/Writers: Alexander Pope, Samuel Butler.

Additional Details: Mocks grandeur. Exams test its humor in mock-heroic works. Key texts include Hudibras (1663).

258. Carpe Diem

Definition: A theme urging to seize the day or enjoy the moment.

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

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2018, linked to Cavalier poetry.

Originator: Horace (Odes, 23 BCE).

Famous Poets/Writers: Robert Herrick, Andrew Marvell.

Additional Details: Urges action. Exams test its theme in To His Coy Mistress (1681). Key texts include 17th-century poetry.

259. Cinquain

Definition: A five-line poem with a specific syllable count (2-4-6-8-2).

Example: Adelaide Crapsey’s “November Night” (1915).

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2020, linked to modern poetic forms.

Originator: Adelaide Crapsey.

Famous Poets/Writers: Adelaide Crapsey, modern haiku poets.

Additional Details: Inspired by Japanese forms. Exams test its syllable structure. Key texts include Crapsey’s poems.

260. Denouement

Definition: The resolution of a narrative’s plot after the climax.

Example: The marriage in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2020, linked to novel structure.

Originator: No single coiner; from French drama.

Famous Poets/Writers: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens.

Additional Details: Ties loose ends. Exams test its role in Emma (1815). Key texts include Regency novels.

261. Deus ex Machina

Definition: An improbable plot device resolving a narrative’s conflict.

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

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2021, linked to classical drama.

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek theater.

Famous Poets/Writers: Euripides, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Often criticized. Exams test its use in As You Like It (1599). Key texts include Greek tragedies.

262. Diatribe

Definition: A bitter, abusive verbal attack in literature.

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

Exam Relevance: PGT UP Board 2019, linked to satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Jonathan Swift, Juvenal.

Additional Details: Sharp and critical. Exams test its tone in 18th-century works. Key texts include Juvenalian satire.

263. Dirge

Definition: A mournful song or poem for the dead.

Example: Shakespeare’s “Fear no more the heat o’ the sun” in Cymbeline (1610).

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2021, linked to elegiac poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from funeral rites.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Christina Rossetti.

Additional Details: Solemn tone. Exams test its use in Renaissance drama. Key texts include Cymbeline.

264. Double Entendre

Definition: A phrase with two meanings, one often risqué.

Example: Mercutio’s puns in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1597).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2021, linked to wordplay.

Originator: No single coiner; from French literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde.

Additional Details: Creates humor. Exams test its use in comedies. Key texts include The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).

265. Dramatic Irony

Definition: When the audience knows more than the characters.

Example: Othello’s trust in Iago in Othello (1604).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2019, linked to Shakespearean tragedy.

Originator: No single coiner; from Greek drama.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Sophocles.

Additional Details: Builds suspense. Exams test its effect in Oedipus Rex (429 BCE). Key texts include tragedies.

266. Ekphrasis

Definition: A vivid description of a work of art in literature.

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

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2020, linked to Romantic poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from ancient Greek rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Keats, W.H. Auden.

Additional Details: Bridges art and literature. Exams test its imagery in Keats’ odes. Key texts include Musee des Beaux Arts (1938).

267. Encomium

Definition: A speech or writing praising a person or thing.

Example: Milton’s praise in “Lycidas” (1637).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2020, linked to elegiac poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Milton, Pindar.

Additional Details: Formal and laudatory. Exams test its tone in pastoral elegies. Key texts include Lycidas.

268. Epigraph

Definition: A quotation at the start of a work setting its theme.

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

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2021, linked to modernist literature.

Originator: No single coiner; from literary tradition.

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

Additional Details: Frames the text. Exams test its role in The Sun Also Rises (1926). Key texts include modernist works.

269. Epiphany

Definition: A sudden realization or insight by a character.

Example: Gabriel’s realization in Joyce’s “The Dead” (1914).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2022, linked to short stories.

Originator: James Joyce (popularized term).

Famous Poets/Writers: James Joyce, Virginia Woolf.

Additional Details: Pivotal moment. Exams test its role in Dubliners. Key texts include modernist fiction.

270. Epithet

Definition: A descriptive phrase characterizing a person or thing.

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

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2018, linked to epic poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from oral tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: Homer, Virgil.

Additional Details: Aids memory in epics. Exams test its use in Aeneid (19 BCE). Key texts include classical epics.

271. Epizeuxis

Definition: Immediate repetition of a word for emphasis.

Example: “Never, never, never give up” in Churchill’s speeches.

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2020, linked to rhetoric.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill.

Additional Details: Heightens emotion. Exams test its use in King Lear (1606). Key texts include oratory works.

272. Epyllion

Definition: A short narrative poem, often mythological.

Example: Marlowe’s Hero and Leander (1598).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2021, linked to Renaissance poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from Hellenistic poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: Christopher Marlowe, Ovid.

Additional Details: Mini-epic. Exams test its narrative in Elizabethan works. Key texts include Metamorphoses.

273. Fable

Definition: A short story with a moral, often featuring animals.

Example: Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare” (6th century BCE).

Exam Relevance: PGT UP Board 2019, linked to didactic literature.

Originator: Aesop.

Famous Poets/Writers: Aesop, Jean de La Fontaine.

Additional Details: Teaches lessons. Exams test its moral in Fables. Key texts include La Fontaine’s works.

274. Foot

Definition: A unit of meter in poetry, consisting of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Example: Iamb in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (1609).

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2021, linked to prosody.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical poetics.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Milton.

Additional Details: Basis of scansion. Exams test its types (e.g., trochee). Key texts include sonnets.

275. Gothic Novel

Definition: A novel blending horror, romance, and supernatural elements.

Example: Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2020, linked to Romantic fiction.

Originator: Horace Walpole (The Castle of Otranto, 1764).

Famous Poets/Writers: Mary Shelley, Ann Radcliffe.

Additional Details: Evokes fear. Exams test its themes in Wuthering Heights (1847). Key texts include Gothic works.

276. Invective

Definition: Harsh, abusive language directed at a target.

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

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2020, linked to satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift.

Additional Details: Sharp critique. Exams test its tone in 18th-century works. Key texts include The Dunciad.

277. Limerick

Definition: A humorous five-line poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme.

Example: Lear’s “There was an Old Man with a Beard” (1846).

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2020, linked to light verse.

Originator: Edward Lear (popularized).

Famous Poets/Writers: Edward Lear, Ogden Nash.

Additional Details: Often nonsensical. Exams test its form in Book of Nonsense. Key texts include limerick collections.

278. Lyric

Definition: A short poem expressing personal emotions.

Example: Wordsworth’s “The Solitary Reaper” (1807).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2019, linked to Romantic poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from ancient Greek poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Wordsworth, Sappho.

Additional Details: Musical quality. Exams test its tone in Lyrical Ballads. Key texts include Romantic lyrics.

279. Melodrama

Definition: A dramatic work with exaggerated emotions and sensational plots.

Example: Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1838).

Exam Relevance: PGT UP Board 2021, linked to Victorian fiction.

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

Famous Poets/Writers: Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins.

Additional Details: Appeals to emotions. Exams test its style in The Woman in White (1859). Key texts include sensation novels.

280. Mock-Epic

Definition: A satirical poem mimicking epic conventions for trivial subjects.

Example: Dryden’s Mac Flecknoe (1682).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2020, linked to Restoration satire.

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

Famous Poets/Writers: John Dryden, Alexander Pope.

Additional Details: Humorous critique. Exams test its tone in The Rape of the Lock (1712). Key texts include mock-heroic works.

281. Monologue

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

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

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2020, linked to Shakespearean drama.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical drama.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams.

Additional Details: Reveals character. Exams test its role in A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). Key texts include tragedies.

282. Novella

Definition: A short novel, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.

Example: Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2021, linked to modernist fiction.

Originator: No single coiner; from Italian literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: Joseph Conrad, Henry James.

Additional Details: Focused narrative. Exams test its themes in The Turn of the Screw (1898). Key texts include novellas.

283. Panegyric

Definition: A public speech or poem praising someone.

Example: Dryden’s “To the Memory of Mr. Oldham” (1684).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2018, linked to Restoration poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical oratory.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Dryden, Ben Jonson.

Additional Details: Formal praise. Exams test its tone in elegies. Key texts include Jonson’s poems.

284. Parable

Definition: A simple story teaching a moral or religious lesson.

Example: The Prodigal Son in the Bible (New Testament).

Exam Relevance: PGT UP Board 2020, linked to didactic literature.

Originator: No single coiner; from religious texts.

Famous Poets/Writers: Jesus (Biblical parables), Franz Kafka.

Additional Details: Symbolic teaching. Exams test its moral in Kafka’s works. Key texts include The Parables of Jesus.

285. Parody

Definition: A humorous imitation of a serious work or style.

Example: Cervantes’ Don Quixote (1605), mocking chivalric romances.

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2021, linked to satire.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical literature.

Famous Poets/Writers: Miguel de Cervantes, Max Beerbohm.

Additional Details: Exaggerates for humor. Exams test its style in A Christmas Garland (1912). Key texts include parodic works.

286. Pastoral

Definition: Literature idealizing rural life, often featuring shepherds.

Example: Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender (1579).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2020, linked to Renaissance poetry.

Originator: Theocritus (3rd century BCE).

Famous Poets/Writers: Writers/Edmund Spenser, Virgil.

Additional Details: Details/Romanticizes nature. Exams test its themes in Eclogues. Key texts include pastoral poetry.

287. Pathetic Fallacy

Definition: Attributing human emotions to nature or objects.

Example: The storm reflecting Lear’s turmoil in King Lear (1606).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2019, linked to Shakespearean drama.

Originator: John Ruskin (coined term, 1856).

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth.

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

288. Peripeteia

Definition: A sudden reversal of fortune in a narrative.

Example: Oedipus’ fall in Oedipus Rex (429 BCE).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2020, linked to Greek tragedy.

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

Famous Poets/Writers: Sophocles, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Drives tragedy. Exams test its role in Macbeth (1606). Key texts include tragedies.

289. Prosody

Definition: The study of meter, rhythm, and sound in poetry.

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

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2021, linked to poetic structure.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical poetry.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Milton, Alexander Pope.

Additional Details: Includes scansion. Exams test its application in epic poetry. Key texts include Essay on Criticism.

290. Pun

Definition: A play on words with multiple meanings or similar sounds.

Example: “Grave” (tomb/serious) in Donne’s “The Flea” (1633).

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2021, linked to metaphysical poetry.

Originator: No single coiner; from literary tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Donne, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Adds wit. Exams test its use in Romeo and Juliet (1597). Key texts include comedies.

291. Refrain

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

Example: “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore’” in Poe’s The Raven (1845).

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2020, tested for poetic effect.

Originator: No single coiner; from oral tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Hardy.

Additional Details: Reinforces themes. Exams test its narrative role in poetry. Key texts include Poe’s works.

292. Rhetorical Question

Definition: A question posed for effect, not requiring an answer.

Example: “What’s in a name?” in Romeo and Juliet (1597).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2019, linked to rhetorical devices.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Donne.

Additional Details: Engages readers. Exams test its use in dramatic works. Key texts include Shakespeare’s plays.

293. Scansion

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

Example: Scanning iambic pentameter in Sonnet 130 (1609).

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2021, linked to prosody.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical poetics.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, John Milton.

Additional Details: Identifies metrical feet. Exams require scansion skills. Key texts include Milton’s poetry.

294. Soliloquy

Definition: A character’s speech revealing inner thoughts, spoken alone.

Example: Macbeth’s “Tomorrow and tomorrow” in Macbeth (1606).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2020, linked to dramatic techniques.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical drama.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe.

Additional Details: Reveals character depth. Exams test its role in Doctor Faustus. Key texts include tragedies.

295. Spoonerism

Definition: Swapping initial sounds of words for humorous effect.

Example: “Woe’s me” becomes “Moe’s wee” in comedic contexts.

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2020, linked to wordplay.

Originator: Named after Rev. W.A. Spooner (1844–1930).

Famous Poets/Writers: Lewis Carroll, in comedic works.

Additional Details: Creates humor. Exams test its use in light verse. Key texts include Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

296. Subplot

Definition: A secondary plot supporting the main narrative.

Example: Gloucester’s story in King Lear (1606).

Exam Relevance: UGC NET 2019, linked to dramatic structure.

Originator: No single coiner; from dramatic tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens.

Additional Details: Adds complexity. Exams test its role in Bleak House. Key texts include complex narratives.

297. 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: TGT UP Board 2021, linked to prosody.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical prosody.

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

Additional Details: Falling rhythm. Exams test its use in Hiawatha. Key texts include narrative poems.

298. Understatement

Definition: Presenting something as less significant than it is for effect.

Example: “It’s just a flesh wound” in Twain’s humor.

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2021, linked to rhetoric.

Originator: No single coiner; from literary style.

Famous Poets/Writers: Mark Twain, Jane Austen.

Additional Details: Creates irony. Exams test its use in Pride and Prejudice. Key texts include novels.

299. Verse

Definition: A single line of poetry or poetry as a whole.

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

Exam Relevance: TGT UP Board 2020, linked to poetic form.

Originator: No single coiner; from poetic tradition.

Famous Poets/Writers: John Milton, William Shakespeare.

Additional Details: Basis of poetic structure. Exams test its use in blank verse. Key texts include epics.

300. Zeugma

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

Example: “She broke his car and his heart” in modern prose.

Exam Relevance: SET Maharashtra 2020, linked to rhetorical devices.

Originator: No single coiner; from classical rhetoric.

Famous Poets/Writers: Alexander Pope, Charles Dickens.

Additional Details: Creates wit. Exams test its use in An Essay on Man. Key texts include 18th-century works.

Why These Terms Matter for Competitive Exams

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

  • Poetry Analysis: Terms like acrostic or trochee in Chaucer or Shakespeare.
  • Drama: Dramatic irony or soliloquy in Sophocles or Othello.
  • Novels: Bildungsroman or subplot in Dickens or Conrad.
  • Rhetoric: Zeugma or epizeuxis in Pope 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 ekphrasis or spoonerism.
  2. Apply to texts (e.g., find pathetic fallacy in Wordsworth).
  3. Align with syllabus (e.g., UGC NET poetry section).
  4. Practice past MCQs from UGC NET 2018–2024.
  5. Read texts like Frankenstein or The Faerie Queene.

Download This Guide

Get a PDF version for offline study! Download Part 6 PDF.

Explore More Resources

Test your knowledge with our MCQs on English Literature. Explore English Literature resources for more prep. Stay tuned for future posts on literary terms!

Share your favorite poetry form or exam tip in the comments!

Related Posts

Test Your Knowledge: Literary Terms Quiz

Try these sample questions to prepare for your exam!

  1. What is the term for a poem where the first letters spell a word?
    a) Sonnet
    b) Acrostic
    c) Villanelle
    d) Ode
    Answer: b) Acrostic
  2. Which term describes a sudden reversal of fortune in a tragedy?
    a) Catharsis
    b) Peripeteia
    c) Anaphora
    d) Epiphany
    Answer: b) Peripeteia
  3. What is a five-line poem with a 2-4-6-8-2 syllable count called?
    a) Haiku
    b) Cinquain
    c) Sestina
    d) Limerick
    Answer: b) Cinquain

Want more? Check our MCQ Section!

Leave a Comment

Share your thoughts, questions, or exam tips below!