literary terms in english literature ,literary terms 100 Literary Devices and Figures of Speech,drama,fiction,poem

literary terms in english literature ,literary terms 100 Literary Devices and Figures of Speech,drama,fiction,poem

Literary Terms and Figures

সাহিত্যের বিভিন্ন Parts এবং Types ভালোভাবে বুঝার জন্য গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় হচ্ছে Literary terms। আর সাহিত্যের ভাষাগত বিন্যাস ও অন্তর্গত অর্থোদ্ধারের জন্য আবশ্যক বিষয় হচ্ছে Figures of speech। এ দুটি বিষয়ের অধ্যয়ন এখন শুধু সাহিত্যের Student-দের মধ্যে সীমাবদ্ধ নয়, বিভিন্ন Competitive exam-এ এদের উপর প্রশ্ন হওয়ায় এগুলো এখন সকলের জন্য অপরিহার্য।

47.1 কোন সাহিত্যকর্ম কী ধরনের অর্থাৎ এটা কি Poem, Novel নাকি Drama; আবার, Poem হলে কী ধরনের Poem অর্থাৎ এটা কি Sonnet, Lyric, Elegy নাকি Blank verse-এভাবে বিভিন্ন ধরনের Literay work-এর পরিচয়, তাদের Types, বিভিন্ন parts ইত্যাদি নিয়ে আলোচনার বিষয়বস্তু হচ্ছে Literary terms। যেমন-

Melodrama is a kind of play of-

violent and sensational themes√

দুর্নীতি দমন ব্যুরোর সহকারী পরিদর্শক ২০০৪

historical themes

philosophical themes

pathetic themes

What is catastrophy?

দুর্নীতি দমন ব্যুরোর

The comical end of dramatic ements

সহকারী উপ-পরিদর্শক

The tragic end of dramatic events √

২০০৪

দুর্নীতি দমন ব্যুরোর পরিদর্শক ২০০৩

The comic tragic end of the play

⑨ None of the above

Ballad is -

a kind of short narrative poem✓

a kind of short condoling poen

⑦ a kind of short love poem

a rhymic verse

47.1.1 Literary Term Index: Literature-এর Genre বা প্রকারভেদ অনুসারে Literary term-গুলো দেয়া হলো:

Poetry/Verse

Poetry or verse is a metrical (ছন্দময়) composition that conveys a certain meaning.

Terms

Definitions

Ballad

A narrative poem that tells a grave story through dialogue and action. Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a famous ballad.

Blank verse

Poetry without rhyme at the end.

 

Terms

Definitions

Couplet

Two lines of verse rhyming together.

Dramatic

It is a kind of lyric poem in which a single speaker expresses his/her thoughts and feelings to a silent listener/listeners.

monologue

Elegy

Elegy is a lyric poem mourning for the death of an individual or lamenting over a tragic event. Some famous English elegies are Milton's Lycidas, Shalley's Adonais, Tennyson's In Memoriam, Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard etc.

Epic

A long narrative poem with grand style and heroic theme. It involves invocation to the muses, a hero with superhuman quality, supernatural elements, under world journey, lofty language etc. Milton's Paradise Lost, Spenser's The Faerie Queene are famous epics.

Epicsmile/Homenesunde

It is an open comparison between two dissimilar objects of which one is fairly elaborated. Generally, epic/homeric simile is used in epic.

Heroic couplet

It is a pair of iambic pentameter (five unstressed and stressed syllables) verse lines rhyming together.

Hymn

A lyric poem or song in praise of God or hero.

Invocation

A formal prayer to the Muses for inspiration, help and guidance at the beginning of an epic.

Lyric

It is a short poem expressing personal or subjective thoughts and feelings.

Machinery

The supernatural agents used in an epic or mock-epic.

Mock-epic

Ode

Mock-epic is a narrative poem which aims at mockery and laughter by using the features of an epic, for example, Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock.

Quatrain

A lyric poem that begins with grief or agony and ends with consolation.

It is a stanza (division of poem) form consisting of four lines. A short poem of four lines is also called quatrain.

Sonnet

A lyric poem of fourteen lines. The first eight lines are called 'octave' and the last six lines are called 'sestet.

Drama

A literary form intended to be performed on stage using physical movements and dialogues.

Terms

Definitions

Act

A major division of the action of a play.

Aside/soliloquy

Aside is a dramatic technique of speaking alone with the presence of other characters on the stage. Soliloquy is the same thing like aside but none is allowed on the stage in soliloquy. They are the inner expressions 0: character's own thoughts and feelings.

Black comedy/dark comedy

A kind of comic work that involves farce (প্রহসন) and morbid humour. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, The Winter's Tale are black comedy.

Catastrophy

It is the final scene of a tragedy in which the action ends with the death o the hero. In one word, it is a tragic end of a play.

 

Terms

Definitions

Catharsis

The purgation or purification of pity and fear in a tragedy.

Chorus

Chorus is a group of performers in a play who comment on the action and provide mood and atmosphere for it.

Climax

The peak of importance in a play at which the rise of action ends and the fall of action begins.

Comedy

A kind of drama which begins with misfortune or problem but ends in happiness.

Comedy of humours

It is a kind of comedy in which characters behave according to their respective humours, that is, the four fluids (blood, phlegm, black bile (melancholy) and yellow bile (choler)) of human body. Ben Jonson's Every Man in His Humour is an example.

Comedy of ideas

It is a form of comedy that presents certain ideas or theories through debate, for example, Shaw's Man and Superman.

Comedy of manners

It portrays the ridiculous behaviour pattern of the individuals of an aristocratic society. Congreve's The Way of the World is a comedy of manners.

Comic relief

A comic scene in between serious scenes of a tragedy to relieve the tension and heighten the tragic effect by contrast.

Denouement

The final scene of a drama or fiction in which all the problems are solved.

Epilogue

A speech of poem at the end of a play in which the moral is pointed out.

Exposition

The beginning of a play

Hamartía/tragic flaw/hubris (pride)

It is an error or a flaw of a tragic hero.

Heroic tragedy

It is a kind of tragedy written in grand and lofty style to show the disastrous end of a conflict between love and duty, for example, Dryden's All for Love.

Melodrama

A kind of drama that provides sensational entertainment and presents horror and bloodshed, thrills and violence on the stage. Jerrold's Balck-Ey'd Susan, Boucicault's Ten Nights in a Bar Room are two melodramas.

Plot

A logical arrangement of events.

Revenge tragedy/tragedy of blood

It is a kind of tragedy that involves a quest for vengeance, ghosts, insanity, adultery, suicide, play within a play, blood shed on the stage etc. Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, Shakespeare's Hamlet are two examples of revenge tragedy.

Romantic comedy

It is a form of comedy that deals with love, often love at first sight. Shakespeare's As You Like It is a romantic comedy.

Tragedy

A kind of drama that stages the fall of a superior human being for his/her some flaws.

The theatre of absurd/Absurd play

It is a kind of modern drama that portrays the absurdity, meaninglessness of human existance, man's isolation and loneliness. Beckett's Waiting for Godot is an absurd play.

Trag-comedy

A kind of play that involves both tragic and comic scenes. Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, Dryden's Secret Love are two tragi-comedies.

 

Fiction and Non-fiction (Prose)

Fiction refers to narrative writings from the imagination rather than from history and facts. Novels and short stories are two types of fiction.

Non-fiction is opposite to fiction and it is one kind of literature based on facts and history. Biography, autobiography, essay, fables, myth etc are of non-fiction types.

Terms

Definitions

Epistolary novel

A novel in the form of letters. Richardson's Pamela is an epistolary novel.

Fable

A very short allegorical story of animal characters which teaches a moral for human beings. Aesop's fables are best examples.

Gothic novel

A form of prose narrative that involves wild and horrific incidents and mysterious occurences. Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Dicken's Great Expectations are two gothic novels.

Legend

A story that focuses the greatness of a semi-heroic human being through some supernatural beings. Beowulf, Robin Hood are famous legendary figures.

Myth/mythology

Myth is an ancient story about Gods and Goddesses and their mysterious forces. And myths are collectively called mythology. For example Greek mythology, Roman mythology etc.

Novel

A fictitious prose narrative of considerable length dealing with human beings and their actions and characters within a particular society with a world vision.

Novelette

A work of prose fiction of intermediate length, and longer than a short story and shorter than a novel. Conrad's Heart of Darkness is a novelette.

Omruscient point of view

It refers to the narrator who knows everything about the characters, their actions, feelings and thoughts, and sometimes comments.

Pamphlet

An argumentative writing in prose on a political or religious controversy of a particular time. Milton's Areopagitica is a pamphlet.

Parable

An allegorical story of huan characters which teaches a religious moral.

Picaresque novel

It is a kind of novel having a rogue or knave as its hero who takes adventures place to place. Henry Fielding's Tom Jones is an example.

Short story

A short prose fiction having one or very limited characters and a single theme. It can be read in one sitting. Maugham's The Luncheon anc O'Henry's The Gift of the Magi are famous short stories.

 

Other Terms

Terms

Definitions

Allegory

Allegory is a story of double meanings, that is, one story is told in the guise of another story. Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel is a political allegory.

Antagonist

A main character with villainous features and opposite to protagonist or here

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Terms

Definitions

Classic

A piece of literature which has lived throughout the history. Milton's Paradise Lost is a classic.

Classical

It refers to Greek or Roman literature or any literature that possesses the qualities of Greek or Roman literature.

Connotation

The indirect or inner meaning of a word.

Denotation

The direct or literal meaning of a word.

Diction

The selection of words in a writing or speech.

Didactic

A kind of writing intended to instruct.

Objectivity

A mode of expression in which writer's personal life remains absent from his/her writing. Homer, Virgil and Shakespeare are famous objective writers.

Poetic justice

Natural judgement that gives punishement to the wicked and reward to the virtuous.

Protagonist

The main character of a novel or drama. Actually, hero is the protagonist.

Satire

A literary attack on the follies and vices of an individual or a society through laughter and ridicule. For example, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Orwell's Animal Farm.

Subjectivity

A mode of expression having writer's personal life, likes and dislikes. It is opposite to objectivity. For example, Wordswrth is a subjective poet.

FAQs

Why are literary terms used?

How many literary terms are in English literature?

What is the main idea in literary terms?

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সাহিত্যের পরিভাষা কি কি?

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