Lit Terms Worksheet

A larger-than-life presence; a godlike paragon worthy of respect and reverence.
The omission of conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words and phrases.
A poem about morning.
An anticlimax which is unintentional; an unintentional shift from the sublime to the ridiculous which can result from the use of overly elevated language to describe trivial subject.
A novel showing the development of its central character from childhood to maturity.
Elevated language, often pompous and overdone.
A pause for effect in the middle of a line of poetry; it may or may not affect the meter (Indicated by /// in scansion).
Aristotle's word for the pity and fear an audience experiences upon viewing the downfall of a hero.
Three syllable foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by the unaccented syllable.
A term for a poem that teaches, almost preaches. It often discusses the "proper" way to behave. The lesson being taught is more important to the writer than the artistic quality of the work.
Pertaining to the base side of man.
A line of verse that carries over into next line without a pause of any kind.
Begins and ends with the same setting and/or narrator(s); middle is a flashback (frame).
An awakening; a sudden understanding or burst of insight; key movement in Greek plays.
A quality of style marked by pleasing, harmonious sounds.
A metrical foot consisting of one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable (u').
A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by one unaccented syllable ('u) (bar-ter).
A metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by on accented syllable (uu').
A metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables (uu).
The basic foot of dipodic verse consisting (when complete) of an unaccented syllable, a lightly accented syllable, and a heavy accented syllable in that succession. However, a dipodic verse accommodates a tremendous amount of variety.
A metrical foot consisting of two syllables equally or almost equally accented ('')(true-blue).
The pride or overconfidence which often leads a hero to overlook divine warning or to break a moral law.
A tragic flaw or error in judgment. In literature, the tragic hero's error in judgment or inherent defect of character, usually less literally translated as a "fatal flaw." This combined with the essential elements of chance and other external forces bring about a catastrophe. Often the error r flaw results from nothing more than personality traits like probity, pride, and overconfidence, but can arise from any failure of the protagonist's action or knowledge ranging from a simple unwittingness to a moral deficiency.
Refers to the noble qualities of human beings and nature opposed to the savage and destructive forces.
Latin for "to the man"; attacking the arguer and not the argument; mud-slinging. Ad