Basic Literary Concept ( paper 1st )

Sonnet :-  A poet that has fourteen lines, each usually containing ten syllables, and a fixed pattern of rhyme. The term sonnet is derived from the Italian word sonetto. By the thirteen century, it is signified a poem of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure.

A.    Literary terms and Metres :- (1) Alliteration, Archaism, Assonance, Cacophony, Conceit, Elision, Euphony, Hyperbole, Imagery, Metaphor, Metonymy, Onomatopoeia, Oxymoron, Personification, Paradox, Pun, Refrain, Simile, Synecdoche,

(2) Ballad Stanza, Blank verse, Heroic Couplet, Octave, Ottava Rima, Quatrain, Sestet, Tercet, Terza Rima

(1) Alliteration:- Alliteration is the repetition of initial constant sounds of nearby words. Alliteration only occurs when consonant sounds are repeated in words close to each other. These words may be within the same phrase, clause, or sentence, or they may occur on successive lines

      Example:- Peter piper picked a peck of

                         Pickled peppers

Archaism : - A thing that is very old or old fashioned, especially an archaic word or style of language or art. It can be a word, a phrase, a group of letters, spelling, or syntax. Archaism is the derivative of the Greek word “archaikos, which means “beginning”, or “ancient”. It is a figure of speech in which a used phrase or word is considered very old fashioned and outdated.

     Example:-  He holds him with his skinny hand,

                        ‘there was a ship’, quoth he.                                      

                         Hold off! Unhand me, grey-beard loon!’

                         Eftsoons his hand dropt he

                          ‘I fear thy skinny hand!....

Assonance:-  Assonance is the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds found within or at the ends of words and phrases. It is a resemblance in the sounds of words / syllables either between their vowels or between their consonants.

     Example:- “ Men sell the wedding bells”

                          “Those images that yet

                            Fresh images beget,

Cacophony :-  A cacophony is a mishmash of unpleasant sounds, often at loud volume. It is what you would hear if you gave instruments to a group of four year olds and asked them to play one of Beethoven’s symphonies. Cacophony is a frequent poetic device used in both poetry and prose.

         Example:-  Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

                              How I wonder what you are,

                             Shining in the sky so bright,

                             Like a tea tray in the night,

                              Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

                              How I wonder what you are.  

Conceit:- A conceit is a type of metaphor, a comparison of two unlike things for the purpose of creating an extended meaning. A conceit that tells us several things about the nature of life. It is sweet and delicious, but it doesn’t last forever. The comparison, which at first seems surprising or out of place, adds depth to both literature and ordinary conversation, and at the same time, a conceit helps to boil down an idea that may be fairly complex into a simple turn of phrase.

         Example:-  “Oh stay! Three lives in one flea spare

                              Where we almost, yea more than

                                   Married are. This flea is you and I, and this

                                   Our marriage-bed and marriage-temple is…”

Elision:-  In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase. The word elision is frequently used in linguistic description of living languages, and deletion is often used in historical linguistic for a historical sound change.

             Example :-     Fall’n = fallen = the deleting of

                             the “e” in “fallen” and replacing

                                     it with an apostrophe is an

                                       example of elision.

Euphony:- euphony refers to the quality of being pleasant to listening to. Euphony generally comes about through a harmonious combination of sound and words. An author can create euphony in many different ways, such as using pleasant vowel and consonants, or by employing other literary devices, such as rhythm, rhyme, consonance, and assonance to create an overall harmonious sound to a work of literature. The word euphony comes from the greek word ‘euphonia, which means “well-sounding.”

            Example:- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

                                 How I wonder what you are.

                                 Up above the world so high,

                                 Like a diamond in the sky.

In this case, euphony comes from consonants such as I, r, w, n, and  h, but also from the mellifluous rhyme scheme of AABB and the regular trochaic rhythm.

Hyperbole: -  A way of speaking or writing that makes something sound better, more exciting, dangerous, etc. hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device of figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis. In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and creates strong impressions. As a figure of speech, it is usually not meant to be taken literally.

               Example:- I was helpless. I didn’t know

                                   What in the world to do. I was

                                    Quaking from head to foot, and

                                    Could have hung my hat on my

                                     Eyes, they stuck out so far”

Imagery:-  language that produces pictures in the minds of the people reading or listening. Imagery is the literary term used for language and description those appeals to our five senses. When a writer attempts to describe something so that it appeals to our sense of smell, sight taste, touch, or hearing; he/she has used imagery.

                Example: -    it was dark and dim in the forest.

                                          The words “dark” and  “dim” are visual images.

                                       The children were screaming and shouting

                                         in the fields. 

                                       “Screaming” and “shouting” appeal to our

                                         sense of hearing, or auditory sense.

Metaphor:- a word or phrase that is used in a imaginative way to show that somebody / something has the same qualities as another thing. A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two ideas.

             Example:-  My brother was boiling mad. (This implies he was too angry)

                                    The skies of his future began to darken. (Darkness is a threat , therefore,

                                      this implies that the coming time are going to be heard for him)

Metonymy:-  is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.

            Example:- “England decides to keep check on immigration”

                                     (England refers to the government)

                                    “The pen is mightier than the sword”

                    ( pen refers to written words, and sword to military force)

Onomatopoeia:- Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. As such words are uncountable nouns. Onomatopoeia is one way a poet can create sounds in a poem. Onomatopoeia is a word that actually looks like the sound it makes, and we can almost hear those sounds as we read.

               Example:- Water sounds – words related to water or other liquid.

                Bloop, splash, spay, sprinkle, squirt, dribble, drip, drizzle

                                 Vocal sound – sounds that comes from the back of the throat.

               Giggle, growl, grunt, gurgle, mumble, murmur, bawl, belch, chatter, blurt.

                               Collision sounds- collisions can occur between two or more objects.

Bam, bang, clang, clank, clap, clatter, click, clink, ding, jingle, screech.

                            Air sounds- air doesn’t really make a sound unless it blows through something, so these words describe the sounds of air blowing through things.

Flutter, fisst, fwoosh, gasp, swish, swoosh, waft, whiff, whoosh.

                     Animals sounds- words related to animal noises often have long vowel sounds.

      Baa, bark, bray, buzz, cheep, chirp, chortle, cluck, cuckoo, hiss, meow, moo, and neigh.

Oxymoron :- An oxymoron is a figure of speech containing words that seems to contradict to each other. It’s often referred to as a contradiction in terms. As with other rhetorical device, oxymorons are used for a variety of purposes. Sometimes they are used to create a little bit of drama for the reader.

               Example:- Act naturally

                                 Alone together

                                 Bitter sweet

                                 Amazingly awful

                                 Clearly confused

Personification:-  personification is a figure of speech where human qualities are given to non-living objects. In the arts, personification means representing a non-human thing as if it were human… a few more examples of personification in sentences.

                  Example:- “Have you got a brook in your little heart,

                                      Where bashful flowers blow,

                                      And blushing birds go down to drink,

                                      And shadow tremble so ?”

Paradox:-  Paradox is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to an apparently- self- contradictory or logically unacceptable conclusion.

                    Example:- your enemy’s friend is your enemy.

                                       I am nobody.

                                     “What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young”.

                                       Truth is honey, which is bitter.

Pun:-  an amusing use of a word that can have two meanings or of different words that sound the same. The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar sounding words, for an intended humorous of rhetorical effect.

                     Example:- The tallest building in town is the library

                                        It has thousands of stories.

                                       I can’t remember which state my wife

                                      Wanted to visit for our next vacation.

Refrain:-  A part of a song which is repeated, usually at the end of each verse or refrain is a verse, a line, a set, or a group of lines that appears at the end of stanza, or appears where a poem divides in to different sections.

                      Example:- Once I heard an Angel singing,

                                        When the morning was springing

                                        Peace and mercy pity,

                                        Is the way world releases,

                                       Once I heard an angle singing.

                                       Thank you God for such a bright day

                                       The sweet sunshine smiles every way.

Simile :- A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with the help of words “like” or “as”. Therefore, it is a direct comparison.

                    Example:- He is as thin as a rail !

                                       She moved like a deer.

                                        As strong as an ox.

Synecdoche: - Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that refers to a part of something is substituted to stand in for the whole, or vice versa. The word synecdoche comes from the Greek word synecdoche, which means “simultaneous understanding”.

                   Example:- Boots on the ground ---- refers to soldiers.

                                      New wheels ------ refers to a new car. 

                                      Ask for her hand ----- refers to asking a woman to marry.

Ballad stanza :-  A four –line stanza consisting of unrhymed first and third lines in iambic tetrameter and rhymed second and fourth lines in iambic trimester, often used in ballads.

                    Example:- I saw their starved lips in the gloam,

                                       With horrid warning gaped wide,

                                       And I awoke and found me here,

                                       On the cold hill’s side.

Blank verse:- A blank verse is a poem with no rhyme but does have iambic pentameter. This means it consists of lines of five feet, each foot being iambic, meaning two syllables long, one unstressed.

                      Example:- The sea was not a mask. No more was she.

                                        The song and water were not medleyed sound ,

                                         Even if what she sang was uttered word by word.

Couplet:- A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consist of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal or run-on. In a formal couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there is a grammatical pause at the end of a line of verse.

                       Example:- A gown made of the finest wool

                                         Which from our pretty lams we pull;

                                          Fair lined slippers for the cold,

                                          With buckles of the purest gold.

Free Verse:- Poetry that doesn’t rhyme or have a regular rhythm. Free verse is an open form of poetry which in its modern form arose through the French verse libre form. It doesn’t use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhyme of natural speech.

                        Example:- I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

                                          And what I assume you shall assume,

                                          For every atom belonging to me as

                                          Good belongs to you.

Heroic Couplet:- A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter. This couplet is much used while 17^th and 18^th century by the Chaucer and many other poets. Heroic couplet is a pair of rhymed lines with iambic pentameter. This form of poetry was popularized and highly developed by the neo-classical poets, epically Alexander pope. Chaucer was the first literary to compose verse using heroic couplets, but the use of heroic couplets didn’t become widespread until the seventeenth century.

                          Example:- “A little learning is a dangerous things,

                                              Drink deep, or taste not the pierian spring.

                                              There shallow droughts intoxicate the brain,

                                              And drink largely sobers us again.

                                               Fired at first sight with what the muse imparts,

                                               In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts”.

Octave:- A series of eight notes occupying the interval between two notes, one having twice of half the frequency of vibration of the other. Generally a group of stanza of eight lines is called octave. In music, an octave or perfect octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the “basic miracle of music”, the use of which is “common in most musical system”.

                      Example:- When I consider how my light is spent

                                        Era half my in this dark world and wide,

                                        Lodg’d with me useless, though my soul more bent…

                                       “doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”  

Ottava Rima:-  A form of poetry consisting of stanzas of eight lines of ten or eleven syllables, rhyming or it is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works.

                  Example:- I want a hero: an uncommon want

                                     When very year and month sends forth a new one,

                                     Till, after cloying the gazettes with cant,

                                     The age discovers he is not the true one;

                                    Of such as these I should not care to vaunt,

                                     I shall therefore take our ancient friend Don Juan

                                     We all have seen him, in the pantomime,

                                     Sent to the devil somewhat era his time.

Quatrain:- A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a verity of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations. The quatrain is one of the oldest form of poetry, with origins in several cultures including China and ancient Greece.

                   Example:- “Heaven”—is what I cannot reach!

                                        The apple on the tree –

                                        Provided it do hopeless – hang—

                                        That – “Heaven” is – to Me!” 

Sestet:- the noun sestet means the six final lines is a sonnet, or another group of six lines of poetry. The famous Italian poet Petrarch was the first to have introduced this poetic form in Italian sonnet. A sestet poem normally follows the rhyming scheme abcabc however this is not mandatory for all sestet poetry.

                    Example:- “And when I feel, fair creature of an hour!

                                         That I shall never look upon thee more,

                                          Never have relish in the faery power

                                          Of unreflecting love!—then on the shore

                                          Of the wide world I stand alone, and think

                                           Till love and fame to nothingness do sink”

Tercet:-  A tercet is a three-lined stanza or poem that often contains a rhyme. There are many different types of tercets. They can be easily read, and when they rhyme they have certain type of flow, like rolling waves. But, creating that three –line rhythmic flow can be quite a challenge.

There are a few tercet which are mentioned here… Haiku, Triplet, Enclosed or Sicilian Tercet, Villanelle, Terza Rima.

                     Examples:- “An old silent spond….

                                         A frog umps into the pond,

                                         Splash! Silence again”.

                                          “Whenas in silks my ulia goes,

                                            Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows

                                            The liquefaction of her clothes…”.

Terza Rima:- Terza Rima is a rhyming verse stanza form that consists of an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme. It was first used by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri in the late thirteen century to structure his three part epic poem, The Divine Comedy, terza rima is composed of tercets woven into a rhyme scheme that requires the end word of the second line in tercet to supply the rhyme for the first and third lines in the following tercet. Thus, the rhyme scheme (aba, bcb, cdc) continues through to the final stanza or line

                         Example:-                         O wild west wind, thou breath of

                                                       Autumn’s being,

                                                                    Thou, from whose unseen

                                                         Presence the leaves dead

                                                                    Are driven, like ghosts from an

                                                         Enchanter feeling,