100 Exam-oriented bullet points on literary forms and terms

 100 exam-oriented bullet points on literary forms and terms, drawn from the provided sources:

Poetic Forms: Sonnets, Odes, and Ballads

• Sonnet Definition: A poem of fourteen lines using formal rhyme schemes, typically with ten syllables per line in English.
• Etymology: The word is derived from the Italian sonetto, meaning a “little song” or small lyric.
• Iambic Pentameter: The standard meter for sonnets, consisting of five feet (ten syllables) of unstressed and stressed syllables.
• The Volta: A specific "turn" or shift in thought or emotion within a sonnet.
• Petrarchan (Italian) Sonnet: Structure consists of an eight-line octet (rhyming abba–abba) and a six-line sestet.
• Octet/Octave: The first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet that usually present an issue or question.
• Sestet: The final six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet that typically provide a resolution or answer.
• Shakespearean Sonnet: Features three quatrains and a final couplet with the rhyme scheme abab–cdcd–efef–gg.
• Spenserian Sonnet: A variation with an interlocking rhyme scheme: abab–bcbc–cdcd–ee.
• Ode Definition: A long lyric poem, serious in subject and treatment, elevated in style, and elaborate in stanzaic structure.
• Address Form: Odes are often in the form of a direct address to a being or object.
• Pindaric (Dorian) Ode: Known as a "regular" ode, modeled on Greek choric songs and accompanied by dance.
• Strophe: The first part of a Pindaric ode triad; during recitation, the dancer turns from right to left.
• Antistrophe: The second part of the triad; the dancer performs a counterturn from left to right.
• Epode: The third part of the triad; the dancer stands still during its recitation.
• Horatian (Lesbian) Ode: Calm, meditative, and colloquial odes modeled after the Roman poet Horace.
• Homostrophic: Stanzas in a Horatian ode that are written in a single repeated form.
• Cowleyan (Irregular) Ode: A form that disregards recurrent stanzaic patterns, allowing each stanza to establish its own pattern.
• Ballad Definition: One of the earliest forms of literature, ballads are narrative songs traditionally passed down orally.
• Folk Ballad: Traditional, anonymous narrative songs often telling stories of love, adventure, or tragedy.
• Literary Ballad: A conscious imitation of the folk ballad meant to be printed and read rather than sung.
• Ballad Stanza: A quatrain (four-line stanza) where the second and fourth lines rhyme (often ABCB).
• Ballad Meter: Typically uses iambic feet with alternating three and four-stress lines.
• Refrain: A common element in ballads involving the repetition of lines or phrases.

Death and Mourning: Elegy and Eulogy

• Elegy Definition: A mournful poem or song written to express deep sorrow or grief, typically for the dead.
• Eulogy Definition: A spoken tribute delivered at a funeral or memorial service to praise a person's life and achievements.
• Elegy Purpose: Its goal is to reflect, mourn, and explore universal themes like mortality and loss.
• Eulogy Purpose: Its goal is to celebrate, honor, and comfort the living through specific stories and values.
• Key Distinction: An elegy is a written literary form for mourning (Lament); a eulogy is a spoken tribute for praise (Praise).

Elements of Drama

• Drama/Play: A story told through dialogues and actions, meant to be performed by actors for an audience.
• Plot: The arrangement of events in a story following a cause-and-effect relationship.
• Acts and Scenes: The structural divisions of a play; Elizabethan drama typically had five acts, while modern drama often has three.
• Climax: The highest point of conflict or tension in a plot.
• Resolution: The point where the conflict in the plot comes to an end.
• Characterization: The way a writer describes and develops people in a play.
• Round Characters: Characters who undergo significant change as the plot develops.
• Flat Characters: Characters who do not change and remain the same throughout the story.
• Protagonist: The most important character, also known as the hero or heroine.
• Antagonist: The character (or villain) who is in direct conflict with the protagonist.
• Typified Characters: Minor characters who represent a specific class or "type" rather than a complex individual.
• Theme: The central idea or subject upon which a literary work is based.
• Motifs: Recurring structures, images, or contrasts that help convey the theme.
• Symbols: Objects, colors, or figures used to represent abstract concepts.
• Setting: The place and time (geographical, historical, and social) where the story occurs.
• Dramatic Irony: A contrast where the audience knows something that the characters on stage do not.
• Verbal Irony: Irony arising from what is specifically said.
• Irony of Situation: Irony arising from what is done or the circumstances presented.
• Soliloquy: The act of a character speaking their inner thoughts aloud when alone on stage.
• Aside: A short form of soliloquy where a character utters a thought aloud in front of others who supposedly cannot hear it.
• Expectation: A plot device where all relevant facts are disclosed at once, leading to anticipated events.
• Surprise: A plot device where facts are held back to create suspense and interest.
• Stage Directions: Instructions in a script (usually in brackets) indicating the author's intentions for production.

Types of Drama

• Tragedy: Drama dealing with the dark side of life, aiming for the "purgation" of emotions.
• Catharsis: A Greek term used by Aristotle to describe the purification or purging of feelings through tragedy.
• Classical Tragedy: Based on Greek models; it follows the three unities (time, action, place) and uses a Chorus.
• Chorus: A group in classical tragedy that reports off-stage events and offers moral commentary.
• Romantic Tragedy: A form that ignores classical unities and patterns, focusing instead on the dramatist's purpose.
• Horror (Revenge) Tragedy: Deals with violence and cruelty, often following the Senecan model.
• Heroic Tragedy: Portrays the exploits of a sublime hero, sometimes written in verse.
• She (Pathetic) Tragedy: Features a female protagonist and explores her sufferings; popular during the Restoration.
• Domestic Tragedy: Uses prose to portray middle-class life and ordinary incidents as serious drama.
• Comedy: Drama dealing with the light side of life, typically featuring lower-class characters and happy endings.
• Comedy of Humours: Based on the ancient theory of four primary fluids (humours) determining temperament.
• Comedy of Intrigue: Also known as Comedy of Situation; focuses on complicated plots and conspiracies.
• Comedy of Manners (Restoration Comedy): Criticizes the artificial manners and stylish behavior of high society.
• Sentimental Comedy: A reaction to Restoration immorality; aims to produce tears and features middle-class heroes.
• Tragi-comedy: Combines tragedy and comedy, often beginning with tragic action and ending happily.
• Farce: An exaggerated form of comedy involving improbable situations and caricatured characters.
• Melodrama: A lower form of tragedy emphasizing sensational actions and sentiments, often with musical accompaniment.
• Masque: An elaborate play involving music, dancing, and costumes, often based on myth or allegory.
• One-Act Play: A short, simple play focusing on a single theme and emotion, characterized by brevity.
• Miracle Play: Medieval drama based on Bible stories or the lives of saints.
• Morality Play: An allegorical medieval drama where characters personify virtues and vices (e.g., Everyman).
• Interludes: Short stage entertainments performed between the courses of a feast or acts of a long play.
• Historical (Chronicle) Plays: Dramas based on historical materials, focusing on English history (e.g., Shakespeare's Henry IV).
• Problem Play: Modern drama discussing a social problem without providing a definitive solution.
• Absurd Drama: Reflects the belief that human life is meaningless, using black humor and repetitive actions.
• Expressionistic Drama: Distorts or exaggerates the world to express a personal, internal vision of society.
• Epic Theatre: A movement associated with Bertolt Brecht, aiming to keep the audience at a critical distance.
• Alienation Effect: A technique in epic theatre to present social reality as strange, encouraging audience action.

Mock-Epic and Epic Conventions

• Epic (Heroic Poem): A long narrative poem in an eminent style about a hero of national significance.
• Mock-Heroic Epic: Uses the formal structure of an epic on a miniature scale for a trivial or "mean" subject.
• Mock-Epic Purpose: It is primarily satirical, making a subject look ridiculous through inappropriate elevation.
• Epic Machinery: The use of supernatural beings (like Pope's sylphs and gnomes) required in epic frameworks.
• Burlesque: A literary genre that takes trivial subjects and elevates them to seemingly great importance for comic effect.
• Parody: An imitation of a work's form or style for humor or critical commentary.
• Heroic Couplet: Pairs of rhymed iambic pentameter lines; a popular 18th-century verse form.
• Bathos: The sudden juxtaposition of the serious with the small or trivial.
• Invocations: The classical convention of calling upon a Muse for assistance at the start of a poem.
• Hyperbole: The use of exaggerated language to satirize or elevate a subject.
• Syllepsis: A figure of speech where one word governs two others in different senses (e.g., "stain her honor, or her new brocade").
• Pastiche: A work made up of fragments or imitations of various classical sources.
• Apotheosis: The transformation of a character or object into a star or divine being at the end of a work.

The Rise of the Novel

• Emergence of the Novel: Formalized as a literary genre in the 18th century, distinct from earlier fiction.
• Formal Realism: A defining characteristic of the early novel that realistically represents individual life.
• Middle-Class Influence: The growing power of the middle class provided a receptive audience for novelistic realism.
• Individualism: A shift toward individual experience helped drive the popularity of the novel form.
• Pioneers: Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, and Henry Fielding are considered the primary innovators of the genre.

Literary Criticism and Theory

• Literary Criticism: The act of interpreting, studying, and arguing for a particular understanding of a text's meaning.
• Literary Theory: A systematic approach to criticism following specific academic, scientific, or philosophical frameworks.
• Psychoanalytic Theory: Interprets texts through psychological lenses, such as Freud's theories of trauma or the unconscious.
• New Criticism: A theory viewing literature as a self-contained, self-referential aesthetic object.
• Zeitgeist: The "spirit of the era" that literature reflects and contributes to according to some theorists.

General Figures of Speech

• Simile: A comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as".
• Metaphor: A direct comparison between two unlike things without using "like" or "as".
• Personification: Giving human qualities or characteristics to non-human things.
• Alliteration: The repetition of the same initial letter or sound in a series of words.
• Imagery: The use of descriptive language to create vivid mental pictures for the reader.