Literary Terms, HEX-LüS

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hexameter
hexameter, a line of verse containing six feet, usually dactyls (′ ˘ ˘). Dactylic hexameter is the oldest known......
hiatus
hiatus, in prosody, a break in sound between two vowels that occur together without an intervening consonant, both......
Hindi literature
Hindi literature, the writings of the western Braj Bhasa and Khari Boli and of the eastern Awadhi and Bundeli dialects......
Hisperic style
Hisperic style, a style of Latin writing that probably originated in the British Isles in the 7th century. It is......
historical novel
historical novel, a novel that has as its setting a period of history and that attempts to convey the spirit, manners,......
Homeric Hymns
Homeric Hymns, collection of 34 ancient Greek poems in heroic hexameters, all addressed to gods. Though ascribed......
Homerids
Homerids, a historical clan on the Aegean island of Chios, whose members claimed to be descendants of the ancient......
Hong Kong literature
Hong Kong literature, the body of written works, primarily in Chinese but occasionally in English, produced in......
Horatian ode
Horatian ode, short lyric poem written in stanzas of two or four lines in the manner of the 1st-century-bc Latin......
Houyhnhnm
Houyhnhnm, any member of a fictional race of intelligent, rational horses described by Anglo-Irish author Jonathan......
huaju
huaju, form of Chinese drama featuring realistic spoken dialogue rather than the sung poetic dialogue of the traditional......
Hugo Award
Hugo Award, any of several annual awards presented by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). The awards are......
huitain
huitain, French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line. The form was......
humours, comedy of
comedy of humours, a dramatic genre most closely associated with the English playwright Ben Jonson from the late......
hymn
hymn, (from Greek hymnos, “song of praise”), strictly, a song used in Christian worship, usually sung by the congregation......
hyperbaton
hyperbaton, a transposition or inversion of usual word order. The device is often used in poetry, as in line 13......
hyperbole
hyperbole, a figure of speech that is an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect. Hyperbole is common......
hypercatalexis
hypercatalexis, in prosody, the occurrence of an additional syllable at the end of a line of verse after the line......
I novel
I novel, form or genre of 20th-century Japanese literature that is characterized by self-revealing narration, with......
iamb
iamb, metrical foot consisting of one short syllable (as in classical verse) or one unstressed syllable (as in......
iambe
iambe, French satiric verse form consisting of alternating lines of 8 and 12 syllables. The total number of lines......
iambic pentameter
iambic pentameter, in poetry, a line of verse composed of ten syllables arranged in five metrical feet (iambs),......
Icelanders’ sagas
Icelanders’ sagas, the class of heroic prose narratives written during 1200–20 about the great families who lived......
Icelandic literature
Icelandic literature, body of writings in Icelandic, including those from Old Icelandic (also called Old Norse)......
icon
icon, in literature, a description of a person or thing, usually using a figure of speech. To semioticians, icons......
idyll
idyll, also spelled Idyl (from Greek eidyllion, “little picture”), a short poem of a pastoral or rural character......
imram
imram, in early Irish literature, a story about an adventurous voyage. This type of story includes tales of Irish......
in medias res
in medias res, the practice of beginning an epic or other narrative by plunging into a crucial situation that is......
In Memoriam stanza
In Memoriam stanza, a quatrain in iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of abba. The form was named for the pattern......
incremental repetition
incremental repetition, a device used in poetry of the oral tradition, especially English and Scottish ballads,......
Indian literature
Indian literature, writings of the Indian subcontinent, produced there in a variety of vernacular languages, including......
Indianista novel
Indianista novel, Brazilian literary genre of the 19th century that idealizes the simple life of the South American......
Indo-Aryan literature
Indo-Aryan literature, body of writings in the Indo-Aryan family of languages. It is difficult to pinpoint the......
Indonesian literatures
Indonesian literatures, the poetry and prose writings in Javanese, Malay, Sundanese, and other languages of the......
infotainment
infotainment, television programming that presents information (as news) in a manner intended to be entertaining.......
interlude
interlude, in theatre, early form of English dramatic entertainment, sometimes considered to be the transition......
internal rhyme
internal rhyme, rhyme between a word within a line and another word either at the end of the same line or within......
intrigue, comedy of
comedy of intrigue, in dramatic literature, a comic form in which complicated conspiracies and stratagems dominate......
introverted quatrain
introverted quatrain, a quatrain having an enclosed rhyme. An example of an introverted quatrain is the In Memoriam......
invocation
invocation, a convention of classical literature and of epics in particular, in which an appeal for aid (especially......
ionic foot
ionic foot, in prosody, a foot of verse that consists of either two long and two short syllables (also called major......
Iranian literature
Iranian literature, body of writings in the Iranian languages produced in an area encompassing eastern Anatolia,......
irony
irony, linguistic and literary device, in spoken or written form, in which real meaning is concealed or contradicted.......
irregular ode
irregular ode, a rhymed ode that employs neither the three-part form of the Pindaric ode nor the two- or four-line......
jack-o’-lantern
jack-o’-lantern, in meteorology, a mysterious light seen at night flickering over marshes; when approached, it......
Jacobean literature
Jacobean literature, body of works written during the reign of James I of England (1603–25). The successor to Elizabethan......
jazz poetry
jazz poetry, poetry that is read to the accompaniment of jazz music. Authors of such poetry attempt to emulate......
jongleur
jongleur, professional storyteller or public entertainer in medieval France, often indistinguishable from the trouvère.......
journal
journal, an account of day-to-day events or a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private......
journalism
journalism, the collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related commentary and feature materials......
jueju
jueju, a Chinese verse form that was popular during the Tang dynasty (618–907). An outgrowth of the lüshi, it is......
jump rope rhyme
jump rope rhyme, any of innumerable chants and rhymes used by children, traditionally girls, to accompany the game......
Juvenalian satire
Juvenalian satire, in literature, any bitter and ironic criticism of contemporary persons and institutions that......
Kailyard school
Kailyard school, late 19th-century movement in Scottish fiction characterized by a sentimental idealization of......
Kannada literature
Kannada literature, the literature written in Kannada, which, like the other languages of South India, is of the......
katauta
katauta, a Japanese poetic form that consists of 17 or 19 syllables arranged in three lines of either 5, 7, and......
kavya
kavya, highly artificial Sanskrit literary style employed in the court epics of India from the early centuries......
Kazakh literature
Kazakh literature, the body of literature, both oral and written, produced in the Kazakh language by the Kazakh......
kenning
kenning, concise compound or figurative phrase replacing a common noun, especially in Old Germanic, Old Norse,......
khamseh
khamseh, in Persian and Turkish literature, a set of five long epic poems composed in rhyming couplet, or mas̄navī,......
Khmer literature
Khmer literature, body of literary works of Khmer peoples of Southeast Asia, mainly Cambodia. The classical literature......
Klephtic ballad
Klephtic ballad, any of the songs and poems extolling the adventures of the Klephts, Greek nationalists living......
kobold
kobold, in German folklore, mischievous household spirit who usually helps with chores and gives other valuable......
Korean literature
Korean literature, the body of works written by Koreans, at first in Classical Chinese, later in various transcription......
Kuruc song
Kuruc song, any of the poems celebrating the adventurous life of the Kurucs, Hungarian partisans who fought against......
Kyrgyz literature
Kyrgyz literature, the written works of the Kyrgyz people of Central Asia, most of whom live in Kyrgyzstan. A smaller......
kyrielle
kyrielle, a French verse form in short, usually octosyllabic, rhyming couplets. The couplets are often paired in......
Künstlerroman
Künstlerroman, (German: “artist’s novel”), class of Bildungsroman, or apprenticeship novel, that deals with the......
lament
lament, a nonnarrative poem expressing deep grief or sorrow over a personal loss. The form developed as part of......
lampoon
lampoon, virulent satire in prose or verse that is a gratuitous and sometimes unjust and malicious attack on an......
Lao literature
Lao literature, body of literature written in Lao, one of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia and the official......
Latvian literature
Latvian literature, body of writings in the Latvian language. Latvia’s loss of political independence in the 13th......
lauda
lauda, a type of Italian poetry or a nonliturgical devotional song in praise of the Virgin Mary, Christ, or the......
lay
lay, in medieval French literature, a short romance, usually written in octosyllabic verse, that dealt with subjects......
legend
legend, traditional story or group of stories told about a particular person or place. Formerly the term legend......
Lehrstück
Lehrstück, a form of drama that is specifically didactic in purpose and that is meant to be performed outside the......
leonine verse
leonine verse, Latin or French verse in which the last word in the line rhymes with the word just before the caesura......
leprechaun
leprechaun, in Irish folklore, fairy in the form of a tiny old man often with a cocked hat and leather apron. Solitary......
light verse
light verse, poetry on trivial or playful themes that is written primarily to amuse and entertain and that often......
limerick
limerick, a popular form of short, humorous verse that is often nonsensical and frequently ribald. It consists......
lipogram
lipogram, a written text deliberately composed of words not having a certain letter (such as the Odyssey of Tryphiodorus,......
list of science-fiction writers
This is a list of science-fiction writers, ordered alphabetically by...
literary criticism
literary criticism, the reasoned consideration of literary works and issues. It applies, as a term, to any argumentation......
literary sketch
literary sketch, short prose narrative, often an entertaining account of some aspect of a culture written by someone......
literature, popular
popular literature, any written work that is read, or is intended to be read, by a mass audience. In its broadest......
Lithuanian literature
Lithuanian literature, body of writings in the Lithuanian language. In the grand duchy of Lithuania, which stretched......
litotes
litotes, a figure of speech, conscious understatement in which emphasis is achieved by negation; examples are the......
littérature engagée
littérature engagée, (French: “engaged literature”), literature of commitment, popularized in the immediate post-World......
local colour
local colour, style of writing derived from the presentation of the features and peculiarities of a particular......
long metre
long metre, in poetry, a quatrain in iambic tetrameter with the second and fourth lines rhyming and often the first......
low comedy
low comedy, dramatic or literary entertainment with no underlying purpose except to provoke laughter by boasting,......
lyric
lyric, a verse or poem that is, or supposedly is, susceptible of being sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument......
lüshi
lüshi, a form of Chinese poetry that flourished in the Tang dynasty (618–907). It consists of eight lines of five......

Literary Terms Encyclopedia Articles By Title