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Terms for subject Literature (1061 entries)

metanoia	, metanoia, changing (one's) mind	glassm­an
Thomas Stearns (TS Eliot) Eliot	- American poet and playwright (1888 -1965) He is considered by many as one of the most significant English-language poets of the twentieth centaury.
1. The Petrarchan sonnet (or Italian sonnet)	an eight line stanza, called an octave, which is followed by a six line stanza, called a sestet. The initial octave has two quatrains (4 lines) that generally rhyme abba, abba. The first of these quatrains offers the theme, whilst the second develops this main idea. Later in the sestet, the primary three lines offer a reflection on or exemplify the theme. The final three lines bring the poem to a cohesive end. The sestet is sometimes arranged cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdedce.
2. The Shakespearean sonnet (or English sonnet)	arranged in three quatrains, where each rhyme is distinct. There is a final, rhymed couplet that creates a unifying peak to the entire sonnet. Its rhyme scheme is generally abab, cdcd, efef, gg.
Second Vice President	2VP
3. The Miltonic sonnet	similar in form to the petrarchan sonnet, however the Miltonic sonnet does not divide its ideas between the octave and the sestet. The train of thought instead runs straight from the eighth to ninth line. Furthermore, Milton develops the sonnet's scope to encompass not only the theme of love, as the earlier sonnets did, but also to incorporate politics, religion, and personal matters.
Third Vice President	3VP
Golden Age of Greece	500 - 300 BC. A time known for its art, philosophy, architecture and literature.
Saul Bellow	A Canadian and American writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1976) and the Pulitzer prize.
Aristotle	A Greek philosopher who lived from 384 BC to 322 BC. Aristotle wrote on numerous subjects including poetry, physics, music, politics and biology. He was the student of Plato. Alongside Plato and Socrates, Aristotle is considered an important figure to the founding of Western knowledge.
haiku	A Japanese poem where the form consists of a single three-line stanza of seventeen syllables. The first line contains five syllables, the second contains seven, whilst the last has, again, five syllables. The short poem encapsulates the spirit of the poet's mood. Haikus often lose their meaning in translation.
carpe diem	A Latin term coined by the poet Horace, which means 'seize the day'. The phrase suggests that as life is short one must grasp present pleasures. This motif is used in literature, and was especially popular with the Elizabethan lyric poets.
revenge play	A Renaissance genre of drama, where the plot revolves around the protagonist's attempt to avenge a previous wrong, by killing the perpetrator of the deed. There is usually much bloodshed and violence. Shakespeare's Hamlet has been identified as a revenge play.
foot	A basic unit of meter, comprising of a set number of strong stresses and light stresses.
jig	A bawdy song and dance in Renaissance drama that was performed by a clown, or other actors, at the end of a play.
purgatory	A belief in a place where the souls of those dying in a state of sin may remain while being purged of sin. Now often used to signify a state of suffering.
Germanic	A branch of Indo-European languages.
eschatology	A branch of theology dealing with Judgement Day and the Second Coming.
pamphlet	A brief booklet, typically discussing an issue of the time and about which the writer feels strongly. In the past the benefit of a pamphlet was that it was fairly simple to generate: it was therefore particularly favoured by underground writers and revolutionaries as a mode of communication. Jonathan Swift’s A modest Proposal is a well-known example of a pamphlet.
fable	A brief narrative illustrating human tendencies through the depiction of animal characters. Unlike the parables, fables often feature talking animals or animated objects as the principal characters. The interaction of these animals or objects exposes truths about human nature.