All About Literature: English Vocabulary List

a work of fiction with an intermediate length, which could be considered a short novel

"Short novella wrote."

"She wrote a beautiful short novella about love and loss during the war last year."

a historical account of events presented in chronological order

"The chronicle recorded events from the twelfth century."

"The chronicle recorded every major battle and royal marriage in the kingdom's thousand year history."

a lyric poem, written in varied or irregular metrical form, for a particular object, person, or concept

"She wrote an ode poem."

"The poet wrote a beautiful ode to celebrate the beauty of the natural world."

a piece of writing, music, etc. that imitates the style of someone else in a humorous way

"It is a funny parody."

"The comedy show performed a hilarious parody of a famous action movie that made the audience laugh for a long time."

a short story on morality with animal characters

"The fable of the tortoise and the hare is famous."

"A fable is a short story featuring animals as characters that conveys a clear moral lesson"

a Japanese poem with three unrhymed lines that have five, seven and five syllables each

"He wrote a haiku."

"A haiku traditionally consists of three lines with a syllable pattern of five"

a long story of heroic actions and bravery in old Norse or Icelandic in the Middle Ages, or a modern narrative resembling such a narrative

"It was a long saga."

"The epic saga of the ancient explorers detailed their perilous journey across uncharted territories and their eventual discoveries."

a quotation or phrase placed at the beginning of a book, chapter, or other written work, often to suggest a theme or context

"The epigraph was a famous quote."

"The author placed a short quote from an ancient poem as an epigraph at the very beginning of the novel."

a humorous poem of five anapestic lines with a rhyme scheme of AABBA

"She read a limerick."

"The comedian recited a witty limerick about a peculiar chef and his unusual culinary creations."

the creative and imaginative expression of powerful feelings in art, poetry, music, etc.

"Her lyricism was amazing."

"The composer's symphony was praised for its profound lyricism and emotional depth, captivating the audience."

spoken or written language in its usual form, in contrast to poetry

"She prefers prose."

"While the play contained some poetic passages, the majority of the dialogue was written in clear prose."

the collection of artistic or literary works produced by a particular painter, author, etc.

"This is his finest oeuvre."

"The painter's entire oeuvre includes hundreds of works spanning over fifty years of his artistic career."

villainous character who strongly opposes another person or thing

"The antagonist opposes the protagonist."

"An antagonist is the principal opponent of the protagonist"

the main character in a movie, novel, TV show, etc.

"The protagonist is the main character."

"The protagonist of the novel is a young woman who must overcome many challenges to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor."

a section of additional material that is usually added at the end of a book

"Add contract addendum."

"The lawyer prepared an addendum to the contract to include new conditions last week."

a short introductory section at the beginning of a book, usually written by someone other than the author

"The book has a foreword."

"The renowned historian penned a thoughtful foreword for the new biography, adding valuable context."

a part at the end of a book including some final words that may not be written by the author

"Read the afterword."

"The author's friend wrote a thoughtful afterword for the biography of her life."

a series of lines in a poem, usually with recurring rhyme scheme and meter

"This stanza has four lines."

"Each stanza of the poem contains four lines with an alternating rhyme pattern."

a verse of Italian origin that has 14 lines, usually in an iambic pentameter and a prescribed rhyme scheme

"Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets about love"

"A sonnet is a short poem with fourteen lines and a specific rhyme scheme."

exciting and intriguing in a way that attracts one's attention

"The movie was gripping."

"The gripping thriller novel kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page."

giving a lot of information briefly and clearly

"Her summary was concise."

"The professor's concise lecture provided a clear overview of the complex historical period."

behaving in an artificial way that is too formal, trying to impress others

"His acting was mannered."

"The actor's overly mannered performance felt unnatural and detracted from the emotional depth of the character."

sexually explicit or morally obscene

"The movie was raunchy."

"The stand-up comedian's jokes were often raunchy, pushing the boundaries of acceptable humor for some audience members."

scholarly and highly interested in cultural or artistic matters

"The book is highbrow."

"She prefers highbrow literature and art exhibitions over mainstream popular entertainment and media."

a book, movie, play, etc. that continues and extends the story of an earlier one

"The sequel to the hit video game will be released next year."

"A spiritual sequel is a new work that is not a direct narrative continuation"

an ancient book, written by hand, especially of scriptures, classics, etc.

"A codex is an old handwritten book."

"The ancient codex was made of wooden pages covered with wax and bound together with leather straps to preserve important texts."

an author whose work is published under someone else's name

"Professional ghostwriter hired."

"The famous celebrity hired a professional ghostwriter to write his autobiography."

someone who is known for writing or telling humorous stories or jokes about real people and events

"He is a humorist."

"The renowned humorist captivated the audience with his witty observations about everyday life and current events."

a male literary author or scholar

"Respected man of letters."

"The respected man of letters wrote many important books about history and culture."

a person who writes or uses satires in order to criticize or humor someone or something

"The satirist mocked the politician's lies."

"The sharp satirist criticized society through his clever writings and cartoons."

a long poem in narrative form giving an account of the extraordinary deeds and adventures of a nation's heroes or legends

"He read an epic poem."

"The epic chronicled the heroic journey of the warrior king and his legendary companions."

a short, simple story that teaches a moral lesson

"Jesus told a parable to teach a lesson."

"The teacher told a parable about a lost sheep to explain the importance of kindness."

a short poem or phrase that expresses a single thought satirically, often ending in a clever or humorous way

"Her epigram was clever."

"The author concluded the chapter with a concise epigram that perfectly summarized the story's theme."

a subject, idea, or phrase that is repeatedly used in a literary work

"The motif appears many times."

"The recurring motif of darkness throughout the novel creates a mysterious atmosphere."

the way in which characters in a movie, book, etc. are created and represented by a writer

"The characterization was strong."

"The writer used characterization to make the hero feel real."

to make a book, play, etc. short by omitting the details and including the main parts

"They will abridge the book."

"The publisher decided to abridge the lengthy novel to make it more accessible to a younger audience."

to describe a specific subject, scene, person, etc.

"The painting depicts a rural scene."

"The mural depicts scenes from the town's history including the great fire and subsequent rebuilding efforts."

a set of words that usually have a rhythmic pattern

"Sing this verse."

"The poet's final verse eloquently summarized the profound themes explored throughout the entire collection."

(of an author or literary work) accepted as highly acclaimed authors or pieces of literature, which are collectively referred to as the literary canon

"The text is canonical."

"The canonical version of the text is the one accepted by most scholars as the original written by the author."

(of writing or speech) full of literary or complicated words and phrases

"His speech was flowery."

"The poet's deliberately flowery language made it difficult for the audience to understand the core message."

a playwright who writes tragedies

"The tragedian wrote plays."

"The ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles is celebrated for his profound and enduring dramatic works."