Iambic Pentameter
a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable, for example Two households, both alike in dignity.
Octave
a series of eight notes occupying the interval between (and including) two notes, one having twice or half the frequency of vibration of the other.
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Sestet
the last six lines of a sonnet.
Couplet
two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.
Quatrain
a stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes.
Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet
a sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abba abba and a sestet rhyming in any of various patterns
English/Shakespearean Sonnet
a sonnet consisting of three quatrains and a couplet with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg
Spenserian Sonnet
a sonnet in which the lines are grouped into three interlocked quatrains and a couplet and the rhyme scheme is abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee.
Tone
The general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.
Text Structure
Refers to how the information within a written text is organized.
Mute
Refraining from speech or temporarily speechless.
Suppressed
Prevent the development, action, or expression of (a feeling, impulse, idea, etc.); restrain.
Treachery
Betrayal of trust; deceptive action or nature.
Concord
agreement between words in gender, number, case, person, or any other grammatical category that affects the forms of the words.
Valor
great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle.
Flee
run away from a place or situation of danger.
Stalking
stride somewhere in a proud, stiff, or angry manner.
Meek
quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.
Continual
frequently recurring; always happening.
Bitter
(of people or their feelings or behavior) angry, hurt, or resentful because of one’s bad experiences or a sense of unjust treatment.
congeal
solidify or coagulate, especially by cooling.
Vain
having or showing an excessively high opinion of one’s appearance, abilities, or worth.
Mortal
(of a living human being, often in contrast to a divine being) subject to death.
Subdue
overcome, quieten, or bring under control (a feeling or person).
Wan
(of a person’s complexion or appearance) pale and giving the impression of illness or exhaustion.
“she was looking wan and bleary-eyed”
“she was looking wan and bleary-eyed”
Languish
(of a person or other living thing) lose or lack vitality; grow weak or feeble.
Deem
regard or consider in a specified way.
Scorn
the feeling or belief that someone or something is worthless or despicable; contempt.
Balm
a fragrant ointment or preparation used to heal or soothe the skin.
Bard
a poet, traditionally one reciting epics and associated with a particular oral tradition.
Blank Verse
verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter.
Pastoral Poem
a literary work (as a poem or play) dealing with shepherds or rural life in a usually artificial manner and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life
Ascend
Go up or climb.
Humanism
an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.
Alteration
the action or process of altering or being altered.
Tempest
a violent windy storm.
Doom
death, destruction, or some other terrible fate.
Tread
a manner or the sound of someone walking.
Parody
an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.
Paradox
a statement that is self contradictory because it often contains two statements that are both true, but in general, cannot both be true at the same time.
Simile
a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
Figure of Speech
a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect.
Symbol
a mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, function, or process, e.g., the letter or letters standing for a chemical element or a character in musical notation.
Personification
the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
Alliteration
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Christopher Marlow
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet, and the “Bard of Avon”.
Rhyme Scheme
the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse.
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English landed gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer. He was cousin to Sir Richard Grenville and younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert.
