Literary Terms and Text Analysis
Literary Terms Defined
Imagery: It is the representation through language of sense experience. An image most often suggests a mental picture (sight), but an image may also represent a sound, smell, taste, or tactile experience.
Similes: A comparison between two things which are essentially dissimilar. The comparison is directly stated through words such as ‘like’, ‘as’, ‘than’, or ‘resembles’.
Metaphor: A comparison between two things which are essentially dissimilar. The comparison is implied rather than directly stated.
Alliteration: It is the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Assonance: It is a close repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually in stressed syllables.
Enjambment: The continuation of the sentence sense – and therefore the grammatical construction – beyond the end of a line of poetry.
Oxymoron: Two words placed close together which are contradictory, yet have truth in them.
Rhythm: A series of stressed or accented syllables in a group of words.
Romanticism: It is a movement that began in the 18th century and continued. It influenced visual arts and literature.
Analysis Questions
The Hound of the Baskervilles
What are the ways in which an author can create tension in a narrative? Give examples.
An author can create tension by putting characters in danger, by making readers care about the characters, and by controlling the flow of information.
What is the mood in this passage of the novel? Justify your answer.
The mood is mystery. In this passage, the context is the forest at night. Mood is a way of expressing feelings and emotions.
What are the themes explored in this passage? Justify your answer.
What elements in the novel help to create an atmosphere of mystery?
The elements are night, an unknown place, and fog.
She Walks in Beauty
How is the girl described in the poem? Justify your answer with quotes.
The girl is described in the poem as a beautiful woman. Example: “She walks in beauty, like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies.”
What does the poet say that she “walks in beauty” and not that she “is beautiful”?
Because if the poet had said that she is beautiful, he would express his feelings.
What do we learn about her? Justify your answer with quotes.
We learn that she is soft, calm, yet eloquent, and has smiles that win. Example: “So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, / The smiles that win.”
What type of sensory images predominate in the poem? Quote 2 of them.
“Starry skies” and “cloudless climes”.
What do we learn about the feelings of the persona?
We do not learn about the persona’s feelings because he does not express them.
Why do you think that’s so?
The woman is compared to “the night”. What effect does this have on the reader?
The effect is to confuse the reader.
What effect is created by the night being “of cloudless climes and starry skies”?
This creates a beautiful night and a warm atmosphere.
How is contrast used in the poem?
What’s Rhyme? Define the rhyme pattern in the poem.
Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds at the end of lines. It makes the poem rhyme, meaning the sounds are similar.
What’s Iambic Tetrameter? Explain and give examples from the poem.
Iambic tetrameter is a meter in poetry consisting of four iambic feet (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable). Example: “one WEAK | one STRONG”.
What effect is caused by the devices mentioned in questions 5 and 6?
This helps the reader concentrate on the woman.
What was the model of feminine beauty at the time?
How is the beauty of the girl different from that model?
What is assonance? Define it and provide an example from the poem.
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words.
What is alliteration? Define it and provide an example from the poem.
Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
What is enjambment? Define it and provide an example from the poem.
Enjambment is when a sentence or phrase continues beyond the end of a line of poetry.
Find an example of simile. What effect does it have on the reader?
Find an example of metaphor. What effect does it have on the reader?
What effect is caused by the three literary devices in questions 10, 11, and 12?
Beauty and Virtue are the 2 main themes of the poem. Explain which lines in the poem reflect the themes most clearly.
What is Romanticism?
Romanticism is a movement that began in the late 18th century and continued into the 19th century.
Mention the main characteristics of the Romantic artistic movement. Why is “She Walks in Beauty” a romantic poem?