Lecture : 15

Topic:
Literary terms: Based on different literary genres,
and figures of speech.
Part-01
❖ Class Highlights
❑ Discussion on Previous questions on English
literary terms.
❑ English Literary terms ( Based on four basic
genres, i.e. Poem, Drama, Fiction, Non-fiction)
❑ Quiz
❑ Summary & Review.
❑ Question and Answer.
 English Literary terms

▪ Analysis of previous questions:

1. The repetition of beginning consonant sound is known as-
alliteration.
2. Which of the following is not a poetic tradition- The occult.
3. What is a funny poem of five lines called- Limerick.
4. Shakespeare composed much of his plays in what sort of verse-
Iambic Pentameter.
5. The comparison of unlike things are using the words like or as is
known to be- simile.
6. The Climax of a plot is what happens- at the height.
7. If a part of speech or writing breaks the theme, it is called-
Digression.
8. A song embodied religious and sacred emotion is called- Hymn.
9. A person who writes about his own life writes- an autobiography.
10. The Poet laureate is- the court of England/others.
 English Literary terms

▪ Analysis of previous questions:

11. 'Equivocation' means- Two contrary things in the same statement.
12. The literary term euphemism means- inoffensive expression.
13. The word, Panegyric means- elaborate praise.
14. ‘The sentence, who would have thought shylock was so unkind’
expresses- wonder.
15. A formal composition or speech expressing high praise of
somebody- eulogy.
16. A fantasy is an imaginary story.
17. Comedy of Humors is connected with- a medical theory.
18. A speech full of too many words- a verbose speech.
 English Literary terms

✓ ইংরেজি সাজিরযেে এই অংশজি বেশ গুরুত্বপূ র্ণ। জিজিজিনােী সি ভাইভারযও অরনক

সিয় এ সংক্রান্ত িশ্ন এরস থারক। কজেযা, নািক, উপন্য়াস, জিকশন, নন জিকশন
ইযোজি কোরিগজেরয িূ িয: িশ্ন কো িয়।

✓ আিারিে আরিাচনা িূ িয: ৪িা Genre বক জিরে িরে। এছাড়াও এে োইরেে গুরুত্বপূ নণ
literary terms গুরিাে উপরেও আরিাকপায কো িরে।
 English Literary terms

✓ To understand the nature of literature, literary terms are very

crucial. For example; some poems can be categorized as
ballads( ex. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner By S.T
Coleridge), whereas some may be identified as epic (ex.
Paradise lost by John Milton.

✓ Some words and phrases are categorized as figures of

speech like simile, metaphor etc. He is as fierce as Tiger.
(simile) , He is a Tiger. (metaphor)etc. Use of these figures are
found in different genres of literary works.

✓ Sometimes the famous English writers are described on the

basis of their particular literary works. For instance, Jonathan
Swift is called the greatest satirist of English Literature.
 English Literary terms

Four Basic Genre:

▪ 1. Poetry
▪ 2. Drama
▪ 3. Fiction
▪ 4. Non-fiction
 ❖ Quiz
01. The literary term 'hymn' means--
ক) vague idea
খ) song of praise
গ) wise saying
ি) a story that conveys a useful lesson
English Literary terms
 English Literary terms

Lyric: (গীজয কজেযা):

- A short poem or verse expressing personal or
subjective thoughts and intense feelings of a single
speaker. It is often presented with a song.
- It expresses with personal thoughts, feelings, or
emotions of the speaker.

Example poems:
✓ Dover Beach by Arnold’s
✓ Sonnets of Shakespeare’s
✓ Tintern Abbey By Wordsworth
✓ Intimations of Immortality By Wordsworth
✓ To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell
 English Literary terms

Lyric: (গীজয কজেযা):

Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold:
The sea is calm tonight.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
 English Literary terms

Sonnet:
✓ It is a lyric poem of fourteen iambic pentameter* lines.
The first eight lines are called `octave 'and the last six
lines are called sestet.’
✓ বচৌদ্দ িাইরনে কজেযা। িথি আি িাইনরক অকরিভ ো অষ্টক, বশষ ছয়
িাইনরক বসসরিি ো ষষ্টক েরি।

Sonnet সাধাের্য জযন ধেরনে িরয় থারক, যথা:

1. Petrarchan Sonnet. সরনরিে সেরচরয় িচজিয ধাো বপত্রাকীয় সরনি।
বপত্রাকরক সরনরিে িনক েিা িরয় থারক।
2. Shakespearean Sonnet.
3. Spenserian Sonnet.
 English Literary terms

Iambic Pentameter:
- A rhythmic Pattern. Pentameter means a group or unit
of five people or five things.
- It is a short syllable followed by a long syllable. For
example, deLIGHT, the SUN, forLORN, one DAY,
reLEASE.
- Each line contains five pairs, ten syllables.

Example: "If music be the food of love, play on" - Twelfth

Night (Act I, Scene I)
 English Literary terms

Ode:
✓ A lyric poem that begins with grief or agony and ends with
consolation. এিা এক ধেরনে িশজিিূ িক গীজযকজেযা বযখারন কজে যাে িরনে
একান্ত অনূ ভুজযগুরিা গাম্ভীরযণে সারথ উপস্থাপন করেন। সচোচে এগুরিা িীিণ িরয় থারক।
✓ The word Ode derived from Greek origin.
✓ It starts with an address to someone or something.

Example: "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,—
 English Literary terms

Elegy: (বশাকগীজয ো বশাকগাাঁথা কজেযা)

✓ It's a meditative lyric poem that expresses grief and consists of
mourning for the death of a friend or loved one. Sometimes it
laments over tragic events as well.
✓ এই কজেযাগুরিা সাধাের্য েেজিগয িু:খ, অনু যাপ এেং বশাক িকাশ করে থারক। অরনক সিয়
কারো িৃযেরয ো বকান িিণাজন্তক িিনায় বশাক িকাশ কো িরয় থারক।
✓ The speaker feels the presence of the dead friend around him. Its
tone is grave.
Example poems: “
▪ Adonais is an elegy written by P.B Shelley on the death of John
Keats.
▪ Gray’s Elegy written in a country churchyard,
▪ Tennyson's in memoriam,
▪ Lycidas by John Milton
▪ W.H Auden’s in memory of W.B yeats.
Requiem: A musical composition for the funeral prayer or similar sad
events.
 English Literary terms

Dramatic Monologue:
✓ A lyric poem written in the form of a speech of an individual
character; . Basically, here a single speaker expresses his
thoughts and feelings to a silent listener.
✓ বয কজেযায় একিন েিা নীেে বরাযাে কারছ যাে অনু ভূজয িকাশ করে থারকন।
Examples: My last Duchess is one of the finest dramatic
monologs in English literature. Do not go gentle into that
Night by Dylan Thomas.

"That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,

Looking as if she were alive."

‘’a monologue is a speech by one person, while a dramatic

monologue is a type of monologue in which a character
reveals their thoughts and emotions to an implied listener.’’
 English Literary terms

Soliloquy: (স্বগরযাজি)
✓ A long, usually serious spoken discourse that a character in a
play delivers to an audience and that reveals the character's
thoughts.
✓ A passage in a drama in which a character expresses his
thoughts or feelings aloud while either alone upon the stage
or with the other actors keeping silent.
✓ When a speaker speaks his thoughts aloud it is called
Soliloquy.
✓ নািরকে বকান চজেত্র যখন জনরিই জনরিে সারথ কথা েরি যাে িরনে ভাে িকাশ করে
এেং অনেো নীেে থারক, যখন যারক Soliloquy েরি।

Example: To be or not to be soliloquy in Hamlet by

Shakespeare.
 English Literary terms

Hymn:(িশংসািূিক স্তুজযগান)
✓ A lyric poem or song in praise of God or a deity or a hero.
Generally it is a song used in Christian worship.

Examples: A mighty Fortress is our God by Martin Luther, Hymn

to Apollo by Keats.
 English Literary terms

Epithalamion
✓ It's actually used as a wedding lyric. This poem was sung to
the bride and bridegroom at their wedding.
✓ জেরয়ে অনু ষ্ঠারন পাঠকৃয িচজিয গীজয কজেযা।

Example: Hail Bishop Valentine by John Donne.

 English Literary terms

Ballad: (বিাকগাাঁথা)
✓ A narrative poem that tells a story through dialogue and
action.
✓ এই কজেযাগুরিারয ধিণ, োিনীজয, জেজভন্ন সািাজিক িসঙ্গ স্থান পায়। িূ িয গ্রািীন
িীেরনে জেজভন্ন জেষয় উরঠ আরস এই কজেযাগুরিারয। আনন্দ বেিনাে সংজিররন কাজিনী
ের্ণনা কো িয়।
Examples of Ballad:
▪ The Demon lover, The cruel mother etc are called popular Ballad or
Folk Ballad. These were developed when written literature was not
the custom.

▪ On the other hand, The rime of the ancient mariner composed by

S.T coleridge is a famous literary ballad.
 English Literary terms

Epic (িিাকােে):
✓ In general, Epic is a long narrative poem that describes the
deeds of a hero. However the term `epic’ could be used to
address a novel as well. For instance , War and Peace by Leo
Tolstoy.

✓ এগুরিা সাধাের্য সু িীিণ এেং বোিাঞ্চকে িরয় থারক। অরনক সিয় কারো েীেত্বপূ র্ণ
করিণে ইজযিাসও যুরি ধো িয় এই কজেযাগুরিারয।

Examples: Beowulf, Paradise Lost.

 English Literary terms

✓ Metrical Romance: A romance in verse. Romanticism is a

doctrine of art and literature that involves high imagination,
love of nature , desire or Hellenism.
** Hellenism: The study or philosophy of beauty of the ancient
Greeks and description of beauty in general.

✓ Doggerel: Comic verses composed in non traditional

rhythm.
✓ Nonsense verse: intended to amuse by absurdity. It does not
follow thematic rules of rhyme. অথণিীন শব্দ েেেিাে করে িািকা
বিিারিে ছড়া। Such as:
Ah, ra, chickera
Roly, poly, pickena,
Kinny , minny, festi
Shanti-poo
Kockerman, chikerman, chinese-choo.
 English Literary terms

❑ Blank Verse:(অজিত্রাক্ষে ছন্দ) It's an unrhymed iambic

pentameter. It's a kind of poetry without rhyme at the end.
এসে কজেযাে বেজশষ্টে িরিা অন্তজিি ো কজেযাে বশরষ ছরন্দে অনু পজস্থজয।
Example: John Milton's paradise lost is an epic poem in blank
verse.
Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,

❑ Couplet: (জিপিী বলাক) Two lines of verse rhyming together.

(equal length and rhyme)
Example:
In these deep solitudes and awful cells,
Where heav'nly-pensive contemplation dwells,
These two lines are excerpts from the poem Eloisa Abelard by
 English Literary terms

❑ Parody: Funny imitation of a poem. অনে কারো েচনাে ভজঙ্গয নকি

করে েেঙ্গ েসাত্মক েচনা।
❑ Dirge: (অরন্তোজষ্টগাাঁথা) A slow and sad song played at the funeral.
❑ Machinery : The supernatural agents used in an epic or
mock-epic.
❑ Quatrain: It is a stanga ( division of poem). a piece of verse
complete in four rhymed lines.
❑ Invocation: A formal prayer to the muses for inspiration.
❑ Limerick:( পাাঁচ িাইরনে িিাে ছড়া) A popular form of short, funny
verse that is often nonsensical and rude. Rhyming like
aabba.
❑ Refrain: Lines of a song or a poem repeated at the end of
each verse is called a refrain. i.e. jump back, honey, jump
back
Example: In memoriam by Lord Tennyson.
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Alliteration: (অনু িাস) It refers to the repetition of consonant sounds

at the beginning of two or more words or stressed syllables. For
instance, wild and wooly or a babbling brook. শরব্দে শুরুরয থাকা
consonant এে পুনোেৃজি। বযিন: Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled
peppers.
Example: ``Blue, glossy green, and velvet black.’’ {Coleridge: The rime
of the ancient Mariner} Here in this line, two words begin with b and
two words with g. In the word velvet , v is repeated at the beginning of
two stressed syllables.

❑ Allusion: (পরোক্ষ উরেখ ো ইজঙ্গয) An implicit or indirect reference to

another work of literature, a historical or mythical person or event.
Sometimes we use it in our daily conversation too. জেষয়রভরি একইেস্তুে
জভন্ন িৃ জষ্টরকারন েেেহৃয িয় এেকি েচনারয।
For instance: Don’t act like a romeo in front of her.
Example: The winged boy I knew;
But who wast thou, O happy, happy dove? {Keats: Ode
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Anaphora: (একই শরব্দে পুনোেৃজি) Repetition of a word or phrases at the

beginning of two or more successive verse lines, clauses, or
sentences.

Example: So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
{shakespeare , Sonnet}

In every cry of every man,

In every infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear (W.Blake: London)
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Antagonist: Principal opponent or foil of the main character of a

play. জভরিন ো খিনায়ক।
❑ Antithesis: (পেস্পে জেরোধী ভােধাোে সজন্নরেশ) The direct opposite of
something or someone. .i.e. Art is long, and Time is fleeting, United
We stand. etc
❑ Anti-climax: A statement in which there is a sudden fall from the
serious to the trivial or from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Example: Not louder shrieks to pitying heaven are cast,

When husbands, or when lapdogs breath their last; {
Poep: The Rape of the Lock}
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Apostrophe: (সরবাধন অিঙ্কাে) An address to someone absent or

something abstract as if the person or the thing were present. By
using apostrophe, a speaker turns from the audience to address a
single person or thing. এিা এক ধেরনে Personification । এখারন বিখক িানিীন,
জনিণীে েস্তুরক েেজিরুরপ জকংো অনু পজস্থয েেজিরক উপজস্থয েেজিরুরপ সরবাধন করেন।
Example: O wind, If winter comes, can spring be far behind? [Ode
to the west wind by P.B Shelley)

❑ Assonance: Repetition of a vowel sound in nearby words. In other

words, the similarity of sounds between two syllables that are close
together. For instance, go and mow the lawn.

Example: ``Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river swallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies’’ {Keats: To
autumn)
`
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Canto: Major division of a long poem or an epic. (িিাকারেেে একজি ভাগ)

❑ Catharsis: The act or process of releasing a strong emotion (such as
pity or fear) especially by expressing it in an art form. নািরকে বশষ িৃ রশে
িশণরকে িরন নায়রকে িজয সিানূ ভুজয বযজে কোরনা। িশণক নায়করক সিানূ ভূজয বিখারে পাশাপাজশ
যাে জনরিে িনে ভয় িাগ্রয িরে।
Example: And calm of mind all passion spent. {Samson Agonistes by
Milton}

❑ Comic Relief: A humorous scene in between serious scenes of a

tragedy. It is intended to release the emotional tension and lift the
tragic effect. িািকা কথা োযণাে িাো গুরুগম্ভীে পজেজস্থজযরক িািকা কোে িয়াস।
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Conceit: A clever expression in writing or speech that involves a

comparison between two things. i.e. A broken heart is like a
damaged clock.
❑ Connotation: (পরোক্ষ অথণ) The indirect meaning of a word. Or
something suggested by another word. বকান শরব্দে আজভধাজনক অথণ েেজযরেরক
জকছু িা পরোক্ষ অথণ েেেহৃয িওয়া।
Example: Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in. {Frost: The Death of the Hired
Man}
The literal or dictionary meaning of home is a roofed structure to live
in but here in this example it refers to the meaning peace, comfort etc.

❑ Denotation: (আজভধাজনক অরথণ েেেহৃয িওয়া) It is just the opposite of

Connotation. It indicates the direct or lexical meaning of any word.
Example: The denotation of the word Bird is a winged biped that can
fly.
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Didactic: (জশক্ষািূ িক েচনা) A literary work that aims to educate or teach

its readers.
Example: Alexander Pope’s essay on criticism is an example of such
writings.

❑ Digression:(অোন্তেযা) If a part of speech or writing breaks the theme

it is called digression.অথণাৎ িূ ি জেষয়েস্তু ো জথি বথরক সরে যাওয়া।

❑ Dramatic Irony: A literary device by which the audience’s or

reader’s understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses
that of its characters.

❑ Epigram: A brief and witty statement which is apparently self-

contradictory.

Example:
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts. (Shelley: To
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Epilogue: A short speech at the end of a play is called an epilogue.

নািক, গল্প ো জসরনিা বশরষ িশণকরিে উরদ্দরশে সিাপনী েিেে বযখারন চজেত্রগুরিা সবরে জেরশষ যথে
িিান কো িরয় থারক।
❑ Epithet: (বনজযোচক জেরশষর্) An adjective or phrase that is used to
express a characteristic of a person or thing, such as Ivan the
Terrible. Often used as a disparaging or abusive word or phrase.
❑ Eulogy :(অজযজেি িশংসা) Its aim was to eulogize an individual, a cause,
occasion, movement, city, or state, or to condemn them. It is
somewhat related to elegy.
❑ Euphemism: A mild or pleasant word group of words that is used
instead of one that is unpleasant or offensive. We often use it in our
everyday conversation. For instance: He is always emotional and
drunk. (Drunk) শ্রুজযকিু এেং অস্বজিকে শরব্দে পজেেরযণ বকািিযে শব্দ িরয়াগ কো।
Example: ``I am one, sir, that comes to tell your daughter and the
moor are now making the beast with two backs.’’ Here, in this example
is an excerpt from Shakespear’s Othello, the underlying meaning
refers to having sex.
 Miscellaneous Literary Terms/Figures
of speech:

❑ Fantasy:(উদ্ভি/অোিে কল্পনা) Fantasy is an imaginary story that happens

in an imaginary world that includes a strange character and plot.
Example: Gulliver’s Travel by Jonathan Swift, A midsummer night’s
dream by Shakespeare. Harry potter series by J.K. Rowling.

❑ Free Verse: (িুিক ছন্দ) It does not have the steady, abstract rhythm of
traditional poetry. এই ধেরনে কজেযাগুরিারয সচোচে িথাগয ধাোোজিকযা, গঠন ,
জনয়ি ইযোজি থারকনা।
Example: The red wheelbarrow poem by William carols Williams.

❑ Hamartia: It is also called a tragic fall. An error or a flaw in the

character of the protagonist of a tragedy.
Example: Dr. Faustus ‘ thirst for god-like power in Doctor Faustus.
❖ Answer of the Quizzes
Quiz: 01 : "- The literary term ‘Hymn’ means:
Answer: Hymn is a religious song or poem in praise of God.

A lyric poem or song in praise of God or a deity or a hero.

Generally it is a song used in Christian worship.

Examples: A mighty Fortress is our God by Martin Luther, Hymn

to Apollo by Keats.
❖ Answer of the Quizzes
Quiz: 02: "The Literary term ‘euphemism’ means -
Answer: - Inoffensive expression.
- Euphemism is a figure of speech which stands for a pleasant
way of referring to something unpleasant.

- ইংরেজি সাজিরযে 'Euphemism' শরেে অর্থ সুভাষণ, ক ামল প্র াশ

(inoffensive expression)।
- অর্থাৎ অস্বাভাজি িা র াে িা থ শ শরেে িদরল ক ামল, মৃদু িা শ্রুজযমধুে
শরেে িেিিাে। কেমনঃ
- 'Kick the bucket' is an euphemism that describes the death of
a person.

Source: An ABC of English Literature, Dr. M Mofizar Rahman.

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