What is Dactyl What is dactyl? Dactyl is a three-part foot with an emphasis on the first syllable. This foot reminds the ancient Greek of a finger that has three phalanxes (three syllables). Such a foot was considered to be divine....
What is burlesque What does burlesque mean? Burlesque is a kind of comic, parody poetry and drama, genetically associated with folk laughing culture. It is accentuated by the conscious mismatch between content and form. How to define burlesque? Burlesque as a...
How to define Ballad? What is a ballad? Ballad is a small-sized composition of folk origin with a legendary or historical theme in its plot. It usually tells about something extraordinary, exceptional, heroic; the real is often combined with the fantastic....
What is Assonance? While working on the embodiment of his creative idea, the poet not only ponders over what the words take, how to combine them, but also takes into account their sound. So how to define assonance? Assonance is a...
What is Aphorism? Aphorism is a clear and complete thought, which has a deep meaning. It is easy to remember, and it is often used by people in everyday life. All the aphorisms have a number of distinctive features: Authorship....
What is Anapaest? Anapaest is a three-part foot with an emphasis on the third (last) syllable. In ancient Greece it was used in marching songs, and later in dramatic works. It’s pretty simple to define anapaest if you know the structure...
What is amphibrach? Amphibrach is a three-part foot with an emphasis on the second (middle) syllable. It’s pretty simple to define amphibrach if you know the structure of the foot: U—U. The first and the last syllables are unstressed while the...
What is Almanac? Almanac, as a rule, is a nonperiodic compilation of some data that has calendar or reference character and contains information about historical events, literary news, scientific discoveries, legislative acts or works, united on a certain basis (theme, genre,...
What is an Allusion? Many people have heard the word ‘allusion’ for many times but still they don’t know what’s an allusion. So let’s find out what does allusion mean. Allusion is a stylistic device that contains an indication or analogy...
What is Alliteration? Figurative language and figures of speech are used to evoke emotion and to imply meanings in writing by means of making comparisons and allusions to familiar objects and ideas that can help a reader to relate to what...