Unit 1: Parts 1 & 2 Literary Terms

• Caesuras, pauses for breath in the middle of lines

• Kennings, two-word poetic renamings, such as whales' home for "the sea"

• Assonance, repeated vowel sounds in unrhymed, stressed syllables

• Alliteration, repeated initial consonant sounds in stressed syllables

Shaped by these devices, each lyric in this grouping is an elegy—a poem mourning the loss of someone or something.

Write an editorial that is an elegy for someone or something that has gone from your neighborhood or school.

One of the earliest forms of literature, an epic is a long narrative poem written in an elevated style.

Most epics share certain literary or formal characteristics called epic conventions.

At the beginning of an epic, the poet states the subject or purpose of the poem, and then invokes, or calls upon, a muse (a spirit thought to inspire an artist) or supernatural force for help in telling the story.

At the beginning of an epic, the poet states the subject or purpose of the poem, and then invokes, or calls upon, a muse (a spirit thought to inspire an artist) or supernatural force for help in telling the story.

The epic hero is the central character in an epic. Often of noble or semi-divine birth, he sets out on a quest, a dangerous journey that tests his spirit.

Valorous deeds are acts that reveal the epic hero's extraordinary qualities and reflect the values cherished by his culture.

Supernatural forces include deities, some of whom may watch over the hero, and monsters.

Most epics celebrate the exploits of a legendary, or epic, hero, a larger-than-life character.

An analogy compares two relationships to show their basic similarity.

An online encyclopedia article is a research source, presented as a Web page on the Internet, that provides information on a given topic.

In an analytical essay, you break a topic into its elements and examine each one.