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Essential Words Needed for the GRE - All About Literature

Here you will learn some English words about literature, such as "novella", "limerick", "depict", etc. that are needed for the GRE exam.

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Essential Words Needed for the GRE
novella
[noun]
a work of fiction with an intermediate length, which could be considered a short novel
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epic
[noun]
a long poem in narrative form giving an account of the extraordinary deeds and adventures of a nation's heroes or legends
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chronicle
[noun]
a historical account of events presented in chronological order
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ode
[noun]
a lyric poem, written in varied or irregular metrical form, for a particular object, person, or concept
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parody
[noun]
a piece of writing, music, etc. that imitates the style of someone else in a humorous way
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fable
[noun]
a short story on morality with animal characters
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parable
[noun]
a brief symbolic story that is told to send a moral or religious message
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haiku
[noun]
a Japanese poem with three unrhymed lines that have five, seven and five syllables each
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epigram
[noun]
a short poem or phrase that expresses a single thought satirically, often ending in a clever or humorous way
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saga
[noun]
a long story of heroic actions and bravery in old Norse or Icelandic in the Middle Ages, or a modern narrative resembling such a narrative
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epigraph
[noun]
a short quotation or phrase that is written at the beginning of a book or any chapter of it, suggesting the theme
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limerick
[noun]
a humorous poem of five anapestic lines with a rhyme scheme of aabba
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lyricism
[noun]
the creative and imaginative expression of powerful feelings in art, poetry, music, etc.
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prose
[noun]
spoken or written language in its usual form, in contrast to poetry
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oeuvre
[noun]
the collection of artistic or literary works produced by a particular painter, author, etc.
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motif
[noun]
a subject, idea, or phrase that is repeatedly used in a literary work or musical composition
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characterization
[noun]
the way in which characters in a movie, book, etc. are created and represented by a writer
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antagonist
[noun]
someone who strongly opposes another person or thing
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protagonist
[noun]
the main character in a movie, novel, TV show, etc.
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to abridge
[verb]
to make a book, play, etc. short by omitting the details and including the main parts
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to depict
[verb]
to describe a specific subject, scene, person, etc.
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addendum
[noun]
a section of additional material that is usually added at the end of a book
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foreword
[noun]
a short introductory section at the beginning of a book, usually written by someone other than the author
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afterword
[noun]
a part at the end of a book including some final words that may not be written by the author
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stanza
[noun]
a series of lines in a poem, usually with recurring rhyme scheme and meter
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verse
[noun]
a set of words that usually have a rhythmic pattern
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sonnet
[noun]
a verse of Italian origin that has 14 lines, usually in an iambic pentameter and a prescribed rhyme scheme
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gripping
[adjective]
exciting and intriguing in a way that attracts someone's attention
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concise
[adjective]
giving a lot of information briefly and clearly
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canonical
[adjective]
(of an author or literary work) accepted as highly acclaimed authors or pieces of literature, which are collectively referred to as the literary canon
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flowery
[adjective]
(of writing or speech) full of literary or complicated words and phrases
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mannered
[adjective]
behaving in an artificial way that is too formal, trying to impress others
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raunchy
[adjective]
sexually explicit or morally obscene
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highbrow
[adjective]
scholarly and highly interested in cultural or artistic matters
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sequel
[noun]
a book, movie, play, etc. that continues and extends the story of an earlier one
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codex
[noun]
an ancient book, written by hand, especially of scriptures, classics, etc.
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ghostwriter
[noun]
an author whose work is published under someone else's name
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humorist
[noun]
someone who is known for writing or telling humorous stories or jokes about real people and events
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tragedian
[noun]
a playwright who writes tragedies
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man of letters
[noun]
a male literary author or scholar
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satirist
[noun]
a person who writes or uses satires in order to criticize or humor someone or something
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