Essential Vocabulary for the GRE - All About Literature

a work of fiction with an intermediate length, which could be considered a short novel

a long poem in narrative form giving an account of the extraordinary deeds and adventures of a nation's heroes or legends

a historical account of events presented in chronological order

a lyric poem, written in varied or irregular metrical form, for a particular object, person, or concept

a piece of writing, music, etc. that imitates the style of someone else in a humorous way

a short story on morality with animal characters

a brief symbolic story that is told to send a moral or religious message

a Japanese poem with three unrhymed lines that have five, seven and five syllables each

a short poem or phrase that expresses a single thought satirically, often ending in a clever or humorous way

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

a short quotation or phrase that is written at the beginning of a book or any chapter of it, suggesting the theme

a humorous poem of five anapestic lines with a rhyme scheme of aabba

the creative and imaginative expression of powerful feelings in art, poetry, music, etc.

spoken or written language in its usual form, in contrast to poetry

the collection of artistic or literary works produced by a particular painter, author, etc.

a subject, idea, or phrase that is repeatedly used in a literary work or musical composition

the way in which characters in a movie, book, etc. are created and represented by a writer

villainous character who strongly opposes another person or thing

the main character in a movie, novel, TV show, etc.

to make a book, play, etc. short by omitting the details and including the main parts

to describe a specific subject, scene, person, etc.

a section of additional material that is usually added at the end of a book

a short introductory section at the beginning of a book, usually written by someone other than the author

a part at the end of a book including some final words that may not be written by the author

a series of lines in a poem, usually with recurring rhyme scheme and meter

a set of words that usually have a rhythmic pattern

a verse of Italian origin that has 14 lines, usually in an iambic pentameter and a prescribed rhyme scheme

exciting and intriguing in a way that attracts someone's attention

giving a lot of information briefly and clearly

(of an author or literary work) accepted as highly acclaimed authors or pieces of literature, which are collectively referred to as the literary canon

(of writing or speech) full of literary or complicated words and phrases

behaving in an artificial way that is too formal, trying to impress others

sexually explicit or morally obscene

scholarly and highly interested in cultural or artistic matters

a book, movie, play, etc. that continues and extends the story of an earlier one

an ancient book, written by hand, especially of scriptures, classics, etc.

an author whose work is published under someone else's name

someone who is known for writing or telling humorous stories or jokes about real people and events

a playwright who writes tragedies

a male literary author or scholar

a person who writes or uses satires in order to criticize or humor someone or something