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metonymy: Merriam-Webster defines this as “a figure of speech consisting of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated.” For example, the term press, which originally was used for printing press, now connotates the news media. Easily confused with synecdoche.

onomatopoeia: a word or phrase that sounds (a bit) like the sound it is meant to convey: buzz, purr, or Tennyson’s the murmuring of innumerable bees.

oxymoron: an apparent contradiction for effect, the classic example being jumbo shrimp.

personification: giving human qualities, such as emotions, desires, and sensations to an inanimate object or an abstract idea. Emily Dickinson’s The Railway Train is often cited as an example of personification:

I like to see it lap the miles,

And lick the valleys up,

And stop to feed itself at tanks;

And then, prodigious step

Around a pile of mountains…

simile: a comparison that—unlike a metaphor—expresses itself as a comparison, usually with the words as or like. Examples include dead as a dodo or like a bat out of hell.

synecdoche: a form of metonymy, but in this instance specifically “a whole for the part or a part for the whole.” For example, a set of wheels used to denote the term automobile, or the command All hands on deck to summon a crew of sailors.

Prosody

Confusingly, prosody has nothing to do with prose—it is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the study of versification; especially: the systematic study of metrical structure.”

The basic unit of a line of poetry—normally comprising two or three syllables—is called a foot, and the most common feet are:

iamb (adj. iambic): a short syllable followed by a long one. The most widely used foot in English poetry. Much of Shakespeare’s verse is written in iambic pentameter, which means that a line consists of five iambic feet, or ten syllables in all:

Shall I / compare/ thee to/ a sum/ mer’s day?

(Sonnet 43)

If mu/ sic be/ the food/ of love,/ play on

(Twelfth Night)

trochee: a long syllable followed by a short one, although the final syllable is often missing:

Tiger!/ Tiger!/ burning/ bright

In the/ forest / of the/ night

(Blake, The Tiger)

dactyl: a long syllable followed by two short ones (again, the final syllable is often dropped). It produces a gentle, flowing rhythm:

This is the/ forest prim/ eval. The/ murmuring/ pines and the/ hemlocks

(Longfellow, Evangeline)

anapest: two short syllables followed by a long one. In contrast to a dactyl, this conveys pace and action. It is often used in comic verses such as the nonsense poem by Lewis Caroll, The Hunting of the Snark:

In the midst of the word he was trying to say/ In the midst of his laughter and glee/ He had softly and suddenly vanished away/ For the Snark was Boojum, you see.

spondee: two long syllables, giving a heavy, rhythmical effect. The following example combines spondee and trochee so that you can almost hear the soldiers marching along:

We’re / foot—slog/—slog—slog/

—sloggin’/ over/ Africa—

Foot—foot/—foot—foot/—sloggin’/ over/ Africa—

(Boots—boots/—boots—boots/—movin’/ up and/

down a/ gain!)

(Kipling, Boots)

LITERATURE

Oh, those dreadful textbooks and anthologies. Who could ever forget the detailed chapter on tying knots in Moby Dick? Perhaps Julius Caesar was your particular nemesis. On the other hand, Macbeth, Frankenstein, and just about any of Poe’s dark stories could deliciously disturb your evenings for nights on end. After all, as a teenager, it was sometimes hard to immerse yourself in the literature of serious life-and-death situations. So here’s your second chance.

British Authors and Playwrights

There are some authors who embody the definition of “classic” literature. We all recognize the names: Austen, the Brontë sisters, Dickens, and Shakespeare. However, could you pass a pop quiz on their greatest works? Here’s a brief rundown to review—just