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Dive into the world of Homer's epic poem with a focus on literary terms like alliteration, assonance, and personification. Discover how these techniques enhance the storytelling in The Odyssey.
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Literary Terms The Odyssey
Alliteration • Repetition of initial consonant sounds • Ex: “Where shall a man find sweetness to surpass”
Assonance • Repetition of vowel sounds • Ex: “befORe / Odysseus' dOOR, the threshold to his cOURt”
Caesura • A pause or sudden break in a line of poetry • “Sing, o goddess, the rage || of Achilles, the son of Peleus.”
Catalogs/Genealogies • Narrative often includes inventories of characters or important histories or important people or artifacts to provide relevance and authority • Ex: Character list at beginning of epic poem
Consonance • Repetition of consonant sounds NOT limited to the beginning of words • Ex: “The sacred flag of truth unfurled”
Elegy/Elegiac Mood • Writing that mourns the loss of something • Ex: “No more seafaring homeward for these, no sweet day of return”
End Rhyme • Rhyming words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of poetry • Ex: “Nor till the ground, though grain… Ripen in heaven’s rain…”
Enjambment • Running over of a sentence or thought from one line to another • Ex: “ The crew were on their feet briskly, to furl the sail…”
Epic Hero • A person of high social status who embodies the ideals of his/her people • Ex: Odysseus’ goal is to save his nation/people during time of crisis
Epic Simile • Long, elaborate comparison that continues for several lines • Ex: The Cyclops caught two men “like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor. Then he made his meal…crunching like a mountain lion…”
Imagery • The use of vivid language that appeals to the senses • Ex: "The Cyclops' rams were handsome, fat, with heavy fleeces, a dark violet”
Internal Rhyme • Rhyme within a line of poetry • Ex: “Until we drew away…now when I cupped my hands I heard the crew in low voices protesting.”
Invocation • A request by the poet to a higher power for guidance; an introduction to the upcoming action • Ex: Odyssey begins with an invocation
Onomatopoeia • The use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning • Ex: “Bashed by this hand and bashed on this rock wall…” • Other Ex: Clang, buzz, pop
Personification • Figure of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human characteristics • Ex: ”Death sat there huge; how could we slip away?”
Point of View • Vantage point from which the story is told • Ex: Third person omniscient (mostly) with some first person (Odysseus)
Rhyme • Repetition of identical sounds • Ex: “Nor till the ground, though grain…Ripen in heaven’s rain…”
Rhyming Couplet • 2 consecutive lines that rhyme • Ex: (None in Odyssey…Here’s one from R&J!) • “For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”
Slant Rhyme • Sounds that are similar but not identical • Ex: “Lift the great song again…Begin when all the rest who left behind them”
Syllable • One of the parts into which a word is divided when pronounced • Ex: O-dys-se-us