Connotation:
The indirect meaning of a word. It is the suggestion or
associated significance implied by a word. Thus, the connotation of the word
"bird" may be a swift moving girl having a sweet voice. (see
Denotation)
Couplet:
Two lines of verse rhyming together. The meaning of a
couplet is supposed to be completed within itself. For example:
Favors to none, to all she smiles extends;
Oft she rejects, but never once offends.
(Pope: The Rape of
the Lock)
Here the last word of the first line and the last word of
the second line have similar sounds ("ends"). These lines are iambic
pentameter lines. However, the couplet may be in all forms of meter. (see
Heroic couplet)
Dactyl:
A metrical foot of three syllables of which the first one is
stressed and the last two are unstressed. [see Foot)
Black were her / eyes as the / berry that / grows on the /
thorn by the/ wayside
(Longfellow:
"Evangeline")
In this verse line the first five feet are dactylic. The
last foot however, a trochaic.
Denotation
:
The direct meaning of a word. It is also called literal or
dictionary meaning of a word. The denotation of the word "bird" is a
feathered creature that can fly.
Denouement:
The final scene of a drama or fiction in which all the
problems are solved, all the knots are untied and a satisfactory explanation
of the dramatic situations is given.
Diction:
The selection of words in a writing or speech. A particular
writer chooses a particular type of words and phrases. For example, Milton uses
bombastic, unusual, allusive and Latinized words but Orwell uses simple, lucid
and common words. So the words chosen by a writer is called his diction.
Didactic:
A kind of writing intended to instruct.
Dramatic
Irony:
A dialogue or a situation in a play which conveys one
meaning to the character or characters on stage and a different meaning to the
audience. It is used both in tragedy and in comedy to heighten respective
effects. For example, when Oedipus, in Oedipus Rex, says, "I, Oedipus,
whom all men call great" he knows that he is really great but the audience
knows that he is the most ignoble.
Dramatis
Personae: The characters in a play.
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