Glossary of Literary Terms for Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Machiavelli's The Prince

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1. Characterization, indirect:
• When an author refers to a character by showing his/her actions, how he/she thinks and speaks, and how others think and speak about the character
• Chaucer says that the knight sits at the seat of honor, but does not directly say that the knight is arrogant.
Characterization, direct
• When an author directly refers to a character in the text of a story
• Chaucer says that the knight was as gentle as a maid, sarcastically describing directly the knight.

2. Allusion
• An indirect or passing reference to some event, person, place, or artistic work, the nature and relevance of which is not explained by the writer but relies on the reader’s familiarity with what is thus mentioned.
• Thomas More refers to Jesus when he talks about a shepherd and his sheep.

3. Imagery
• Descriptive language that evokes sensory experience, and is intended to make the reader feel more interested and more emotionally involved in the work by creating a mental image of the subject.
• Machiavelli uses a raging river to better explain the fickleness of fortune.

4. Tone (variations)
• A literary technique that encompasses the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work. Tone may be formal, informal, intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious, ironic, condescending, or many other possible attitudes.
• Machiavelli uses a sophisticated tone in The Prince to make his argument seem more intellectual and more convincing.

5. Simile
• A figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as').
• Thomas More uses a simile to relate how a prince should be fair to his people just as a shepherd should be fair to his sheep.

6. Metaphor
• A figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity.
• Machiavelli uses a metaphor when he compares a raging river directly to fortune.

7. Rhetorical Questions
• A question asked for effect, not in expectation of a reply. No reply is expected because the question presupposes only one possible answer.
• Thomas More uses rhetorical questions to show how King Henry VII breaks common logic.

8. Parallel Structure
• The same grammatical structure of parts within a sentence or of sentences within a paragraph.
• Thomas More uses parallel structure to emphasize the repeated parallel structures.

9. Antithesis
• A counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition. In setting the opposite, an individual brings out a contrast in the meaning.
• Machiavelli uses antithesis to show how the opposite of what he says is much worse.

10. Syntax
• The ordering of and relationship between the words and other structural elements in phrases and sentences.
• Machiavelli uses complex syntax to make him appear more intelligent and thus make his argument more convincing.

11. Diction
• An author’s choice of words based on their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.
• Machiavelli uses sophisticated diction to make him appear more intelligent and thus make his argument more convincing.

12. Repetition
• In poetry, literature and rhetoric, there are several kinds of repetition where words or certain phrases are repeated for a stronger emphasis by the author.
• Chaucer uses repetition when he describes his characters to sarcastically describe them.

13. Ethos/Pathos/Logos
• Ethos: the source's credibility, the speaker's/author's authority, Pathos: the emotional or motivational appeals; vivid language, emotional language and numerous sensory details, Logos: the logic used to support a claim (induction and deduction); can also be the facts and statistics used to help support the argument.
• Queen Elizabeth uses pathos to convince the English troops before the Battle of the Spanish Armada that their fight is to save God, England, and the people.

14. Shift in Perspective
• When the author shifts the perspective to give his or her point of view or speak directly to the reader.
• Machiavelli shifts the perspective from narrative third-person to first-person to give his perspective on politics.

15. Exaggeration
• A figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, and is not meant to be taken literally.
• Chaucer uses exaggeration to show just how fat the prioress is.

16. Generalization
• Generalization is a broad statement or belief based on a limited number of facts, examples, or statistics. A product of inductive reasoning, generalizations should be used carefully and sparingly in essays.
• Machiavelli uses generalization to portray humans as incompetent and thus unable to form a working government on their own.