Glossary

a : b : c : d : e : f : g : h : i : j : k : l : m : n : o : p : q : r : s : t : u : v : w : x : y : z

reader time
the actual time it takes a reader to read a work.

realism
the practice in literature of attempting to describe nature and life without idealization and with attention to detail.

red herring
a false lead, something that misdirects expectations.

referential
when used to describe a poem, play, or story, referential means making textual use of a specific historical moment or event or, more broadly, making use of external, "natural," or "actual" detail.

reflective (meditative) structure
a textual organization based on the pondering of a subject, theme, or event, and letting the mind play with it, skipping from one sound to another or to related thoughts or objects as the mind receives them.

represent
to verbally depict an image so that readers can "see" it.

rhetorical trope
traditional figure of speech, used for specific persuasive effects.

rhyme scheme
the pattern of end rhymes in a poem, often noted by small letters, e.g., abab or abba, etc.

rhythm
the modulation of weak and strong (or stressed and unstressed) elements in the flow of speech. In most poetry written before the twentieth century, rhythm was often expressed in regular, metrical forms; in prose and in free verse, rhythm is present but in a much less predictable and regular manner.

rising action
the second of the five parts of plot structure, in which events complicate the situation that existed at the beginning of a work, intensifying the conflict or introducing new conflict.

rite of passage
a ritual or ceremony marking an individual’s passing from one stage or state to a more advanced one, or an event in one’s life that seems to have such significance; a formal initiation. Rites of passage are common in initiation stories.

round characters
complex characters, often major characters, who can grow and change and "surprise convincingly"—that is, act in a way that you did not expect from what had gone before but now accept as possible, even probable, and "realistic."