NON-FICTION

GENRE
    Essay
        Formal
        Informal
    Letter
    Diary/Journal
    Editorial
    Criticism

POETRY

VOICE
    Persona
    Narrative
    Lyric
    Dramatic
GENRE
    Narrative poetry
       Epic
            traditional
            literary
        Ballad
            popular
            broadside
            literary
    Lyric poetry
       Ode
       Elegy
       Sonnet
STRUCTURE
    Stanza
        couplet
        heroic couplet
        tercet
        triplet
        terza rima
        quatrain
        common measure
        ballad stanza
   Closed form
        epigram
        blank verse
        sonnet
            Petrarchan (Italian)
            Shakespearean (English)
        haiku
        villanelle
        sestina
        limerick
        syllabic verse
    Open form/free verse
        shaped verse
        concrete poem
        found poem
    Incremental repetition
SOUND
    rhyme
        exact
        near or half
        eye
        end
        internal
        masculine
        feminine
    alliteration
    assonance
    euphony
    cacophony
    onomatopoeia
METER
    rhythm
    scansion
    lines:
        monometer
        dimeter
        trimeter
        tetrameter
        pentameter
        hexameter
        heptameter
        octameter
    stress
    feet:
        iamb
        trochee
        anapest
        dactyl
        spondee
        pyrrhic
    cesura

DRAMA

Theatre
SCRIPT
    ritual
    dramatic structure
        dialogue
        act
        scene
GENRE
        drama
        tragedy
        comedy
            farce
            comedy of manners
        melodrama
        musical
ACTOR
    imitation
    role-playing
    gesture
STAGE
    proscenium stage
    arena stage
    thrust stage
    raked stage
    upstage/downstage
    stage right/stage left
    centerstage
    apron
    mise-en-scene : scenery, properties, set pieces, lighting
AUDIENCE
   fourth wall
PRODUCTION
    producer
    director
    designers: set, lights, costumes
    stage manager
    technicians
    grips
    wardrobe
    house staff
    business staff
    publicity
GREEK THEATRE
   Dionysus
    Apollo
    dithyramb
   City Dionysia
    archon
    choregus
    chorus
   TRAGEDY
        trilogy
        satyr play
        hamartia
         peripeteia
         hubris
         anagnorisis
         katharsis
        tragic structure:
            prologos (prologue)
           parados (entry of chorus)
            episodia (episodes)
            stasima (choral odes)
            paean (hymn to gods)
            epode (final ode)
            exodos (final scene)
    COMEDY
        Old Comedy
            contemporary satire
            bawdy
        New Comedy
    Aristotelian unities:
        unity of time
        unity of place
        unity of action (plot)
ENGLISH RENAISSANCE THEATRE
   GENRE:
        interlude
        school drama
            University Wits
            Inns of Court
        history or chronicle plays
        comedy
            festive ritual
           comedy of humors
            romantic or pastoral comedy
            Feast of Fools
        tragedy
            Senecan revenge tragedy
            romantic tragedy
            historic tragedy
        problem plays   
    STAGE
        pit or yard
        groundlings
        boxes
        galleries
        thrust or platform stage
        forestage or mainstage
        rear doors
        discovery space
        second level
        third level
        trap doors
   ACTING COMPANIES
        shareholders
        hirelings
        apprentices
        choir boys
        Lord Chamberlain's Men/The King's Men
            The Globe 1599-1613
            Blackfriars Theatre
    STOCK CHARACTERS
        miles gloriosus
        senex
        shrew
        fool
        idiotes (malcontents)
        pedant                       
        humor character (see comedy of humors)
        "calumniator believed"
        master/servant relationship
   CONVENTIONS
        uncertain identity
        transvestism
        twinning
        hallucination
        blank verse: "Marlowe's mighty line"
        soliloquy
        aside

For text help, consult:

Harmon and Holman, A Handbook to Literature
Preminger, et al.,The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. 
Both are available in the reference section in the library.

For online help, check out: 

Bob's Byway: "This site features a unique Glossary of Poetic Terms, plus Examples of Poetic Terms from the works of prominent poets, Tips for the Enjoyment of Poetry and A Selection of Bob's Poems. Also, you will find helpful links to relevant poetic, literary, and reference websites."

Literary Vocabulary: "This webpage contains alphabetical lists of literary terms and their definitions. It focuses in particular on medieval literature and the most recent entries deal with the history of the English language."

All American: Glossary of Literary Terms: alphabetical list of literary terms with definitions and examples.

A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples: classical rhetorical devices, briefly defined with literary examples.