word of each line in the following manner:
the first and third lines of the first stanza,
then the second line of the first stanza and
the first and third lines of the second stanza,
and so on with the middle line of any stanza
rhyming with the first and third lines of the
following stanza.Tetrameter:SeeMeter
Textual Criticism:A branch of literary criticism
that seeks to establish the authoritative text
of a literary work. Textual critics typically
compare all known manuscripts or printings
of a single work in order to assess the mean-
ings of differences and revisions. This pro-
cedure allows them to arrive at a definitive
version that (supposedly) corresponds to the
author’s original intention.
Theme:The main point of a work of literature. The
term is used interchangeably with thesis.
Thesis:A thesis is both an essay and the point
argued in the essay. Thesis novels and thesis
plays share the quality of containing a thesis
which is supported through the action of the
story.
Third Person:SeePoint of View
Tone:The author’s attitude toward his or her
audience may be deduced from the tone of
the work. A formal tone may create distance
or convey politeness, while an informal tone
may encourage a friendly, intimate, or intru-
sive feeling in the reader. The author’s atti-
tude toward his or her subject matter may
also be deduced from the tone of the words
he or she uses in discussing it.
Tragedy:A drama in prose or poetry about a noble,
courageous hero of excellent character who,
because of some tragic character flaw orhamar-
tia, brings ruin upon him- or herself. Tragedy
treats its subjects in a dignified and serious
manner, using poetic language to help evoke
pity and fear and bring about catharsis, a purg-
ing of these emotions. The tragic form was
practiced extensively by the ancient Greeks. In
the Middle Ages, when classical works were
virtually unknown, tragedy came to denote
any works about the fall of persons from
exalted to low conditions due to any reason:
fate, vice, weakness, etc. According to the clas-
sical definition of tragedy, such works present
the ‘‘pathetic’’—that which evokes pity—rather
than the tragic. The classical form of tragedy
was revived in the sixteenth century; it flour-
ished especially on the Elizabethan stage. In
modern times, dramatists have attempted to
adapt the form to the needs of modern society
by drawing their heroes from the ranks of ordi-
nary men and women and defining the nobility
of these heroes in terms of spirit rather than
exalted social standing.
Tragic Flaw:In a tragedy, the quality within the
hero or heroine which leads to his or her
downfall.
Transcendentalism:An American philosophical
and religious movement, based in New Eng-
land from around 1835 until the Civil War.
Transcendentalism was a form of American
romanticism that had its roots abroad in the
works of Thomas Carlyle, Samuel Coler-
idge, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
The Transcendentalists stressed the impor-
tance of intuition and subjective experience
in communication with God. They rejected
religious dogma and texts in favor of mysti-
cism and scientific naturalism. They pur-
sued truths that lie beyond the ‘‘colorless’’
realms perceived by reason and the senses
and were active social reformers in public
education, women’s rights, and the aboli-
tion of slavery.
Trickster:A character or figure common in Native
American and African literature who uses his
ingenuity to defeat enemies and escape difficult
situations. Tricksters are most often animals,
such as the spider, hare, or coyote, although
they may take the form of humans as well.
Trimeter:SeeMeter
Triple Rhyme:SeeRhyme
Trochee:SeeFootU
Understatement:SeeIrony
Unities:Strict rules of dramatic structure, for-
mulated by Italian and French critics of the
Renaissance and based loosely on the prin-
ciples of drama discussed by Aristotle in his
Poetics.Foremost among these rules were
the three unities of action, time, and place
that compelled a dramatist to: (1) construct a
single plot with a beginning, middle, and end
that details the causal relationships of action
and character; (2) restrict the action to the
events of a single day; and (3) limit the scene
to a single place or city. The unities were
observed faithfully by continental European
writers until the Romantic Age, but they were
never regularly observed in English drama.
Modern dramatists are typically moreGlossary of Literary Terms