HSC Latin Extension key terms

The six-foot metre of epic and didactic verse, where each foot is a dactyl (long-short-short) or spondee (long-long), with the fifth foot usually a dactyl and the sixth a spondee.

A two-line stanza consisting of a dactylic hexameter followed by a dactylic pentameter, commonly used for love elegy, epigrams, and laments.

A basic repeated unit of a verse line, in Latin quantitative metre usually a dactyl (one long plus two short syllables) or a spondee (two long syllables).

A word-break occurring within a metrical foot, often after the first syllable of the third foot in hexameter; it shapes rhythm and emphasis without ending the foot.

A word-break that coincides with the end of a metrical foot, especially after the fourth foot in hexameter, producing a marked rhythmic pause.

The dropping of a final vowel or -m before a following word beginning with a vowel or h, so that the syllables merge and the metre is preserved.

The avoidance of elision, leaving a vowel or -m pronounced before another vowel; in Latin verse this is unusual and often emphatic or archaic.

The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one verse line into the next without a pause, often creating tension between syntax and metre.

The deliberate separation of words that belong together syntactically, such as an adjective from its noun, often for emphasis or to create suspense.

A rhetorical arrangement in which the order of elements in one phrase is reversed in the next, forming an ABBA pattern (e.g. noun-adjective, adjective-noun).

A series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses, often with increasing length or force, a hallmark of Ciceronian periodic style.

A sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end, with subordinate elements building suspense before the completion of sense.

The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or lines, used for emphasis and emotional force.

A direct address to a person, god, place, or abstraction, often interrupting the narrative to heighten emotion or create a rhetorical effect.

The attribution of human qualities, actions, or speech to non-human entities such as animals, objects, or abstract concepts.

The device by which nature or landscape is described as sharing human emotions, often used to mirror a character’s grief or joy.

An explicit comparison introduced by words such as 'like' or 'as', often expanded into a vivid picture that illuminates a character or action.

An extended simile typical of epic, often drawn from nature, farming, or warfare, that pauses the narrative to enrich the surrounding action.

A figure of speech in which one thing is described as if it were another, without an explicit word of comparison, creating a compressed image.

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words, often used to bind phrases together or to create a sound-picture.

The repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words, contributing to the musical texture of verse or the emotional tone of a passage.

A word or phrase whose sound imitates the thing it describes, such as the clash of arms or the murmur of a stream.

A hexameter in which two adjectives and two nouns interlock in the pattern adjective A - adjective B - verb - noun A - noun B, creating a balanced, jewelled effect.

The expression of a single idea by two nouns joined by 'and', where one noun effectively modifies the other (e.g. 'by cups and gold' for 'golden cups').

The substitution of the name of an attribute or associated thing for the thing itself, as when 'Mars' stands for war or 'the crown' for monarchy.

A figure in which a part stands for the whole or the whole for a part, such as 'roof' for 'house' or 'sails' for 'ships'.

An understatement achieved by negating the opposite, such as 'not unskilful' for 'skilful', often used for irony or emphasis.

A gap between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or occurs, often inviting the reader to detect a critical or humorous undertone.

A question posed for persuasive effect rather than to elicit an answer, often implying a strong assertion or inviting the audience’s agreement.

A figure in which a speaker says they will omit something while in fact mentioning it, often used to draw attention to a point while seeming to pass over it.

The introduction of an imaginary speaker, such as a personified city or a dead ancestor, who delivers a speech within the work.

A rhetorical structure that lists a series of examples or alternatives and then caps them with a final, preferred item, often used to frame a poem’s theme.

A poem or passage in which the speaker declines to write a certain kind of poetry, often grand epic, while implicitly justifying a different, humbler genre.

A historical or mythological example used to illustrate or prove a point, common in rhetorical and didactic writing.

The way a text echoes, alludes to, or transforms earlier texts, inviting readers to compare contexts and meanings across works.

An explanation of the origin of a custom, name, or natural phenomenon, often embedded in poetry to connect the present with a mythical past.

A conventional theme or motif recurring in literature, such as the golden age or the lovers’ exclusus amator, which a writer may adapt or invert.

The system in which a wealthy patron supported a poet or writer, often expecting praise or political alignment in return, shaping the content of literature.

The art of persuasive speech and writing, including arrangement, style, and figures, which deeply influenced Latin prose and poetry.