Literature Terms
Terms
undefined, object
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- round character
- is depicted with such psychological depth and detail that he or she seems like a "real" person
- motif
- a conspicuous recurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in works of literature
- dialect
- the language of a particular district, class, or group of persons
- byronic hero
- a romanticized but wicked character
- static character
- a simplified character who does not change or alter his or her personality over the course of a narrative
- syntax
- the standard word order and sentence structure of a language, as opposed to diction the actual choice of words) or content (the meaning of individual words)
- synecdoche
- type of symbolism in which a part of a thing represents that thing itself
- stock character
- A character type that appears repeatedly in a particular literary genre, one which has certain conventional attributes or attitudes
- flat character
- a simplified character who does not change or alter his or her personality over the course of a narrative, or one without extensive personality and characterization
- bathos
- descent in literature in which a poet or writer striving too hard to be passionate or elevated--falls into trivial or stupid imagery, phrasing, or ideas
- Antagonist
- a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another; opponent; adversary
- abstract
- expressing a quality or characteristic apart from any specific object or instance
- concrete
- constituting an actual thing or instance; real
- Hamartia
- applied to an archer who misses the target a misperception, a lack of some important insight, or some blindness that ironically results from one's own strengths and abilities
- archetype
- An original model or pattern from which other later copies are made, especially a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life
- literal
- is one intended only (or primarily) as a factual account of a real historical event rather than a metaphorical expression, an allegorical expression of a larger symbolic truth, or a hypothetical example
- foil
- A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character
- denotation
- the minimal, strict definition of a word as found in a dictionary, disregarding any historical or emotional connotation
- protagonist
- the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work
- stereotype
- A character who is so ordinary or unoriginal that the character seems like an oversimplified representation of a type, gender, class, religious group, or occupation
- pathos
- a writer or speaker's attempt to inspire an emotional reaction in an audience usually a deep feeling of suffering, but sometimes joy, pride, anger, humor, patriotism, or any of a dozen other emotions
- diction
- the choice of a particular word as opposed to others
- ambiguity
- a vague or equivocal expression when precision would be more useful
- metonymy
- a figure of speech in which one thing is represented by another that is commonly and often associated with it
- dynamic character
- one whose personality changes or evolves over the course of a narrative or appears to have the capacity for such change
- foreshadowing
- suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a narrative
- connotation
- the extra tinge or taint of meaning each word carries beyond the minimal, strict definition found in a dictionary
- figurative
- a deviation from what speakers of a language understand as the ordinary or standard use of words in order to achieve some special meaning or effect
- analogy
- the modification of grammatical usage from the desire for uniformity
- antihero
- a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose
- rhetorical
- used for, belonging to, or concerned with mere style or effect
- hero
- : a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities
- hubris
- It is a negative term implying both arrogant, excessive self-pride or self-confidence, and a lack of some important perception or insight due to pride in one's abilities