shelnut literary terms
Terms
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- concession
- a writer concedes that the other side of the argument has a valid position
- meter
- the rhythmical pattern of a poem; classified according both to its pattern and the number of feet to the line
- forshadowing
- the arrangement and presentation of events and information in such a way that prepare later events in a work
- myth
- a fictional tale, originally with religious significance
- generality
- broad sweeping statement with no evidence
- parallelism
- the repitition of syntactical similarities in passages closely connected for rhetorical effect
- hero/heroine
- main character who has strength or moral character
- epithet
- nickname or appellation
- inverted sentence
- reversing the normal subject
- oxymoron
- technique used to produce an effect by a seeming self-contradiciton "cruel kindness"
- monologue
- a written or oral composition presenting the discourse of one speaker only
- lyrical
- emotional writing showing author's ardent expression
- deus ex machina
- an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot
- static character
- a character who is the same sort of person at the beginning and end of the story
- cliche`
- a trite, overused expression like "blue as the sky"
- drama
- story performed by actors in a stage
- gothic
- a form of novel in which magic, mystery, horrors and chivalry abound
- paradox
- a statement which contains seemingly contradictoty elements or appears contrary to common sense
- parallel structure
- a repitition of sentences using the same structure
- tricolon
- "we saw, we ate, we regretted"
- internal rhyme
- rhyming within lines of verse instead of at the ends of lines
- consonance
- the repitition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry
- subordination
- placing something in a lesser position
- conceit
- an extended metaphor-two unlike things are compared in several different ways
- loaded diction
- words with a lot of emotional meaning
- dramatic irony
- irony in which the character uses words which mean one thing to them but another to those who understand the situation better
- juxtaposition
- the positioning of ideas or images side by side for emphasis on contrast
- local color
- the descriptions of the setting, people, and dialect
- parody
- make fun of another literary work
- didactic
- overly instructive, preachy, sermonizing
- logos
- appeal to logic and reasoning through facts, statistics, etc.
- crisis
- the climax or turning point of a story or play
- prose
- all for of written expression not having a regular rhythmical pattern
- conflict
- a struggle between opposing forces
- folk tale
- a story which has been composed orally and then passed down by word of mouth
- non-sequitur
- Latin for "it doesn't follow" - "our nation will prevail if we eat more eggs"
- rhyme
- similarity or likeness of sound
- elegy
- lyrical poem about death; a serious poem, usually meant to express greif or sorrow
- complication
- the part of a plot in which the entanglement caused by the conflict is developed
- trope
- figurative language
- idioms
- expressions that do not translate exactly into what a speaker means
- enjambment
- line of verse that carries over into the next line without a pause of any kind
- irony
- surprising, amusing, or interesting contrast between reality and expectation
- rhetoric
- device used to produce effective writing
- connotation
- the emotional implications that a word may carry; implied or associated meaning for a particular word
- narrator
- speaker or persona
- epiphany
- an awakening
- colloquial expressions
- informal, not always grammaticaly correct expressions
- line
- unit of poetic verse
- falling action
- everything that happens in plot between the climax or crisis and the denouement
- parable
- a short story to prove a point with a moral basis
- dominant impression
- the one that has the most impace, perhaps one with repeated ideas and images
- exposition
- the introductory expository information
- end stop line
- line of verse in which both the grammatical structure and the sense reach completion at the end of a line; denoting a line of verse in which a logical or rhetorical pause occurs at the end of the line, usually marked with a period, comma, or semicolon
- figurative language
- writing or speech not meant to be taken literally
- comic relief
- something of humor interrupts an otherwise serious, often tragic, literary work
- realism
- fidelity to actuality in literature
- dystopia
- the opposite of utopia
- chiasmus
- repitition in successive clauses which are usually parallel in syntax. An inverted parallelism. Example: "A fop their passion, but their prize a sot"
- diction
- word usage
- ellipsis
- the omission of part of the text
- lampoon
- a biting satire that makes its subject appear ludicrous
- microcosm
- a small "world" that stands for the larger one
- existentialism
- a term applied to a group of attitudes which emphasize existance
- rising action
- the development ot conflict leading to a crisis
- jargon
- specialized vocabulary and terms of a field of interest, for example legal jargon
- implication
- a hint or suggestion instead of a direct statement
- denotation
- the specific exact meaning of the word
- envelope method
- begins and ends with same setting and/or narrator(s); middle is flashback
- cumulative sentence
- the main sentence (independent clause) comes at the first, followed by dependent clauses and phrases
- narrative point of view
- point of view
- humor
- writing whose purpose it is to evoke some kind of laughter
- satire
- a piece of literature designed to ridicule the subject of the work
- refutation
- another word for rebuttal
- ethos
- how an author makes the character seem
- malapropism
- a confused definition
- resolution
- the way things are after the climax
- metonomy
- substituting a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it
- crux
- the most crucial line(s) in a poem or prose passage, the part that best shows the main point
- fable
- a story written to make a moral point
- free verse
- unrhymed poetry with lines of varying lengths, containg no specific pattern
- flashback
- a device by which an author can present action or scenes that occurred before the opening scene in a work
- epigraph
- a breif quotation at the beginning of a book or chapter
- clause
- a grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb
- motif
- a recurring concept or story element in literature
- euphemism
- substitute word(s) that sounds better than another (lingerie instead of underwear)
- euphony
- a quality of style marked by pleasing, harmonious sounds, the opposite of cacophony
- parenthetical expression
- a phrase added as a side comment
- paraphrase
- a restatement of an idea
- imagery
- devices that appeal to the senses
- dialect
- speech peculiar to a region; exhibits distinctions between two groups or even two persons
- empathy
- feelings of pity and understanding for a character
- naturalism
- writing that demonstrates a deep interest in nature
- litotes
- "not unhappy" two negatives
- testimonial
- technique in argument or propaganda to persuade others to share the opinion
- mixed metaphor
- a metaphor whose elements are either incongruent or contradictory by the use of incompatible identifications "the dog pulled in its horns"
- flat character
- a character who doesn't change
- genre
- a specific kind or category of literature
- comedy
- a work which strives to provoke smiles and laughter
- legend
- a widely told tale about the past, one that may have a foundation in fact
- foil
- character who provides contrast to another character
- frame
- a narrative constructed so that one or more stories are embedded within another story
- concrete
- language that is observable or physical, using places, things, and people instead of ideas
- intercalary chapters
- expository chapters that come in between other chapters
- fallacies
- logical errors in an argument, sometimes used to purposefully mislead readers
- inference
- understanding the meaning of the information
- periodic sentence
- saves the subject and verb if the ind. clause until the end of the sentence
- pace
- the movement of the passage
- metaphor
- a figure of speech wherein a comparison is made between two unlike quantities without the used of words "like" or "as"
- hyperbole
- exaggeration for effect and emphasis, overstatement
- stanza
- a related group of lines in a poem
- epic
- a long narrative, usually written in elevated language, which related the adventures of a hero upon whom rests the fate of a nation
- hubris
- the pride or overconfidence which often leads to a hero to overlook divine warning or to break a moral law
- novel
- an extended prose narrative
- pastoral
- a literary work that has to do with shehperds and rustic settings
- narrative
- a story
- farce
- a totally ridiculous comedy
- form
- the structure, shape, pattern, organization, or style of a piece of literature
- hamartia
- a tragic flaw or error in judgment
- invective
- emotional violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language
- pathos
- Greek term for deep emotion, passion, or suffering
- end rhyme
- schematic rhyme that comes at the ends of lines of verse
- epistrophe
- the repitition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases , clauses, sentences
- grotesque
- focuses on physically or mentally impaired characters
- fairy tale
- a fictional tale, marked by fantasy and magic
- climax
- the turning point, or crisis, in a play or other piece of literature
- epigram
- a witty saying, usually at the end of a poem, about two lines long
- epitaph
- an engraving on a tombstone
- rebuttal
- response to an argument to try to prove it wrong
- loose or cumulative sentence
- has ind. clause first, followed by a series of phrases
- homily
- a long speech denouncing someone or something
- imply
- to hint or suggest something
- first person
- subjective point of view when a character relays a narrative using "I"
- rhyme scheme
- a pattern of rhyming words in a stanza