LA Literary Terms
Terms
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- abridgment
- a shortened version of a literary work
- abstract
-
a brief statement or summary of the essential thoughts of a book, article, etc.
an adjective which denotes qualities that exist only as attributes of particular persons
or things - allegory
-
a symbolic narrative created to parallel and illuminate a separate set of moral,
philosophical, political, religious, or social situations - alliteration
- the repetition of consonant sounds in a sequence of nearby words (BEGINNING of words)
- allusion
-
a reference, explicit or indirect, to a well-known person, place, event, literary work,
or work of art - ambiguity
-
the use of a single word or expression to signify two or more distinct references, or to
express two or more diverse attitudes or feelings (poetic term); ordinarily, the term is
applied to a fault in style - anachronism
- action, scene, object or character placed where it does not belong in time
- anapest
- in poetry, a foot with two weak stresses followed by one strong stress, as in the word
- anecdote
- a very brief account of an incident, usually personal or biographical
- antagonist
-
character or force in conflict with the main character, or protagonist, in a literary
work - antecedent
-
the word a pronoun stands for, usually used before or in close proximity to that
pronoun - anti-hero
-
a protagonist who is petty, ineffectual, passive or dishonest; displaying few or none
of the characteristics of the traditional hero - aphorism ------
- the pithy and pointed statement of a serious maxim, opinion, or general truth
- apostrophe
- direct and explicit address to an absent person or non-human entity
- archetype
-
UNIVERSAL SYMBOL recurrent narrative designs, patterns of action, character types, or images identifiable
in a wide variety of works of literature; archetypes are often to reflect a set of
universal, primitive, and elemental mental forms or patterns in the human psyche; if
used effectively, archetypes evoke a profound response from the reader; - aside
-
a statement delivered by an actor to an audience in such a way that other characters
on stage are presumed not to hear what is said - assonance
-
the repetition of vowel sounds in stressed syllables containing dissimilar consonant
sounds - attitude
-
a mental position or feeling with regard to a fact or statement; attitude is usually
discussed in terms of author, character, objects, ideas, etc. - audience .
-
the person or persons who are intended to read a piece of writing. The intended
audience determines the form, tone, style, and details included in a piece - autobiography
- a narrative of oneÂ’s own life
- ballad
-
a poem or song that tells a story, a narrative species of folk songs which originate,
and are communicated orally, among illiterate or only partly literate people; a literary
ballad is composed in imitation of an old folk ballad - bildungsroman
-
novel dealing with the development of the protagonistÂ’s mind and character, in the
passage from childhood to adulthood, the characterÂ’s identity formation - biography
- a narrative of the life of an historical figure
- blank verse
- poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines
- cacophony (dissonance)
-
language which seems harsh, rough, and unmusical; the discordance is
the combined effect of meaning and difficulty of pronunciation, as well as sound - caesura
- a pause in the middle of a line of poetry dictated by sense or natural rhythm
- candid
- free from bias, very honest and frank in oneÂ’s writing
- canon
- the academically “accepted” body of great literature and art; one’s collected work
- caricature
-
in verbal description, the distortion or exaggeration, for comic effect of a personÂ’s
physical features or other characteristics - catharsis (purgation or purification)
- emotional purging of yourself after an emotional event
- cause and effect
- analysis of a subject by examining the reasons for specific actions or events or the consequences or the results of certain causes
- character
- a person or animal who takes part in the action of a literary work
- round/dynamic
-
a multidimensional character changes/develops in the
course of the story - flat/static
- character does not change much or at all
- misfit
- character whose values are at odds with the other characters
- stock
- character type that occurs repeatedly in a literary genre
- stereotype
-
fixed character with little individuality, often based on racial, social,
sexist, or ethnic prejudices - clause
-
a group of words containing a subject and complete verb and forming part of a
compound or complex sentence - climax
- the high point of interest or suspense in a literary work
- classicism
- the principles or styles of literature or art of ancient Greece and Rome
-
colloquial/
colloquialism -
informal speech, characteristic of spoken language or writing that seeks the effect of
everyday speech - comedy
-
a work in which the materials are selected and managed primarily in order to interest,
involve, and amuse us - conceit
-
a figure of speech which establishes a striking parallel, usually elaborate, sometimes
far-fetched, between two very dissimilar things or situation - concrete
-
(1) able to be perceived by the five senses; (2) a pattern poem in which the visual
form or shape of the poem reflects the poemÂ’s theme or content - conflict
- a struggle between opposing forces
- external conflict
- a struggle between the character and some outside force
- internal conflict
- a struggle within a character
- connotation
-
an association that a word calls to mind in addition to its dictionary meaning;
the emotional, psychological or social overtones or implications that words carry - consonance
-
(1)repetition of consonant sounds within a line of verse, similar to alliteration but not
limited to the beginning letter of a word (DOESNT HAVE TO BE AT THE BEGINNING)
(2)the repetition of a sequence of two or more consonants, but with a change in the
intervening vowel - context
-
the part of discourse surrounding a passage which gives it more meaning; context can
be social, historical, racial, etc. - convention
-
(1) necessary, or at least convenient, devices accepted by tacit agreement between
author and audience, for solving the problems in the representation of reality that are
posed by a particular artistic medium; (2) conspicuous features of subject matter,
form, or technique which occur repeatedly in works of literature; (3) “codes” of
genre, plot, etc. constituting all literary works - couplet
- a pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter
- crisis
-
the point of uncertainty and tension, the turning point, that results from the conflicts
and difficulties brought about through the complications of the plot - dactyl
- a three-syllable metrical foot consisting of a heavy stress followed by two lights
- denotation
-
a wordÂ’s exact, specific meaning, independent of other associations the word calls to
mind - denouement
-
“untying” or resolution--the final stage of plot development in which mysteries are
explained, characters find their destinies, and the work is completed - dialect
- regional speech, vocabulary and pronunciation particular to a certain geographic area
- dialogue
- a conversation between characters
- diction
-
word choice--the kinds of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative
language that constitute any work of literature - didactic
- work of literature which has a moral or teaches a lesson
- digression
-
the turning aside from the main subject in writing or speaking
i.e., a tangent in a discussion - dilemma
- situation where a person must choose between two equal alternatives
- dimeter
- a line of verse consisting of two metrical feet
- dramatic monologue
-
a type of lyric poem or dramatic speech where a single person, who is patently not
the poet, utters the entire poem in a specific situation at a critical moment -
dramatic
technique - the way in which the author uses dramatic elements or drama
- dramatis personae
- the cast of characters in a play
- elegy
-
a formal and sustained poetic lament (and usually consolation) for the death of
a particular person - ellipsis
-
omission from an expression of a word or phrase clearly implied; marks (... or ***)
used to indicate omission - end-stop line
-
poetic line in which the pause in the reading, naturally occurring, coincides with the
end of the line - enjambment
-
run-on lines-- the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one verse line to the next
without end-stopped punctuation - epic
-
long narrative poem on a great or serious subject told in an elevated style and
centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a
tribe or nation - epigram
-
any short poem which is polished, terse, and pointed, which often ends with a
surprising or witty turn of thought - epigraph
-
an inscription on a statue, stone or building; a quotation on the title
page of a book - epilogue
-
a short addition or concluding section at the end of a literary work, often dealing with
the future of its characters - epiphany
-
a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something
a comprehension or perception by means of a sudden intuitive realization - epistolary novel
- a novel which is conveyed entirely by an exchange of letters
- esoteric
-
understood only by a select few, intended for an inner circle of
disciples or scholars - euphemism
- an inoffensive expression used in place of a blunt one felt to be disagreeable or harsh
- euphony
- language which is smooth, pleasant, and musical to the ear
- exclamatory
- a type of sentence that makes a statement or exclaims something
- exposition
-
in plot structure, background or explanatory information that furthers
the readerÂ’s understanding of the characters and conflicts; often it
occurs before the main plot begins, but can occur elsewhere in the
novel - expository
-
writing that explains or shows and tells by giving information about a
specific topic; term papers, textbooks and reports are typical examples of expository
writing - fable
- a brief story, usually with animal characters, that teaches a lesson or moral
- fairy tale
- a simple childrenÂ’s story about fairies; a magical tale
- falling action
- an element of the plot which follows the climax or crisis and leads into resolution
- fantasy
- highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life
- farce
-
a play full of ridiculous happenings, absurd actions, and unreal
situations; meant to be very funny - figurative language
- writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally
- figures of speech
-
literary devices that communicate ideas beyond the literal meaning of the words;
common types - flashback
- interruption of the sequence of events to relate an event of an earlier time
- foil
-
a character in a work who, by sharp contrast, serves to stress and highlight the
distinctive temperament of the protagonist - folk tale
- a story composed orally and then passed from person to person by word of mouth
- foot/feet
- a measured combination of heavy and light stresses
- foreshadowing
- the use, in a literary work, of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur
- form
-
(1) genre or literary type; (2) patterns of meters, lines, and rhymes; (3) central critical
concept; (4) the principle that determines a workÂ’s organization; (5) structure
frame mood, an arrangement of structural (literal) parts that gives form to the work - free verse
- poetry not written a regular, rhythmical pattern, or meter
- genre
- “literary form”--a recurring type of literature
- gothic
-
a story of horror or suspense set in the medieval period or in a gloomy old castle or
monastery –hence the name ‘gothic’ which is an architectural term-- gothic has been
extended to a type of fiction developing a brooding atmosphere, representing events
which are uncanny or macabre or melodramatically violent, and often dealing with
aberrant psychological states - grotesque
- fanciful, bizarre, eccentric, or absurdly incongruous
- hamartia
- ”error of judgement” tragic flaw of a tragic hero which leads him to a mistaken act
- heptameter
- verse composed in lines of seven metrical feet
- hero
- a character whose actions are inspiring or noble; the protagonist
- heroic couplet
- lines of iambic pentameter which rhyme in pairs (aa, bb, cc, etc.)
- hubris
-
pride or overwhelming self-confidence which leads a protagonist to
disregard a divine warning or to violate an important moral law;
hubris is a common form of hamartia in Greek tragedies - humor
- a comic utterance; a comic appearance or mode of behavior
- hyperbole
- a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement as a means of emphasis, Figurative language not meant literally
- analogy
-
a point by point comparison made between two things for the purpose of clarifying
the less familiar of the two subjects