ferri literature terms
Terms
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- southern gothic lit
- A lurid or macabre writing style native to the American South. Since the middle of the 20th century, Southern writers have interpreted and illuminated the history and culture of the region through the conventions of the Gothic narrative (or Gothic novel), which at its best provides insight into the horrors institutionalized in societies and social conventions
- static character
- a character that remains primarily the same throughout a story or novel. Events in the story do not alter a static character's outlook, personality, motivation, perception, habits, etc.
- allegory
- A narrative using symbolic names or characters that carries underlying meaning other than the one most apparent. The stories are usually long and complex, and are meant to explain or teach a moral idea or lesson to the reader
- satire
- the use of humor and wit with a critical attitude, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule for exposing or denouncing the frailties and faults of mankind's activities and institutions
- round character
- a well developed character who demonstrates varied and sometimes contradictory traits. Round characters are usually dynamic (change in some way over the course of a story).
- romanticism
- A movement in art and literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in revolt against the Neoclassicism of the previous centuries...The German poet Friedrich Schlegel, who is given credit for first using the term romantic to describe literature, defined it as "literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form."
- protagonist
- the leading character of a drama, novel, etc. This is not always the hero, but is always the principal and central character
- motif
- A recurrent image, word, phrase, represented object or action that tends to unify the literary
- irony
- mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation.
- antagonist
- the character who strives against another main character. This character opposes the hero or protagonist in drama
- theme
- the abstract concept explored in a literary work
- gothic lit
- A novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terror pervades the action. The setting is often a dark, mysterious castle, where ghosts and sinister humans roam menacingly.
- flat character
- a character who reveals only one, maybe two, personality traits in a story or novel, and the trait(s) do not change.
- dynamic character
- a character which changes during the course of a story or novel. The change in outlook or character is permanent. Sometimes a dynamic character is called a developing character.
- coming of age
- A type of novel where the protagonist is initiated into adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both, often by a process of disillusionment. Understanding comes after the dropping of preconceptions, a destruction of a false sense of security, or in some way the loss of innocence.
- realism
- the theory of writing in which the familiar, ordinary aspects of life are depicted in a matter of fact, straightforward manner designed to reflect life as it actually is. Realism often presents a careful description of everyday life, often concerning itself with the lives of the so-called middle or lower classes.
- foil
- a character that is used to enhance another character through contrast. Cinderella's grace and beauty as opposed to her nasty, self-centered stepsisters is one clear illustration of a foil many may recall from childhood.