Literary Terms
Terms
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- symbolism
- the consistent use of something concrete to represent an abstraction.
- universality
- a quality which is applied to literature that appeals to all peoples and all ages.
- pun
- a play on words which sound alike. usually it is a device used to create humor. (take a meaning of a word with two meanings).
- sonnet
- a fourteen line poem written in iambic pentameter, sometimes following a set ryhme scheme
- point of view
- the position from which a story is told. Two of the most common are first person narrative or omniscient, all-knowing on the part of the author.
- In Media Res
- Means in the middle of things used by an author when his story occurs somewhere in the middle of the action rather that at the beginning
- Alliteration
- Repetition of a constant or syllable usually the first in a word or line Ex: The furrow followed free.
- Allegory
- Form of literature in which the incidents or characters are personified usually to represent vices or virtues. Ex: Pilgrim's Progress of Tortoise and hair
- Apostrophe
- direct address to an intimate, absent, or dead object or person.
- Epic
- long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero who usually goes on a journey
- soliloquy
- a speech in which a character, usually alone on stage, reveals his thoughts. (expressing feelings/thoughts to audience).
- satire
- a tone in writing in which the author criticizes human folly by ridiculing it. usually his intention is reform.
- Iambic Pentameter
- most used foot and meter in English poetry it has five feet of unstressed and stressed
- onomatopoeia
- a device used by an author to make words suggest or imitate sounds
- similie
- a comparison of two unlike elements, people, or things using the words like or as.
- Ballad Stanza
- Four line stanza of poetry in iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter the rhyme scheme is a,b,c,b
- paradox
- a self-contradictory statement, which is true.
- Antithesis
- Use of balance in sentences or lines to emphasize a contrast; best of times worst of times
- tragic flaw
- the quality present within the chracter which ultimately brings about his downfall and destruction in tragedy
- Epithet
- short descriptive phrase frequently hyphenated
- Blank Verse
- the major line of Shakespeare is unrhymed iambic pentameter
- Fiction
- work of literature with an imaginative plot and characters
- Foil
- character who is used to contrast the qualities of another character
- Antagonist
- character in direct conflict with main character or protagonist
- metonymy
- the substitution of one thing to represent another (represents person/person's rank. ex:"approach the throne")
- tragedy
- the term applied to literature in which the main character is defeated by opposing forces
- poetic justice
- the term applied to the operation of the plot in a work of fiction so that the good are rewarded and the wicked are punished.
- rhyme scheme
- the pattern of rhyme used throughout a poem
- personification
- attributing life or personality to inanimate objects or ideas.
- theme
- the theme in literature is the major idea, philosophy or moral taht the author is trying to convey in his work.
- Irony
- statement in which the author achieves his effect by expressing the opposite of what he expects
- setting
- the time and place of a work of literature
- meter
- the pattern of rhythm (stressed and unstressed syllables) in a line of poetry.
- Figurative Language
- implies much more that it states as opposed to literal language language which means exactly what it says. It is an aspect of imagery
- Essay
- form of prose in which the author expresses a point of view or an idea on a given subject
- Caricature
- description which ridicules certain individual qualities of a person thorugh exaggeration or distortion of those qualities.
- prose
- the medium for writing odrinary language in sentences and paragraphs. Newspaper, textbooks and other works of fiction and nonfiction are written in prose. (normal sentences-has subject and verb with a period at the end-not poetry).
- Climax
- may be the highest point of suspense of the turning point in the fortunes of the main character in a work or fiction
- Conflict
- struggle between opposing forces in a literary work. The plot is usually developed through conflict
- malapropism
- a device to achieve humor by having a character musude words. (using the wrong word to what you mean because it sounds alike)
- Epigram
- short witty saying which has impact
- parable
- a short religious story in allegorical form used primarily to teach a lesson. (Christ spoke in parables in The New Testament. "The Good Samaritan" is one)
- metaphor
- direct comparison of two unlike objects or persons. (the words like or as are omitted).
- Foreshadowing
- technique used by the author to hint or suggest a coming event
- Denouement
- is the unraveling or resolution of a plot at the end of a work.
- plot
- in a work of literature is the development and resolution of the conflict
- Conceit
- very elaborate or highly developed metaphor which may at times be based on metaphysical reference
- synecdoche
- a device in which the author uses a part to represent the whole. sometimes it is considered an aspect of metonymy. (takes a part of a whole)
- Anachronism
- word used when an author assigns an object or a character to an incorrect place in history, Shakespeare refers to clocks and chimneys in Julius Ceaser when they did not exist.
- Genre
- term used to refer to the classification of literature on the basis of types such as novel, drama, shorty story, poetry, and essay
- Hyperbole
- obvious exaggeration in speech of writing to achieve impact or specific effect
- Imagery
- the sustained creation of sense imperession in the reader by the auther attempting to make an incident or description more concrete. a very imaginitive use of metaphor and the essence of true petry. it may emply many figures of speech such as similies or metaphors (it is a description)
- Comedy
- term applied to literature in which the main character overcomes all opposing forces
- rhyme
- the similarity among the sounds of words usually at the ends of lines in poetry.
- local color
- a technique used to recreate through description and dialogue the atmosphere and customs of a specific oloale. Bret Harte is noted for using this device in his stories of the West.