N terms
Terms
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- Nexility
- Rare word for compactness of utterance.
- Neoclassic Period
- Starts with the return of the Stuarts to the English throne (1660) and ends with the publication of Lyrical Ballads (1798). Includes the Restoration Age (1660-1700), the Augustan Age (1700-1750) and the Age of Johnson (1750-1798).
- Native American Literature
- Literature by Native Americans is the oldest of all literature on the continent (North America)
- The Nine Worthies
- Late medieval and early Renaissance literature reflects the widespread tradition of heroes known as the "nine worthies." Listed: Hector, Alexander, Julius Casar (pre-Christian pagans); Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus (pre-Christian Jews); Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey of Boulogne (Christians).Noble Savage
- Neoplatonism
- A philosophical system that originated in Alexandria in the third century. It was a mix of Platonism, Oriental beliefs and some aspects of Christianity; it's leading representative was Plotinus.
- Neoclassicism
- The term for the classicism that dominated English literature in the Restoration Age and in the eighteenth century. It was in part a reaction against the enthusiasm that had blazed in the Renaissance.
- Nostos
- A work describing a return, especially a homecoming. The preeminent example is Homer's Odyssey.
- Nonce WWord
- In earlier forms of a language, a word for which there is a single recorded occurrence. In modern times, a nonce word is invented by an author for a particular usage or special meaning.
- Night-piece
- Originally, a painting of a night scene. Later, a literary work with a similar setting and subject.
- Neologism (or Neology)
- A new word introduced into a language, especially for enhancing style
- Naturalism
- A term for the literary movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Naturalism is the application of scientific views to literature, i.e. humans are animals in the natural world, responding to their environment and their impulses and drives of which they have no control over.
- Naturalistic and Symbolistic Period in American Literature
- 1900-1930; was most dominate after World War 1.
- Nemesis
- The Greek goddess of retributive justice or vengeance; "divine retribution"
- News-book
- Obsolete term for a small newspaper; the word flourished in the second half of the seventeenth century.
- Narratology
- The sophisticated analysis of the relations among a story (conceived in simple terms- and all the other elements involved in the telling thereof. Such things may include verb tense or how pronouns are used.
- Nihil obstat
- Latin for "nothing obstructs," used in the Roman Catholic church to grant permission to publish a book.
- Notabilium
- Something worth noticing
- Newgate
- A prison of unsavory reputation in London, dating from the twelfth century to 1902, when it was demolished. Stories dealing with London crime and criminals are often referred to as Newgate novels and tales.
- Noble Savage
- The idea that primitive human beings are naturally good and that whatever evil they develop is the product of the corrupting action of civilization.
- Nekuia
- A work having to do with the land of the dead, especially a visit by a living person to that land.