Allegory: a tale
in prose or verse in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract
ideas or moral qualities; a story that uses symbols to make a point
Alliteration:
the repetition of similar initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of
words
Allusion: a
reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer
expects a reader to recognize
Ambiguity:
something uncertain as to interpretation
Anachronism:
something that shows up in the wrong place or the wrong time
Analogy: a
comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them
Analysis: a
method in which a work or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts
given rigorous and detailed scrutiny
Anaphora: a device
or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two or
more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences
Anecdote: a very
short story used to illustrate a point
Antagonist: a
person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative
Antithesis: a
balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness
Aphorism: a
terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life
Apologia: a
defense or justification for some doctrine, piece of writing, cause, or action;
also apology
Apostrophe: a
figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or
something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly
Argument(ation):
the process of convincing a reader by proving either the truth or the falsity
of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself
Assumption: the
act of supposing, or taking for granted that a thing is true
Audience: the
intended listener or listeners
Characterization:
the means by which a writer reveals a character’s personality
Chiasmus: a
reversal in the order off words so that the second half of a statement balances
the first half in inverted word order
Circumlocution:
a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a
few would have served
Classicism: art,
literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome
Cliché: a phrase
or situation overused within society
Climax: the
decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or
interest at which plot question is answered or resolved
Colloquialism:
folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation
Comedy: originally
a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a
term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed provide
enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter
Conflict:
struggle or problem in a story causing tension
Connotation:
implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition
Contrast: a
rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into
opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity
Denotation:
plain dictionary definition
30. Denouement
(pronounced day-new-mahn): loose ends tied up in a story after the climax,
closure, conclusion
Dialect: the
language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds,
grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.
Dialectics:
formal debates usually over the nature of truth.
Dichotomy: split
or break between two opposing things.
Diction: the
style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.
Didactic: having
to do with the transmission of information; education.
Dogmatic: rigid
in beliefs and principles.
Elegy: a
mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead,
sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral
setting.
Epic: a long
narrative poem unified by a hero who reflects the customs, mores, and
aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and
historic exploits, usually over a long period of time (definition bordering on
circumlocution).
Epigram: witty
aphorism.
Epitaph: any
brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of
commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his
tombstone.
Epithet: a
short, descriptive name or phrase that
may insult someone’s character, characteristics
Euphemism: the
use of an indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one thought to be
coarse, offensive, or blunt.
Evocative
(evocation): a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or
production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.
Exposition:
beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas, and/or characters, in a
detailed explanation.
Expressionism:
movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or
feeling(s).
Fable: a short,
simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral
truth.
Fallacy: from
Latin word “to deceive”, a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any
kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.
Falling Action:
part of the narrative or drama after the climax.
Farce: a
boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.
Figurative
Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech (such
as metaphor and simile).
Flashback: a
narrative device that flashes back to prior events.
Foil: a person
or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.
Folk Tale: story
passed on by word of mouth.
Foreshadowing:
in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the
action; “planning” to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.
Free Verse:
verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no
rhyme.
Genre: a
category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or
content.
Gothic Tale: a
style in literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent or grotesque
action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence.
Hyperbole: an
exaggerated statement often used as a figure of speech or to prove a point.
Imagery: figures
of speech or vivid description, conveying images through any of the senses.
60. Implication: a
meaning or understanding that is to be arrive at by the reader but that is not
fully and explicitly stated by the author.
Incongruity: the
deliberate joining of opposites or of elements that are not appropriate to each
other.
Inference: a judgement
or conclusion based on evidence presented; the forming of an opinion which
possesses some degree of probability according to facts already available.
Irony: a
contrast or incongruity between what is said and what is meant, or what is
expected to happen and what actually happens, or what is thought to be
happening and what is actually happening.
Interior
Monologue: a form of writing which represents the inner thoughts of a
character; the recording of the internal, emotional experience(s) of an individual;
generally the reader is given the impression of overhearing the interior
monologue.
Inversion: words
out of order for emphasis.
Juxtaposition:
the intentional placement of a word, phrase, sentences of paragraph to contrast
with another nearby.
Lyric: a poem
having musical form and quality; a short outburst of the author’s innermost
thoughts and feelings.
Magic(al)
Realism: a genre developed in Latin America which juxtaposes the everyday with the marvelous or magical.
Metaphor(extended,
controlling, and mixed): an analogy that compare two different
things
imaginatively.
Extended: a
metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer
wants to take
it.
Controlling: a
metaphor that runs throughout the piece of work.
Mixed: a
metaphor that ineffectively blends two or more analogies.
Metonymy: literally “name changing” a device of
figurative language in which the name of an attribute or associated thing is
substituted for the usual name of a thing.
Mode of
Discourse: argument (persuasion),
narration, description, and exposition.
Modernism: literary movement characterized by stylistic
experimentation, rejection of tradition, interest in symbolism and psychology
Monologue: an extended speech by a character in a play,
short story, novel, or narrative poem.
Mood: the predominating atmosphere evoked by a
literary piece.
Motif: a recurring feature (name, image, or phrase)
in a piece of literature.
Myth: a story, often about immortals, and sometimes
connected with religious rituals, that attempts to give meaning to the
mysteries of the world.
Narrative: a story or description of events.
Narrator: one who narrates, or tells, a story.
Naturalism:
extreme form of realism.
Novelette/Novella:
short story; short prose narrative, often satirical.
Omniscient Point
of View: knowing all things, usually the
third person.
Onomatopoeia:
use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its
meaning.
Oxymoron: a
figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to
produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox.
Pacing: rate of movement; tempo.
Parable: a story designed to convey some religious
principle, moral lesson, or general truth.
Paradox: a statement apparently self-contradictory or
absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally
accepted ideas.
Parallelism: the
principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should
have equal form.
Parody: an imitation of mimicking of a composition or
of the style of a well-known artist.
Pathos: the ability in literature to call forth
feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness.
Pedantry: a
display of learning for its own sake.
Personification:
a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
Plot: a plan or
scheme to accomplish a purpose.
Poignant: eliciting sorrow or sentiment.
Point of View:
the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the
physical point from which the observer views what he is describing.
Postmodernism:
literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms,
multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and
imaginary.
Prose: the ordinary form of spoken and written
language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.
Protagonist: the
central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.
Pun: play on words; the humorous use of a word
emphasizing different meanings or applications.
Purpose: the
intended result wished by an author.
Realism: writing about the ordinary aspects of life in
a straightfoward manner to reflect life as it actually is.
Refrain: a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a
poem or song; chorus.
Requiem: any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service
for the dead.
Resolution:
point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked
out; denouement.
Restatement:
idea repeated for emphasis.
Rhetoric: use of
language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.
Rhetorical
Question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used
in argument or persuasion.
Rising Action:
plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards
climax.
Romanticism: movement in western culture beginning in the
eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against
Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.
Satire: ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong
doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.
Scansion: the
analysis of verse in terms of meter.
Setting: the
time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem
occur.
Simile: a figure of speech comparing two essentially
unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.
Soliloquy: an
extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.
Spiritual: a
folk song, usually on a religious theme.
Speaker: a
narrator, the one speaking.
Stereotype:
cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal
for members of a group; a formula story.
Stream of
Consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow
of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images,
as the character experiences them.
Structure: the
planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.
Style: the manner of putting thoughts into words; a
characteristic way of writing or speaking.
Subordination:
the couching of less important ideas in less important structures of language.
Surrealism: a
style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational
aspects of man’s existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre
and the banal.
Suspension of
Disbelief: suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.
Symbol:
something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.
Synesthesia: the
use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.
Synecdoche:
another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.
Syntax: the
arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.
Theme: main idea of the story; its message(s).
Thesis: a
proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved
or disproved;
the main idea.
Tone: the
devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the
author’s
perceived point of view.
Tongue in Cheek:
a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; a.k.a. “dry” or “dead
pan”
Tragedy: in
literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous
conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically
(fatally) flawed
Understatement:
opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis
Vernacular:
everyday speech
Voice: The textual features, such as diction and
sentence structures, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s pesona.
Zeitgeist: the
feeling of a particular era in history
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