A+L Term (Literary Techniques)

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Anagnorisis

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A moment of recognition or discovery, primarily used in reference to Greek tragedy. For example, in Euripides’ The Bacchae, Agave experiences anagnorisis when she discovers that she has murdered her own son, Pentheus.

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Bathos

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A sudden and unexpected drop from the lofty to the trivial or excessively sentimental.

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Caricature

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A description or characterization that exaggerates or distorts a character’s prominent features, usually to elicit mockery.

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Deus ex machina

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A technique in ancient tragedy in which a mechanical god was lowered onto the stage to intervene and solve the play’s problems or bring the play to a satisfactory conclusion. Now, the term describes more generally a sudden or improbable plot twist that brings about the plot’s resolution.

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In medias rest

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starting a narrative in the middle of the action

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Pathos

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The quality in a work of literature that evokes high emotion, most commonly sorrow, pity, or compassion.

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Poetic Diction

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The use of specific types of words, phrases, or literary structures that are not common in contemporary speech or prose.

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Poetic License

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The liberty that authors sometimes take with ordinary rules of syntax and grammar, employing unusual vocabulary, metrical devices, or figures of speech or committing factual errors in order to strengthen a passage of writing.