English Literary Terms For Exam

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satire

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literary work mocking human vices or mistakes; writing that ridicules or criticizes individuals or ideas

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tone

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the writer's attitude toward his or her subject, characters, or audience

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Transcendentalism

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an american literary & philosophical movement of the nineteenth century; believed that instuition & the individual conscience 'transend' experience

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Plain Style

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writing in which uncomplicated sentences & ordinary words are used to make simple, direct statements; characterized by short words, direct statements, and references to everyday objects and experiences

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Regionalism

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writing about specific geographical areas

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Naturalism

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movement among novelists at the end of the 29th century & during early decades of the 20th century, viewed people as hapless victims of immutable natural laws

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mood

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feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage

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verbal irony

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workd/phrase used to suggest what a character thinks & what the audience knows

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situational irony

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event occurs that contradicts the expectations of the characters, readers, or audience

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foreshadowing

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used clues to suggest events that have yet to occur

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allusion

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reference to a well known person, even, litereary work, or work or art

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aphorism

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generala truth or observation about life, usually stated concisely

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Realism

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presentation in art of the details of actual life

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Romanticism

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literary & artistic movement of the 19th century, imagination, emotion, nature, individuality, & exoctica

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direct characterization

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writer simply states the character's traits

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indirect characterization

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character is revealed through words or actions of the characters, descriptions, or what other characters say

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point of view

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perspective from which a story is told

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omniscient point of view

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the narrator is an observer who can relate everything that happens, as well as the private thoughts & feelings of characters

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limited third person point of view

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readers information is limited to what a single character feels, thinks, and observes

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stream of consciousness

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technique in which a character's thoughts are presented as the mind experiences them - in short burts without obvious logic

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dramatic irony

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contradiction between what a character thinks and what the audience knows