Lit Terms For Jennifer

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allegory

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a narrative in verse or prose in which literal events (person, place, thing) consistantly point to a parallel sequence of symbolic ideas. Has two levels of meaning: literal level that tells a surface story and symbolic level in which the abstract ideas unfold.

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alliteration

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the repetition of two or more consonent sounds in successive words in a line or verse of prose ( cool-cats)

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allusion

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a brief and sometimes indirect reference in a text to a person,place or thing - ficticious or actual. Implies a common set of knowledge between the reader and the writer.

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apostrophe

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a direct address to someone or something. Often addresses something not often spoken to (O Mountain!)

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aside

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in drama a few words or a short passage spoken in an undertone or to the audience

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characterization

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the techniques a wtiter uses to create, reveal, or develop the characters in a narrative

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conceit

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a poetic device using elaborate camparisions, such as equating a loved one with the graces and beauty of the world.

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conflict

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the central struggle between two or more forces in a story. Generally occurs when someone or something prevents the protagonist from acheiving his/her goal.

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connotation

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an association or additional meaning that a word, imagem or phrase may carry, apart from its literal denotation or dictionalry definition.

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denotation

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the literal, dictionary meaning of a word.

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Dues ex machina

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latin for " a god from a machine" refers to the Greek playwrites frequent use of a god, mechanically lowered to the stage from the roof, to resolve human conflict with judgements and commands - Now refers to any force or device in plot resolution

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diction

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word choice or vocab - refers to the class of words that an author decides is appropriate to use in a particular work.

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concrete diction

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involves a highly specific word chioce in the naming of something or someone

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abstract diction

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contains words that express more general ideas or concepts

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epiphany

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a moment of insight, discovery, or revelation by which a characters life is greatly altered. Generally occures near the end of a story

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allegory

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a narrative in verse or prose in which literal events (person, place, thing) consistantly point to a parallel sequence of symbolic ideas. Has two levels of meaning: literal level that tells a surface story and symbolic level in which the abstract ideas unfold.

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alliteration

Back 17

the repetition of two or more consonent sounds in successive words in a line or verse of prose ( cool-cats)

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allusion

Back 18

a brief and sometimes indirect reference in a text to a person,place or thing - ficticious or actual. Implies a common set of knowledge between the reader and the writer.

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apostrophe

Back 19

a direct address to someone or something. Often addresses something not often spoken to (O Mountain!)

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aside

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in drama a few words or a short passage spoken in an undertone or to the audience

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characterization

Back 21

the techniques a wtiter uses to create, reveal, or develop the characters in a narrative

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conceit

Back 22

a poetic device using elaborate camparisions, such as equating a loved one with the graces and beauty of the world.

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conflict

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the central struggle between two or more forces in a story. Generally occurs when someone or something prevents the protagonist from acheiving his/her goal.

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connotation

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an association or additional meaning that a word, imagem or phrase may carry, apart from its literal denotation or dictionalry definition.

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denotation

Back 25

the literal, dictionary meaning of a word.

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Dues ex machina

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latin for " a god from a machine" refers to the Greek playwrites frequent use of a god, mechanically lowered to the stage from the roof, to resolve human conflict with judgements and commands - Now refers to any force or device in plot resolution

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diction

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word choice or vocab - refers to the class of words that an author decides is appropriate to use in a particular work.

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concrete diction

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involves a highly specific word chioce in the naming of something or someone

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abstract diction

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contains words that express more general ideas or concepts

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epiphany

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a moment of insight, discovery, or revelation by which a characters life is greatly altered. Generally occures near the end of a story

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flashback

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a scene relieved in a characters memory. Can be related by the narrator in a summary or they can be experienced by the characters themselves. Allow the author to include events that occured before the opening of a story which may show the reader something significant`

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forshadowing

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in plot construction the technique of arranging events and information in such a way that later events are prepared for, or shadowed, before hand. This can be used in order suggest sifnificant later events.

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genre

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a conventional combonation of literary form and subject matter usually aimed at creating certain effects. Implies a preexisting understanding between the artist and the reader about the purpose and rules of the work. Ex. fiction, non fiction, gothic, horror, dective tales

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hyperbole

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exaggeration used to express a point

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imagery

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the collective set of images in a poem or other literary work

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In media res

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a latin phrase meaning " in the midst of things" that refers to a narrative device beginning a story midway in the events it depicts usually at an exciting or significan t moment

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irony

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a literary device in which a discrepancy of meaning is masked beneath the surface of the language. Present when a write says on thing but means something quite the opposite - verbal and situaltional irony

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metaphor

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a statement that one thing is soemthing else, which, in a literal sense, it is not. creates a close association between the two entities and usually underscores some important similarity between them. ("Richard is a pig")

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metonymy

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fig of speech in which the name of a thing is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. for example when saying "the whitehouse decided" you could mean the president decided.

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monologue

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an extended speech by a single character - originated in drama - describes solo speech that has listeners.

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moral

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a paraphrasable message or lesson implied or directly stated in a literary work. Commonly a moral is stated at the end of a fable.

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motif

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an element that occures significantly throughout a narrative. Can be an image, idea, theme, situation, or action. Ex a beautiful lady ion midevil romances who turns out to be an evil fairy

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Motivation

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what a character in a story or drama wants - the reasons the author provides for a characters actions. can be specific or implied

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onomatapia

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attempts to represent a thing or action by the woed that imitates the sound associated with it (crash, bag, pitter-patter)

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persona

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latin for "mask" a ficticious character created by an author to be a speaker of a poem, story or novel

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personification

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a figure of speech in which a thing, an animal or an abstract term is endowed with human characteristics. allows an author to dramatize the nonhuman world in tangible human terms

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setting

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the time and place of a literary work. may also include the climate and even the social psychological or spititual state of the participants

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simile

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a comparision of two things indicated by soem connective, usually LIKE, AS , THAN, or an verb such as RESEMBLES. Usually compares two things that initially seem unlike but are shown to have a significant resemblance. "Cool as a cucumber" and "My love is like a red, red rose"

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soliloquy

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in drama a speech, by a character alone onstage in which he or she stutters his/her thoughts aloud. Important in drama b/c it gives the audience insight into a characters inner life, private motivations and uncertainties.

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style

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all the distinctive ways in which an author, genre movement, or historical period uses language to create a literary work. Depends on his or her use of diction, imagry, tone, syntex,and figurative language. Even sentence structure and puncuation can play a role.

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symbol

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a person, place or thing in a narrative that suggests meanings beyond its literal; sense. Usually contains multiple meanings and associations.

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slander

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a false or malicious statement about someone

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libel

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a false published statement that injures and individuals reputation or otherwise exposes him/her to public contempt

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censorship

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deleting parts of lit, plays, etc

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bias

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to influence in a particular, typically unfair direction

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exact rhyme

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a full rhyme in whuch the sounds following the initial letters of the words are identical in sound, as in hollow and follow, go and slow, disband and this hand

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slant rhyme

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final consonant sounds are different, as in letter and litter, bone and bean, also called off or near rhyme

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end rhyme

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occurs at the ends of lines, rather than with them - most common type of rhyme in Engish poetry

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stanza

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a recurring pattern of two or more lines of verse, poetry's equiv paragraph in prose - Basic organizational principal of most formal poetry

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euphony

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when the sounds of words working together pleases the mind and ears

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cacophony

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a harsh, disconnect sound

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onmatopia

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attempt to represent a thing or action by a word that imitates the sound associated with it - zoom!, whiz!, crash!, bang!

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rhyme

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occurance of stresses and pauses - this is part of the poems sound

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stress (accent)

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greater amount of force given to one syllable in speaking than is given to another

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iambic pentameter

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succession of alternate unstressed and stressed syllables

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slack syllables

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unstressed

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end stopped

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when a line ends in a full pause

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dactylic

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a line made up primarily of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllable

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iambic pentameter

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a line of 5 iambs - a meter especiall familiar b/c it occures in all blank verses, heroic couplets, and sonnets

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monometer

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1 foot

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dimeter

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2 feet

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trimeter

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3 feet

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tetrameter

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4 feet

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pentameter

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5 feet

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hexameter

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7 feet

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octameter

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8 feet

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accentual meter

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poet does not write in feet but instead counts accents-the idea is to have the same number of stresses in each line

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quantitive meter

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greek and latin poetry is measured by long and short vowel sounds

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form

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congiguration of all its parts

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closed form

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a poet follows soem sort of pattern , often falling into stanzas that indicate groups of rhymes - the poet who writes this way seems to strive for perfection

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open form

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no final "click" - poet views writing as a process - not striving for perfection - lets the poem discover itself as it goes along

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blank verse

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Shakespear, Milton, - has one line pattern

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couplet

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two line stanza - usually rhymed lines often tend to be equal in length whether short or long

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heroic couplet

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ends in light pause, named for its lighter use by Dryden and others in poems and epics of heroes

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closed couplet

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heavy ends stop

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parallel

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when the poet places a pair of words, phrases, clauses or sentences side by side in agreement or similarity

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antithesis

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words, phrases, clauses or sentences in contrast or similarity

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tercet

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a group of three lines

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quatrain

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a stanza consisting of four lines used in more rhymed poems than any other form

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fixed forms

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"traditional" verse forms inherits from other poems certain familiar elements of structure

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conventions

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expected features such as themes, subjects, attitudes or figures of speech

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sonnet

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fixed form that has attracted the largest # of noteworthy practitioners

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English sonnet

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rhymes in four clusters:abacdcefe- has three places where succession of thought is likely to turn in other direction- may follow one idea for 3 quatrians and then in the couplet, end in a surprise

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Italian sonnet

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Petrarchan - follows rhyme scheme abba, abba in its first 8 lines (octave) then adds new rhyme sounds in the last six lines - the sestet.

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diction

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choice of words

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concrete

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refers to what we can immediately percieve with our senses - dog, actor, chemicals

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abstract

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express ideas or concepts:love, time, truth

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allusion

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indirect reference to any person, place or thing - ficticious, historical or actual

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neoclassical period

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Augustan age-period from about 1660 to the late 18th century

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poetic diction

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"system of words refined from the grossness of domestic use"

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decorum

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propriety

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vulgate

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speech not much affected by schooling

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colloquial

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casual converstaion or informal writing of literate people

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general english

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most literate and speech writing

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formal english

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proper and spoken on formal occasions

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fiction

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name for short stories not extremely factual, partially made up - the facts may or may not be true

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fable

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brief story that sets forth some pointed statement opf truth

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moral

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message, soemtimes stated at the end

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parable

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brief narrative that teaches a moral, its plot is plausibly realistic and, main characters are human rather than animals or natural forces

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tale

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sounds better than "story" - although they are the same

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tall tale

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folk story which recounts the deeds of a super hero or of the story teller

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fairy tale

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set in a world of magic and enchantment - sometimes the work of a modern author

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dramatic situation

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when a person is involved in some sort of conflict

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exposition

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opening portion that sets the scene, introduces the main characters tells us what happened before the story opened

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complication

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when a "new" conflict is introduced

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protagonist

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better term than hero but is the same

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suspense

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pleasurable anxiety we feel that heightens our attention to the story

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antagonist

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character who is playing the "bad" person

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foreshadowing

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indication of events to come

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crisis

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a moment of high tension

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climax

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moment of greatest tension

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conclusion

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resolution

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plot

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artistic arrangement of those events

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in media res

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"in the midst of things" - when you skip the 'beginning' and start in the middle of the story

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flashback

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retrospect-a scene relived in a characters memory

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summary

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terse, general narration

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scene

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vivd or dramatic moment described in enough detail to create the illusion that the reader is practically there

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epiphany

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some moment of insight, discovery, a relevation by which a characters life, or view of life is greatly altered

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narrator

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the one from whose perspective the story is told

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narrator (participant)

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writing in the 1st person

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narrator (non participant)

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writing in the 3rd person

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all knowing (omniscient)

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the narrator sees into the minds of all (or some) of the characters, moving, when necessary, from one to another

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editorial omniscient

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when the narrator adds an additional comment or opinion

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limited omniscient

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selective-when a non participating narrator sees events through the eyes of a single character

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impartial omniscient

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narrator who presents the thoughts and actions of the characters, but does not judge them or comment on them

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objective point of view

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the narrator does not enter the mind of any character but describes events from the outside

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innocent or naive narrator

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character who fails to understand all the implications of the story

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tone

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whatever leads us to infer the authors attitude

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style

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individual traits or chracteristics of a piece of writing;indicates a mode of expression; the language a writer uses