Literary Terms

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American Romanticism

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a faith in the value of individualism and the legitmacy of intuitve perception
a sense that the natural world is a source of goodness and check against human corruption; an emphasis on the innocence of nature; the glorification of the noble savage; to escape from the constraints of society

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alliteration

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the commencement of two or more stressed syallables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group

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allusion

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a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication

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captivity narrative

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stores of people captured by uncivilized enemies and usually include a theme of redemption

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calvinism

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the doctrines and teachings of John Calvin or his followers, emphasizing predestination, the sovereignty of God, the supreme authority of the scriptures, and the irresistibility of grace

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connotation

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associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning

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denotation

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the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it

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deism

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belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation

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didactic

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intended for instruction; instructive

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dystopia

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a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, disease, and overcrowding

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elegy

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a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem

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enlightenment

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a philosophical moment of the eighteenth century, characterizedf by belief in the power of human reason and by innovations in political religious and educational doctrine

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figurative language

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speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning speech or writing employing figures of speech

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frame device

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to the usage of the same single action, scene event, setting, or any element of significance at both the beginning and end of an artistic musical or literay work

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genre

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a class or category of artistic endeveavor having a particular form content technique or the like

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gothic

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noting or pertaining the middle ages, medieval, barabaous or crude

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imagery

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the formation of mental images figures or likeness of things

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metaphor

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something used or regarded as being used to represent something else emblem symbol

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motif

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a recurring subject theme idea especially in a literary artistic or musical work

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narrator

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a person who tells a story the voice that an author takes on to tell a story

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nom de plume

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french for pen name, an invented name under which an author writes

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persona

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the narrator of or a character in a literary work

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point of view

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a specified or stated manner of consideration or appraisal; standpoint, an opinion, attitude, or judgment

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setting

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the act of a person or thing that sets surroundings or environment of anything

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short story

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a piece of prose fiction, usually under 10,000 words

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simile

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a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared

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slave narrative

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narratives of slavery recounted the personal experience of ante-bellum African American who escaped from slavery and found their way to the north

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Tabula Rasa

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A mind not yet affected by experiences

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theme

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a subject of discourse, discussion, mediation, or composition

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tone

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any sound considered with reference to its quality, pitch, strength, source

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transcendentalism

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any philosophy based upon the doctrine that the principles of really are to be discovered by the study of the processes of thought

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unreliable narrator

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whose credibility has been seriously compromised

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utopia

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an ideal place or state.
an imaginary island described in Sir Thomas More's Utopia (1516) as enjoying perfection in law, politics, etc.

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Verisimilitude

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the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability: The play lacked verisimilitude.