english Literary Terms.docx

Literary Terms / Concepts Allegory—a story or a tale with two or more levels of meaning—a literal level and one or more symbolic levels. The events, setting and characters in an allegory are symbols for ideas and qualities. Alliteration—is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning or word...

Literary Terms / Concepts Allegory—a story or a tale with two or more levels of meaning—a literal level and one or more symbolic levels. The events, setting and characters in an allegory are symbols for ideas and qualities. Alliteration—is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning or words or accented syllables. Allusion—a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art. Anaphora—a sound device that repeats a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses or verses. Anecdote—a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event. Antagonist—a character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist. Not all stories contain antagonists. Aphorism—a general truth or observation about life, usually stated concisely and pointedly. Often witty and wise, aphorisms appear in many kinds of works. Apostrophe—a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person, or a personified quality, object, or idea. Aside—in a play, it is a speech delivered by an actor in such a way that other characters on stage are presumed not to hear it. Assonance—the repetition of vowel sounds in conjunction with dissimilar consonant sounds. Ballad—a songlike poem that tells a story, often dealing with adventure and romance. Blank verse—poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. An iamb is a foot consisting of one weak stress followed by one strong stress. Caesura—a pause or a break in the middle of a line of poetry. Climax—the highest point of interest or suspense in a literary work. Conceit—an unusual or surprising comparison between two different things. Connotation—an association that a word calls to mind in addition to the dictionary meaning of the word. Consonance—the repetition of consonant sounds at the ends of words or accented syllables. Denotation—the objective meaning of a word, independent of other associations that the word brings to mind. Dialogue—a conversation between characters. Writers use dialogue to reveal character, to present events, to add variety to narratives, and to arouse their readers’ interest. Elegy—a solemn and formal lyric poem about death, often one that mourns the passing of some particular person. 99 Essay—a short non-fiction work about a particular subject. Fiction—prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. Short stories and novels are works of fiction. Figurative language—writing or speech not meant to be taken literally. Figure of Speech—an expression or a word used imaginatively rather than literally. Many writers use figures of speech—apostrophe, hyperbole, metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, oxymoron. Flashback—a section of a literary work that interrupts the chronological presentation of events to relate an event from an earlier time. Foil—a character who provides a contrast to another character. Foreshadowing—the use of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur. Free verse—potry that lacks a regular rhythmical pattern or meter. Hyperbole—a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. (e.g. There is garden on her face) Image—a word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses. Imagery—the descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader. These pictures are created by details of sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, or movement. Irony—a contrast between what is stated and what is meant, or between what is expected yo happenand what actually happens. In verbal irony, a word or a phrase is used to suggest the opposite of its usual meaning. In dramatic irony, there is contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true. In irony of situation, an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, of the reader, or of the audience. Litotes—a figure of speech that makes a deliberate understatement to affirm by negating its opposite (e.g. Barbara Streisand is not a bad singer) Local color—the use of characters and details unique to a particular place or geographic area. Lyric Poem—a melodic poem that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker. Metaphor—a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else. It expresses an indirect or implied comparison of two things which are not evidently comparable. Metonymy—a figure of speech that entails using a word that closely relates to a person or thing (e.g. The pen is mightier than the sword) Mixed metaphor—when two metaphors are jumbled together e.g. the thorns of life rained down on me. Onomatopoeia—the use of words that imitate sounds e.g. buzz, hiss, murmur, hum. Oxymoron—a figure of speech that combines two opposing or contradictory ideas (e.g. freezing fire, cruel kindness) 100 Paradox—a statement that seems to be contradictory but actually presents a truth. It is surprising or shocking to draw the readers’ attention to what is being said, e.g. ‘Because I could not stop for death / He kindly stopped me.’ Parody—a humorous imitation of a literary work, one that exaggerates or distorts the characteristic features of the original. Personification—a figure of speech that gives human traits to inanimate objects or ideas. Satire—writing that ridicules or criticizes individuals, ideas, institutions, social conventions, or other works of art or literature. Simile—a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two subjects using like or as. Sonnet—a lyric poem composed of 14 iambic pentameter lines focusing on a single theme Symbol—anything that stands for or represents something else. Synecdoche—a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to stand for the whole thing (e.g. No roving foot shall crush thee here.) Theme—a central message or insight into life revealed by a literary work. Tone—the writer’s attitude toward his or her subject, characters, or audience.