AICE English Language Lit Terms #7

Inflection

The variation of change of form which words undergo to make case, gender, number, tense, person, mood, voice….

• means the modulation of the voice, or change in the pitch/tone of the voice

• ex. adding “-s”, “-ed”, “-ing”….

In media res

In literature, a work that begins in the middle of the story

• ex. The Odyssey, Medea, Oedipus Rex

Inwardness

A literary term used to describe an author’s emphasis on character analysis, character development, or the psychological interplay of characters

Irony

A figure of speech using a word apparently to mean one thing but actually implying just the opposite meaning

• ex. “they are all honorable men” - Julius Caesar

**ALSO means a happening or development in a narrative opposite to and as if in mockery of the appropriate or expected result (ex. when a person’s long efforts are met with unexpected failure)

Dramatic Irony: double meaning in the speech of some character, in which one of his/hers listener is unconscious of one of the meanings

Unconscious Irony: if the speaker is unconscious of one of the meaning

Jargon

An uncomplimentary term for language full of indirect expressions and long, high-sounding words

• also the technical, esoteric vocabulary of science, art, trade, profession, or other special groups

• frequently implies a certain amount of vanity or affectation on the part of the user

Legend

Any unverifiable story coming down from the past, especially one popularly or logically accepted as historical but which has not been authenticated, and possibly can never be proved

• usually, there is some vague core of truth/fact to a legend, which distinguishes it from a myth (myths also have more supernatural elements)

• ex. Odyssues, King Arthur, Paul Bunyan

**Can also mean a heroic character or a title/brief description under an illustration

Leitmotif / Leitmotiv

Means a melodic phrase or passage recurring through a musical work at each appearance of an idea, person, or situation associated with the passage

• in literature, it is a lesser or minor theme or idea that recurs throughout a literary work

• ex. comments made by various characters on Hamlet’s instability before some of his appearances form a leitmotiv in the play

Limerick

A humorous poem of five anapestic lines of which the 1st, 2nd, and 5th have three feet and rhyme

• popularized by Edward Lear “Book of Nonsense”

**TRUE limerick has the last line be almost the same as the first line

Lingo

A humorous or uncomplimentary term applied to a foreign language or any strange style of speech which is not easily or readily understood

Linguistics / Linguistic Study

The scientific study of human speech in all its phases, including origin, structure, phonetics, meanings, history, and grammar

Litotes

Affirmation of an idea by using a negative understatement (opposite of a hyperbole)

ex. “He was not averse to taking a drink” “she is no saint”

Local Color

Term used to describe any of the various ingredients an author uses to suggest characteristics or peculiarities of locale in his/her literary work

• covers all details with the local scene, local attitudes and customs, local dialect, local characters, and typical local happenings

• if one of the author’s main purposes is to give an intimate or vivid picture of a certain place and period, his work might be described as a “local color” story

ex. Mark Twain (Huckleberry Fin) + Thomas Hardy (The Return of the Native)

Localism

An expression or word usage peculiar to a specific locality

Loose Sentence

A sentence so constructed that the thought may be completed well before the end, the latter part consisting only of extra modifiers and less important material

• ex. “He fired at the bear, which was black, as it slowly moved toward him from under the shadows of a tree that had fallen

Lost Generation

Name applied to a group of American expatriates of literary and artistic bent who lived in Europe, especially Paris during the 1920s

• Many were veterans of WWI

• Characterized by their bitter disillusionment over spiritual failure of the war and their persistent attempts to forger their disillusionment in various kinds of thrill-seeking

ex. The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway

Lyric

A song or short poem expressing an emotion or thought

> Different kinds of lyric poems include:

• elegy: expressing sadness or grief usually for the dead

• hymn: a sacred song of praise or adoration of God

• occasional poem: written for a special occasion or to commemorate a notable event

• ode: expresses a lofty or noble sentiment with appropriate dignity of style

• sonnet: poem of 14 lines in iambic pentameter

  • italian - 8 line unit rhymed with abba abba and 6 line unit rhymed cde, cde, cde, dce,…. - BROKEN into two

  • english /shakespearean - first 12 lines give the details, and last 2 provide a summary of the first unit

  • miltonic - NO break of thought between 8-line unit and 6-line unit

Sonnet Sequence

A series of sonnets connected by some thread of thought

• ex. Sonnets from the Portuguese - Elizabeth Browning

Malapropism

A ludicrous blunder in the use of words, committed by using a word which sounds like the intended one, but whose meaning is absurdly different

ex. The people in Hardy’s novel are mostly farmers and pheasants

Masculine Ending

One line ending on a stressed syllable

ex. “Where ignorant armies clash by night” - Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach”

Masculine Rhyme

One ending on accented syllables

• ex. before and restore + today and delay

Masque (Mask)

A form of dramatic performance in vogue especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, in which the players wore masks and usually represented mythological or allegorical characters

• acting usually consisted only in dancing and dumb show

Melodramatic

Term used to describe any literary work abounding in romantic sentiment, sensationalism, violence, and exaggerated situations like narrow escapes and wild pursuits

• BUT if the use of violence and sensationalism is logical and meaningful t the author’s purpose, the work is not necessarily melodramatic