Lit Terms

(the Absurd)

an avant-garde style in which structure, plot, and characterization are disregarded or garbled in order to stress the lack of logic in nature and man's isolation in a universe that has no meaning or value

aesthetics

the study of the emotions and the mind in a relation to their sense of beauty in literature and fine arts, but separately from moral, social, political, practical, or economic considerations. this area of study is concerned with the appreciation and criticism of what is considered beautiful or ugly. sometimes referred to as "art for art's sake"

affective fallacy

the error of judging a literary work by its emotional effect upon readers or confusion between the work itself and its results

allegory

an extended metaphor in which a person, abstract idea, or event stands for itself and for something else. it usually involved moral or spiritual concepts which are more significant than the actual narrative.

Alliteration

common in poetry and occasionally in prose, this is the repetition of an initial sound in two or more words of a phrase, line, or sentence. It is usually a consonant and marks the stressed syllables in a line of poetry or prose. may be considered ornamental or as a decoration that appeals to the sense of hearing

allusion

a reference, usually brief, often casual occasionally indirect, to a person, event, or condition thought to be familiar (but sometimes actually obscure or unknown) to the reader. this holds true, especially for the characters and events of mythology, legends, and history.

Ambiguity

a doubtfulness or uncertainty about the intention or meaning of something. it usually refers to a statement that is subject to more than one interpretation. the term is used for words that suggest two or more appropriate meanings that convey both a basic meaning and complex overtones of that meaning.

anachronism

an error in chronology, or placing an event, person, item, or language expression in the wrong period.

analogy

the relationship of similarity between two or more entities or partial similarity on which a comparison is based. often used as a form of reasoning in which one thing is compared to contrasted with another in respects, based on the known similarity.

antagonist

the character who strives against another main character. this character opposes the hero or protagonist in a drama. the term is also used to describe one who contends with or opposes another in a fight, conflict, or battle of wills.

anticlimax

A drop, often sudden and unexpected, from a dignified or important idea or situation to one that is trivial or descent from something sublime to something ridiculous. in fiction and drama, this refers to an action that is disappointing in contrast to the previous moment of intense interest or anything which follows the climax.

Antithesis

contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence. it is the juxtaposition of two words, phrases, clauses, or sentences contrasted or opposed in meaning in such a way as to give emphasis to their contrasting ideas and give the effect of balance.

aphorism

a brief, pithy, usually concise statement or observation of a doctrine, principle, truth, or sentiment. they are usually not anonymous.

Apocalyptic

connected with revelation. the term is also used to describe literature that provides a prophecy or revelation. in contemporary usage, this refers to any literary selection that reveals and predicts the future. usually used to refer to the ending of the world and the expected final battle between the good and bad.

apology

a defense and justification for some belief, doctrine, piece of writing, cause, or action without any admission of the blame with which we contemporarily associate the word.

arbitrary

lacking any natural basis or substantial justification; determined by whim with little thought.

archetype

the original model or pattern from which copies are made or from which something develops. it is also a symbol, theme, setting, or character that is thought to have some universal meaning and recurs in different times and places in myth, literature, folklore, dreams, and rituals.

ballad

a short, narrative folk song that fixes on the most dramatic part of the story, moving to its conclusion by the means of dialogue and a series of incidents. It represents a type of literary and musical development across Europe in the late Middle Ages and tends to have a tight dramatic structure that sometimes omits all preliminary material, all exposition, and description, even all motivation, to focus on the climatic scene.

bard

one of an ancient Celtic order of versifiers, especially one who was highly trained as a composer, singer, and harpist who recited heroic and adventurous poems.

bibliography

a list of all readings on a particular subject. included in the list are authors, titles, editions, and dates and places of publications.

black comedy

often considered perverted and morbid, it often depicts situations normally thought of as tragic or grave as humorous. Specifically, it displays marked disillusionment and depicts humans without convictions and with little hope.

blank verse

unrhymed lines of ten syllables each with the even-numbered syllables bearing the accents.

bombast

now means a high flow unnatural style, rather inflated and insincere, pretentious, ranting, and using extravagant language.

Canon

a standard judgment. also an approved list of books belonging to the Christian Bible, in addition to the accepted list of books accepted as scripture.

Canto

one of the main or larger divisions of a long poem. it is also used to denote a singing or chanting section of a poem, or a subdivision of an epic narrative

catharsis

any emotional discharge which brings about a moral or spiritual renewal or welcome relief from tension and anxiety

character

an aggregate of traits and features that form the nature of some person or animal. it also refers to moral qualities and ethical standards and principles.

characterization

the creation of the image of imaginary persons in drama, narrative poetry, the novel, and the short story. it generates a plot and is revealed by actions, speech, thoughts, physical appearance, and others characters' thoughts or words about him.

chorus

a group of singers distinct from the principal performers in a dramatic or musical performance and, also, the song or refrain that they sing

chronicle (also called history)

a detailed and continuous record of events, usually a systematic account or narration of events that contain little or no interpretation or analysis

climax

the moment in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem at which the crisis comes to its point of greatest intensity and is resolved. it is also the peak of emotional response from a reader or spectator, and it usually represents the turning point in the action.

closure

the sense of completion or resolution at the end of a literary work or part of a work. In literary criticism, it is the reduction of a work meaning to a single and complete sense that excludes the claims of other interpretations

colloquialism

a word or phrase used in an easy, informal style of writing or speaking. it is usually more appropriate in speech than formal writing. provide a sense of actual conversation and use pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary of everyday speech

comedy

a ludicrous and amusing event or series of events designed to provide enjoyment and produce smiles or laughter usually written in a light, familiar, bantering, or satirical style.

comic relief

a humorous scene, incident, or remark occurring in the midst of a serious or tragic literary selection and deliberately designed to relieve the emotional intensity and simultaneously heighten, increase, and highlight the seriousness or tragedy of the action.

conceit

describing a person or idea by use of an analogy which often seems far-fetched but proves surprisingly apt in pointing out parallels between the two being compared.

connotation

suggestions and associations which surround a word as opposed to its bare, literal meaning.

content

things or substances in an enclosed space, such as topics, ideas, statements, or facts in a book, document, letter, etc.

context

the part of a written (or spoken) statement that leads up to, follows and specifies the meaning of that statement.

couplet

a pair of successive lines of verse, especially a pair that rhymes, that are the same metrical length, and form a single unit. the term is also used for lines that express a complete thought or form a separate stanza.

denouement

refers to the outcome or result of a complex situation or sequence of events. it is the final outcome or unraveling of the main dramatic complications in a play, novel, or other work literature.

device

a term used to describe any literary technique deliberately employed to achieve a specific effect such as: parallelism in rhetoric, alliteration, simile, and metaphor in poetry, etc.

dialect

the language of a particular district, class, or group of persons. it encompasses the sounds, grammar, and direction employed by a specific people as distinguished from other persons either geographically or socially.

dialogue

is a conversation, or a literary work in the form of a conversation, that is often used to reveal characters and advances the plot. also the lines spoken by characters in a play, essay, story, or novel.

digression

a passage or section of writing that departs from the central theme or basic plot, usually within the framework of the piece of writing rather than added or at the end or prefaced in the beginning.

drama

a composition in prose or verse presenting, in pantomime and dialogue, a narrative involving conflict and usually designed for presentation on stage.

elegy

a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead or a personal, reflective poem

ellipsis

the omission of a word or words that a reader must supply for full understanding, or a mark or marks to dictate the omission of or suppression of words, phrases, etc. also means the omission in a sentence of one or more words needed to express the sense completely.

epic

a lengthy narrative poem in which the action, characters, and language are on heroic level and the style is exalted and even majestic.

epigram

a witty, ingenious, and pointed saying that is tersely expressed

epilogue

a concluding part added to such a literary work as a novel, play, or long poem. it is the opposite of a prologue.

epithet

an adjective which expresses a quality or attribute considered characteristic of person or thing.

essay

a short literary compisition on a particular theme or topic, usually in prose and generally thoughtful and inerpretive. it is devoted to the presentation of the writer’s own ideas and generally addresses a particular aspect of the subject.

euphemism

the use of an interdirect, mild, delicate, or inoffensive, or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, sordid, or otherwise unpleasant, offensive, or blunt.

exegesis

a critical interpretation and explanation of literary work, but usually applied to an analysis of an unusually difficult passage in poetry or prose. refers especially to the interpretation and explanation of a selection from the Bible.

exposition

a form of discourse that explains, defins, and interprets. the word is also applied to the beginning portion of a plot in which background information about the situation and characters is set forth.

fable

a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach moral truth.

fantasy

extravagant and unrestrained imagination.

farce

a foolish or ridiculous sham. also, a light, humorous play in which the plot depends upon a carefully exploited situation rather than upon character development.

fiction

any imaged and invented literary composition fashione to entertain and possibly instruct.

figure of speech (also called trope)

the expressive use of language in which words are used in other ways than their literal senses so as to suggest and produce pictures of images in a reader or hearer’s mind, bypassing logic and appealing directly to the imagination in order to to give particular emphasis to an idea or sentiment.

first person narrative

personal point of view of the first person, usually the author participant if the writer assumes the point of view a character.

folklore

the long-standing and traditional beliefs, legends, and customs of people. it is a general term for the verbal, spiritual, and material aspect of any culture that are transmitted orally, by observation, or by imitation, and passed on preserved from generation to generation with constant variations shapes by memory, immediate need or purpose, and the degree of individual talent.

folk tale

a traditional legend or narrative originating among a people, usually part of an oral tradition and subject to variation transmission

Formula

a fixed and conventional method of developing a plot.

Free Verse

verse that lacks meter and line length but relies upon natural rhythms.

Genre

a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, style, or content.

Hagiography

a subtype of biography dealing with the lives and legends and of and saints and the critical study of these lives and legends.

Halku

Japanese verse usually employing allusions and comparisons. Verse is composed of three lines containing a fixed number of syllables.

Hero

the principal character of a play, novel, etc.

Homily

a moralizing discourse or sermon explaining some part of the Bible with accompanying instruction for the congregation.

Hubris

arrogance, excessive self-pride and self-confidence.

Hyperbole

obvious and deliberate exaggeration or an extravagant statement. it is a figure of speech and not intended to be taken literally for its exaggeration for the sake of emphasis.

Idiom

the language, dialect, or style of speaking peculiar to a people or the constructions or expressions of one language whose structure is not matched in another language.

Imagery

the forming of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things. it is also the use of language to represent actions, persons, objects and ideas descriptively. this means encompassing the sense also, rather than just forming a mental picture.

In medias res

beginning a narrative well along in the sequence of events. It is a convention used in epic poetry and sometimes novels, short stories, drama, and narrative poetry designed to attract immediate attention from and secure the prompt interest of the reader or audience.

Interior monologue

represents the inner thoughts of a character, recording the internal or emotional thoughts or feelings of an individual.

Irony

a dryly humorous or lightly sarcastic figure of speech in which the literal meaning of the word or statement is the opposite of that intended. in literature, it is a technique of indicating an intention or attitude opposed to what is actually states.

lampoon

prose or verse, sometimes in the form of sharp satire, which severely ridicules the character, intentions, of behavior of a person, institution, or society.

legend

a tradition or story handed down from earlier times and popularly accepted as true but actually a mix of fact and fiction.

Limerick

light verse consisting of a stanza of five lines, rhyming aabba, which is usually naughty in nature. the first, second, and third lines are in trimeter, and the third and fourth lines are in diameter.

Litany

a form of prayer consisting of a series of invocations with identical responses in succession.

Literal

pertaining a letter of the alphabet. more typically, it means “based on what is actually written or expressed.”

Literature

writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas and concerns of universal and apparently permanent interest, are essential features.

Malapropism

the act or habit of misusing words to comic effect. This usually results from ignorance or from confusion of words similar in sound but different meaning, mainly polysyllabic words.

Melodrama

a form of play that intensifies sentiment, exaggerates emotions, and relates sensational and thrilling action with four basic sharply contrasted and simplified characters: the hero, the heroine, their comic ally, and a villain. the action is constantly kept at high tension.

Metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to a person, idea, or object to which it is not literally applicable. it is an implied analogy or unstated comparison which imaginatively identifies one thing with another. this device is used by an author to turn or twist the meaning of a word.

Monologue

refers to a speech by one person in a drama, a form of entertainment by a single speaker, or an extended part of the text of play uttered by an actor.

Morality play

an allegory in dramatic form. popular from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries

muse

the genius or powers characteristic of a literary artists, or a goddess regarded as inspiring a poet or other writer.

myth

a legendary or traditional story, usually one concerning a superhuman being and dealing with events that have no natural explanation.

narrative

a form of disclosure which relates an event or series of events.

nemesis

(sometimes called fate) in classical mythology, it was the Goddess of Divine Retribution Justice or vengeance. Written with a small letter, the term means rival or opponent who cannot be overcome.

noh

the classical drama of Japan, compromised of one or two acts, either prose or verse, with a chorus contributing poetical comments, which was formerly acted on the Shoguns court. each play is designed to evoke a certain mood using symbolic gestures and chanting.

nom de plume

the assumed name under which an author writes

novel

a lengthy fictitious prose narrative portraying characters and presenting an organized series of of events and setting. they are accounts of life involving conflict, characters, action, setting, theme, and plot.

ode

a lyric poem with a dignified theme that is phrased in formal, elevated style. its purpose is to praise and glorify.

onomatopoeia

the formation and use of words that suggest, by their sounds, the object or idea being named or the imitation of natural sounds. it is a figure of speech and is especially useful for rhetorical effect

oral tradition

the spreading or passing on of material by word of mouth. this is earliest of all forms of poetry since it preceded written poetry and is still alive in many parts of the world.

oratory

the rendering of a formal speech delivered on a special occasion, characterized by elevated style and diction and by studied delivery.