lit terms 4

A relatively brief fictional narrative in prose. It may range in length from 500 words up to 12,000-15,000 words. It may be distinguished from a sketch or tale in that it has a definite formal development, and firmness in construction.

short story

The assumed identity or fictional 'I' assumed by a writer in a literary work. The first person speaker who tells a story in a narrative poem or novel, or whose voice we hear in a lyric poem.

persona/speaker

A narrative in which the narrator—a major, minor, or marginal character—appears as the 'I' recollecting his or her own part in the events related, wither as a witness of the action or as an important participant in it. It is a participant POV.

1 person

A rarely used narrative style using second-person pronouns (you, your, yourself, etc.). It is uncommon because it directly involves the reader in the story, and the reader may be unwilling to identify with the 'you' in the story.

2 person

A narrative in which the narrator is not a character within the events related, but stands outside those events. It is a non-participant POV. These narratives can be omniscient, selective/limited omniscient, or objective.

3 person

The intangible quality which appeals to extra-sensory as well as sensory perception, evoked by a work of art.

mood

A foot of poetry consisting of an accented syllable and unaccented syllable, as in the word 'happy'. The trochee is often found as a variation at the beginning of iambic lines.

trochee

the practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound: e.g., "The twisting trout twinkled below."

alliteration

The Latin phrase meaning 'into the middle of things', applied to the common technique of storytelling by which the narrator begins the story at some exciting point in the middle of the action, thereby gaining the readers' interest before explaining preceding events by flashbacks at some later stage. Usually epic poems begin in media res: e.g. Paradise Lost.

In media res

A poetic and rhetorical device, in which normally unassociated ideas, words or phrases are placed next to one another, often creating an effect of surprise and wit.

juxdisposition

Abbreviated THAMOS, these words are commonly used as transitions: Therefore, however, also, meanwhile, otherwise.

conjunktive adverbs

A verbal phrase consisting of "to + verb" that acts as a noun, adjective or adverb in a sentence rather than the main verb.

infinitives

A verbal phrase consisting of the verb in its "-ing" or "-ed" form, acting as a noun or adjective, rather than the main verb of the sentence.

participles

A verbal phrase in which a verb is acting a noun, either as the subject or direct object in the sentence.

gerund