eng11 midterm

coherence

the forming of a uniform whole from disparate parts

subtext

an underlying and often distinct theme in a piece of writing or conversation

hermeneutics

theory/methodology of interpretation, especially of texts

iconoclastic

the instinct to tear down established and often cherished institutions/ideas

juxtaposition

two things being seen/placed close to each other with contrasting effect

multivalence

the depth of text which allows for multiple/layered meanings

in media res

story beginning part way through the plot, ‘in the middle of things’

ab initio

story starting from natural beginning

eucatastrophe

sudden turn of events in a story ensuring protagonist does not meet terrible and plausible doom

didactic

intended to teach, particularly with moral instruction being an ulterior motive

pathos

seeking to persuade the reader with a powerful emotional response

ethos

persuade the reader with narrator/character/audience’s credibility

logos

persuade reader with common sense/logic

allegory

story/poem/picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically moral/political

atmosphere

feeling/emotion/mood created through descriptive language

attitude

perspective/tone author is taking

connotation

implied meaning of a word

exposition

clear/direct conveyance of information integral to background/characters/plot

genre

organization of literature into categories based on type of writing piece exemplifies through content/form/style

metaphor

forms a comparison between 2 non-similar things without ‘like’ or ‘as’

humanism

intellectual movement emphasizing human potential, classical learning, critical inquiry, sought to harmonize classical texts with Christian thought

sonnet

14-line poem often in iambic pentameter with structured rhyme scheme (eg. Italian/Petrarchan, Shakespearean/English sonnet)

iambic pentameter

poetic meter of five iambic feet per line, unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one, commonly used by Shakespeare and other Ren. poets

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter, dominant verse form of Ren. drama and much of Shakespeare

pastoral

literary mode idealizing rural life/nature, often contrasting innocence of countryside w/ corruption of court/city

conceit

extended, imaginative comparison between two unlike things, often comparing metaphysical of divine reality w/ smthn ordinary

classical allusion

reference to Greek/Roman mythology/literature/history

courtly love

medieval/Renaissance literary tradition, noble lovers expresses admiration/loyalty/emotional suffering, idealized + unattainable

lyrical

expressing personal emotions/thoughts like in a song, tied to use of musical elements in poetry (eg. rhythm, rhyme, stanza structure, alliteration, assonance, consonance, etc.)

elegiac

mournful/reflective tone often about loss

ode

lyric poem expressing high emotion, often addressed to person/object

sentimentalism

expression of deep emotion, emotional excess

enjambment

continuation of a sentence without pause beyond a line break

apostrophe

figure of speech where speaker addresses inanimate object as if it were alive, or an absent/dead person as if alive

bucolic

relating to the countryside, rustic charm

pantheism

belief that the divine exists in all things (Wordsworth)

verdant

green with vegetation

ephemeral

lasting a short time, fleeting

imagism

literary movement within modernism emphasizing clarity/concreteness/precision/economy of language, focusing on direct presentation of images > abstract ideas/elaborate rhetoric

fragmentation

loss of coherence due to complexity of modern age, lack of narratives sufficient to task, loss of authority

free verse

poetry without regular rhyme/meter

alienation

isolation/estrangement/disconnection in themes/characterization

stream of consciousness

literary style mimicking natural rhythms of thought, free association & lack of clear transitions

nihilism

belief that life lacks inherent meaning/value/truth (Nietzsche)

liminality

being ‘in-between’ states (identity/place/meaning)

subjectivity

perspective emphasizing role of observer in interpreting/’creating reality’, in poetry & cubist art

parataxis

placing phrases/clauses together without clear logical connection/transitions

anomie

feeling of social instability/normlessness, modern condition represented in poetry

what is literature?

universality, carrying tradition of writing/genre/thought, timelessness

theme

ties together literary work/story with a single thread (eg. individuals in society/nature, alienation, reality vs. illusion)

how to recognize themes in a story

context, characters, conflict, repetition, major turning points

plot structure/freytag’s pyramid

exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/denouement

renaissance characteristics

ad fontes, humanism, new hermeneutics, secularism, individualism

1. (to the source), going back to find where goodness/truth/beauty came from

2. focus on human potential/possibilities of human learning/ingenuity/development

3. critical scholarship, reading critically & creatively

4. some places were neutral, not religious

5. human potential

heart & mind NEVER in conflict, working together

ad fontes

to the source

period of the enlightenment

challenged people to grow out of childish renaissance, rationalism, empirical knowledge

heroic individualism, looking to future for answers, guided by logic > emotion + empiricism, wanted to find limits of natural world

‘dark satanic mills’

england’s industrialization + urbanization, William Blake

child labour, debtor prisons, ableism

people yearned for countryside/nature

romanticism

response to order/rationality/control of enlightenment, age of dreams, exploring human soul

back to nature, senses, sturm un drang, self, memory

1. appreciation of nature + desire to return + honour it

2. trusting physical senses > intellect, experiencing world

3. ‘storm and stress’, exaltation of emotion, suspicion of reason, extremes of human experience

4. individuality, examining human personality/moods/mental potential, passions & inner struggles

5. looked to own pasts for truth/goodness/beauty, innocence/purity of childhood

emph. individual, subjective, irrational, imaginative, persona, spontaneous, emotional, visionary, transcedental

modernism

ts. eliot

disenchantment, progress?, hollow men, chasm of history, end of meaning

1. matter/calculation/void > myth/religion/tradition, institution/bureaucracy/ideology > divine, everything scientific

2. lots of new tech (planes, electricity, car), WWI, Roaring 20s, Great Depression, WW2

3. Matthew Arnold, people hiding behind uniform (suit jackets & smiles), loss of feeling/memory/emotion

4. undescribable horrors, human experience different from ever before (WWI + WWII)

5. no poetry for unimaginable loss + human failure of the world, trying to capture truth where there is no meaning

poetry in crisis

‘the wasteland’

effects of war, obliterated cities + exploded countryside

renaissance literature

exploration of human nature/individualism/beauty, complexities of moral choice, innocence, yearning for paradise lost, divine in ordinary, secular things, experience of individual w/ own thoughts/feelings

Shakespeare, Christopher marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Philip sidney

innovative forms, rich language, deep psychological insight

enlightenment characteristics

sapere aude, deism, method, machine, discover

1. ‘dare to know’, answers coming from spirit of inquisition, looking at present & future > past

2. clockwork universe

3. power of method > human perceptions

4. mechanization of life, forcing order upon things that resisted will of mankind

5. exploration

wordsworth poetry quote

“The spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling”

ts eliot poetry quote

“Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality.”