Lit Terms O-V

ms mariani's class

oxymoron

technique used to produce an effect by a seeming self-contradiction (ex: cruel kindness)

paradox

a statement or concept that seems contradictory, unbelievable, or absurd but that may actually be true in fact (ex: war brings peace)

parallelism

refers to the repeated use of phrases, clauses, or sentences that are similar in structure and meaning.

pedantic

teaching; instructive (is usually stuffy and formal)

point of view

the perspective in which a story is told

pun

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings

rhetorical question

a question that expects no answer. It is used to draw attention to a point and is generally stronger than a direct statement

shift

a change of feelings by the speaker from the beginning to the end, paying particular attention to the conclusion of the literature

situational irony

irony which arises from situations as opposed to verbal irony

static character

a character who remains unchanged by the conclusion of a work

stream of consciousness

narrative technique which presents thoughts as if they were coming directly from a character's mind

symbol

anything that stands for or represents something else

synecdoche

figurative language in which the part stands for the whole (ex: nice wheels!"in commenting on a car)

syntax

the arrangement of words in a sentence

tone

a writer's attitude toward his subject

tragic flaw

an error in judgment

understatement

statement in which the literal sense of what is said falls short of the magnitude of what is being talked about

verbal irony

a kind of irony in which words are used to suggest the opposite of their actual meaning

vernacular

using the native language of a country or place (ex: Huck Finn was written to take place in the South, so characters speak as they did/do in the South)

voice

the "speaker" in a piece of literature