Literature Review Flashcards

Flashcards about Literature and Genres

Literature

Any written productions, especially those considered to have artistic or intellectual value or use language distinctively.

Literature

Prior to the eighteenth century in Western Europe, this term encompassed all books and writing.

Genre

A category of literature, music, or other art forms based on stylistic criteria.

Genres

Genres evolve as conventions change, with new ones emerging and old ones becoming obsolete.

Poetry

A form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language.

Lyric Poetry

A short, non-narrative poem in which a speaker presents a state of mind or emotional state.

Iambic Parameter

A rhythm in poetry where a weak syllable is followed by a strong syllable.

Sonnet

A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter with a tightly structured thematic organization.

Dramatic Monologue

A poem in the form of a speech revealing aspects of the speaker's character.

Narrative Poetry

A form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of a narrator and characters.

Epics

A long narrative poem in elevated style about heroes and their deeds.

Mock-epic

Satires or parodies mocking heroic stereotypes.

Ballad

A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas, often of unknown authorship.

Prose

Writing in normal, paragraph-style language without metrical structure.

Fiction

Literature describing imaginary events and people.

Realistic Fiction

Stories that could realistically occur to people or animals in a believable setting.

Fantastic Fiction

Fiction that subordinates reality to imagination, depicting a world of marvels.

Non-Fiction

Writing based on facts, real events, and real people.

Biographies

A detailed description of a person's life.

Autobiographies

A written account of a person's life written by that person.

Essays

A piece of writing that gives the author's own argument.

Humour

Situations, speech, or writings that are thought to be humorous

Drama

Writing organized into acts and scenes with characters, dialogue, and stage directions for performance.

Comedy

Dramas lighter in tone with happy conclusions, intended to make the audience laugh.

Tragedy

Dramas using darker themes such as disaster, pain, and death, often featuring a tragic flaw.

Farce

A nonsensical genre of drama that often overacts or engages slapstick humor.

Melodrama

An exaggerated drama that is sensational and appeals directly to the senses of the audience.

Fantasy

A fictional work where characters display supernatural skills.