L I T T E R M S • no.3

Antihero

A main character who lack traditional heroic qualities (not demigods like Achilles, or paragonical heroes like Atticus, these heroes have flaws, i.e., John Proctor and Troy Maxon).

Characterization

The techniques by which an author represents the moral, intellectual, and emotional natures of the characters.

Foil

A character who contrasts with the protagonist in ways that emphasize the protagonists moral, emotional, or intellectual qualities (Robin to Batman; Enkidu to Gilgamesh).

Hero or Heroine

The protagonist (main character) of a story. However, because Aristotle established the heroic archetype, heroes have the connotation of nobility, dignity, and elevated status.

Paradox

A statement that appears on the surface to be contradictory or impossible, but turns out to express an often striking, or unseen truth.

Parody

A mocking imitation of a work, author, or genre for the purposes of ridiculing it.

Pathetic Fallacy

The attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals, especially in art and literature ("The sun smiled down on Achilles").

Peripeteia

A sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances suffered by a Greek tragic hero in a Greek tragedy; character's downfall.

Prosody

A collective term that describes the technical aspects of a verse relating to rhythm, stress, and meter.

Protagonist

The main character in a work of drama, fiction, or narrative poetry, where events center on him or her, as does readers' interest.