Absurdism/Existentialism

Absurd

-Original meaning "out of harmony", in reference to music.
-The belief that reason is inherently insufficient to explain existence.
-Describes human experiences as random. chaotic, uncertain and irrational

Absurdity

-the quality or state of defying logical explanation
-A condition in which no reason precedes an effect
-Something absurd, strange, silly, ridiculous or widely unrealistic.

Allegory

an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances

Controlling image

a literary device employing repetition so as to stress the theme of a work or a particular symbol.

Referent

something referred to; the object of a reference

Nihilism

complete denial of all established authority and institutions

Absurdism

-Early and mid-20th century literary movement
-Writers in this style attempted to portray the fleeing of living in a strange and baffling world in which attempts to understand events were largely thwarted

-Used absurdity to allow the reader to understand complex or abstracted existentialist topics that couldn't be easily explained in ordinary life.

Existentialism

a 20th-century philosophical movement chiefly in Europe; assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they make of themselves

Foil characters

A literary foil is a character whose purpose is to accentuate or draw attention to the qualities of another character, most often the protagonist.