Literature quiz notes

Omniscient narration

Omniscient narration

1) the narrator has unlimited knowledge

2)told in third person POV

3)can enter hearts and minds of characters

4) can withhold or share information

5) not neutral and known to pass judgement implicitly or explicitly

First person POV

1) told in the person with words such as “I/me/my”

2)author as narrator disappears and character narrates from their own perspective

3)only one character’s voice so tone of narration explicitly creates the personality of character

Third person limited POV

1) uses pronouns “he/she/they”

2)focus is generally on one character’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations

3)no direct knowledge of what other characters are thinking and feeling

2nd person POV (direct address)

1) uses “you” pronouns to speak directly to reader

2)draws reader into the narrative, can create immediacy, intimacy or be creepy

stream of consciousness

Presents the random thoughts going through a character’s head within a certain period of time

Often not chronological: mingles memory and past experiences

Often includes run-ons & few transitions, or transitional links that are psychological rather than strictly logical

Tone

The attitude of the speaker/narrator towards the subject

Mood

The atmosphere created by speaker’s tone

Differences between mood and tone

1) Tone is often a byproduct of the author’s POV and style of writing whereas mood is intentional

2) tone is affected by dialogue, deception and word choice, whereas mood is affected by setting, subject matter, literary devices and word choice

Plot

1) the sequence of incidents or events through which an author constructs a story

• author organises to a specific end, the plot is not the action itself

The structure patterns of a plot

– Chronological

– Experimental/unpredictable

– Complex structures convey complex meanings (Faulkner)

First for structure in poetry (Narrative)

Tells a story

Epic

Long narrative poems on heroic subjects

Lyric

Poems in which a speaker expresses a state of mind or feeling

Prose poem

Look like prose (laid out in paragraphs rather than lines) while still retaining verbal features characteristic of poetry

Traditional

Employs poetic meter and rhyme

Free verse

discard meter and rhyme but keep other poetic conventions like figurative language and rhythmic phrases

Ballad

short narrative poem , usually sung and employs a refrain

Blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Clanto

a large division of a long poem

Elegy

poem about a specific death (friend, relative, famous person) or a general meditation on death

Epigram

short, usually rhymed poem distinguished by terseness and concludes with a witty surprise

Sonnet

a lyric poem in 14 lines, normally in iambic pentameter and rhyme according to a number of 3 set patterns

Stanza

a grouping of lines, set off by a space , that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme

Types of stanzas

– Quatrain

– Couplet

• Heroic couplet (iambic pentameter)

– Tercet

– Terza rima: interlocking

3-line rhyme scheme

– Ballad: alternating 8 and 6

syllable lines

– Cinquain

– Sestet

– Octave

Syntax

Syntax deals with the relation of words to each other as component parts of a sentence, and with their proper arrangement to express clearly the intended meaning

Common Syntactical Elements to Discuss

● Punctuation such as dashes, parentheses

● Loose vs. periodic sentences

● Parallel structure

● Repetition

● Sentence length (patterns & breaks

from pattern)

● Sentence types (simple, compound,

complex, compound-complex)

Syntax components

– Sentence parts

-Word order

– Sentence length

– Punctuation

Clause

A group of related words with a verb and a subject

Phrase

A group of words that does not contain a subject-verb relationship

Complete sentence

One or more clauses put together

Co-ordinating conjunction

and, but, or, nor, for, yet and sometimes so

Subordinating conjunction

Something like “although”

Semicolons

Connect two independent clauses