APLit Lit Terms 8-10

Abstract

terms and statements describe ideas, concepts, qualities. Love, hate, persistence, and agony are examples— can’t put in a jar

Concrete

terms refer to specific people, places, events, or things— can put in a jar

Epilogue

the concluding section of a work

Prologue

the introduction to a work

Anaphora

An exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences, type of parallelism

Epistrophe

A repetition of concluding words or ending, used to puts the emphasis is on the last word(s) of a series of sentences or phrases, creating a dramatic effect, particularly emphasizing a concept, idea or situation

Asyndeton

Using no conjunctions to create an effect of speed or simplicity, ex: I came. I saw. I conquered.

Polysyndeton

the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted, ex: he ran, and laughed, and jumped for joy.

Cacophony/dissonance

Harsh, unpleasant, or discordant sounds

Euphony

A succession of words which are pleasing to the ear

Connotation

an idea/meaning associated with another thing

Denotation

the literal meaning of a word

Hyperbole

figure of speech which uses an extreme exaggeration for dramatic effect

Meiosis

Deliberate understatement, usually for comic, ironic, or satiric effect, ex: one nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day

Loose sentence

A complex sentence in which an independent clause is followed by one or more other elements

Periodic sentence

A complex sentence that is not syntactically complete until its very end

Analepsis

flashback

Prolepsis

flashforward

Simile

comparison using like or as

Metaphor

associating two distinct things without using a connective word

Alliteration

repeated initial consonant sounds

Sibilance

type of alliteration involving repetition of the consonants or other letters and letter combinations

Consonance

repetition of consonant sounds in a phrase or line of poetry

Assonance

Repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds

Hyperbaton

term for changing the normal or expected order of words, ex: one ad does not a survey make

Anapodoton

Deliberately creating a sentence fragment by the omission of a clause with the clause being implied, ex: if only you came with me

Aposiopesis

figure of speech wherein a sentence is deliberately broken off and left unfinished, the ending to be supplied by the imagination, giving an impression of unwillingness or inability to continue, ex: “Get out, or else—!”

Tone

The attitude of an author toward the reader, audience, or subject matter of a literary work

Atmosphere/mood

general feeling created for the reader by a work at a given point

Synecdoche

figure of speech where a part of something represents the whole. Ex: calling a car your “wheels,”

Metonymy

use of a word or phrase to stand in for something else with which it is often physically associated, ex: Hollywood for US Cinema

Oedipus Complex

The desire a young child feels for the opposite-gender parent and the hostility the child correspondingly feels toward the same-gender parent.

Electra complex

The desire a female child feels toward the male parent

Epithet

An adjective or phrase applied to a noun to accentuate a certain characteristic. Ex: The Founding Fathers

Hypallage

Also known as a transferred epithet, is the trope in which a modifier, usually an adjective, is applied to the "wrong" word in the sentence

Occupatio

occupatio is the rhetorical figure of bringing up and responding to a counterpoint before the opponent has the chance to make it. Ex: “Now mom, I know you’re going to say that if I join the Dungeons and Dragons club it may damage my social life, but Sheila and Tracy are already members!”

Paralipsis

A rhetorical figure involving a speaker’s assertion that he or she will not discuss something that he or she in fact goes on to discuss

Didactic

Instructive or providing information for a particular purpose. “Teachy.” (Think Sheldon Cooper’s constant sharing of ‘fun facts.’

Periphrasis

A roundabout way of speaking or writing

Allegory

concrete presentation of an abstract idea with at least two levels of meaning--the surface storyline and the political, philosophical, or religious meaning, ex: George Orwell’s Animal Farm

Anecdote

A brief account of some interesting or entertaining and often humorous incident

Aphorism

A concise, pointed, epigrammatic statement that purports to reveal a truth or principle

Fable

usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans

Foreshadowing

Introducing into the narrative material that prepares the reader for future events, actions, or revelations

Alliosis

Presenting alternatives: "You can eat well or you can sleep well.

Antanaclasis

The stylistic scheme of repeating a single word, but with a different meaning each time

Antimetabole

Repetition in reverse order, ex: One should eat to live, not live to eat

Catachresis

A term referring to the incorrect or strained use of a word

Domesticity

An aspect of patriarchal, nineteenth-century doctrine of separate spheres, according to which a woman’s place was in the privacy of the home, whereas a man’s place was in the wider, public world

Enallage

Intentionally misusing grammar to characterize a speaker or to create a memorable phrase

Hendiadys

The expression of an idea by the use of usually two independent words connected by and instead of the usual combination of independent word and its modifier

Litotes

Involves making an affirmation by negating its opposite. “Not unkind” means “kind.”

Parataxis/Paratactic Style

A sequence of sentences bearing only a loose logical relation to one another

Pastoral

A literary or poetic mode historically and conventionally associated with shepherds and country living

Postmodernism

A term referring to radically experimental works produced after WWII, reveals alienation of individuals and meaningless of human existence

Surrealism

A literary and artistic movement whose proponents view the unconscious mind as the source of imaginative expression and who seek to liberate the mind from the constraints of reason, convention, self-censorship, and conscious control

Synesthesia

The condition where one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another

Zeugma

A rhetorical figure where one word or phrase governs or modifies two or more words or phrases. Ex: "Mary likes chocolate, John vanilla."