guillory final lit terms pt. 2

imagery

the sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions (to create vivid images)

personification

a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics (also anthropomorphism)

allusion

a reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture

metaphor

a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else; states a comparison directly

verbal irony

words that are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant

dramatic irony

a contradiction exists between what a character thinks and what the audience knows to be true

situational irony

an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience

simile

a figure of speech in which "like" or "as" is used to make a comparison between two basically unlike subjects

hyperbole

a deliberately exaggerated statement

paradox

an apparently contradictory statement that nonetheless contains a measure of truth: "Art is a form of lying in order to tell the truth."

literary symbols

Natural symbols: use objects and occurrences from nature to represent ideas commonly associated with them (dawn as new beginning, tree as knowledge, rose as love), Conventional symbols: have been invested with meaning by a group (religious symbols, national symbols, or group symbols), Literary symbols: the whale in Moby-Dick and the jungle in Heart of Darkness)

antagonist

a character or force in conflict with a main character; a villain

protagonist

the main character in a literary work

climax

the high point of interest or suspense in a literary work

direct characterization

the writer tells us directly what a character's personality is like

indirect characterization

a writer allows us to exercise our own judgment by putting clues together to infer what a character is like, through how he appears, speaks, thinks, feels, relates to other characters, or acts

conflict

struggle between opposing forces

foreshadowing

the presentation of material in such a way that the reader is prepared for what is to come later in the work

narrator

one who tells a story, the speaker or the "voice" of an oral or written work

exposition

writing/speech that explains, informs, or presents information; the element of plot that provides essential background information early in a narrative

hero

a character whose actions are inspiring or noble

plot

the action of a narrative or drama

foil

a character who is contrasted with another character

motif

the repetition or variations of an image or idea in a work used to develop theme or characters

flashback

a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event from an earlier time

motivation

a reason that explains or partly explains a character's thoughts, feelings, actions, or behavior

allegory

the use of characters or events to represent ideas or principles in a story, play, or picture. A form of extended metaphor

genre

a division or type of literature; literature is generally divided into 3 major genres - poetry, prose, and drama

analogy

a comparison of two different things which are similar in some way

gothic

comes from an architectural style of late Middle Ages Europe. Later used to describe romantic, scary novels with mysterious atmospheres and sinister, supernatural events

tragedy

a work of literature, especially a play, that results in a catastrophe for the main character; the cause of _____ a is usually a tragic flaw, or weakness, in the hero's character

anecdote

a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event, which is told to entertain or to make a point

novel

a long work of fiction

novella

a shorter work of fiction

biography

an account of someone's life written by another person

autobiography

an account of the writer's own life

prose

the ordinary form of written language; writing that is not poetry, drama, or song

ambiguity

the multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage

mood

also "atmosphere"; the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage; ____ is often suggested by descriptive details

style

the choices a writer makes; the combination of distinctive features in a literary work

argument

a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work

thesis

the sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition. Expository writing is usually judged by analyzing how accurately, effectively, and thoroughly a writer has proven his thesis

atmosphere

the prevailing tone or mood of a literary work, particularly—but not exclusively—when that mood is established in part by setting or landscape

paraphrase

a restatement of a text in a different form or in different words, often for the purpose of clarity

tone

the writer's attitude toward his or her audience and subject

concrete details

details that relate actual, specific acts or instances

rhetoric

from the Greek for "Orator," this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively

transition

a word or phrase that links different ideas; effectively signals a shift from one idea to another

connotation

the set of associations that occur to people when they hear or read a particular word

satire

a style of writing that uses humor to criticize people, ideas, or institutions in hopes of improving them; a mode of writing based on ridicule that criticizes the foibles and follies of society without necessarily offering a solution.

vernacular style

Use of the language spoken by people who live in a particular locality or who belong to a certain social group; used by authors to develop character and realistically depict a group's speech patterns and mannerisms

denotation

a word's dictionary meaning, independent of other associations that a word calls up

structure

the organization and form of a work

ethical appeal

the most subtle and often the most powerful appeal because it comes from character and reputation. Stems from the writer or speaker's ability to convince readers and listeners that he or she is a reliable, intelligent person who knows and cares about the issues.

persuasion

one of the four forms of discourse, which uses reason and emotional appeals to convince a reader to think or act in a certain way

emotional appeal

exploiting readers' feelings of pity or fear to make a case; draws solely on the readers' and not on logic.

fallacy

a statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference

alliteration

the repetition of initial consonant sounds, primarily used in poetry, "And how the silence surged softly backward"

assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables—"weak and weary"

elegy

a sustained and formal poem setting forth meditations on death or another solemn theme

consonance

the repetition in 2 or more words of final consonants in stressed syllables "add - read"

foot/feet

the unit of rhythm in verse

rhythym

the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language

blank verse

poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines (does not rhyme)

free verse

poetry not written in a regular meter

scansion

a system for describing conventional rhythms by dividing lines into feet, indicating the locations of binomial accents, and counting syllables

cadence

the natural, rhythmic rise and fall of a language as it is normally spoken

image

a word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses

sonnet

a 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter

catalog

a list of things, people, or events

lyric

a highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker

speaker

the voice of a poem

couplet

a pair of rhyming lines, usually of the same length and meter, which generally expresses a general idea

octave

An eight-line stanza or poem.

meter

the rhythmical pattern of a poem which is determined by the number and types of stresses in each line

quatrain

a stanza or poem made up of four lines

sestet

the second, six-line division of an Italian sonnet

refrain

a repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song

Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet:

consists of an octave and a sestet, usually rhyming abbaabba cdecde

English (Shakespearean) sonnet:

consists of 3 quatrains and a couplet, usually rhyming abab cdcd efef gg