Lit four

antihero

protagonist lacking conventional qualities has; instead of bravery they’re coward; modern form of characterization; satiri or realistic commentary on idealized heroes

Figure of Speech

expression or comparison that relies not on its literal meaning b connotations & suggestions, metaphor, metonymy, similie, & synecdoche

lyric

short poem expressing thoughts & feelings of single speaker; often in 1st person, lyric poetry has song like immedicay & emotional force

meter

recurrent, reg, rhymthmic pattern in verse, when stresses recur at fixed intervals = meter, trad meter was basic organizational device;

connotations

association or additiontal meaning what word, image, or phrase carry apart from its literal denotation or dictionary; word gets conn from all uses

comedy

lit work aimed at amusing audience; basic modes of storytelling & can b adapted to most any literary form; trad comic plotting action involve adventures of young lovers who face probs threatenin but overturn @ last moment

paradox

statement @ 1st strikes as self contradictory on reflection reveals some deeper sense; play on words

Image

Word of series of words that refers 2 any sensory experince (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) direct or literal recreation of phhyscial experience & adds immediacy 2 lit language

narrative poem

tells story; one of 4 trad modes of truad poetry w/ lyric, dramatic, & didactic; ballads & epic common narrative

blank verse

most common & well known meter of unrhymed poetry; 5 imabic ft per line & never rhymed; blank means unrhymed; many lit works r in this

accent

emphasis of street placed on syllable in speech; nuclear pronunciation of polysyllabic words always depend on correct placement of their accents; basis of most meters

denotation

literal dictionary meaning of word

comic relief

appearance of comic situation, character, or clownish humor in midst of serious action that intros sharp contrast in mood

hyperbole

overstatement; exacerbation used 2 emphasize pt

understatement

ironic figure of speech that deliberately describes something in way that’s less than true case

soliloquy

In drama, speech by character alone onstage which he or she utters their thoughts aloud; important in drama bc gives audience insight in2 character’s inner life, private motivations, & uncertainties

archetype

recurring symbol, character, landscape, or event found in myth & lit across diff cultures & eras; idea of archetype came in2 lit criticism from Swiss psychologist Carl Jung who believed that all indivds share “collective unconscious” set of primal mems common 2 human race that exists in subconscious

apostrophe

direct address 2 some1 or something; in poetry often addresses something not ordinarily spoken; speaker may address an intimate obj dead or absent person, abstract thing, spirit; used 2 provide speaker w/ means 2 articulate thoughts aloud

melodrama - not in glossary

dramatic genre characterized by exaggerate emotions, sensational plots stereotypical characters (good vs evil), & heightened suspense

concrete - not in glossary

words that descr tangible, physical, or sensory experiences, allowing readers 2 visualize or perceive detail directly

personification

figure of speech in which thing, animal, abstract term is endowed w/ human characteristics; allows author 2 dramatize nonhuman world in tangibly human terms

sentimentality

Usually pejorative description of quality of lit work that tries 2 convey great emotion but fails 2 give reader sufficient grounds 4 sharin

parody

mocking imitation of lit work or indivd author’s style 4 comic effect; exaggerates distinctive features of og 4 humorous purposes

rhythm

pattern of stresses & pauses in poem; fixed & recurring rhythm in poem is called meter