Lit+Terms+Study+Guide

Archetype

Original model from which something is developed or made; in literary criticism those images, figures, character types, settings, and story patterns that are universally shared by the people across cultures and are often identifiable in a wide variety of works of literature.

Antagonist

the character pitted against the protagonist of a work with who the readers most often identify; usually has evil or distasteful qualities but they are not necessarily all bad. If the antagonist is all evil they are considered a villain.

Protagonist

The most important or leading character in a work; usually identical to the hero/heroine, but not always; the protagonist both good and bad qualities.

Dynamic

character has an epiphany or experiences a change during the course of the work; gains a new understanding

Static

character stays the same throughout the work from beginning to end

Epiphany

used more figuratively to describe the insight or revelation gained when one suddenly understands the essence of a (generally commonplace) object, gesture, statement, situation, moment, or mentality—that is, when one “sees” that commonplace for what it really is beneath the surface and perceives its inner workings, its nature.

Foil

a character, who by contrast with the main character, serves to accentuate that character’s distinctive qualities or characteristics.

Flat

characters that are not developed; are easily recognizable by their lack of complexity; and are usually created to emphasize a single important trait.

Round

characters that have a level of complexity and depth we associate with real people and that have been fully developed by the author

Motivation

the mixture of situation and personality that impels a character to behave the way he or she does.

Stock

a type of character who regularly appears in certain literary forms; they are often stereotyped characters

Direct characterization

author intervenes authoritatively in order to describe, and often to evaluate, the motives and dispositional qualities of the characters

Indirect characterization

author simply presents the characters talking and acting and leaves the reader to infer the motives and dispositions that lie behind what they say and do.

Detail

fact revealed by the author or speaker that support the attitude or tone in a piece of poetry or prose.

Diction

a speaker’s word choice intended to convey a certain effect; typically divided into two components:vocabulary and syntax

Connotation

association evoked by a word beyond its literal meaning; emotional feeling associated with a word.

Denotation

a word’s literal meaning; dictionary meaning of a word

Dialect

regional variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary; language peculiar to a particular group or social class

Dialogue

character’s voice; the conversation between two or more characters

Euphemism

the use of a word or phrase that is less direct, but that is also less distasteful or less offensive than another.

Idiom

a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar

Vocabulary

the degree of difficulty, complexity, abstractness, formality, and currency of words used, as well as the origin of the words chosen.

Imagery

the actual language that a writer uses to convey a visual picture to create or represent any sensory experience

Mood

defined by some as synonymous with atmosphere and/or tone; it can be attitude toward readers, subject matter, or even toward the author themselves or it can refer to the general feeling created in the reader.

Plot

the arrangement and interrelation of events in a narrative work which engages the reader’s attention while also providing a framework for the exposition of the author’s message, theme or other such elements.

Conflict

a confrontation or struggle between opposing characters or forces in the plot or narrative work, from which the action emanates and around which it revolves.

Flashback

a scene that interrupts the present action of a narrative work to depict some earlier event – often an event that occurred before the opening scene of the work via remembrance, dreaming or some other mechanism.

Foreshadowing

a technique by which an author suggests or predicts an outcome of plot.

Spatial

organization of information using spatial cues such as top to bottom, left to right, etc.

Chronological

order of events in which they occur

Transitional devices

techniques used to connect or link different events or ideas

Suspense

what builds the reader’s attention

Point of View

vantage point from which a narrative is told; usually told from first person, third person, third person omniscient, or third person limited.

Person

Perspective

Shift

change in feelings or events; pay attention to 1. key words (but, yet, although, however) 2. punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis, stanza divisions) 3. changes in line or stanza length or both 4. irony (sometimes irony hides shifts) 5. changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning 6. changes in diction (ex. Slang to formal language)

Types of point of view defined

first person point of view, third person omniscient, third person limited

Rhetorical shift

a shift used to influence or persuade

Setting

time and place that provides general background for the characters and plot of the story.

Style

the way a literary work is written; the devices the author uses to express his or her thoughts and convey the work’s subject matter.

Theme

a statement that the text seems to be making about the subject of the literary work; can be moral or a amoral lesson; in more modern works, the theme may emanate from an unmoralized, or less obviously, moral perspective.

Tone

writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject and the audience.

pronoun/antecedent agreement

a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number (singular or plural), gender (masculine/ feminine or neuter), and person (first, second, or third)

subject/verb agreement

a verb must agree with its subject in person and number

Antithesis

A rhetorical device in which two ideas are directly opposed.

Juxtaposition

A rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another.

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions.

Ellipsis

Omission of a word or phrase for a complete syntactical construction but not for understanding.

Parallelism

Refers to a grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or parts of a sentence.

Chiasmus

A rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures.

Polysyndeton

Repetition of conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect.

Repetition

A device in which words, sounds, and ideas are used more than once to enhance rhythm and create emphasis.

Apostrophe

A form of personification in which the absent or dead are spoken to as if present and the inanimate, as if animate.

Personification

A kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics.

Symbolism

Something that stands for or suggests something larger and more complex.

Simile

A comparison using like or as.

Metaphor

A comparison without the use of like or as.

Synecdoche

A form of a metaphor where part of something is used to signify the whole or the whole is used for part.

Metonymy

Changed label or substitute name or the name of one thing is applied to another.

Allusion

A reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing.

Hyperbole

A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration.

Understatement

A kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is.

Oxymoron

A form of paradox that combines a pair of contrary terms.

Paradox

A statement that contradicts itself.

Pun

A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings.

Alliteration

The repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words.

Assonance

The repetition of a vowel sound within words.

Consonance

Repetition of consonance especially at the end of stressed syllables without the like correspondence of vowels.

Meter

Rhythm that continuously repeats a single basic pattern.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words that imitate sounds.

Rhyme

Repetition of sounds at the ends of words.

Rhythm

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a sentence or line of poetry.

Dramatic irony

The audience knows or understands more than the actual characters involved.

Situational irony

When one thing is expected to happen but the opposite occurs.

Verbal irony

The result of a statement saying one thing while meaning the opposite.

Sarcasm

A type of irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it.

Motif

A unifying element in an artistic work, especially any recurrent image, symbol, theme, character, type subject, or narrative detail.

Satire

A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform and ridicule.

Allegory

The presentation of an abstract idea through more concrete means; typically a narrative that has at least two levels of meaning.

Catharsis

A dramatic, serious or complete action that evokes both fear and pity in the audience and allows the character to experience a "purification".

Dramatic unities

Time, action, place.

Aristotle's rules for tragedy (dramatic unities)

One catastrophe, one locality, one day.

Hamartia

An error in judgment; a tragic flaw.

Hubris

Overweening pride; arrogance before the gods.