english lit terms - unusual & theme (SCOUT)
Anachronism | a chronological mistake |
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Flashforward | A scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story |
Flashback | An interjected scene or point that takes the narrative back in time from the current point |
Ambiguities | something, particularly words and sentences, that is open to more than one interpretation it might be a purposeful mystery |
Sarcasm (Irony) | Saying one thing, but meaning another- often the opposite. |
Situational (Irony) | actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. |
Socratic (Irony) | When someone pretends to be stupid in order to achieve an effect |
Dramatic (Irony) | When the audience knows something that a character doesn't. It often elevates tension in the audience. |
Romantic (Irony) | Breaking the 4th wall in a fictional work. When a character directly addresses the audience or makes us aware of the relationship between the work and us the reader. |
Hyperbole | A deliberate or unintentional overstatement. |
Paradox | a situation or statement that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true or possible |
Juxtaposition | the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect |
Surreal | Being strange or unusual as if in a dream |
Sentence Fragment | An incomplete sentence, sometimes even just a word. |
Contrast | Standing in opposition of another thing |
Noteable quotes | A spoken or unspoken thought that communicates an important concept |
symbols | A symbol is a mark, sign or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. |
motif | Any recurring element in a story that has symbolic significance or the reason behind actions |
extended metaphor | An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is an author’s exploitation of a single metaphor or analogy at length through multiple linked tenors, vehicles, and grounds throughout a poem or story. |
Protagonist | The main character |
Antagonist | A character or situation that gets in the way of the main character doing what they want to do. |
Epiphanies | An experience of a sudden and striking realization. |
Rhetoric | The art of persuasion |
Catharsis | The purging of emotion through pity or fear |
Thesis/Antithesis/Synthesis | A proposition followed by its opposite and then followed by mixing of the two creating a new situation, understanding, or construction. |
Syllogisms | a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two or more propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true. |
Parallel Construction | When the parts of a sentence, paragraph, or book have elements that mirror each other. |
topic | what the artistic work is about- the subject of the piece |
tone | the author's attitude towards the subject and the audience |
theme | what the artistic work is really about- it usually tells us a complex truth about the human condition. |