Vocab 17

1. anachronism: A person, scene, event, or other element in literature that fails

to correspond with the time or era in which the work is set

Ex: University of Wittenburg in Hamlet, the university was established in 1503 but the play was set in the 13th century

2. Malapropism: is an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the

confusion of words that are similar in sound.

Ex: Micheal Scott from the office

3. Amplification: is use of bare expressions, likely to be ignored or

misunderstood by a hearer or reader because of the bluntness. Emphasis through

restatement with additional details.

Ex: Charles Dickens or “All Ethan wanted was the chance, the chance to prove himself, the chance to get out”

4. bowdlerize: to remove parts of a work of literature that are considered

indecent

Ex: Bowlder “The family Shakespeare”

1953 school edition of Fahrenheit 451

5. epistolary: Most or all of the narrative comes to readers through letters or

other correspondence rather than a more traditional storytelling manner.

Ex: The perks of being a wallflower by Stephan Chbosky

6. bête noire: while not an exclusively literary term, many critics use it to denote

the idea of avoidance found in many narratives. Family dramas, for example,

are almost obligated to involve some sort of “elephant” in the room something or someone being avoided

Ex: Money, politics, religion

7. epigraph: many writers like to include quotes or passages at the beginning of

their works to reflect the overarching theme or message.

Ex: Into the Wild

8. negative capability: The use of negative capability in literature is a concept

promoted by poet John Keats, who was of the opinion that literary achievers,

especially poets, should be able to come to terms with the fact that some

matters might have to be left unsolved and uncertain. Keats was of the opinion

that some certainties were best left open to imagination and that the element of

doubt and ambiguity added romanticism and specialty to a concept.

ex: Harry potter

9. trope: frequently used to refer to familiar literary devices, events and

archetypes.

ex: Hero’s Journey / reluctant hero / atonement motif

10. roman a clef: real-life figures and adventures oftentimes end up thinly and

not-so-thinly appearing in fiction.

Ex: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath