literary terms

Literary Terms

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Allegory:

A story which has meaning on both the literal and

figurative or moral level.

Allegory:

A story which has meaning on both the literal and

figurative or moral level.

e.g. The Matrix Star Wars

Alliteration:

The repetition of sounds in a group of words as in

“Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers.”

Allusion:A reference to a person, place, or

thing--often literary, mythological, or historical. The infinitive of allusion is to allude.

Allusion:A reference to a person, place, or

thing--often literary, mythological, or historical. The infinitive of allusion is to allude.

e.g. “Neo” means “New, Recent, Revived or Modified.” Neo in the Matrix is often

referred to as “The One” or “Savior.” These are all allusions to Christ in the

Bible.Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Neo is Resurrected After Dying - Allusion to Christ

Antagonist:

A major character who opposes the protagonist in a

story or play.

Antagonist:

A major character who opposes the protagonist in a

story or play.

e.g. Mr. Smith in the MatrixDarth Vader in Star Wars

Mr. Smith

Darth Vader

Archetype:

A character who represents a certain type of person.

Archetype:

A character who represents a certain type of person.

e.g. mother/father figurehero/heroine

the know-it-allWednesday, September 29, 2010

Atmosphere:

The overall feeling of a work, which is related to

tone and mood.

Audience:The audience for a piece of literature may be a single

person or a group of people. To what person or group is the

text directed?

Characterization: The means by which an

author establishes character. An author may

directly describe the appearance and personality

of character or show it through action or dialogue.

Climax:

The point at which the action in a story or play

reaches its emotional peak.

Conflict:

The struggle in the story. Traditionally, there are four main

conflicts:person vs. self (internal)

person vs. person (external)person vs. society (external)person vs. nature (external)

Contrast:

To explain how two things differ. To compare and

contrast is to explain how two things are alike and how

they are different.

Denouement:

The resolution of the conflict in a plot after the climax. It also

refers to the resolution of the action in a story or play after the

principal drama is resolved.

Denouement:

The resolution of the conflict in a plot after the climax. It also

refers to the resolution of the action in a story or play after the

principal drama is resolved.

e.g. After Neo deletes (kills) Mr. Smith, he dies but peace is made between humans and

the machines.Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Diction

Diction1)Word choice.

2) The author’s choice of words. An author has the option of choosing any word from our language, why

does he/she choose to use certain words and not others? In order to

create a certain tone.Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Denotation

Denotation1)The definition of a word found in

the dictionary.2)Literal meaning of a word.

3) The verb form is “to denote” which means “to mean.”

Denotation1)The definition of a word found in

the dictionary.2)Literal meaning of a word.

3) The verb form is “to denote” which means “to mean.”

e.g. The word “indolence” denotes “laziness.”

Connotation

Connotation1)The definition of a word found outside

of the dictionary.2)Figurative meaning of a word.

3) The verb form is “to connote” which means “to suggest or imply a meaning beyond the literal meaning of a word.”

Connotation1)The definition of a word found outside

of the dictionary.2)Figurative meaning of a word.

3) The verb form is “to connote” which means “to suggest or imply a meaning beyond the literal meaning of a word.”

e.g. The word “cool” connotes “an awesome or exciting thing.”

ClaimWhat the writer wants to

prove. Also called an assertion, position, or thesis.

Counter-claim orCounter-argument

An opinion that challenges the reasoning behind a position and shows that

there are grounds for having an opposite view.

Figurative Language:

Figurative language is also called figures of speech. The most common figures of speech are these:

• A simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole• Apostrophe: a direct address to a person, thing, or abstraction,

such as "O Western Wind," or "Ah, Sorrow, you consume us." Apostrophes are generally capitalized.

• Onomatopoeia• Oxymoron: a statement with two parts which seem

contradictory; examples: sad joy, a wise fool, the sound of silence, or Hamlet's saying, "I must be cruel only to be kind"

Figurative Language:

Foreshadowing:

A technique in which an author gives clues about

something that will happen later in the story.

Hyperbole:

An extreme exaggeration.

Hyperbole:

An extreme exaggeration.

e.g. To say that it took you hours to walk home when in

reality it was only 10 mins would be a hyperbole.

Imagery:

The use of description that helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes. Most of the time, it refers to appearance.

Imagery:

e.g. “I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark

near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. [pause] Time to die.”

Imagery:

e.g. “I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark

near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. [pause] Time to die.”

In Blade Runner, the dying replicant, Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), introspectively says this phrase, during a rain downpour, regarding his own death.

Irony:

The discrepancy between what is said and what is meant, what is said and what is done, what is expected or intended and what happens, what is meant or said and what others understand. Sometimes irony is classified into types: in

situational irony, expectations aroused by a situation are reversed; in cosmic irony or the irony of fate, misfortune is

the result of fate, chance, or God; in dramatic irony. the audience knows more than the characters in the play, so that words and action have additional meaning for the audience.

Some dramatic, extreme examples of Irony

1. The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was $80,000. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later they were both eaten by a killer whale.

2. In 1992, Frank Perkins of Los Angeles made an attempt on the world flagpole-sitting record. Suffering from the flu, he came down eight hours short of the 400-day record, to find that his sponsor had gone bankrupt, his girlfriend had left him and his phone and electricity had been cut off.

3. Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnajet didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with "return to sender" stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.

Literal Language:

Language that means exactly what it says.

Logos:

An appeal to the audience’s logic—common sense—in

rhetoric.

Ethos:

An appeal to the audience’s ethics—knowing right from

wrong—in rhetoric.

Pathos:

An appeal to the audience’s emotions in rhetoric.

Metaphor:

A comparison of two unlike things using any form of the verb “to be”–-i.e. am, are, is,

was, were.

Metaphor:

A comparison of two unlike things using any form of the verb “to be”–-i.e. am, are, is,

was, were.

e.g.: “This chair is a rock,” or “I am an island.”

The feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. The mood may be suggested by the writer's

choice of words, by events in the work, or by the physical

setting. Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Motif:

A recurrent image, word, phrase, or action that tends to unify the literary work or that forms the theme in a work of

literature.

A legend that embodies the beliefs of people and offers some explanation for natural

and social phenomena.

Onomatopoeia:

The use of words that sound like what they mean such as “buzz,” “bang,” or “tic-tock.”

Paradox:

a statement that is apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really contains a possible

truth.

Paradox:

a statement that is apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really contains a possible

truth.

e.g. Cowards die many times before their deaths.

--Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Parallelism:

Parallelism:The use of similar grammatical structure for

effect.

e.g. I came,I saw,

I conquered.

effect.

Also, a requirement in grammar to use the same grammatical form for cojoined ideas.

e.g. We went biking, sailing, and hiking on our trip, not We went biking, sailing, and hiked on our trip.

e.g. I came,I saw,

I conquered.

Parody:

A humorous, exaggerated imitation of a work of

literature, movie, radio-show, etc.

Spaceballs: A Parody on Star Wars and Star Trek

Personification:

Giving inanimate objects human thought, ideas or

intentions

Personification:

Giving inanimate objects human thought, ideas or

intentions

e.g. “The wind howled through the night.”

Anthropomorphism

takes personification one step further and acribes human gesture, movements, as well as thought, intentions, etc.

The series of events that form the story.

Point of View (P.O.V):

The perspective from which the story is told. Narrators of stories can take on three

points of view: 1st person= “I/we”2nd person= “you”

3rd person= “he/she, they/them”Omniscient Point of view

The narrator is an all-knowing outsider who can enter the minds of all of the

characters. Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Protagonist:

The main character of a novel, play, or story.

Sarcasm:

is one kind of irony; it is praise which is really an insult; sarcasm generally invovles malice,

the desire to put someone down.

Sarcasm:

is one kind of irony; it is praise which is really an insult; sarcasm generally invovles malice,

the desire to put someone down.

e.g., "This is my brilliant son, who failed out of college."

Satire:

A work that makes fun of something or someone,

particularly important or famous people.

e.g. The SimpsonsSouth Park

A Literary SatireCobert Report Style

Simile:

Comparing two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

Simile:

Comparing two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

e.g. As agile as a monkeyAs alike as two peas in a pod

As annoying as nails scratching against a chalkboard.

Subplot: The secondary action of a story, complete and interesting in its own right, that reinforces or

contrasts with the main plot. There may be more than one subplot, and sometimes as many as three, four, or even more, running through a piece of fiction. Subplots are generally either analogous to the main plot, thereby enhancing our understanding of it, or extraneous to the

main plot, to provide relief from it. Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Theme:

The central idea of a work.

The author’s attitude toward the subject of the work.

Usually positive or negative.

e.g. The tone of a piece of literature could be pessimistic, optimistic, angry, or sarcastic.

Narrator/Speaker:

The narrator of a work of fiction or the speaker of a poem is a creation of the author, just as the

characters in the work are. It's easy to confuse the author and the narrator because, in fact, some

narrators do speak in a voice that may closely echo that of the writer (for example, in interviews with the writer that you have read). This confusion can

also occur easily when a work is autobiographical and has a first-person narrator. Nevertheless, the

narrator is a construction---not the same person as the author.

literary terms

person externalperson

single person

certain type of person

major character

infinitive of allusion

personality of character

group of words

group of people

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