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8pd-lit terms
Glossary of Literary Terms
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| absolute | a word free from limitations or qualifications ("best","unique","perfect") |
| adage | a familiar proverb or wise saying |
| ad hominem argument | an argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue |
| allegory | a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions |
| anaphora | the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences. |
| antecedent | the word, phrase or clause to which a pronoun refers |
| antithesis | a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced |
| aphorism | a concise statementthat expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance |
| archetype | a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response |
| asyndeton | a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions |
| bathos | insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity |
| chiasmus | a statement or consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out Mary rushed") |
| colloquialism | informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing |
| conceit | a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor |
| deductive reasoning | reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case ("The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.") |
| denotation | the literal meaning of a word |
| diction | the word choices made by a writer |
| didactic | having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing |
| dissonance | harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds |
| elegy | a formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme |
| ellipsis | the omission of a word or phrase which is gramatically necessary but can be deduced from the context ("Some people prefer cats; others, dogs.") |
| epigram | a brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying |
| epigraph | a saying or statement on the title page of a work, or used as a heading for a chapter or other section of a work. |
| epitaph | an inscription on a tombstone or burial place |
| epithet | a term used to point out a characteristic of a person. Homeric epithets are compound adjectives ("swift-footed Achilles) that become an almost formulaic part of a name. Epithets can be abusive or offensive but are not so by definition.ex Dwayne "the rock" |
| eulogy | a formal speech praising a person who has died. |
| euphemism | an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant |
| expletive | an interjection to lend emphasis; sometimes, profanity |
| fable | a brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters |
| fantasy | a story that concerns an unreal world or contains unreal characters; a fantasy may be merely whimsical, or it may present a serious point |
| flashback | the insertion oof an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative |
| flat character | a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story |
| frame device | a story within a story. |
| homily | a sermon, or moralistic lecture |
| hubris | excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tradgedy |
| idiom | an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect |
| inductive reasoning | deriving general principles from particular facts or instances ("Every cat I have ever seen has four legs; cats are four-legged animals.") |
| invective | an intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack. |
| jargon | the specialized language or vocabulary of a particular group or profession |
| limerick | light verse consisting of five lines of regular rhyme in which the first, second and fifth lines (each consisting of threee feet) rhyme, and the second and thirds lines (each consisting of two feet) ryhme |
| literary license | deviatinf from normal rules or methods in order to achieve a certain effect(intentional sentence fragments, for example) |
| litote | a type of understatement in which an idea is expresssed by negating its opposite (describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, "it was not a pretty picture") |
| malapropism | the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar("the doctor wrote a subscription") |
| maxim | a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage |
| metonymy | substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it("the pen is mightier than the sword") |
| mood | the emotional atmosphere of a work |
| motif | a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works |
| myth | a traditional story presenting supernatural characters and episodes that help explain natural events |
| narrative | a story or narrated count |
| non sequitir | an inference that does not follow logically from the premises(literally, "does not flow") |
| omniscient narrator | a narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters |
| oxymoron | an expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined |
| parable | a simple story that illustrates a moral or religous lesson |
| paradox | an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth |
| parallelism | the use of corresponding grammatical or syntactical forms |
| parody | a humorous imitation of a serious work |
| parenthetical | a comment that interrupts the immediate subject, often to qualify or explain |
| pathos | the quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity |
| pedantic | characterized by an excessive display of learning or scholarship |
| philippic | a strong verbal denunciation. The term comes from the orations of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedonia in the fourth century. |
| plot | the action of a narrative or drama |
| polysyndeton | the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural |
| pun | a play on words, often achieving throught the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings |
| resolution | the falling action of a narrative; the events following the climax |
| rhetoric | the art of presenting ideas in a clear, effective, and persuasive manner |
| riddle | a question requiring thought to answer or understand; a puzzle or conundrum |
| romantic | literary movement beginning in the late 18th century that stresses emotion, imagination and individualism |
| round character | a character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work |
| sarcasm | harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule |
| satire | the use humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions |
| scapegoat | a person or group that bears the blame for another |
| scene | a real or fictional episode; a division of an act in a play |
| setting | the time, place, environment in which action takes place |
| solecism | nonstandard grammatical usage; a violation of grammatical rules |
| structure | the arrangement of framework of a sentence, paragraph or entire work |
| style | the choices a write makes; the combination of distinctive features of a literary work |
| surrealism | an artistic movement emphasizing the imagination and characterized by incongrous juxtapositions and lack of conscious control |
| syllepsis | a construction in wgich one word is used in two different senses ("after he threw the ball, he threw a fit") |
| syllogism | a 3-part deductive argument in which a conclusion is based on a major premise and a minor premise ("all men are mortal; socrates is a man; therefore, socrates is mortal") |
| synecdoche | using one part of an object to represent the entire object(referring to a car as "wheels" |
| synthesia | describing one kind of sensation in terms of another("a loud color", "a sweet sound") |
| syntax | the manner in which words are arranged into sentences |
| tautology | needless repitition which adds no meaning or understanding("widow woman", "free gift") |
| theme | the central idea of a work |
| thesis | the primary position taken by a writer or speaker |
| tone | the attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward the subject or audience |
| topic | the subject treated in a paragraph or work |
| tragedy | a work in which the protagonist, a person of high degree, is engaged in a significant struggle and which ends in ruin or destruction |
| trilogy | a work in three parts, each of which is a complete work in itself |
| trite | overused and hackneyed |
| turning point | the point in a work in which a very significant change occurs |
| understatement | the deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it actually is; a deliberate under-emphasis |
| usage | the customary way language or its elements are used |
| vernacular | the everyday speech of a particular country or region, often involving nonstandard usage |
Created by:
lauren214
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