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Lit Terms #17
Term | Definition |
---|---|
synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole or the whole for a part (as wheels for automobile or society for high society) |
synesthesia | the perception of one kind of sense impression in words normally used to describe a different sense (sweet voice, velvety smile). Effective in creating vivid imagery. |
tercet | a three-line stanza in poetry |
objective narrator | not a character in the story; refers to the characters as "he" or "she" but does not reveal thoughts. |
limited narrator | can only tell what one person is thinking or feeling. |
omniscient narrator | can tell what all characters are thinking or feeling. |
tone | expresses the author's attitude toward his or her subject (anger or approval, pride or piety); tone can run the entire gamut of human emotions. |
tragedy | depicts the downfall or destruction of a character. |
tragic flaw | a tragic flaw or error in judgement |
understatement | a statement in which the literal sense of what is said falls short of the magnitude of what is being talked about; deliberately saying less than we mean. |
verisimilitude | the semblance of truth; the degree to which a writer creates the appearance of truth. |
villanelle | a poem with five triplets and final quatrain |
voice | the "speaker" in a piece of literature |
concrete poetry | an attempt to supplement (or replace) verbal meaning with visual devices from painting or sculpture (a poem in the shape of an apple) |
haiku | poem consisting of 17 separate syllables arranged in three lines according to a 5-7-5 count. |