List A from Figurative Language (Figures of Speech) (front side of page) Paradox -- a self-contradictory statement that actually presents a truth

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Lewis Justin Little
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1 Literary Term Vocabulary Lists [Longer definitions of many of these terms are in the other Literary Term Vocab Lists document and the Literary Terms and Figurative Language master document.] List A from Figurative Language (Figures of Speech) (front side of page) Paradox -- a self-contradictory statement that actually presents a truth Litotes -- an idea expressed by the denial of the opposite Metonymy -- using something closely related to a thing to stand in for the thing itself Synecdoche -- a part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa Apostrophe -- addressing a personified object, quality, or idea, or an absent person from Literary Elements/Devices Used in a Story or Poem to Extend Meaning (front side of page) Imagery -- writing that appeals to one or more of the reader s five senses Allusion -- a reference to well-known history, literature, works of art, or a current person or event Symbol -- an object, place, event or character that has an additional, abstract meaning Motif -- any symbol, situation, image, name, object, action line of dialogue, etc. that is repeated in a work Archetype a symbol, character type, theme, image, idea, or plot pattern which has been repeated since ancient times with nearly the same meaning to most cultures Review list from the same two handouts Figurative Language Simile Metaphor Personification Hyperbole Understatement Oxymoron Analogy Epithet Irony (All the Types, Too?) Setting Characterization Point Of View Plot (And Plot Structure) Theme (Stated as a Sentence about a Topic, Not as One Word)

2 List B from Basic Literary Elements that Apply to Any Narrative (back side of page) Mood the atmosphere or emotional climate of a work or the feeling the work evokes in the reader Tone the writer s attitude toward the subject matter and/or the reader or audience. Diction -- word choice Syntax -- the order of the words in a phrase or sentence Connotation -- implied or inferred meaning of a word Denotation -- the dictionary meaning of a word Review list from the same two handouts Genre Language not on any handouts you have yet Stream of Consciousness -- gives information as if it were coming from a character s mind at that moment Dialect -- the manner in which a character speaks [which often identifies his/her cultural and ethnic origin, socio-economic class, and/or profession] Local Color emphasis on the customs and lifestyle of a particular region [especially speech, mannerisms, and habits] Verisimilitude the appearance of truth, actuality, or reality [the writing feels more like non-fiction/journalism/history and less like fiction]

3 List C not on any handouts you have yet Dues Ex Machina [ god as machine ] using an unexpected, improbable, and somewhat artificial incident to resolve a problem or the primary conflict in a story. Foil -- one character who is the opposite of a second character; as a result, the second character s traits become clear Motivation -- the reasons for what characters say and do [a character s motivations may not be clear until the moment that character speaks or acts, or perhaps even later] Sentence Structure Climax the arrangement of at least three items in a list in order of importance [I came, I saw, I conquered] Anticlimax the opposite of a climax, building up to what should be the most important item in the list but turns out to be the least important or unrelated to the other items; the effect is usually humorous; [ Everything our parents said was good for us is bad for us: sunlight, red meat, college -- Woody Allen] Parallelism repetition of a grammatical structure but not of the words in those structures to show a link between ideas Antithesis a contrast of ideas placed side by side in a sentence [I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.] Chiasmus the second half of a sentence inverts the word order of the first half; this is type of antithesis [Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country John F. Kennedy] Repetition the repeated use of any sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, grammatical pattern, or rhythmic pattern [if done successfully, this can help the author show links between ideas and emphasize important information] Cadence rhythmical movement of language in prose or verse [similar to rhythm, but less obvious]

4 List D not on any handouts you have yet Elements of Poetry Speaker [Persona] the voice of the poem; often the poet, but can also be a fictional character or even an inanimate object Enjambment [a.k.a Run-On Line] a thought continues from the end of a line of poetry into the next line with no pause Caesura a pause or break in the middle of a line of poetry Musical Devices any of several ways a poet can use the sounds of words to enrich his/her poetry Assonance repetition of vowel sounds in words that have different consonant sounds Consonance repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words [such as took/tack and bitter/butter] Dissonance the use of harsh, inharmonious sounds Alliteration the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or accented syllables Onomatopoeia the use of words that imitate sounds [such as buzz, hiss, and murmur] Universality used to describe a literary work that appeals and meaningfully applies to readers from any time period and from anywhere in the world, [usually because of the work s themes, characterization, and/or emotional impact] review items not yet on any handout they have foreshadowing tragedy tragic hero stanza refrain rhythm meter iambic pentameter blank verse free verse rhyme rhyme scheme couplet heroic couplet soliloquy verse prose allegory fable parable

5 Types of Poems Lyric Poem about a brief subject by a single speaker and expressed in a musical way, using a lot of musical devices Dramatic the speaker is clearly someone other than the poet himself/herself [sometimes more than one character speaks] Ode a long, formal lyric poem often praising people, nature, or objects, honoring people and historical events, or considering serious human issues Elegy a formally structured lyric poem of mourning [usually over the death of an individual, but it can also mourn the loss of life and beauty in general or meditate on the nature of death] Idyll a poem or part of a poem that idolizes country/pastoral life [such a described setting is often called idyllic] Requiem a prayer, poem, or song for the repose (burial or putting to rest) of the dead [a requiem is for a funeral or ceremony; an elegy isn t usually for a special occasion]

6 Point of View Elements and Styles First Person a character in the story is the narrator. [The narrator refers to himself/herself as I, and the reader gets that character s inner thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and biases.] Second Person the narrator refers to one of the characters as you [implying the reader is a character, or that the reader is being addressed directly.] Third Person Limited the narrator is not a character in the story and does not refer to himself/herself as I, but otherwise the narration has virtually the same elements of a first person narrator [getting the inner thoughts and feelings of a single character] Third Person Omniscient the narrator is not a character in the story but is an allknowing observer that has access to all characters thoughts and motivations Third Person Objective only the speech and actions of the characters are told, and reader has no access to any character s inner thoughts. [Also known as the fly on the wall, this is like the author being an audience member at a play.] Unreliable Narrator (Naïve Narrator) this requires the reader to interpret the story beyond the narrator s interpretation or understanding [usually because the narrator is too young, naïve, or impaired to fully understand the events of the story.] Intrusive Narrator an omniscient third person narrator who pauses in telling the story to comment on it or to speculate on philosophical issues. Elements of Characterization Direct Characterization the author/narrator directly states a character s personality traits. Indirect Characterization the author/narrator tells what a character looks like, says, and does, as well as how other characters react to him/her. Flat Character a character with only a few prominent traits. Round Character a character with several traits, perhaps in conflict, to show more depth and complexity. Dynamic Character a character that changes and develops over the course of the story. Static Character a character that remains the same over the course of the story.

Allegory. Convention. Soliloquy. Parody. Tone. A work that functions on a symbolic level

Allegory. Convention. Soliloquy. Parody. Tone. A work that functions on a symbolic level Allegory A work that functions on a symbolic level Convention A traditional aspect of literary work such as a soliloquy in a Shakespearean play or tragic hero in a Greek tragedy. Soliloquy A speech in