Literary Terms. Rhetorical Devices. Tropes

Transcription

1 Literary Terms Rhetorical Devices Tropes

2 Allegory A story with two or more levels of meaning: literal and symbolic Alliteration The repetition of same consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words. e.g. The infamous killer fought for his freedom, wanting no flesh but retreat. Allusion A reference to a mythological, literal, or historical person, place, or thing. e.g. He met his Waterloo. Like the prodigal, he returned to his hometown Analogy A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them. Analogies explain the unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar.

3 Anaphora First word or phrase is repeated at or near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases "What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness; but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another Robert F. Kennedy, Announcing the death of Martin Luther King Anecdote A short narrative, detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. Antagonist The character who stands directly opposed to the protagonist. Appositio (apposition) Words are placed side by side (in apposition to) each other with one word describing or clarifying the other; adjacent nouns or noun substitutes with one elaborating the other. "I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker." -- Barbara Jordan, 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote Address

4 Atmosphere The prevailing mood of a work of literature, created through details of setting and tone. (MAD) Bias A preconceived idea about something or someone; a bias may be favorable or unfavorable Caricature In literature (as in art) portrait which ridicules a person by exaggerating and distorting his most prominent features and characteristics. Characterization The representation of persons in narrative and dramatic works using the character types.

5 Climax The turning point or crisis, from which no return seems possible, a moment of great intensity. Communism Ideally, a theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs. Conflict The tension in situation between characters. Man s battle against Man, Self, nature and God. Connotation All the suggested meanings and associations that a word brings to mind, beyond its literal meaning (denotation).

6 Creation In the beginning The time before the fall ; a time in history in which the earth and the people on it lived in harmony with God. The world as God intended. Creation Myth Explains how the universe, earth, and life began. Deism Rational belief in God: a belief in God based on reason rather than revelation and involving the view that God has set the universe in motion but does not interfere with how it runs. Denotation The literal meaning or dictionary definition of a word. Basic meaning of a word, without its emotional coloration or associations.

7 Denouement Another word for falling action which leads to the resolution. Unknotting. Dynamic Character A character that develops and changes as a result of the actions of the plot. Empathy Putting yourself in someone else s place and imagining how that person must feel. Enlightenment c An intellectual movement that emphasized the importance of reason, progress, and liberty. The Enlightenment, sometimes called the Age of Reason, is primarily associated with nonfiction writing, such as essays and philosophical treatises.

8 Euphemism The use of roundabout language to replace terms that are considered too blunt or unpleasant. e.g. He s pushing up daisies. Exposition Sets the scene in time and place. Provides the context for the action. Fascism A political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. Fall Now The time since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. The present. A time when the earth and the people on it are separated from God by sin. By exercising free choice, man corrupted what God intended.

9 Falling Action Falling action forces a resolution. The action in a play or a story that is the result of the climax. Figurative Language Language used to create a special effect or feeling by using figures of speech (tropes). Language that is not meant to be interpreted literally. Flashback A scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event. Foreshadowing The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest future action.

10 Gothic Fiction c A genre of late-18th-century literature that featured brooding, mysterious settings and plots and set the stage for what we now call horror stories. The term Gothic includes any work that attempts to create an atmosphere of terror or the unknown, such as Edgar Allan Poe s short stories. Historical Narrative Accounts of real life historical experiences written by someone who experienced the events first hand (observer or participant) Humanism a system of thought that is based on the values, characteristics, and behavior that are believed to be best in human beings, rather than on any supernatural authority Hyperbole A deliberate, extravagant and often outrageous exaggeration, used for comic or serious effect. "So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address

11 Idiom An expression peculiar to a language that cannot be translated literally. e.g. It s raining cats and dogs Imagery Words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses. Irony The difference between appearance and reality. DRAMATIC: the reader or audience knows more about the immediate circumstances or future events of a story than a character within it. SITUATIONAL: the situation turns out differently from what one would normally expect. VERBAL: the speaker or narrator says one thing while meaning the opposite. Metaphor An implied comparison of two unlike things; not using like or as. "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want." -- Psalm 23:1 (KJV)

12 Metonymy The name of one thing is applied to another thing with which it is closely related e.g. The pen is mightier than the sword. I love Shakespeare. Modernism c. 1890s 1940s A literary and artistic movement that provided a break with traditional modes of Western art, thought, religion, social conventions, and morality. Major themes include the attack on notions of hierarchy; experimentation in new forms of narrative, such as stream of consciousness; doubt about the existence of knowable, objective reality; attention to alternative viewpoints and modes of thinking. Mood The atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work. The emotional-intellectual attitude of the author toward the subject. MAD Moral The lesson to be learned from a story, poem, fable, play or any work which purports to teach anything directly or indirectly.

13 Motif One of the dominant ideas in a work of literature; a part of the main theme. It may consist of a character, a recurring image or a verbal pattern. Myth An anonymous traditional story with its roots in cultural or national folk beliefs that rely on the supernatural to explain the mysteries of the world. Naturalism c A literary movement that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. Onomatopoeia The use of words with sounds that imitate or suggest their meanings. e.g. clang, woof, tring tring

14 Oral Tradition Stories that were not written down, but passed verbally from generation to generation. Oxymoron A type of paradox that combines two terms ordinarily seen as opposites. e.g. bitter sweet, cold fire. The oxymoron was a common form of Petrarchan conceit. Parody The imitative use of words, style, attitude, tone, and ideas of an author in such a way as to make them ridiculous. A type of satire. Personification An object, quality or idea is presented as having human qualities. e.g. The moon winked goodnight.

15 Pilgrim One of the group of Puritans who founded the colony of Plymouth, Mass., in 1620 Plot The sequence of events or actions in a short story, novel, play or narrative poem. Point of View The perspective from which a narrative is told. First person: the narrator appears as the I. Second person: A rarely used narrative style using you, yourself, your. A preachy style, like giving a set of instructions. Third person: The narrator is not a character within the related events, but stands outside those events. Prejudice Prejudice is prejudgment, or forming an opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case. The word is often used to refer to preconceived, usually unfavorable, judgments toward people or a person because of gender, political opinion, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race/ethnicity, or other personal characteristics.

16 Propaganda Information of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. The deliberate dissemination of misleading information as a political strategy. Prosopopoeia A personified abstraction is capable of speech. Protagonist The central character of a story, novel, play or dramatic poem. Pun A play on words that are identified or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings. Puns can have serious as well as humorous uses.

17 Puritan A member of a group of Protestants that arose in the sixteenth century within the Church of England, demanding the simplification of doctrine and worship and greater strictness in religious discipline Realism c A reaction to the Romantic emphasis on the strange and idealistic. A literary movement that seeks to report life as exactly as possible. Technically, realism refers to a late-19th-century literary movement that aimed at accurate detailed portrayal of ordinary, contemporary life. Naturalism can be seen as an intensification of realism. Redemption And ever shall be The grace of Jesus which urges humanity to yearn for restoring relationship with God. A process which begins while still living in the fallen world, but ends when the redeemed are united with God for eternity. Resolution Those events which form the outcome of the climax of a play or story.

18 Rising Action Part of a play that precedes the climax. Romanticism c A literary and artistic movement that reacted against the restraint and universalism of the Enlightenment. The Romantics celebrated spontaneity, imagination, fascination with supernatural, subjectivity, focus on individual and self, and the purity of nature, as well as a deep-rooted idealism and passion for nationalism. Sarcasm The use of verbal irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it. e.g. She s a real winner. When she s just fallen from the podium. Sarcasm is personal, jeering and intended to hurt. It is a caustic and bitter expression of strong disapproval. Satire A literary work that seeks to criticize and correct the behavior of human beings and their institutions by means of humor, wit and ridicule. A literary tone used to make fun of human vice or weakness

19 Setting The time (temporal) and place (geographic) in which an event takes place. Simile A direct comparison of two different things or ideas using the words like or as. "But His strong love stands like a granite rock unmoved by the hurricanes of our inequity." -- [originally delivered by Charles Haddon Spurgeon] Socialism A political and economic theory of that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by a central government According to Marxist theory, a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism. Stereotype A conventional formulaic and oversimplified conception, opinion or image.

20 Style The writer s characteristic manner of employing language. The characteristics that distinguish one writer s work from the work of others. Symbol Any object, person, place, or action that has both a meaning in itself and that stands for something larger than itself. e.g. A Dove stands for peace. Theism Belief that one God created and rules humans and the world, not necessarily accompanied by belief in divine revelation such as through the Bible; Belief in the existence of a god or gods. Theme The central message of a literary work. It is not the same as the subject which can be explained in a word or two, e.g. courage, survival, pride The theme is the idea that the author wishes to convey about the subject. It is expressed as a sentence or general statement about life or the human condition or human nature.

21 Tone The writer s or speaker s attitude toward a subject, character or audience, and it is conveyed through the author s choice of words and detail. Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, indignant, objective, etc. Trickster Tale Features and animal or human character who engages in deceit, violence, and magic.