Literary Tropes Glossary Allegory Allusion narrative or description which has a second meaning beneath the surface one a reference to something in previous history or literature Antihero a protagonist lacking in one or more of the qualities of a traditional hero: they lack character Catachresis a completely impossible figure of speech, e.g. Mom had a cow when she found out. Character persons involved in a story; the moral qualities and traits of a character Dynamic Character - a character who undergoes a change or achieves growth Flat Character - Can be summed up in one or two traits Foil Character - a minor character whose situations or actions parallel those of a major character; through contrast, reader achieves a fuller understanding of main character Round Character - character is complex and many sided Static Character - same at the beginning as at the end Stock Character - a stereotyped character, one who is familiar as a type in other works Climax Comedy Conflict Connotation Denotation Diction Ennalage Epiphany Fantasy the turning point or high.point in a story; character makes a decision or comes to an understanding which changes the rest of the course of the work has a happy ending; emphasizes human limitations rather than greatness a clash within a story; may be against another person, nature, society, or fate (external conflicts) or a struggle within the character himself (internal conflict) what a word suggests beyond its literal meaning; overtones of meaning the dictionary meaning of a word word choice intentionally misusing grammar to characterize a speaker or to create a memorable phrase, e.g. You pays you money, and you takes your choice. a moment of insight or understanding by which a characters attitudes or life are altered greatly a kind of fiction that pictures creatures or events beyond the boundaries of known reality Figurative Language language that employs figures of speech; cannot be taken literally Figure of Speech A way of saying something other than the ordinary way; an imaginative comparison Hero protagonist of a story, usually possessing qualities of bravery, skill, idealism, or sense of purpose Hyperbole overstatement for the purpose of emphasis Imagery representation through language of sense experience
In medias res story begins in the middle of things with little exposition Irony a situation or use of language involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy Verbal Irony - a figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant Dramatic Irony - an incongruity between what a character perceives and what the author intends the reader to perceive Situational Irony - a situation in which there is an incongruity between appearance and reality, between expectation and fulfillment, or between the actual situation and what would seem appropriate Litotes understatement for effect, sometimes specifically used to refer to an ironically negative understatement, e.g. Einstein wasn t a bad mathematician. Metaphor implicit comparison of two unlike things; can be named or implied Metaplasmus misspelling a word to create a rhetorical effect, such as to capture dialect, e.g. spelling dog as dawg. Mood the emotional atmosphere of a work, relating to the reader s experience rather than the author s attitude Motivation incentives or goals which cause a character to act the way he does Onomatopoeia a word whose syllables resemble the sound they signify, gong, thud, itch, crackle, burp Oxymoron contradictory terms juxtaposed, e.g. a cheerful pessimist. Paradox statement or situation which contains an apparently contradictory element; on further examination, often yields some truth Periphrasis substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a name, fickle mistress for luck, big man upstairs for God Plot artistic arrangement of events in a story Exposition - the opening portion of a story that sets the scene, introduces the characters, tells what happened before the story began, and provides other necessary background information to enable the reader to follow and understand the story Complication - introduces a conflict Suspense - anxiety or tension which heightens the reader s attention to the story Protagonist - the principal character or hero of the story Antagonist - character or force opposed to the protagonist Foreshadowing - indications or hints of things to come Crisis - a moment of high tension There may be several of these leading to the climax Climax - the moment of greatest tension, when the rising action reverses and becomes falling action Denouement - follows the climax and resolves or concludes the action; conclusion of falling action Naturalism fiction of grim realism, in which the writer observes human characters like a scientist observing ants, seeing them as the products and victims of environment and heredity
Point of View-The perspective from which a story is told Omniscient Point of View - author writes in third person and is all-knowing; knows what characters are thinking and planning and why Objective Point of View - Presents the actions and thoughts of the characters but does not judge them or insert opinions Limited Omniscient - author writes from third person point of view, but limits himself to Complete understanding of only one character First Person Point of View - story is told by a character within the story; may be either major or minor character Observer - stands a little to the side, watching a story unfold that mainly involves someone else Innocent or Naive Narrator - story told from the point of view of a narrator who does not fully understand the implications of the story; narrator could be a child or an adult with the intellect of a child Unreliable Narrator - Narrator who the reader perceives is deceptive, self-deceptive, deluded, or deranged Prose opposite of poetry; non-metrical Rites of Passage a story of initiation into maturity or experience; also called story of initiation or loss of innocence Sarcasm Satire Sentimentality bitter or cutting speech intended to injure literature which pokes fun at human folly with the intention of changing things or preventing future ills a defect in writing when a writer seems to feel tremendous emotion and implies that the reader, too, should feel it, but does not provide reader with enough reason to share such feelings Setting Style Suspense Symbol time and place in a story individual characteristics of a piece of writing; surprises in meaning, sentence structure, and sound quality in a work which makes a reader want to continue to find out what happens; builds tension something that means more than what it is; object, person, situation, or action that represents something else in addition to its literal meaning Tone emotional coloring of a work; the writer's or speaker's attitude toward his subject Understatement deliberately represents something as less than it is for the purposes of ironic contrast
Rhetorical Schemes Glossary Parallelism--similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. He tried to make the law clear, precise, and equitable. We must now hope that Mr. Moynahan will devote his next decade to those four or five more novels which will banish his vacillations and uncertainties, purge his unneeded influences, and perfect his native gifts for language, landscape, and portraiture. Isocolon (ahy-suh-koh-luh) --parallelism with same length (words, syllables). His purpose was to impress the ignorant, to perplex the dubious, and to confound the scrupulous. Antithesis (an-ti-thuh-sis) --juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure. Though studious, he was popular; though argumentative, he was modest; though inflexible, he was candid; and though metaphysical, yet orthodox. That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Our knowledge separates as well as it unites; our orders disintegrate as well as bind; our art brings us together and sets us apart. Parenthesis (puh-ren-thuh-sis) --insertion of some verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence. But wherein any man is bold--i am speaking foolishly--i also am bold. Any theory of post-historical society--our sense of being "in history" is largely determined by the pressure of political and social conflicts--will have to consider the dilemma of human motivations in the just city. There is even, and it is the achievement of this book, a curious sense of happiness running through its paragraphs. Apposition (ap-uh-zish-un)--placing side by side two co-ordinate elements, the second of which serves as an explanation or modification of the first. John Morgan, the president of the Sons of the Republic, could not be reached by phone. Men of this kind--soldiers of fortune, pool-hall habitues, gigolos, beachcombers--expend their talents on trivialites. Asyndeton (uh-sin-di-ton) --deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of related clauses. I came, I saw, I conquered. They may have it in well-doing, they may have it in learning, they may have it even in criticism. Polysyndeton (pol-ee-sin-di-ton) --deliberate use of many conjunctions. I said, "Who killed him?" and he said, "I don't know who killed him but he's dead all right," and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees
blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Key and she was all right only she was full of water. Anaphora (uh-naf-er-uh) --repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginnings of successive clauses. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing- grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. It is a luxury, it is a privilege, it is an indulgence for those who are at their ease. Climax--arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance. Let a man acknowledge obligations to his family, his country, and his God. I think we've reached a point of great decision, not just for our nation, not only for all humanity, but for life upon the earth. Antimetabole (an-ti-muh-tab-uh-lee) repetition in reverse order One should eat to live, not live to eat. Winners never quit and quitters never win. Aporia (uh-pohr-ee-uh) --talking about not being able to talk about something I can t tell you how nauseating it was to watch the matzo ball eating contest. Aposiopesis (ap-uh-sahy-uh-pee-sis) breaking off as if unable to continue Oh, dread! Oh, dread! It swallowed my [slurp! gulp!] Epistrophe (ih-pis-truh-fee) the same word repeated at the end of successive phrases If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck Diacope (dai-ak-uh-pee) uninterrupted repetition, or repetition with only one or two words between each repeated word or phrase The horror, the horror. Ellipsis (ih-lip-sis) omitting a word implied by the previous clause Kant, we may suppose, was more startled by Hume's apparent destruction of all basis for philosophical certainty; Reid, by the remoter consequences to morality and theology. Rape is the sexual sin of the mob, adultery of the bourgeoisie, and incest of the aristocracy. Zeugma (zoog-muh) artfully using one verb with two or more different subjects or objects, changing the verb's meaning with each If we don t hang together, we shall hang separately. The queen of England sometimes takes advice in that chamber, and sometimes tea. She exhausted both her audience and her repertoire.