ENG2D LITERARY TERMS to know before ENG3U Alliteration: two or more words in succession that begin with the same letters or sound in order to reinforce image (crashes, clanged, clattered) Allusion: a casual reference to a familiar figure, place, or event that is known from literature, history, myth, religion, or some other field of knowledge. He was a real Romeo with the ladies. Romeo was a character in Shakespeare s play, Romeo and Juliet, and was very romantic in expressing his love for Juliet. Analogy: a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it. It aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to something that is familiar. Metaphors and similes are tools used to draw an analogy. Just as a sword is the weapon of a warrior, a pen is the weapon of a writer. Anecdote: a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. Antagonist: the character or force that works against the protagonist. If the antagonist is evil, or capable of cruel and criminal actions, he/she is called the villain Antihero: is a protagonist who does not have heroic or virtuous qualities Assonance: the repetition or pattern of similar sounds inside words. And the moon rose over an open field. Atmosphere: the way the setting creates an emotional response in the readers Autobiography: a history of a person's life written or told by that person. Bildungsroman: a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character Biography: an account of someone's life written by someone else. Blank verse: is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. The Fortune Teller She reads the lines of palms for golden coins Her ears hold hoops of silver, brass and beads That fall below her raven hair in curls And pouty lips of ruby red demand Character trait: a notable feature of a person's character e.g. kind, outgoing, angry Characters: the people/beings/things that the story is actually about (protagonist, antagonist, antihero) we learn about the characters both DIRECTLY (we are told by the author) and INDIRECTLY (we are given clues and hints through the descriptions of the way the character speaks, behaves, thinks, and looks) Types of characters are varied: Static: the character does not change through the story Dynamic: the character changes through the story Flat: the character is not fully developed in the story just a snapshot is given, this is often used for minor characters Round: a fully-developed character about whom the reader learns a lot Stereotypical: the character is an archetype or a typical personality Foil: the character is in contrast with another and will often be a source of conflict for the other Cliché: anything that has become trite or commonplace through overuse. Every cloud has a silver lining. Comedy: a play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending Conflict: the tension, problem, struggle, or conundrum that creates the story. The central conflict is the main struggle that exists in the story. There are a number of types of conflict: Person vs Self: the character is struggling with a personal problem within him/herself Person vs Person: the character is struggling with another person (or more) Person vs Society: the character is struggling with one or more realities of the society s/he lives in Person vs Nature: the character is struggling with the world and its natural ways and beings Person vs the Supernatural: the character is struggling with a monster, mythical creature, or magic Person vs Fate or Supreme Beings: the character is struggling with the unknown power of the universe that inexplicably controls things like fate
Connotation: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning words can have negative/positive connotations --For many people, the word fat has negative connotations. The word childlike has connotations of innocence. Descriptive language: words that add detail and enhance meaning using sensory qualities. (square, rattling, putrid, spicy, smooth, happy, angered) Fog by Carl Sandburg The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on. Diction: language and word choices Euphemism: the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt. To pass away is a euphemism for to die. Figurative language: figurative language is language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. When a writer uses literal language, s/he is simply stating the facts as they are. Figurative language, in comparison, uses exaggerations or alterations to make a particular linguistic point. Figurative language is very common in poetry, but is also used in prose and nonfiction writing as well. e.g. Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Symbolism, Onomatopoeia Flashback: a point in the story that looks back in time to show the reader something that happened at a point prior to the events taking place in the story Foil: A foil is another character in a story who contrasts with the main character, usually to highlight one of their attributes/will often be a source of conflict for the other Foreshadowing: the use of clues and hints that allow us to guess at what might happen next in the story foreshadowing often makes us use our inference skills Hubris: having excessive confidence or arrogance, which leads a person to believe that he or she may do no wrong. The overwhelming pride caused by hubris is often considered a flaw in character. Hyperbole: deliberate and obvious exaggeration used for comic/dramatic effect (I could eat a million of these.) Iambic pentameter: is the name given to a line of verse that consists of five iambs (an iamb being one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed (if YOU would PUT the KEY inside the LOCK) Imagery: descriptive language that creates a picture in the mind. (The eerie silence was shattered by her scream. The lake was left shivering by the touch of morning wind.) Inference: reaching a conclusion about something from known facts or evidence -- a conclusion or opinion that is formed because of known facts or evidence. One can make a best guess based on what s/he has read in the text Irony: a literary device that creates a contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between expectations and reality. ( What a beautiful view, he said, his voice dripping with irony, as he looked out the window at the alley.) Dramatic Irony: when the reader or audience knows something that the character does not. Situational Irony: when the opposite of what is expected happens to a character. (The thieves robbed the police station.) Jargon: specialized language or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group, e.g. Internet jargon, BTW - By the way Juxtaposition: to place two or more things together, especially in order to suggest a link between them or emphasize the contrast between them: A comparison of complete opposites to highlight differences. (The young and the old; peasants and aristocrats)
Metaphor: a comparison of two things stating that one thing IS another (not using like or as) (The moon was a ghostly galleon.) Extended Metaphor: a comparison two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem Meter: the rhythm in a poem, is created by the number of syllables in a line and the way those syllables are accented. This rhythm is often described as a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Mood: the feeling created by the author that helps create an emotional response in the reader Motif: a motif can be an element or idea that repeats throughout that piece of literature. A motif could be expressed by a collection of related symbols. Narrative point of view: the narrative view-point or vantage-point from which the story is told -who tells the story First person narrative uses the first person pronouns (I, me, we, us, our) we see the story through the eyes of someone either experiencing the events, or witnessing the events Second person narrative uses second person pronouns (you, your, yourself) not often used as appoint of view because it means the reader has to believe she or he is the one in the story Third person narrative uses third person pronouns (she, he, him, her, they, them) Omniscient third person: narrators know and see everything and offer the reader a view into as many minds as possible the reader learns a lot about the characters and events Objective third person: narrator shares only the factual side of things without offering any judgment and only giving details about the characters through direct dialogue of the characters the reader learns the facts and has to make more judgments him/herself as a reader Limited omniscient third person: narrators are limited to some, or only one of the characters in the text the reader learns a lot about some or one of the characters, but not all Nemesis: a source or cause of harm or failure or an unconquerable opponent or rival. Onomatopoeia: a word that imitates its meaning in its sound (gulp, slurp, whoosh, whizz) Oxymoron: two or more words or ideas that contradict each other. (cruel kindness) Paradox: a statement or proposition that seems selfcontradictory or absurd butin reality expresses a possible truth. I must be cruel to be kind. Parody: a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule Persona: the way one behaves, talks with other people that causes them to see him/her as a particular kind of person: the image or personality that a person presents to other people Pathetic Fallacy: giving nature the emotions of human beings, often having nature mirror the human emotions (The wind screamed through the night) Personification: a figure of speech that gives animals, ideas, abstractions and inanimate objects the human form, character or sensibilities (The street was alive with people.) Plot: the action of the story and how it is sequenced Plot elements include: suspense, foreshadowing, flashback, atmosphere, mood, symbol Plot line a visual way of representing the order of the events in a story, including: introduction -the basic points that begin the story and tell us who, what, where, and when rising action and inciting incident the development of the conflicts in the story building the story up, creating suspense, complications -- suspense grows as the reader is forced to ask questions, and discover the answers as s/he reads along. The inciting incident: the initial event that causes the conflict which starts the plot unfolding e.g. someone wants something or is dissatisfied or has a problem climax the highest point of conflict -- the point at which things will move only forward to the end a decisive turning point falling action the events that happen after he climax, as the story begins to wind to an end action slows down,
resolution/denouement the unknotting of the conflicts -- the point at which the story wraps itself up and comes to some sort of end some stories will purposely leave off a clean resolution Plot: Subplot: is a secondary strand of the plot that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots -- often involve supporting characters, those besides the protagonist or antagonist. Poetry: A composition in verse rather than in prose -- poetry uses descriptive language in which words are chosen for their sound, and suggestive power -- using techniques such as meter, rhyme, alliteration, etc. Prose: the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure used in poetry or verse Protagonist: the central character of the story, often the one we root for Rhyme: - a similarity or identity of sound between two word endings. A gold and blue chariot's something to meet / Rumbling like thunder down Mulberry Street!" Rhythm: a musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables, words or sounds. The locks on the box in the back of the hearse. Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Setting: the time and location of the story, including: historical time and place physical time and place time of year, point of life (childhood or adulthood) moral, social, and political realities (Canada vs the USA) the way of life (rural or urban? Wealthy or poor?) Simile: a comparison of two unlike things using like or as. (Her eyes were as bright as the stars) Stanza: two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem, usually follow the same length and rhythm Stereotype: the character is an archetype or a typical personality -- any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual. Style: the way the author uses a variety of literary devices and writing tricks/approaches to create his/her own way of writing -these stylistic devices include: Diction (language and word choices) Syntax (the way the words are organized into sentences) Figurative language (e.g. metaphors and symbolism) Imagery and descriptive language Amount of detail Rhythm Use of dialogue and narration Point of View Tone Suspense: the tension or anxiety that can keep a reader interested and wanting to know more Symbol: something that represents another thing, often something real to represent something else tangible. For example, white doves to demonstrate peace or the use of a leafless tree to represent death. Symbols contribute to the theme of the narrative. Syntax: the way the words are organized into sentences Theme: the central idea, or meaning, that the hopes the reader will get from the text Themes are UNIVERSAL in nature not specific events or experiences. Themes reveal something about human nature Often we look at how the other elements of the writing help shape the theme Tone: the attitude or voice of the author that is created through the writing it gives the reader a clue about how to interpret the story. The author s tone can be angry, sad, satiric, ironic, defeated
Tragedy: a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character. Understatement: the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is Voice: is the distinct personality of a piece of writing. or the author s distinctive literary style-- revealed through an author s use of SYNTAX (sentence construction); DICTION (distinctive vocabulary); PUNCTUATION; CHARACTERIZATION and DIALOGUE. Verse - a single metrical line of poetry, or poetry in general