-
someone who is giving an account of a story
A narrator
-
a model of thought, a way of understanding the world, a major idea or set configuration that facilitates understanding
Paradigm
-
speech or writing in which the author temporarily interrupts the order, construction, or meaning of the writing for a particular effect
Figurative language
-
when an author writes without exaggerating or embellishing the subject matter and without any of the rhetorical tools associated with figurative language
Literal speech
-
is a group of literary works that are generally accepted as best and most representative of a field, nation, or time period
Canon
-
a type of extended metaphor in structured narrative form
Allegory
-
an indirect or passing reference to some event, person, place, or artistic work
Allusion
-
the most prominent of the characters who oppose the protagonist or hero in a dramatic or narrative work
Antagonist
-
a novel that follows the development of the hero or heroine from childhood or adolescence into adulthood, through a troubled quest for identity
Bildungsroman
-
figure of speech that replaces the name of one thing with the name of something else closely associated with it
Metonymy
-
is instructive; it is designed to impart information, advice, or some doctrine of morality or philosophy
Didactic
-
a kind of poem in which a single character other than the poet speaks to a silent audience
Dramatic Monologue
-
a quotation or motto placed at the beginning of a book, chapter, or poem as an indication of its theme
Epigraph
-
is an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis and often humor in a figure of speech
Hyperbole
-
a literary device which offers an implied comparison between two unlike objects or ideas which actually share a common link
metaphor
-
recurring themes or structures found within the text
motif
-
is a supernatural story which explains the formation of the universe, earth, and the presence of humanity
creation myth
-
-
the leadership or dominance of one nation or social group over others
hegemony
-
records of personal experience, usually in concentrated form
memoir
-
a literary device which gives inanimate objects or ideas human characteristics and traits
personification
-
prolonged collections of life-stories intended to present a more unified image of the subject
autobiographies
-
the main character or chief figure found within the literature
protagonist
-
the typical ideal, model, or classic example (prototype) presented in a literary work.
archetype
-
the presence of two or more opposing ideas, attitudes, or emotions at the same time
ambivalence
-
when a term has two or more potential meanings and the intended usage of the word is not clear
ambiguity
-
groups of lines in a poem that have been set apart from each other by a space or breakgroups of lines in a poem that have been set apart from each other by a space or break
stanzas
-
refers to a word that sounds the same as its own meaning (i.e buzz, hush, zap)
Onomatopoeia
-
a measure of the rhythmical structure of a line of poetry
meter
-
a rhyming pair of lines written in iambic pentameter
heroic couplet
-
the form of English verse that has rhythms most similar to those of actual human speech
blank verse
-
a poetic tool that repeats vowel sounds within consecutive words in order to stress their importance in a line
assonance
-
sign that has a figurative meaning outside of its own actual significance
symbol
-
a figure of speech that creates an apparently nonsensical idea due to the contrast within the thought or phrase
paradox
-
brings together two seemingly opposite words that would normally contradict each other but are juxtaposed to create a phrase that ultimately makes sense
oxymoron
-
a part of speech that uses a part of something to represent the entire object or being itself
synecdoche
-
or phrases that are deemed more pleasant or, in today’s world, more “politically correct” than the simple term itself
euphemism
-
one that requires no answer
rhetorical question
-
the figure of speech that relates two clauses by reversing their structures to make a larger point (i.e “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man”)
chiasmus
-
an address to either an absent person or an inanimate or inhuman object that is not capable of understanding
apostrophe
-
usually the protagonist of the play (although there can be more than one in a single drama) whose hamartia (an error in judgement) leads to his/her downfall, most likely death
tragic hero
-
a group of actors provides commentary on the action in the play
chorus
-
it means to "criticize with humor." Satire, because it can be harsh or gently mocking, seeks to use humor to prompt change in the lampooned subject(s)
castigans ridendo
-
short story usually written in prose or verse with a didactic purpose
fable
-
type of long narrative poem that meditates on the proceedings of a heroic battle or other grand event that usually pertains to the future of a race, a people, a nation, a tribe, or a species
epic
-
type of literature defined as a song or poem written to express sorrow or grief for an individual’s death
elegy
-
a narrative poem meant to be sung
ballad
-
a fourteen-lined poem in iambic pentameter that also has a particular rhyme scheme
sonnet
-
the art of persuasion
rhetoric
-
a literary device which offers a comparison between two unlike objects or ideas by using either of the words “like” or “as.”
similie
-
type of novel focuses on the development and coming of age for an artist
kunstlerroman
-
the location, time, and circumstances of a text
setting
-
types of narrators; describe each
omniscient narrator witnesses all events, even some that no characters witness; unreliable narrator is a literary device used when the credibility of the narrator is questionable
-
opposite of hyperbole as it expresses an idea to a much lesser degree than in reality
understatement
-
make a statement weaker by denying its opposite
litotes
-
3 unities of settings
place, time, and action
-
dictionary definition of a word
denotation
-
a category of composition (situation+form)
genre
-
the combination of two or more academic disciplines or fields of study that use different approaches and modify them so that they are better suited to the problem at hand
interdisciplinary
-
is a figure of speech describing the joining of two or more parts of a sentence with a single common verb or noun
zeugma
-
implied ("sick" for nice)
connotation
-
state of knowledge vs. knowledge deficit
sum total of what is known about a particular (usually academically-related) topic at a time and place vs lack of information pushing us to research what is not known
-
3 types of irony
- situational (the literature involves the use of a naïve or deluded hero or unreliable narrator, whose view of the world differs widely from the true circumstances recognized by the author and readers)
- verbal (sarcasm)
- dramatic (the audience knows more about a character's situation than the character does)
-
to inform through straight information transfer
exposition
-
Discursive "I" vs Subjective "I"
used in literature as an objective or procedural device (D); does not state an opinion but rather guides the reader in a specific direction (S)
-
a set of scholars, thinkers, intellectuals, and observers that flocks around a specific and shared set of values
discursive community
-
domain of language use that has the capacity to supersede disciplinary boundaries
discourse
|
|