English 1: Literary Terms

style

A writer's characteristic way of saying things. Style includes arrangement of ideas, word choice, imagery, sentence structure and variety, rhythm, reputation, coherence, emphasis, unity, and tone. It may be described as the personality of an author's writing.

symbol

Anything that signifies, or stands for, something else. Usually something concrete- an object, a place, a character, an action- that stands for or suggests something abstract.

figurative language

Language that contains figures of speech, such as metaphor, simile, personification, and hyperbole, expressions that make comparisons or associations meant to me interpreted imaginatively rather than literally.

theme

The central or dominating idea, the "message," implicit in a work. The theme of a work is seldom stated directly. It is an abstract concept indirectly expressed through recurrent images, actions, characters, and symbols, and must be inferred by the reader or spectator.

imagery

The making of "pictures in words," the pictorial quality of a literary work achieved through a collection of images. May also refer to language that appeals to any of the five senses (visual, auditory, gustatory, tactile, olfactory).

tone

The reflection in a work of the author's attitude toward his or her subject, characters, and readers. Tone in writing is comparable to tone of voice in speech.

metaphor

a comparison between two unlike things with the intent of giving additional meaning to one of them. Unlike a simile, a metaphor does not use a connective word such as "like" or "as" to state the comparison.

parody

a composition that ridicules another composition by imitating and exaggerating aspects of its content, structure, and style accomplishing in words what the caricature achieves in drawing.

hyperbole

a deliberate exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis or humor; overstatement.

pseudonym

a fictitious name used by a person (sometimes an author) or group.

personification

a figure of speech in which human characteristics are bestowed upon anything nonhuman.

stream of consciousness

a mode of writing which reveals a character's point of view through the written equivalent of a character's thought process.

allusion

a passing reference to historical or fictional characters, places, or events, or to other works that the writer assumes the reader will recognize.

archetype

a pattern or model or action (such as lamenting the dead), a character type (rebellious youth), or an image (paradise as a garden) that recurs consistently enough in life and literature to be considered universal.

parable

a short, pithy tale illustrating a moral lesson

rites of passage

a significant event, ceremony in a person's life that causes him/her to grow up (loss of innocence); example of an archetype.

simile

a stated comparison or likeness expressed in figurative language and introduced by terms such as "like" and "as."

tragedy

a story in which the plot moves from relative stability to death &/or sorrow.

local color

a story which captures the language, culture, and customs of a particular time and place.

genre

a type, or category, of literary work. (Major "umbrella" categories include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, prose, the novel, the short story, etc.; subcategories include more specific genres like pastoral poetry, science fiction, gothic literature, etc.)

satire

a work that employs comedy and irony to mock a particular human characteristic or social institution.

myth

an anonymous narrative, originating in the primitive folklore of a race or nation, that explain the origin of life, religious beliefs, and the forces of nature as some kind supernatural occurrence (or recounts the deeds of traditional superheroes)

characternym

an author's use of names that are symbolic or significant to the character in some way (I.e. "Goodman Brown" represents an average "good" man).

allegory

an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric. the characters are often personifications of such abstractions as greed, envy, hope, charity, or fortitude.

omniscent

by assuming omniscience, the author is free to enter characters minds and reveal their thoughts, to comment on or interpret their actions, to report incidents the characters have not witnessed themselves, to move about in time and place without restriction, and to make clear the theme of the story in whatever way he or she desires

moral

dealing with, or capable of distinguishing between right and wrong.

in medias res

from Latin, meaning "in the middle of things." The term describes the narrative practice of starting a story in the middle of the action to involve the reader, and then using one of more flashbacks to fill in what led up to that point.

drama

generally, a literary work written in dialogue to be performed before an audience by actors on a stage. In the broadest sense, drama refers to the composition and performance of plays.

flashback

in fiction and film, a way of presenting scenes or incidents that took place before the opening scene.

motif

in literature, a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation that appears in various works or throughout the same work.

foreshadowing

in literature, the technique of giving hints of clues that suggests or prepares for events that occur later in a work.

epiphany

moment of revelation or profound insight.

juxtaposition

placement of things side by side or close together for the purposes of comparison.

microcosm

something regarded as a world in miniature.

quest

story in which a hero sets out on a journey in search of an object (like love, treasure, victory over evil, etc.); example of an archetypal storyline.

connotative

the associations, images, or impressions carried by a word, as opposed to the word's literal meaning ("slim" has positive connotations; "skinny" has negative connotations).

plot

the careful arrangement by the author if incidents in a narrative to achieve a desired effect.

antagonist

the character in fiction or drama who stands in direct opposition to or in conflict with the central character.

setting

the general locale, time in history, or social milieu in which the action of a work of literature takes place.

characterization

the method by which an author creates the appearance and personality of imaginary persons and revels their character. character may flat (simple, "stock" characters), round (complex), static (unchanging) or dynamic (changing).

malapropism

the misuse of words by a character (or author) in a literary work.

denotative

the precise, literal meaning of a word, without emotion associations or overtones (as synonyms, "slim" and "skinny" technically have the same denotative meaning).

mood

the prevailing emotional attitude in a literary work or in art of a work for example, regret, hopefulness, bitterness.

protagonist

the principal and central character or a novel, story, play, or other literary work.

irony

the recognition of the incongruity or difference, between realty appearance; situational, verbal, and dramatic.

narrative structure/plot line

the story line: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/denouement

conflict

the struggle between opposing forces that determines the action in drama and most narrative fiction. Drives the narrative.

narrator

the telling of the story or other narrative. A narrator may be the author speaking in his or her own voice, or a character or persona created by the author to tell the story

point of view

the vantage point, or stance, from which a story is told, the eye and mind through which the action is perceives and filtered; sometimes called narrative perspective - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person

foil

usually a character who by contrast, points up the qualities or characteristics of another character.

diction

word choice. Not mutually exclusive-by which a speaker's or writer's diction is usually judged: clarity and appropriateness. Appropriate diction is diction at a level—formal, informal, colloquial, slang—suitable to the occasion.