AP Literature - (Literary Vocabulary) - Jaden Brescia

Sonnet

1. fourteen lines 2. a rhyme scheme 3. iambic pentameter 4. a turn, or volta, somewhere around line 8 or 9, where the poem takes a new direction or changes its argument in some way.

2nd person vs 3rd person omniscient narrative perspectives

2nd Person: Second person point of view uses the pronoun "you" to immerse the reader in the experience of being the protagonist. It's important to remember that second person point of view is different from simply addressing the reader. Rather, the second person point of view places the reader "on the playing field" by putting them in the position of the protagonist—the one to whom the action occurs. Third-person omniscient: In this form of narration, the narrator is all-knowing. Characters' inner monologues can be shared, as can information unknown to any characters in the story. Lots of bestsellers use an omniscient narrator, from Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables to George Orwell's 1984 to the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

Ballad

Definition: ballads usually have a simple rhythm and a consistent rhyme scheme. They often tell the story of everyday heroes, and some poets, like Bob Dylan, continue to set them to music

Post-structuralist

Definition: builds on the insights of structuralism, it holds all meaning to be fluid rather than universal and predictable

Couplet, Quatrain, Sestet, & Octave

Couplet -- tiny stanzas. So tiny, in fact, that they only include two lines Quatrain -- a stanza with four lines Sestet -- the last six lines of a sonnet Octave -- the first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet

Dactyl vs anapest

Dactyl: made up of three syllables: one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. Dactyls often have a sing-song hypnotic effect on readers, and sound a little something like this: DUM-da-da. Ex. Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Anapest: made up of three syllables: two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable: dadaDUM. Ex. Twas the Night Before Christmas is almost made of anapests

Metonymy vs. Synecdoche

Definition (Metonymy): a type of metaphor in which an object is used to describe something that's closely related to it. So, for example, when you're talking about the power of a king, you might say "the crown," instead. The crown is the physical object that is usually associated with royalty and power Definition (Synechdote): When a part of something is used to signify the whole. "A prisoner is put behind bars," which signify prison....

1st person vs 3rd person limited narrative perspectives

Definition: Third Person Limited: In third person limited the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character. All characters are described using pronouns, such as 'they', 'he', and 'she'. But, one character is closely followed throughout the story, and it is typically a main character. First-Person POV: First person narrative is a point of view (who is telling a story) where the story is narrated by one character at a time. This character may be speaking about him or herself or sharing events that he or she is experiencing. In a work written from a first-person POV, a character in the story narrates the action, making frequent use of the pronoun "I." Examples of first-person narration include Nick Carraway in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

3rd person omniscient vs 1st person narrative perspectives

Definition: Third-person omniscient: In this form of narration, the narrator is all-knowing. Characters' inner monologues can be shared, as can information unknown to any characters in the story. Lots of bestsellers use an omniscient narrator, from Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables to George Orwell's 1984 to the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. First-Person POV: First person narrative is a point of view (who is telling a story) where the story is narrated by one character at a time. This character may be speaking about him or herself or sharing events that he or she is experiencing. In a work written from a first-person POV, a character in the story narrates the action, making frequent use of the pronoun "I." Examples of first-person narration include Nick Carraway in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Ode

Definition: a. a type of lyric poetry that sings the praises of the poem's subject b. Many of them are poems of praise, or general appreciation c. Can be sung like ode to joy

Carpe Diem

Definition: "Seize the day" Ex. 1: Dr. Sherry shouts "carpe diem" as the boys prance down the hallway in perfect dress code.

stream of consciousness

Definition: A character's thoughts are thrown at us, one after the other, as if we were thinking those thoughts right along with them Ex. 1:

(Metaphysical) conceit

Definition: A conceit is a fanciful metaphor, especially a highly elaborate or extended metaphor in which an unlikely, far-fetched, or strained comparison is made between two things. A famous example comes from John Donne's poem, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," in which two lovers are compared to opposite points of a compass needle using a long and elaborate metaphor.

Connotation

Definition: A connotation is a feeling or idea that a word has, in addition to its literal or main meaning (the denotation). Often, a series of words can have the same basic definitions, but completely different connotations—these are the emotions or meanings implied by a word, phrase, or thing. For example, "This clothing is affordable!" versus "This clothing is cheap!" Here, "affordable" sounds much better than "cheap," because the word cheap also implies low quality.

Transcendentalism

Definition: A core belief is in the inherent goodness of people and nature, and while society and its institutions have corrupted the purity of the individual, people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent An example of transcendentalism is the quote "a man in debt is so far a slave" by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Foil Characters

Definition: A foil is a character whose main purpose is to offer a contrast to another character, usually the protagonist. Foils set off and accentuate the main character and are convenient ways to complicate and deepen the characterization of the protagonist. Ex. 1: It's not Juliet that Romeo loves at the start of the play—it's Rosaline. This makes Rosaline an obvious foil for Juliet, so that Romeo's relationship to Juliet (the way he describes her and acts towards her) can be contrasted with his puppy love for Rosaline. Ex. 2: Juliet is originally supposed to marry Paris, and, we have to say, he makes Romeo look pretty good. Paris is—sorry—a big old square, basically convention personified.

Sarcasm

Definition: A literary and rhetorical device that is meant to mock, often with satirical or ironic remarks, with a purpose to amuse and hurt someone, or some section of society. Ex. 1: "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." Ex. 2: "Wow, you're really well dressed and handsome....

Motif

Definition: A motif is a symbolic image or idea that appears frequently in a story. Motifs can be symbols, sounds, actions, ideas, or words. Motifs strengthen a story by adding images and ideas to the theme present throughout the narrative. Ex. 1: Throughout a novel, the main character considers buying a typewriter but decides against it, as they are too expensive or old-fashioned. Deep-down she wants one, as she has always dreamed of being a writer. The typewriter emphasizes the theme of avoidance and the protagonist's temptation to pursue a different career. Ex. 2: Throughout a story, there is surprisingly bad weather—snow, freezing rain, and even a tornado. These weather conditions further emphasize the larger theme of nature's power over humans.

Paradox

Definition: A paradox is a statement that contradicts itself, or that must be both true and untrue at the same time. Paradoxes are quirks in logic that demonstrate how our thinking sometimes goes haywire, even when we use perfectly logical reasoning to get there. Ex. 1: Nobody goes to Murphy's Bar anymore — it's too crowded. If the bar is crowded, then lots of people are going. But if so many people are going, it makes no sense to say "nobody goes" there anymore. (It's possible, though , that this paradox can be escaped by suggesting that by "nobody" the speaker just means "none of our friends.")

Free Verse

Definition: A poetic style that lacks a regular meter or rhyme scheme

Allusion

Definition: Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. Ex 1: ""Don't act like the Romeo in front of her." Ex 2: ""Hey! Guess who the new Newton of our school is?"

Analogy

Definition: An analogy is a literary technique in which two unrelated objects are compared for their shared qualities. Analogies are strong rhetorical devices used to make rational arguments and support ideas by showing connections and comparisons between dissimilar things.

Oxymoron

Definition: An oxymoron is a figure of speech that puts together opposite elements. The combination of these contradicting elements serves to reveal a paradox, confuse, or give the reader a laugh. Ex. 1: My room is an organized mess, or controlled chaos, if you will. Same difference.

Verisimilitude

Definition: Aside from being fun to say, verisimilitude (pronounced 'VAIR-ih-sih-MILL-ih-tude') simply means 'the quality of resembling reality.' A work of art, or any part of a work of art, has verisimilitude if it seems realistic. Ex. 1: A typically kind character says "I'm so very sorry! It was an accident!" after accidentally tripping someone on the bus. In this example, the story has verisimilitude because a character who is known for being kind would, predictably, apologize after accidentally tripping someone.

Structuralist

Definition: Beliefs: all literary works abide by some larger structure (structure!). in order to read a literary work, you need to think of it in terms of this more universal structure. What is this structure? Anything, really, as long as it's something that can be applied to multiple texts. We're talking genre, narrative patterns, archetypal characters, and more. nothing is ever new—it's just a combination of already-created things. individual texts don't create meaning on their own. a theoretical approach that identifies patterns in social arrangements, mostly notably language Structuralists, who believed that everything is defined by what it is not—its opposite

Bildungsroman

Definition: Bildungsroman is a big, scary, German word for something that is actually pretty familiar: a coming-of-age story. A Bildungsroman charts a protagonist's development from childhood to adulthood, from innocence to experience, from being a total noob to pwning left and right. In short, a Bildungsroman is concerned with the education and progress of its main character. Ex. 1: Famous Bildungsromans include James Joyce's The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.

Catharsis

Definition: Catharsis applies to any form of art or media that makes us feel strong negative emotions, but that we are nonetheless drawn to - we may seek out art that creates these emotions because the experience purges the emotions from our system. Ex. 1: Catharsis is roughly synonymous with the idea of "blowing off steam."

Euphemism

Definition: Euphemisms are often used in everyday speech to soften difficult situations. Ex. 1: Jimmy was sent to a correctional facility. A "correctional facility" is a more professional and nicer-sounding phrase than "jail" or "prison." Ex. 2: We have to let you go, Tyler. To "let someone go" is to fire someone. This is a euphemism that sounds much nicer than the harsh truth of the situation.

internal monologue

Definition: Ever wished that you could read your boyfriend's or girlfriend's mind? If you could, you might catch their interior monologue. In writing, interior monologue is a narrative technique that shows the flow of thoughts going through a character's head that other characters, for obvious reasons, aren't privy to.

Gothic

Definition: Gothic architecture, architectural style in Europe that lasted from the mid-12th century to the 16th century, particularly a style of masonry building characterized by cavernous spaces with the expanse of walls broken up by overlaid tracery. Ex. 1: First and foremost, it's a genre known for its spookiness. Think bats, cobwebbed castles, and nasty old tyrants holding good folks captive in towers. In other words, there's a lot of paranormal activity going down.

Imagery (including the five fancy words for the types)

Definition: Imagery is language used by poets, novelists and other writers to create images in the mind of the reader. Imagery includes figurative and metaphorical language to improve the reader's experience through their senses. 5 Types: Visual imagery (sight) Auditory imagery (hearing) Olfactory imagery (smell) Gustatory imagery (taste) Tactile imagery (touch) Ex. 1: Imagery using visuals: The night was black as ever, but bright stars lit up the sky in beautiful and varied constellations which were sprinkled across the astronomical landscape. In this example, the experience of the night sky is described in depth with color (black as ever, bright), shape (varied constellations), and pattern (sprinkled).

Magic Realism

Definition: an author combines realistic and fantastic or magical elements to create a wonderful mish-mash. That is, totally everyday normal stuff takes place right alongside weird, out-of-this-world events. The results can be awesomely surreal and dreamlike Ex. 1: Oryx and Crake???

1st Person singular vs 1st Person plural narrative perspectives

Definition: In the subjective case, the singular form of the first person is "I," and the plural form is "we." "I" and "we" are in the subjective case because either one can be used as the subject of a sentence. You constantly use these two pronouns when you refer to yourself and when you refer to yourself with others. Here's a sentence containing both: Ex. 1: I (first-person singular) look forward to my monthly book club meeting. We (first-person plural) are currently reading Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda.

Realism

Definition: Instead of romanticizing things (like, say, the Romantics), these guys just told it like it was. And they told it like it was about the middle-class. No hoity-toity, cummerbund-sporting characters here. Even the language the characters spoke was everyday chatter. Ex.1: Literary Realism was a movement that went on mostly in the 19th century and talked about life in all its nitty-gritty details. Instead of romanticizing things (like, say, the Romantics), these guys just told it like it was.

Invective

Definition: Invective is the literary device in which one attacks or insults a person or thing through the use of abusive language and tone. Ex. 1: What, are you chicken? You're afraid of your own shadow! You're going to be alone forever with that bravery! She's not interested in you anyway

Foreshadowing

Definition: It's just a fancy term for when a book gives us hints or suggestions about what's going to happen down the road a page or two (or two hundred).

Juxtaposition

Definition: Juxtaposition (pronounced juhk-stuh-puh--zish--uh-n) is the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences. Imagine a man walking a well-groomed dog on a pink leash on one hand and a rough Rottweiler on a spiked collar on the other hand. The juxtaposition could be shocking, humorous, or just plain strange. Regardless, this literary term calls attention to two distinctly different things by placing them right beside one another, or juxtaposing them. Ex. 1: Finally, notice how this example describes a butler's life: A butler spends his days in a beautiful mansion dressed in a tuxedo, but returns home to a closet-sized apartment in a rundown part of town.

Minority Discourse

Definition: Minority discourse, in the vibrant theoretical nomenclature of theoretical developments like Colonial Discourse Theory and Cultural Studies, serves as a term that consolidates the expressions of marginality in the cultural artifacts of distinct minorities living in different parts of the world.

Non sequitur

Definition: Non sequitur is a literary device that includes statements, sayings, and conclusions that do not follow the fundamental principles of logic and reason. They are frequently used in theater and comedies to create comedic effect.In fact, non sequitur is a Latin phrase that means "it doesn't follow." Here, non means "not," and sequitur means "to follow." It takes place when a difference is created between the principle idea and the conclusion, which finally leads to a fallacy. In conversation, non sequitur is something that is said, which seems quite absurd - to the point of confusion due to lack of proper meanings. It is sometimes taken as postulation, which means the statement might not be true. For instance: Maria drives a car. She must be a wealthy person. David eats broccoli. David should love to eat meat.

Pathos

Definition: Pathos is a quality of an experience in life, or a work of art, that stirs up emotions of pity, sympathy, and sorrow. Pathos can be expressed through words, pictures, or even with gestures of the body. Ex. 1: "If we don't leave this place soon, we'll be yelling for help. There's no one to help us here, let's get out of here and live." - This statement evokes emotions of fear.

Postmodernism

Definition: People got crazy with their art and literature after World War II. A period known as postmodernism (yep, it came after Modernism) was all about its experimental style a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning." That's academic speak for "quirky." Put a random blank page in the middle of your chapter? Postmodern. Express your thoughts with a chart instead of words? Postmodern. Write your entire book as comics? Postmodern.

Psychoanalytic

Definition: Psychoanalytic criticism adopts the methods of "reading" employed by Freud and later theorists to interpret texts. It argues that literary texts, like dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author, that a literary work is a manifestation of the author's own neuroses.

Modernism

Definition: See, the world wasn't quite the same anymore, and writers and artists were struggling to find new ways to create art that reflected those big changes (WW1 for example). When it came to style, that meant that writers began to play games with time and order, perspective, point of view, and form. You began to see a lot more novels with fragmented plots than, say, ones with clear beginnings, middles, and ends. In poetry, that meant strange metaphors stacked on top of each other, mixing meters and free verse, and allusions to the past. Writers chucked linear narratives and chronology out the window in favor of confusing stories that jumped around. They dumped distant, third-person narrators in favor of stream of consciousness and angsty confessionals like, say, that of Prufrock (Realistic/new/stream-of-consciousness based literature)

Metaphor vs. Simile

Definition: Similes use the words like or as to compare things—"Life is like a box of chocolates." In contrast, metaphors directly state a comparison—"Love is a battlefield."

Harlem Renaissance

Definition: The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s. Mostly centering on African-American culture.

Renaissance

Definition: The Renaissance isn't a time period—it's a cultural movement that went down during the Early Modern Period; Rebirth of classical culture. 14-17th century

Theme

Definition: The central idea, topic, or point of a story, essay, or narrative is its theme. Ex. 1: A boy and a girl fall in love. The boy is forced to join the army and fights to survive in a war-torn country as his beloved waits at home. When he returns from war, the two are united and married. -- The power of true love -- Fate, which sometimes tears lovers apart and then joins them together -- War

Satire vs. Parody

Definition: The formal definition of satire is "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices." It's an extremely broad category. The "or" in the definition is key - most satires are humorous, ironic, and exaggerated, but they only have to be one of these things to count as satire. A parody is a work that's created by imitating an existing original work in order to make fun of or comment on an aspect of the original. Parodies can target celebrities, politicians, authors, a style or trend, or any other interesting subject. Ex. 1: Your little sister puts on your father's big shoes and stomps around in them, saying, "I need to make a business call. I am a very busy, very important businessman!" In this example, the girl is parodying her own father who she knows works as a businessman. She is making the comment that the image many businesspeople have is overly serious and self-important. Ex. 2: The famous comic strip Calvin & Hobbes was renowned for its satire. The comic takes on everything from politics and science to parenting. Calvin himself satirizes selfish, lazy, media-saturated Americans, while his father satirizes the opposite extreme.

New Critic

Definition: The school of New Criticism was made up of an early 20th-century (mostly) American school of critics who were really, really interested in form (literary structures), especially in poetry. These guys (yes, they were almost all guys) decided that the best way to analyze literature is to pretend that it exists in a vacuum. The reader's response or the author's intentions? The text's historical time period? Political context? None of that matters, people. The text is a self-referential object that may as well be floating in outer space, waiting for us to analyze it, on its own, without any of our own perspectives or biases gumming up the works

subtext

Definition: The subtext is the unspoken or less obvious meaning or message in a literary composition, drama, speech, or conversation. The subtext comes to be known by the reader or audience over time, as it is not immediately or purposefully revealed by the story itself. Example 1 She smiled when she heard someone else had won, but knowing what she was thinking, the smile was a façade which covered her true disappointment at having lost the election. The subtext in the situation is the reality that what is below the surface—disappointment—does not match the surface—happiness and congratulations. Example 2 A student goes to turn in his paper. After looking through two pages, his teacher asks, "Are you sure you want to turn this in?"

Symbolism

Definition: The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities

Dramatic Monologue

Definition: They're meant to be theatrically read to an audience—hence the "dramatic" part—and they contain the words and feelings of a single speaker, hence the "monologue" part Ex. 1: Ex. 2:

in media res

Definition: This Latin phrase describes a story that starts in the middle of the action (literally—in medias res means "in the middle of things"). Remember Star Wars? And how it starts smack dab in the middle of an intergalactic war-to-end-all-wars?

Blank Verse

Definition: Verse that has no rhyme scheme, but does have a regular meter—iambic pentameter, to be exact

Stanza

Definition: a division within a poem where a group of lines are formed into a unit

Theatre of the Absurd

Definition: a drama movement whose devotees believed that human beings' thirst for truth and the meaning of life was, well, downright absurd. It was as pointless as Sisyphus pushing that stone up the mountain over and over and over again So how do you tell if a play is part of the Theater of the Absurd movement? In a word? Shenanigans. In a few more words and phrases, keep an eye out for repetitive dialogue, nonsense language, and clichés; mysteries that never get solved; a cloudy sense of time, place, or plot; characters asking huge philosophical questions; and a general sense of chaos.

Caesura

Definition: a fancy word for a not-so-awkward pause that occurs in the middle of a line of verse in poetry. You can use this term if you want to sound smart, but we think "pause" is just fine Ex. 1: the most obvious is to use punctuation like a period, comma, or semicolon

Epic

Definition: a kind of narrative poem that dates back to ancient Greece and the classical period. Homer and other likeminded bros used the epic to tell stories about larger-than-life heroes and their triumphs on and off the battlefield Ex. 1: usually involve supernatural or mythic elements like gods who like to meddle in human affairs

Existentialism

Definition: a philosophical movement that's all about individual freedom and choice. Existentialism is all about the individual and his or her experience. Existentialists believe it's your responsibility to give your life meaning in this absurd world, and the only way to do that is to live your worthless life to the fullest: passionately, sincerely, and authentically "Be here now"

Elegy

Definition: a poem about a dead person or thing Ex. 1: "In Memory of... "

Panegyric

Definition: a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something.

Refrain

Definition: a regularly recurring phrase or verse, especially at the end of each stanza or division of a poem or song

Deconstructionist

Definition: a school of literary critics very interested in questioning the certainty and stability of texts. Texts won't always mean the same thing because language, they pointed out, relies on context and is, therefore, incredibly unstable before deconstruction came along, there were these guys called the Structuralists, who believed that everything is defined by what it is not—its opposite.

Marxist

Definition: a social, political, and economic philosophy named after Karl Marx, which examines the effect of capitalism on labor, productivity, and economic development and argues for a worker revolution to overturn capitalism in favor of communism.

Soliloquy

Definition: a super important monologue given by a character in a play who is alone on the stage Ex. 1: A soliloquy is a super important monologue given by a character in a play who is alone on the stage. Think Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" speech.

Apostrophe

Definition: a term used when a speaker directly addresses someone or something that isn't present in the poem Ex. 1: could be addressing an abstract concept like love, a person (dead or alive), a place, or even a thing, like the sun or the sea

Victorian

Definition: conservative social mores Ex. , Victorians were the people who lived in England under the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) and her hubby, Prince Albert. Victorians are (somewhat unfairly) infamous for their repressed attitudes toward sex and their conservative social mores. When people hear the word Victorian they usually think of manners, tradition, and general prudishness. But the Victorian era was also a time of big fat changes—social ones, moral ones, and cultural ones. Natural Selection

Avant-garde

Definition: refers to works that are experimental and push boundaries. Avant-garde writers and artists reject mainstream culture and conventions innovation and thinking differently are the fastest routes to social change and making a statement

Romanticism

Definition: romanticism was all about unabashed emotion; all about Nature; believed that nature could have a powerful and beneficial effect on the artist if he went out and immersed himself in it Ex.1: That brings us to our next point. Not only were the Romantics all about the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings,"

Feminist

Definition: the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.

Post-colonialist

Definition: the critical academic study of the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the human consequences of the control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands a broad cultural approach to the study of power relations between different groups, cultures or people, in which language, literature and translation play role Postcolonial literature is the literature by people from formerly colonized countries

Pastoral

Definition: the pastoral mode is all about glorifying the simple life, the rural life, the country life Ex. 1: If the work you're reading features babbling brooks, gently swaying trees, hidden valleys, rustic haystacks, and a herd of sheep, you're probably reading a pastoral

Anaphora

Definition: the repetition of phrases at the beginning of clauses Ex. Have you reckoned a thousand acres much? Have you reckoned the earth much?

Onomatopoeia

Definition: those words that resemble the sound that they represent. Onomatopoeias literally sound like what they mean "bang"

Enjambment

Definition: when a phrase carries over a line-break without a major pause Ex. 1: he sense of it encourages you to keep right on reading the next line, without stopping for a breather

Dramatic irony vs Situational irony

Dramatic irony the audience knows something that the characters don't Situational irony irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. Ex. A fire station burns down.

Figurative Language

Figurative Language

Flat vs rounded characterization

Flat: One-dimensional, who lack emotional depth, and who don't change much over the course of the story. Ex. 1: Typically, flat characters can be easily and accurately described using a single word (like "bully") or one short sentence (like "A naive and idealistic schoolteacher with a fragile heart of gold"). Rounded: A character is said to be "round" if they are lifelike or complex. Round characters typically have fully fleshed-out and multi-faceted personalities, backgrounds, desires, and motivations. Ex. 2: Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a round character. A wealthy man who throws lavish parties for high-society New Yorkers, at first glance Gatsby may seem quite simple, but over the course of the book he is revealed to have a deep and complicated personal history that gives rise to some surprising motivations: his relentless pursuit of wealth and stature is driven by his desire to get close to the woman he loves.

Iamb vs trochee vs spondee

Iamb: a type of poetic foot made up of an unstressed and stressed syllable (daDUM) Trochee: (opposite of iamb) made up of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, as in DUMda Spondee: consists of a stressed syllable, followed by—wait for it—another stressed syllable, as in DUMDUM

Indirect vs Direct characterization

Indirect: Indirect characterization, on the other hand, consists of the author showing the audience what kind of person a character is through the character's thoughts, words, and deeds. This requires the audience to make inferences about why a character would say or do those things. Ex (Indirect): Bill sighed as he looked at the offer of a gym membership. He really should join. But just thinking about it made beads of sweat collect at the top of his bald spot." Direct: Direct characterization, also known as explicit characterization, consists of the author telling the audience what a character is like. Ex (Direct): Bill was short and fat, and his bald spot was widening with every passing year.

Literary Periods

Literary Periods

Literary Theories

Literary Theories

Narrative Devices

Narrative Devices

Poem Types

Poem Types

Poetry-specific Devices

Poetry-specific Devices

Protagonist vs. Antagonist

Protagonist: The protagonist of a story is its main character, who has the sympathy and support of the audience. Ex (Protagonist): Protagonists aren't always "good"—many are dishonest or even criminal—but they always have the sympathy and support of the audience. Snow White is the protagonist of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Antagonist: An antagonist is usually a character who opposes the protagonist (or main character) of a story, but the antagonist can also be a group of characters, institution, or force against which the protagonist must contend. Ex (Antagonist): The protagonist of the TV series Breaking Bad is Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. In order to leave his family on secure financial footing, he begins making and selling the illegal drug known as crystal meth. While White's fundamental desire might be a good one—helping his family—his life of crime quickly spirals out of control, and he becomes the show's villain protagonist.

Symbol vs. Allegory

Symbol A word, an image, or anything that somehow represents a larger idea Ex. an eagle is a symbol of freedom in America Allegory a story with two levels of meaning -- First, there's the surface of the story. You know, the characters and plot and all that obvious stuff. Then there's the symbolic level, or the deeper meaning that all the jazz on the surface represents -- Can be political or religious, historical or philosophical Told through stories Real Def: A story in which the characters represent abstract qualities or ideas.

Useful Links

https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms https://www.shmoop.com/literature-glossary/protagonist.html