English Mid-term
Riddle of the Sphinx
"Man: as an infant, he crawls on all fours; as an adult, he walks on two legs and; in old age, he uses a 'walking' stick"
Red-herring
A false lead
Paradox
A figure of speech in which a seemingly contradictory or impossible condition is expressed as being true. The interest of a paradox lies in the fact that it describes something as being false and true at the same time. An example occurs in Romeo and Juliet when Friar Lawrence tells Romeo that "the sweetest honey / Is loathsome in his own deliciousness" (2.6). A masterful example of paradox can be seen in John Donne's Holy Sonnet XIV, in which the speaker tells God, "I, / Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, / Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me."
Theme
A key idea that runs through or recurs in a work. Themes can be found in artworks and musical compositions, as well as in literary works.
Theme
A key idea that runs through or recurs in a work. They can be found in artworks and musical compositions, as well as in literary works.
Hamartia
Fatal flaw or weakness
Parallel
In plot analysis, a parallel consists of two scenes that bear a significant resemblance to one another. Naturally, two parallel scenes will not be alike in every detail; it is important to consider not only how they resemble one another, but also how they differ. It is worth noting that the literary devices of foreshadowing and echo constitute two sides of a plot parallel: foreshadowing points forward in the plot, while an echo looks back.
Arc
In plot analysis, an arc is a significant beginning and ending within a work. For example, a particular narrative might involve a storyline in which a character goes to prison and comes out two years later, or one in which two characters fall in love, marry and end up divorcing. Each of these stories, taken from beginning to end, constitutes a separate plot arc.
Imagistic writing
Creating a very clear image of what is happening in the story
Tone
It has two distinct meanings in literary analysis: it can refer to the overall atmosphere of a work, or it can describe the attitude displayed by the writer toward the characters, subject or audience. It has two distinct meanings in literary analysis: it can refer to the overall atmosphere of a work, or it can describe the attitude displayed by the writer toward the characters, subject or audience.
Turnkey
Jailer
Percussive
Jarring, violent circumstances in a story.
Verisimilitude
Makes something seem real by using real-life places or things. • Laudanum and alcohol addictions is an example of this.
Hyperbole
Over exaggeration to an extreme
Dénouement
The closing scenes of a play, movie, or narrative, in which any remaining plot issues are resolved and the story is given a sense of closure; sometimes termed the dénouement. The word dénouement means "untangling," and reflects the idea that the various strands of the plot, which have become steadily intertwined throughout the rising action, are finally unraveled.
Moment of Last Suspense
The closing scenes of a play, movie, or narrative, in which any remaining plot issues are resolved and the story is given a sense of closure; sometimes termed the dénouement. The word dénouement means "untangling," and reflects the idea that the various strands of the plot, which have become steadily intertwined throughout the rising action, are finally unraveled.
Complication
The stage in a tragic plot in which the conflict begins to develop. The interweaving of the various strands of the plot can be compared to the tangling of a rope.
Setting
The time and place in which a literary work is represented as happening.
Doppelganger
Two people who Look alike
Cacophony
Very loud noises made by a crowd or group of people
Moral Dilemma
Whether Ethan should sacrifice himself for others and create pain in others by following his desires. Taking care of others has created great pain for him in his life.
Diction
Word choice; specifically, a writer's choice of language to produce specific ideas, emotions or literary effects.
Diction
Word choice; specifically, a writer's choice of language to produce specific ideas, emotions or literary effects. Features such as imagery, ambiguity, and suspense all rely on careful use of diction.
color
different colors are used to portray different emotions.
1. Rhyme/ 2. sound/ 3. meter
1. A repetition of similar sounds or the same sound. 2. Agreement in vowel sounds or repetition of similar sounds. 3. Unstressed and stressed syllables in the verses of a poem
Irony
Dramatic, situational, verbal. The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Hubris
Excessive pride or self confidence; arrogance. Excessive or overweening pride in a character. Hubris can involve breaking a moral law, trying to exceed one's limitations, or (in the case of classical tragedy) attempting to put oneself on a level with the gods. It can be exhibited by any character, but is most commonly associated with the tragic hero.
Antagonist
A character who is opposed to the main character or the hero. In the book of Mice and men it is Curly. The individual chiefly involved in conflict with the protagonist of a story. The term comes from ancient Greek drama: the term antagonistes derives from a phrase meaning "one who acts or struggles against." Sometimes the antagonist is a non-person, e.g., nature or the protagonist's society.
Character Type
A character who is representative of a class or kind of person. Unlike a stock character, a type may be highly individualized and need not possess qualities that borrow from established dramatic tradition. In other words, a character type appeals to lived experience, rather than to dramatic convention. The study or systematic classification of types in literature and drama is called typology.
Caricature
A character whose physical features or behavior are deliberately exaggerated, almost to the point of seeming unbelievable. Such characters often serve as the basis of satire.
Freytag's Pyramid
A diagram that describes the plot structure of a classical tragedy. The concept was devised by German critic Gustav Freytag in Technik des Dramas (1863). Freytag defines five distinct stages of story development in a tragedy: exposition, complication, climax (or crisis), reversal and catastrophe. The essential idea behind the pyramid is that the plot builds toward the climax, after which the action leads inexorably to the tragic hero's downfall. Though Freytag developed the pyramid to describe classical tragedy, it has been applied to genres other than plays (such as novels and even short stories), as well as to plots that are not fundamentally tragic in nature.
Stanzas
A group of Lines or verse in poetry.
Jarring elements
Harsh or unpleasant elements in poetry. Effect ones nerves, or feelings.
Epistolary
A novel written as a series of documents. A letter or journal inserted into a Narrative
Echo
A literary device in which a later event resembles or recalls an earlier one. In terms of plot analysis, foreshadowing and echo constitute two parts of a plot parallel: foreshadowing points forward, while an echo looks back.
Tumbril
Cart that carries prisoners
Protagonist
Leading character or hero. The leading character in a work. The term derives from ancient Greek drama: protos means "first", and agonistes refers to "one who acts," so the term originally applied to the "first actor" in early dramas. This figure is juxtaposed with the antagonist, the individual chiefly involved in conflict with the protagonist. Not all protagonists are heroic, just as not all antagonists are evil.
Falling action
The general movement of a tragedy from the crisis to the catastrophe. The tragic hero's fortunes spiral downward, and the consequences of earlier actions and events come to light.
Peripeteia
The moment in a tragic plot when the protagonist experiences an irrecoverable change in fortune, often as the result of his or her tragic flaw. In Greek tragedy the reversal is called the peripeteia.
Form
The physical structure of a poem. The lengths of the lines and their systems of repetition. If these features are shaped in a poem.
Anaphora
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines of writing or speech.
Hamartia
"The error, frailty, mistaken judgment, or misstep through which the fortunes of the hero of a tragedy are reversed" (Holman). Hamartia is not necessarily the same as a tragic flaw, though the two may be connected (and are often confused for one another). The tragic flaw may be an innate quality or a quirk of destiny; hamartia, on the other hand, relates specifically to a character's actions. Among critics of earlier periods, hamartia was frequently associated with the concept of sin, but this represents a Christian perspective, not an ancient Greek one.
Point of View
"The vantage point from which an author presents a story" (Holman). The point of view, sometimes termed the perspective, is closely related to the type of narration employed. An omniscient point of view is one in which the audience has access to the characters' thoughts and perceptions. A limited perspective is restricted: we may have access to the inner thoughts of some characters and not others, or we may not know what any of the characters is thinking.
Tragic flaw
A defect in the tragic hero's character, and one that leads to his or her downfall. The tragic flaw is frequently (and ironically) the very trait for which the hero is admired in the first place. It is related to, but distinct from, hamartia.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which two things are implicitly compared. This stands in contrast to a simile, in which the comparison is explicit. Essential to the idea of metaphor is the understanding that the two things being compared are not obviously alike. One of Shakespeare's most famous metaphors, "All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players" (As You Like It 2.7) works by comparing life to a play. There is no obvious connection between life and a theater, but the metaphor has profound implications. Every metaphor cis composed of two distinct parts, the tenor (the idea being expressed) and the vehicle (the image used to express the idea). In the example above, 'world' is the tenor, and 'stage' is the vehicle. Understanding how the two parts work together can be useful in analyzing metaphors, especially those that are very long, complicated or abstract.
Simile
A figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared. It stands in contrast with metaphor, in which the comparison is implicit. Similes are most commonly expressed using "like" or "as": for example, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hippolyta speaks of "the moon, like a silver bow / New-bent in heaven" (1.1); however, there are other ways to construct similes. Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 asks, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? / Thou art more lovely, and more temperate" (1-2). The crucial point again is the fact that the comparison is explicit: the idea is that the addressee is like a summer's day (but even better). Like a metaphor, a simile consists of two parts: the tenor (the idea being expressed), and the vehicle (the term or image used to make the comparison. In the example above, "thee" is the tenor, and "summer's day" is the vehicle. An epic simile is a figure of speech in which the comparison is drawn out and elaborated to a great degree. As the term suggests, epic similes are a staple feature of epic works, such as Homer's Odyssey, Dante's Commedia and Milton's Paradise Lost.
Irony
A literary device built around the difference between appearance and reality. There are three basic types of irony: • verbal irony - what one says is different from what one actually means. In Julius Caesar, when Antony repeatedly insists that "Brutus is an honorable man," he actually wants his listeners to believe the opposite. Sarcasm is probably the most common form of verbal irony. • dramatic irony - a character's words carry meaning that he or she does not fully understand, but which is clear to the audience. When Oedipus vows to punish Laius' murderer in Oedipus the King, he does not yet know that he is the guilty party, but the audience knows (or at least suspects) this fact. • situational irony - what one is led to expect differs from what actually occurs. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet feigns death in order to escape with Romeo, but ironically this plot actually leads to her death (and his). Irony is often misapplied, thanks in no small part to Alanis Morissette's song "Ironic." The refrain's suggestion that irony is "like rain on your wedding day" shows how easily irony can be misunderstood: rain on your wedding day may be unfortunate, but it is not unusual, and not ironic. In order for something to be truly ironic, the connection between what should happen and what actually occurs must be striking and significant.
Symbol
A literary device in which something has meaning in itself and also represents something else. It is common for objects to function as symbols. An example that readily comes to mind is the shell is Lord of the Flies, which has meaning in itself (as a shell), and also represents an abstract idea (order on the island). It is worth noting, however, that actions and events can also have symbolic significance. For instance, the breaking of the pickle dish in Ethan Frome is widely interpreted as a symbol of the final rupture in Ethan's marriage with Zeena. While symbolism is one of the most commonly used devices, it is also arguably the most widely misunderstood. It is often confused with concepts such as metaphor, imagery and personification. Here the Holman Handbook to Literature offers a useful distinction: "A metaphor evokes an object in order to ilustrate an idea or demonstrate a quality, whereas a symbol embodies the idea or the quality." It is closely related to allegory, which can be thought of as an extended set of symbols working together to create levels of meaning beyond the literal.
Foreshadowing
A literary device in which textual details point to a later event in a narrative. While foreshadowing often has ominous associations, the events to which it hints need not always be dark or negative; technically, foreshadowing could indicate a happy event. In terms of plot anaysis, foreshadowing and echo constitute two parts of a plot parallel: foreshadowing points forward, while an echo looks back.
Epiphany
A moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of something that is very important to you A sudden moment of recognition or insight on the part of a character. Epiphanies often have a powerful transformative effect on the characters who experience them. For example, the title character in Oedipus the King is radically changed, and effectively destroyed, by the knowledge that he has killed his father and married his mother.
Pun
A play on words involving two words that sound alike, or a word with multiple meanings. Puns are often thought of as low humor, but some puns can reflect great wit. A classic example can be seen in the opening line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 135: "Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy will." Here "will" means wish or desire, but it also obviously plays on the poet's first name (Will). Shakespeare's contemporary John Donne provides another example involving the similar sounds of two different words. While serving as Sir Thimas Edgerton's private secretary, Donne fell in love with Edgerton's neice Anne More. The relationship was forbidden, and when their secret marriage came to light, Donne lost his position and faced severe social repercussions. Donne encapsulated the experience in a single terse line of poetry: "John Donne, Anne Donne, undone."
Recurring motif/image
A recurring element that has symbolic relevance in a story.Dust, burial, and carrion birds in Antigone. In the book a tale of two cities footsteps, light/dark (Darnay/Carton) and knitting are examples of this. Mattie and red in the book Ethan Frome.
Motif
A recurring image, idea, expression or situation in a text. While a motif is usually a simple element, it can be extended and developed into a symbol or controlling image. When it is used to throughout a work to link different parts the narrative, it is referred to as a leitmotif (German for " leading motive"). In Ethan Frome, for example, images of snow and winter serve as a leitmotif.
Frame Story
A story containing one or more embedded narratives, sometimes called a framework. A complex novel may feature multiple embedded narratives within a single frame story.
Embedded narrative
A story within a story. The "outside" story is referred to as a frame story. An embedded narrative is usually presented in recollection: it takes place before the frame story, and is described by the narrator as a past event. A complex novel may feature multiple embedded narratives, relayed by different characters, within a single frame story.
Conflict
A struggle between opposing characters or forces in a story. There are traditionally four types of conflict in literature: • Person versus self • Person versus person • Person versus society • Person versus nature Another possible type of conflict, one that is typically encountered in mythology, involves a person versus fate/destiny (or the divine). The first type of conflict listed above is internal, in the sense that the struggle takes place within the thoughts and feelings of the individual. The other types of conflict are all external, meaning that the individual struggles against someone or something outside himself/herself.
Denotation
A word that names or signifies something specific The explicit, literal meaning of a word or expression, as opposed to its implied meanings (connotation). In the most direct sense, the word "cheap" denotes something that is inexpensive, but it can also carry various connotations, such as a sense of something being shabby or poorly made.
Archetype
An image, symbol or motif that recurs frequently in literature, mythology or folklore. The idea of the archetype derives largely from the work of pychologist Carl Jung, who theorized that "primordial images" from our ancient human (or even prehuman) experience persist in our collective subconscious. These images form the basis of our fundamental ideas about good and evil, gender, time, etc. In literature, archetypes can take many familiar forms: the figure of the old man serves as an archetype of wisdom, while the snake often serves as an archetype of evil and deception.
Plot
Aristotle famously defines plot as "the arrangement of the incidents" in a narrative. Plot is often conceived as a series of events that are causally connected. According to E. M. Forster, a story arouses only curiosity, while a plot demands intelligence and memory (e.g., arcs and parallels). Plot, in this view, involves not only the incidents themselves, but their meaning, taken together. However, some plots are essentially episodic, stringing together a sequence of events that bear little or no causal connection with one another.
Stock Characters
Characters who fulfill a certain role. A conventional character type customarily associated with a particular genre of drama or literature. Stock characters can be found in all literary periods: they appear in ancient Greek drama, and they abound in the Roman comedies of Terence and Plautus. English Renaissance drama also makes ample use of stock characters: for instance, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Polonius embodies the familiar character of the foolish old counselor. Stock characters can also be enountered in novels: Henry Clerval in Frankenstein is a good example of the loyal sidekick. While stock characters are character types, they are distinct in that that they conform closely to generic conventions, whereas other character types tend to be more individualized, and do not necessarily draw on specific literary or dramatic traditions. Damsel in Distress Handsome hero Protectress— a made-up word to describe one of the characters in the story Comedic—Comic relief Prissy man—mouse-like Victim Villain
Isolation
Crooks experiences this because of his race in the book of Mice and Men.
Temptress
Curleys wife from Of Mice and Men. Signature color is red. Also Mattie from Ethan Frome.
Genre
Genre refers to a particular category of literature or art. Genre can be defined in various ways, either broadly or specifically. One way to define literary genres is in formal terms, that is, according to the form the literature takes. Traditionally, for example, poetry has been divided into three genres: lyric, dramatic and epic. More modern notions of genre focus on style and theme: familiar film genres include Westerns, horror films, and romantic comedies. It is worth noting that genre is fluid: genres overlap, and a specific genre can be divided into sub-genres. So science fiction sometimes overlaps with fantasy, while the horror genre can be broken down into further categories — slasher films, vampire romances, zombie apocalypse tales, and so on. The usefulness of genre is that it involves recognizable conventions, so it offers audiences some familiar elements while also providing some suprises.
Personification
Giving human characteristics to inanimate things A literary device in which animals or inanimate objects are endowed with human qualities. It seems natural for human beings to decribe the world in anthropomorphic terms, and personification is a very ancient device. Examples range from Homer's invocation of the "rosy-fingered dawn" in the Odyssey to the description of daybreak in Hamlet: "But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, / Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill" (1.1.) One could also expand the concept of personification to include descriptions in which inanimate objects or abstraction are given the characteristics of animals. William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies includes a striking description of a growing fire: "One patch [of flame] touched a tree trunk and scrambled up like a bright squirrel... The squirrel leapt on the wings of the wind and clung to another standing tree, eating downwards.
Imagery
Imagery Imagery is language designed to appeal to the senses. There are five basic types of imagery: • visual imagery appeals to the sense of sight ("a bright blue sky"); • auditory imagery appeals to the sense of sound ("the ocean's dull roar"); • olfactory imagery appeals to smell ("a sharp scent of cinnamon and clove"); • gustatory imagery appeals to taste ("as bitter as bile"); • tactile imagery appeals to touch ("skin like shoe leather") One could add another possible category, kinesthetic imagery, which describes movement ("as quick as a flea"), though depending on the context, this may simply constitute a variant of visual or tactile imagery.
imagery
Imagery is language designed to appeal to the senses. There are five basic types of imagery: • visual imagery appeals to the sense of sight ("a bright blue sky"); • auditory imagery appeals to the sense of sound ("the ocean's dull roar"); • olfactory imagery appeals to smell ("a sharp scent of cinnamon and clove"); • gustatory imagery appeals to taste ("as bitter as bile"); • tactile imagery appeals to touch ("skin like shoe leather") One could add another possible category, kinesthetic imagery, which describes movement ("as quick as a flea"), though depending on the context, this may simply constitute a variant of visual or tactile imagery.
Allegory
In the most basic sense, a work of art that is meant to be read on more than one level. Every story has a literal level, but allegories are intended to carry additional hidden meanings, such as a religious or political significance. It may be useful, then, to think of an allegory as an extended symbol set. Examples of allegory span the periods of Western literature, from the ancient (e.g., Biblical allegory) to the medieval (Dante's Commedia) to the Renaissance (Spenser's Faerie Queene). A well-known example from the modern era is George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945), which was written as a political allegory of the Soviet Union during the Stalinist period.
Allusion
It is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. A literary device in which the text refers to something (a literary or historical person, place or object) outside itself. Most allusions work on the assumption that the reader will know the reference. For example, a Biblical allusion assumes readers to be familiar with specific passages or episodes from the Bible. In this specific instance, one literary work is alluding to another.
Point of view
It is sometimes termed the perspective, is closely related to the type of narration employed. An omniscient point of view is one in which the audience has access to the characters' thoughts and perceptions. A limited perspective is restricted: we may have access to the inner thoughts of some characters and not others, or we may not know what any of the characters is thinking.
Melodrama
Sensationally dramatic writing with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions
Multi-sensory
Sight, taste, sound and touch. Relating to several physiological experiences.
Narrator
The character or voice through which the story is told. The narrative mode of a story will vary according to the narrator. A first-person narrator is a character in the narrative, and is readily recognized as the person ("I") telling the story. By contrast, a third-person narrator is usually an unidentified voice presenting the story. Second-person narratives, in which the story is addressed directly to a reader identified as "you," are relatively rare, but they do exist (see, for example, Daniel Orozco's story "Orientation"). A careful reader will not take everything the narrator says for granted. A naive narrator displays limited understanding of the experiences he or she is recounting, while an unreliable narrator will mislead the reader, either intentionally (because he or she is untrustworthy), or unintentionally (because he or she is biased).
Rising Action
The general movement of a tragedy from the story's opening (the inciting moment) toward the climax. The rising action traces a buildup in tension and uncertainty as the plot becomes more complicated.
Exposition
The initial stage in classical tragedy in which the characters, setting, subject and theme are introduced. The exposition may also offer hints of conflict later on.
Reversal
The moment in a tragic plot when the protagonist experiences an irrecoverable change in fortune, often as the result of his or her tragic flaw. In Greek tragedy the reversal is called the peripeteia.
Climax
The moment in a tragic plot when the tension, uncertainty and complication reach their peak. Also called the crisis. In Greek tragedy, the climax is often situated in the third act, though later forms of tragedy (such as Elizabethan drama) often position it later in the story. In many modern plots, such as those in films, the crisis may occur in the final moments, just before the dénouement.
Crisis
The moment in a tragic plot when the tension, uncertainty and complication reach their peak. Also called the crisis. In Greek tragedy, the climax is often situated in the third act, though later forms of tragedy (such as Elizabethan drama) often position it later in the story. In many modern plots, such as those in films, the crisis may occur in the final moments, just before the dénouement.
Ambiguity
The possibility of uncertain meaning, or multiple meanings, in a word or expression. Ambiguity is often unintentional, but it can be used intentionally as a literary device. Often it serves as the basis of humor or wit. For example, in Romeo and Juliet when Mercutio says "Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man" (3.1), he is making a pun on the two sense of "grave": he means that he will be serious, but he also means that he is dying.
Tragic hero
The protagonist of a tragedy. In classical tradition, this individual is of great or noble birth. In modern tragedy, however, virtually any protagonist can be considered a tragic hero if his or her experience is inspires great sympathy. For example, the title character of Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome is widely regarded as a tragic hero, even though his struggle is fundamentally internal.
Satire
The use of wit, humor and sarcasm to expose human vice or stupidity. A work of literature in which this mode predominates is categorized as a satire. Traditionally, satire falls into two categories: the Horatian style (named for the Roman poet Horace) is gentle, and aims to inspire reform; by contrast, the Juvenalian style (named for the poet Juvenal) is more caustic and critical.
Characterization
The way in which characters in a story are developed and presented. Characters are often assessed in terms of how complex and realistic they are. Three-dimensional characters (sometimes described as "round") are complicated, and display a variety of traits, just as real people do. By contrast, one-dimensional ("flat") characters are one-dimensional and simplistic. In extreme cases, such figures may be deliberately exaggerated to the point of being caricatures. One can also evaluate characters in terms of whether they are static or dynamic: dynamic characters evolve and grow through the course of the story, while static characters do not. Things generally happen to a static character, but not within him or her. Specific genres will often feature stock characters — recognizable character types that conform to set conventions and expectations. Examples include the greedy old man, the innocent young girl, or the boastful hero. These examples trace their origins back to Roman comedy, but one encounters them in many kinds of stories, ranging from novels to film and TV.
Tragedy
Tragedy is famously defined by Aristotle in his Poetics as a play depicting the fall of a great individual, identified as the tragic hero. A classical tragedy traditionally focuses on characters of noble or exalted birth. We see this in Greek and Roman tragedy (e.g., Oedipus the King), as well as Elizabethan tragedy (Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet). Modern tragedy has broadened the concept to include everyday people: for example, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and August Wilson's Fences depict modern American families who experience tragic setbacks and losses. Moreover, the concept of tragedy has grown to include other genres, such as novels and movies. John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men can thus be termed a tragedy, even though it is not a drama
Antithetical hero
Unlikely hero
foil
a character who contrasts with another character. George and Lennie in the book of Mice and Men. Any character who, through strong similarity or contrast, highlights or enhances the characteristics of another character. While we tend to think of foils in terms of difference, most foil relationships in literature are complex, and involve significant similarities as well. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, for example, the prince and Laertes have much in common, even though they end up as rivals. Similarly, the qualities shared by George and Lennie in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men are subtler than the traits that distinguish them, but both are important to understanding the characters fully.
Hyperbole
exaggeration
Connotation
something suggested or implied by a word or thing, rather than being explicitly named or described The implied or suggested meanings in a word or expression, as opposed to its explicit, literal meaning (denotation). The connotation of a word includes the emotions and ideas associated with it, which will naturally vary according to context. In the most direct sense, the word "cheap" means inexpensive, but in certain cases it connotes something that is shabby or poorly made. In literary analysis, it is important to read beyond the denotation of a word or passage and discover its connotative meanings.
Mouse
It is a metaphor for Lennies weakness and foreshadows his death in the book Of Mice and Men
Narrative
Tells a story.
Inciting moment
The opening of a story or narrative; the action that gets the plot rolling. Some stories open with the event that first sets the story in motion. Such narratives are termed ab ovo (literally "from the egg"); they might start with a character's birth, or the meeting of two people. Other stories begin in media res (in the middle of things). Epic poems traditionally begin in the midst of the action, as do many contemporary plays, novels and films.
Catastrophe
The stage in classical tragedy in which the tragic hero suffers a terrible downfall, usually death or a sharp decline.
Hypochondriac
Zeena. Someone who thinks they are always sick.
Foreshadowing
a hint about what will happen later in the book
Figure of speech
a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect.
En medias res
describes a narrative that starts in the middle of the story. Does not go from beginning to end.
Episodic
in episodes
Alliteration
repetition of a consonant