Ap literature

catharsis

(means a purging or a cleansing) the process by which an unhealthy emotional state produced by an imbalance of feelings is corrected and emotional health is restored. In literature, it refers to the audience's emotional response to a tragic work. Catharsis is an emotional cleansing or expurgation.

stanza

- is a group of lines that form a unit in a poem. It is roughly comparable to the paragraph in prose. In traditional poems, the stanzas usually have the same number of lines and often have the same rhyme scheme and meter. In the 20th century, poets have experimented more freely with stanza form, sometimes writing poems that have no stanza breaks at all.

stream of consciousness

- is a narrative technique that presents thoughts as if they were coming directly from a character's mind. Instead of being arranged in chronological order, these events are presented from the character's point of view, mixed in with the character's ongoing feelings and memories. (writings of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce)

form

- of a literary work is its structure, shape, pattern, organization or style—the way it is made. Form is different from content, which is what it is about. When applied to poetry, form refers to all the principles of arrangement in a poem—the ways in which the words and images are organized and patterned to produce a pleasing whole, including the length and placement of lines and the grouping of lines into stanzas. Elements of form—such as the sound devices of rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, consonance, and assonance—work together with elements such as figurative language and imagery to shape a poem, convey meaning and create a total experience for the reader.

realism

- refers to any effort to offer an accurate and detailed portrayal of actual life. Chaucer is praised for his realistic descriptions of people from all social classes of the 14th century. Shakespeare is praised for his realistic portrayals of character. Realism also refers to a literary method developed in the 19th century. These realists based their writing on careful observations of ordinary life, often focusing on the middle or lower classes. They attempted to present life objectively and honestly, without the sentimentality or idealism that had characterized earlier literature.

hubris

Greek - extreme pride. Hubris is a tragic flaw of pride, ambition or overconfidence that leads a hero to ignore warnings of the gods or to disregard established moral codes, resulting in the hero's downfall. (Macbeth in Macbeth)

rhetorical question

It implies that the answer is obvious—the kind of question that does not need to be answered. It is used for rhetorically persuading someone of a truth without argument or to give emphasis to a supposed truth by stating its opposite ironically. Rhetorical questions are often used for comic effect as in Henry IV when Falstaff lies about fighting off eleven men single-handedly, then responds to the prince's doubts, "Art thou mad? Is not the truth the truth?" On the other hand, Iago in Othello uses rhetorical questions for sinister ends, persuading Othello that his loving wife is a *****. Iago hints with questions ("Honest, my lord?" "Is't possible, my lord?")

enjambment

The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line or couplet of a poem to the next with no pause

morality play

These plays were allegorical dramas of the late Middle Ages. Characters are always abstract personifications. The most famous morality play is Everyman with its abstract characters.

rhyme

Words rhyme when the sounds of their accented vowels and all succeeding sounds are identical, as in amuse and confuse. For true rhyme, the consonants that preceded the vowels must be different. Rhyme that occurs at the end of lines of poetry is called end rhyme, as in Thomas Hardy's rhyming of face and place in "The Man He Killed." End rhymes that are not exact but approximate are called off rhyme, or slant rhyme, as in the words come and doom. Rhyme that occurs within a single line is called internal rhyme: "Give crowns and pounds and guineas," A.E. Housman.

sonnet

a 14-line lyric poem focused on a single theme. It is commonly written in iambic pentameter. (1) Petrarchan or Italian sonnet was introduced into English by Sir Thomas Wyatt and is named after Petrarch, the 14th-century Italian poet. This sonnet consists of two parts: octave (first 8 lines) and the sestet (last 6 lines). John Milton's sonnets are written in this form. (2) Shakespearean or English sonnet is sometimes called the Elizabethan sonnet. It consists of three quatrains (4-line units) and a final couplet. The rhyme is abab cdcd efef gg. The couplet provides a final commentary on the subject developed in the three quatrains.

carpe diem

a Latin phrase meaning "seize the day." Many great literary works have been written with the carpe diem theme, urging people to live for the moment. (Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.")

aside

a brief speech in which a character turns from the person he/she is addressing to speak directly to the audience—a dramatic device for letting the audience know what he/she is really thinking or feeling as opposed to what he/she pretends to think or feel. (Macbeth speaking: "If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me / Without my stir.")

epigram

a brief, pointed statement in prose or in verse. It developed from simple inscriptions on monuments into a literary genre—short poems or sayings characterized by conciseness, balance, clarity and wit. Epigrams are used for many purposes, including the expression of friendship, grief, criticism, praise and philosophy. (from Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism - "Good nature and good sense must ever join; To err is human, to forgive, divine.")

round character

a character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work

flat character

a character who embodies a single quality and who does nor develop in the course of the story

dynamic character

a character who is different at the end of the book than he/she was at the beginning of the book. The character has undergone changes and has matured greatly, usually learning harsh lessons along the way. (Pip in Great Expectations or Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird)

foil

a character who provides a contrast to another character, thus intensifying the impact of that other character (Laertes is a foil to Hamlet.)

oxymoron

a combination of contradictory terms or ideas ("loving hate" in Romeo and Juliet)

analogy

a comparison made between two objects, situations or ideas that are somewhat alike but unlike in most respects

maxim

a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage

adage

a familiar proverb or wise saying

simile

a figure of speech that compares two things that are basically unlike yet have something in common with the use of "like" or "as." Whereas a metaphor only implies a comparison, a simile states it. Similes intensify emotional response, stimulate vibrant images, provide imaginative delight and concentrate the expression of ideas. (Virginia Woolf uses simile to describe the duchess as she sits down in "The Duchess and the Jeweler" - "As a parasol with many flounces, as a peacock with many feathers, shuts its flounces, folds it feathers, so she subsided and shut herself as she sank down in the leather armchair.")

metonymy

a figure of speech that substitutes something closely related for the thing actually meant ("Just for a handful of silver he left us," refers to money. The crown can be the king, the White House can be the government. "The pen [writing] is mightier than the sword [war/fighting]".)

ode

a formal lyric poem with a serious theme. Odes often honor people, commemorate events, respond to natural scenes or consider serious human problems. (Percy Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and Mrs. Hill's "Ode to a Flip Flop" using SAT words)

eulogy

a formal piece of writing or an oration in praise of a person or thing; it has come to mean any general expression of praise

aphorism

a general truth or observation about life, usually stated concisely and pointedly. It can be witty or wise. (Francis Bacon - "Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.")

clause

a group of words containing a subject and its verb that may or may not be a complete sentence

tetrameter

a line of four feet

pentameter

a line of poetry containing five feet. The iambic pentameter is the most common line in English verse written before 1950.

symbolism

a literary movement of 19th-century France which stressed the importance of emotional states by using symbols to correspond to these states

allegory

a literary work with two or more levels of meaning: one literal level and one or more symbolic levels. The events, settings, objects or characters in an allegory stand for ideas of qualities beyond themselves. (Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory of the spiritual journey.)

epic

a long, narrative poem about the adventures of gods or of a hero. The epic usually presents an encyclopedic portrait of the culture in which it was produced

euphemism

a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing ("downsizing" is a euphemism for cutting jobs)

epiphany

a moment of sudden revelation or insight

caesura

a natural pause or break in the middle of a line of poetry

couplet

a pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter. Shakespeare ended his sonnets with couplets. ("So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." Sonnet XVIII - Shakespeare)

character

a person or animal that takes part in the action of a literary work. Major characters are those who play important roles in a work; minor characters are those who play lesser roles. A complex character is considered a "round" character while a simple character is "flat." A dynamic character changes throughout the work, but a static character remains the same.

comedy of manners

a play satirizing the fashions, manners and outlook on life of an artificial, highly sophisticated society (Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and Jane Austen's novels - Pride and Prejudice)

pastoral

a poem presenting shepherds in rural settings, usually in an idealized manner. The language and form are artificial, using formal, courtly speech. Pastoral can also be any literary work that deals with the pleasures of a simple, rural life or with escape to a simpler place and time—typically in a romanticized or idealized form. (Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love")

bandwagon

a propaganda technique that encourages people to think or act in some way simply because other people are doing so

antihero

a protagonist who lacks traditional heroic virtues and noble qualities and is sometimes inept, cowardly, stupid or dishonest—yet sensitive (Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights)

objectivity

a quality in a literary work of impersonality, of freedom from the expression of personal sentiments, attitudes, or emotions by the author (subjectivity is the opposite and is based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes or opinions)

allusion

a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work or work of art. Allusions often come from the Bible, classical Greek and Roman myths, plays by Shakespeare, historical or political events and other materials authors expect their readers to know.

flashback

a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event from an earlier time

exemplum

a short tale or anecdote with a moral, especially one used in a medieval sermon (Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale" illustrates the moral that "love of wealth is the root of all evil.")

elegy

a solemn and formal lyric poem about death—often in tribute to a person who has died recently, or the ending of a relationship. Most elegies are written in formal, dignified language and are serious in tone. (Tennyson's In Memoriam and Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard") (elegiac is the adjective form)

ballad

a song-like poem that tells a story, often one dealing with adventure or romance. Ballads often employ repetition of a refrain.

antithesis

a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced; a figure of speech in which contrasting or paradoxical ideas are presented in parallel form ("To err is human, to forgive, divine.")

truism

a statement that is obviously true and says nothing new or interesting (the truism that "you get what you pay for")

paradox

a statement that seems to be contradictory but that actually reveals some element of truth.

framework story or frame device

a story within a narrative setting or framework, a story within a story. This is a convention frequently used in classical and modern writing (Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Frankenstein, and Wuthering Heights).

conflict

a struggle between opposing forces. The struggle can be internal, within the character. The struggle can be external—between the character and some outside force. The four types of conflict in literature are as follows: (1) man against man, (2) man against self, (3) man against nature and (4) man against society.

genre

a term used in literary criticism to designate the distinct types or categories into which literary works are grouped according to form or technique or, sometimes, subject matter (tragedy, comedy, epic, lyric, pastoral, novel, short story, essay, plays, television, movie)

cliché

a trite phrase that has become overused. Cliches are considered bad writing and bad literature. ("There's no place like home." "The check is in the mail." "As easy as pie.")

dialect

a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region

colloquial

a word or phrase used every day in plain and relaxed speech but rarely found in formal writing, usually pertinent to a given area ("I hear tell that Jake got a new truck." - southern slang)

denotation

a word's actual dictionary meaning as opposed to a word's connotative meaning

comedy

a work of literature, especially a play, that has a happy ending. Comedies often show ordinary characters in conflict with their societies. Comedy is often contrasted with tragedy.

connotation

an association that a word calls to mind in addition to its dictionary meaning (Home and domicile have the same dictionary meaning, but home has positive and warm connotations while domicile does not.)

idiom

an expression having a special meaning not obtainable or not clear from the usual meaning of the words in the expression ("fly off the handle" or "on pins and needles" or "raining cats and dogs")

archetype

an image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern or a character type that occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion or folklore and is, therefore, believed to evoke profound emotions in the reader because it awakens a primordial image in the unconscious memory. Archetypes can be primitive and universal and consist of general themes like birth, death, coming of age, love, guilt, redemption, conflict between free will and destiny, rivalry among family members, fertility rites; of characters like the hero rebel, the wanderer, the devil, the buffoon; and of creatures like the lion, serpent or eagle.

villanelle

an intricately patterned French verse form, planned to give the impression of simplicity. It has 19 lines. The first line is repeated as a refrain at the end of the second and fourth stanzas. The last line of the first stanza is repeated at the end of the third and fifth stanzas. Both lines reappear as the final two lines of the poem. (Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night")

conceit

an unusual and surprising comparison between two very different things. This special kind of metaphor or complicated analogy is often the basis for a whole poem. It is also a whimsical, ingenious, extended metaphor in which an object, scene, person, situation or emotion is presented in terms of a simpler analogue, usually from nature or a context familiar to author and reader alike. The metaphysical poets used conceit to startle the reader by showing a very exact correspondence between a thought or emotion and some particular aspect of a seemingly alien and inappropriate object. (John Donne used a drawing compass to describe the bond between the soul of him and his mistress.)

anachronism

anything out of its proper time (an airplane in the Odyssey)

conclusion

anything that follows reasonably from something else. In a literary work, the conclusion is the final part, or ending, of the work.

pedantic

characterized by an excessive display of learning or scholarship

setting

defined as the time and place of the action of a short story, novel, play, narrative poem or nonfiction narrative. Setting may also include the social and moral environment that forms the background for a narrative. It is one of the main elements in fiction and often plays an important role in what happens and why. (Thomas Hardy's use of his rural Wessex in his novels - Tess of the D'urbervilles)

narcissism

describes a neurotic obsession with one's own person. (Narcissus was loved by the nymph Echo, but when he failed to return her love, she caused him to fall in love with his reflection in a pool of water. He pined away and was turned into the flowers that bears his name.) Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, where Dorian's narcissistic behavior destroys him)

octave

first 8 lines of a sonnet

prosaic

having or using the style or diction of prose as opposed to poetry; lacking imaginativeness or originality

heroic couplet

iambic pentameter lines rhymed in pairs. The favorite meter of Chaucer, this verse form did not come into its greatest popularity, however, until the middle of the 17th century, after which time it was for several years the dominant mode for the poetic drama. "But when to mischief mortals bend their will, How soon they find fit instruments of ill."

parody

imitates or mocks another work or type of literature. The purpose of a parody may be to ridicule through broad humor, or it may broaden understanding of or add insight to the original work. (Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a parody on Hamlet.) (Shakespeare's "Sonnet 130" is a parody of love poetry.)

inciting incident

in a plot, it introduces the central conflict

speaker

in a poem is the voice that "talks" to the reader, like the narrator in fiction. The speaker is sometimes a distant observer and at other times intimately involved with the experiences and ideas being expressed in the poem. The speaker and poet are not necessarily identical. Often a poet creates a speaker with a distinct identity in order to achieve a particular effect. (In Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," the speaker is neutral and objective, as though merely recording observations. The speaker in Tennyson's "Ulysses" is passionately involved in the ideas and feelings he is expressing as he, an aged hero, longs once more for adventure.)

rising action

in the plot is where complications usually arise, causing difficulties for the main characters and making the conflict more difficult to resolve. As the characters struggle to find solutions to the conflict, suspense builds.

didactic

instructiveness in a literary work, one of the purposes of which appears to be to give guidance, particularly in moral, ethical or religious matters. Didactic literature (especially poetry) teaches moral lessons. (Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale")

anecdote

is a brief story about an interesting, amusing or strange event

parable

is a brief story that is meant to teach a lesson or to illustrate a moral truth. It is more than a simple story. Each detail of the parable corresponds to some aspect of the problem or moral dilemma to which it is directed. (The prodigal son in the Bible is a parable.)

theme

is a central idea or message in a work of literature. Theme should not be confused with subject or what the work is about. Rather, theme is a perception about life or human nature shared with the reader. Sometimes the theme is directly stated within a work; at other times it is implied, and the reader must infer the theme. (In Macbeth, themes include corrupting effect of unbridled ambition, the corrosiveness of guilt, the lure and power of supernatural forces and the tragedy of psychological disintegration.) To discover theme, consider what happens to the central characters. The importance of those events, stated in terms that apply to all human beings, is the theme. In poetry, imagery and figurative language also help convey theme. (In Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale," what happens to the three young men illustrates the theme that "the love of money is the root of all evil.") A "light' work, one written strictly for entertainment, may not have a theme.

antagonist

is a character or force in conflict with the main character (protagonist) in a literary work (In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight is the antagonist, who challenges Sir Gawain.)

metaphor

is a comparison between two unlike things without using "like" or "as." "Time's winged chariot" is a metaphor in which the swift passage of time is compared to a speeding chariot. An extended metaphor is one that is developed at length and involves several points of comparison. A mixed metaphor occurs when two are jumbled together (thorns and rain as in "the thorns of life rained down on him." A dead metaphor is one that is overused.

irony

is a contrast between expectation and reality, usually surprising the reader or viewer. The techniques of irony include hyperbole, understatement and sarcasm. Irony is often subtle and easily overlooked or misinterpreted. Situation irony - occurs when a character or the reader expects one thing to happen but something else actually happens (Hardy's "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?") Verbal irony - occurs when a writer or character says one thing but means another (Swift's "A Modest Proposal") Dramatic irony - occurs when the reader or viewer knows something that a character does not know (Lady Macbeth plotting King Duncan's murder)

hyperbole

is a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement (I could sleep for a year. This book weighs a ton.) Macbeth after murdering King Duncan, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?"

tragedy

is a dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character who is involved in historically or socially significant events. The main character, or tragic hero, has a tragic flaw—a quality that leads to his/her destruction. A tragic hero evokes both pity and fear in readers or viewers; pity because readers or viewers feel sorry for the character, and fear because they realize that the problems and struggles faced by the character are perhaps a necessary part of human life. At the end of a tragedy, a reader or viewer generally feels a sense of waste because humans who were in some way superior have been destroyed. Shakespeare's plays Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear are famous examples of tragedies.

synecdoche

is a figure of speech in which the name of a part is used to refer to a whole ("wheels" used for cars) (T.S. Eliot uses "muddy feet" in "Preludes" to refer to the early-morning crowds of people going to work.)

deduction

is a form of argument in which the conclusion has to be true if the premises are true. (EX. People living in the 18th century had no experience with cars. Dr. Johnson lived in the 18th century. Dr. Johnson had no experience with cars.)

quatrain

is a four-line stanza, or unit, of poetry.

lyric poem

is a highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker. Unlike a narrative poem, it presents an experience or a single effect, but it does not tell a full story. Types of lyrics include the elegy, the ode and the sonnet.

kenning

is a metaphorical phrase used in Anglo-Saxon poetry to replace a concrete noun (Beowulf - "whale road" used for sea)

symbol

is a person, place, object or activity that stands for something beyond itself. Night to represent death is a common symbol. Other symbols acquire their meanings within the contexts of the works in which they occur. (In Coleridge's Rime

pun

is a play on words used to convey two meanings at the same time. (Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet - "Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man." He has just been stabbed, and the pun is on the word "grave" - a serious person or a corpse in his grave.)

mock epic

is a poem about a trivial matter written in the style of a serious epic. The incongruity of style and subject matter produces comic effects (Pope's The Rape of the Lock.)

motif

is a recurring literary convention or element that is repeated within a literary work. It could be synonymous with theme, but usually motif unifies a work and adds to its theme. (In Macbeth, references to blood, sleep and water form motifs in the play.)

refrain

is a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song

paraphrase

is a restatement in different words. One is not to alter the meaning of the words, merely translate what the writer has said into equivalent words of one's own.

plot

is a sequence of events in a literary work. Two primary elements are characters and a conflict. A plot includes the following: exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action.

soliloquy

is a speech in a dramatic work in which a character speaks his or her thoughts aloud. Usually the character is onstage alone, not speaking to other characters and perhaps not even consciously addressing the audience. The purpose of the soliloquy is to reveal a character's inner thoughts, feelings and plans to the audience. Soliloquies are characteristic of Elizabethan drama. (Macbeth's "Out, out brief candle" soliloquy upon the death of Lady Macbeth and Hamlet's "To be or not to be...")

monologue

is a speech or performance given entirely by one person or by one character

metaphysical poetry

is a style of poetry written by a group of 17th-century poets, of whom John Donne was the first. These poets were intellectuals who, like the ideal Renaissance man, were well-read in a broad spectrum of subjects. Although their poems often used simplistic words, their meaning was obscure or confusing due to the poets' use of paradox.

repetition

is a technique in which a sound, word, phrase or line is repeated for emphasis or unity (Blake's poems "The Lamb" and "The Tyger")

persuasion

is a technique used by speakers and writers to convince an audience to adopt a particular opinion, perform an action or both (Churchill's speech of May 19, 1940)

gothic

is a term used to describe literary works that make extensive use of primitive, Medieval, wild, mysterious, or natural elements. Gothic novels like Frankenstein are often set in gloomy castles where horrifying, supernatural events occur.

tone

is an expression of a writer's attitude toward a subject. Unlike mood, which is intended to shape the reader's emotional response, tone reflects the feelings of the writer. The writer's choice of words and details helps establish the tone, which might be serious, humorous, sarcastic, playful, ironic, bitter or objective. To identify the tone of a work, you might find it helpful to read the work aloud. The emotions you convey in reading should give you clues to the tone of the work. REMEMBER: TONE is set by the author. MOOD is the reader's reaction. (Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is searingly ironic. A humorous tone pervades Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.")

inference

is any logical or reasonable conclusion based on known facts or accepted premises. The conclusions of both deductive and inductive arguments are inferences.

iambic pentameter

is metrical poetry that consists of five iambic feet per line (iamb, or iambic foot, consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable - ex. "away" the "a" is unstressed and "way" is stressed) Milton - "How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth."

internal rhyme

is rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end Ex. "God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus! Why look'st thou so?—With my crossbow I shot the Albatross."

protagonist

is the central character in a story, novel or play. The protagonist is always involved in the main conflict of the plot and often changes during the course of the work. The force or person who opposes the protagonist is the antagonist.

imagery

is the descriptive language used in literature to recreate sensory experiences relating to sight, taste, touch, hearing and smell. Imagery enriches writing by making it more vivid, setting a tone, suggesting emotions and guiding the reader's reaction.

comic relief

is the feeling created by a humorous action or speech that appears within a serious work of literature. It is often used to emphasize, by contrast, the seriousness of the main action. (the drunken Porter in Macbeth; the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet)

ambiguity

is the intentional or unintentional expression of a word or idea that implies more than one meaning and usually leaves uncertainty in the reader - a statement that can contain two or more meanings.

prose

is the ordinary form of written language and one of the three major types of literature. Most writing that is not poetry, drama or song is considered prose, and prose is found in two major forms: fiction and nonfiction.

vernacular

is the ordinary language of the people living in a particular region. Many writers use vernacular to create realistic characters in an informal way. (Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird employs the vernacular of the people from the South.)

style

is the particular way in which a piece of literature is written. Style is not what is said but how it is said. It is the writer's uniquely individual way of communicating ideas. Many elements contribute to style, including word choice, sentence length, tone, figurative language, use of dialogue and point of view. A literary style may be described in a variety of ways, such as formal, conversational, journalistic, wordy, ornate, poetic or dynamic. (In Elie Wiesel's Night, the author uses simple words, short sentences, imagery and dialogue to convey his horrifying experiences.) Interpreting style is imperative for the AP exam. Ex: some other tends to use some specific words

voice

is the personality of the writer coming through on the page. It is what gives the writing a sense of flavor or uniqueness and gives the reader the feeling that the writer is talking directly to him or her. Voice can be the author's attitude or a first-person narrator—a persona. The speaker is the voice that "talks" to the reader. The voice can be that of one who is a distant observer or one who is passionately involved with the experiences and ideas expressed in the writing.

point of view

is the perspective from which a story is told. (1) First-person point of view is when the narrator is a character in the work and narrates the action as he/she perceives and understands it. (2) Third-person point of view is when the events and characters are described by a narrator outside the action. Third person omniscient point of view has the narrator all-knowing, seeing into the minds of more than one character. (3) Third-person limited point of view is when the narrator tells the story from the perspective of only one of the characters, so the reader learns only what that character thinks, feels, observes and experiences.

pathos

is the quality in a literary work that arouses feelings of pity, sorrow or compassion in a reader or the audience (the murdering of Macduff's family in Macbeth)

meter

is the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in poetry. Each unit of measure is known as a foot, consisting of one stressed syllable and one or two unstressed syllables.

foreshadowing

is the use, in a literary work, of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur. Writers use this to create suspense or to prepare the audience for the eventual outcome of events.

structure

is the way in which the parts of a literary work are put together. Paragraphs are a basic unit in prose, as are chapters in novels, acts and scenes in plays, and stanzas and lines in poems. A prose selection can be structured by idea or incident, like most essays, short stories, narrative poems, and one-act plays. Structure in poetry involves the arrangement of words and lines to produce a desired effect; a poem's structure takes into account the sounds in the poem as well as the ideas. Structure usually emphasizes certain important aspects of content in prose or poetry. T.S. Eliot's poem "Preludes" uses sections to shift between different times of day and between the interior of a room and the street outside. Analyzing structure is imperative for the AP exam.

picaresque

is used to describe a genre of literature in which the life and adventures of a rogue are chronicled (Defoe's Moll Flanders and Cervantes' Don Quixote)

personification

is when a nonhuman object is given human characteristics (Gray's "Elegy...Churchyard" where "Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth" - the earth is personified.)

resolution

is when the conflict of a plot is ended

limited point of view

is when the knowledge of the storyteller is limited to the internal states of one character

apostrophe

is where a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality, object or idea. It is often used in poetry and in speeches to add emotional intensity. (Percy Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" addresses the wind.)

diction

is word choice. Diction can be formal or informal, abstract or concrete, plain or ornate, ordinary or technical. A writer's choice of words has great impact in a literary work. Hemingway stated that he had to rewrite the ending to A Farewell to Arms 39 times. When asked why, he answered, "Getting the words right." (Archaic diction refers to words that are no longer in everyday use.)

figurative language

is writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally. It creates vivid word pictures and makes writing emotionally intense and concentrated (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, apostrophe. etc.).

narrative

is writing that tells a story and is one of the major forms of discourse

rhetorical devices

literary techniques used to heighten the effectiveness of expression

antecedent

means going before or preceding. It is also a word, phrase or clause that a relative pronoun refers to.Ex: the boy lost his tooth. His = pronoun, boy = antecedent.

tongue-in-cheek

meant or expressed ironically or facetiously

literal

not figurative; accurate to the letter, matter of fact or concrete

title

of a literary work introduces readers to the piece and may reveal something about its subject or theme

mood

or atmosphere, is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. The mood is YOUR reaction and feeling to a work; the tone is the WRITER's attitude. Writers create mood through the following: connotation, details, dialogue, imagery, figurative language, foreshadowing, setting and rhythm.

trite

overused and hackneyed

free verse

poetry which is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical. (Walt Whitman's poetry)

nonfiction

prose writing that is about real people, places and events. It is largely concerned with factual information, although the writer selects and interprets the information according to his or her purpose and viewpoint. Nonfiction includes autobiographies, biographies, letters, essays, diaries, journals, memoirs and speeches.

understatement

saying less than is actually meant, usually in an ironic way Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole or exaggeration. One of the primary devices of irony, understatement can be used to develop a humorous effect, to create biting satire or to achieve a restrained tone. (saying a flooded area is "slightly soggy")

stereotype

simplified characters who conform to a fixed pattern or are defined by a single trait. These characters do not usually demonstrate the complexities of real people. (the absent-minded professor, the busybody, the merciless villain, the dumb blond, the mad scientist, etc.)

overstatement

synonymous with hyperbole; an exaggeration

syntax

the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language

rhetoric

the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques; language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect, but which is often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content (All we get from politicians is empty rhetoric.)

determinism

the belief that all apparent acts of the will are actually the result of causes which determine them. In classical literature, it may be fate. In Calvinistic teachings, it may be the predestined will of God. (Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles)

anaphora

the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs

epilogue

the final part of a work of literature (except a play) completing and rounding it off; the opposite of preface

climax

the high point of interest of suspense in a literary work. It is usually the crisis in the plot, the point at which the protagonist changes his or her understanding of the situation. Sometimes the climax coincides with the resolution, the point at which the central conflict is resolved.

malapropism

the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar ("The doctor wrote a subscription.")

ellipsis

the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context ("Some people prefer cats; others, dogs.") - A series of marks used in writing to show omission of words ("To be...that is the question.")

asyndeton

the omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used - speeds up the rhythm of the sentence ("I came, I saw, I conquered.")

narrator

the one who tells the story; may be first- or third-person, limited or omniscient

oral tradition

the passing of songs, stories and poems from generation to generation by word of mouth (Beowulf)

thesis

the primary position taken by a writer or speaker

contrast

the process of observing and pointing out differences

parallelism

the repetition of a grammatical pattern to express ideas that are related or equal in importance. The parallel elements may be words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs. ("Is it wise / To hug misery / To make a song?" Infinitives are repeated here.)

polysyndeton

the repetition of connectives or conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect (here and there and everywhere) "Let the whitefolks have their money and power and segregation and sarcasm and big houses and schools and lawns like carpets, and books, and mostly--mostly--let them have their whiteness." (Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969)

consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds in stressed syllables containing dissimilar vowel sounds ("On a hot, hot day, and I in pajamas for the heat..." Note that the consonants are the same, but the vowels are different.)

alliteration

the repetition of initial consonant sounds of several words in a group. It is often used in poetry to emphasize and to link words as well as to create pleasing, musical sounds. ("Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty/ Hills and bogs, bearing God's hatred, Grendel came." Beowulf)

assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds in stressed syllables containing dissimilar consonant sounds (Robert Browning - "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" The long "e" sound is repeated in "reach" and "exceed.")

jargon

the special language of a profession or group. The term jargon usually has pejorative (downgrading, lower opinion) associations, with the implication that jargon is evasive, tedious and unintelligible to outsiders. The writings of the lawyer and the literary critic are both susceptible to jargon. Computer jargon has been popular the past twenty years.

juxtaposition

two contrasting elements side by side. (Two scenes in Macbeth: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are discussing the murder of Duncan; in the following scene, Duncan arrives at the castle and comments on how "sweet" the air about the castle smells.)

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse is the meter of most of Shakespeare's plays as well as that of Milton's Paradise Lost.

onomatopoeia

use of words whose sounds echo their meanings, such as buzz, whisper, gargle and murmur

omniscient point of view

when the storyteller's knowledge extends to the internal states of all the characters. This all-knowing point of view gives the writer greater flexibility and provides the reader with access to all the characters' motivations and responses to events that may be occurring simultaneously. (D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner")

dramatic irony

when there is a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true (Oedipus is unaware that he killed his own father and married his mother.)

satire

writing that ridicules or holds up to contempt the faults of individuals or groups in order to improve the individual or group. Satire may be witty, mildly abrasive or bitterly critical, and it often uses exaggeration to force readers to see something in a more critical light. Satire points out foibles (weakness or eccentricity in one's character) and failings that are universal to human experience—in order to correct these flaws. (Swift's "A Modest Proposal" proposes to alleviate the hunger in Ireland by eating the children)