Terminology
stock character-
- Any of a number of traditional characters easily identified by a single, stereotypical characteristic
characterization - protagonist -antagonis
- the development of a character(s) throughout the story. - the lead character of a play, though not necessarily a hero in the classic sense . - the character that opooses the protagonist
point of view and narrator types
-1. one of the elements of fiction, point of view is the perspective, or angle of vision from which a narrator presents a story -2. there are 1st, 1nd and third types of telling a story
symbol-
-a thing that suggests more than its literal meaning
flashback-
-a writer's way of introducing important earlier material
epiphany-
-an appearance or manifestation, especially of a divine being. an experience of sudden and striking realization. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something
themes-
-an idea which a work explores
internal and external conflicts
-character vs. self -character vs. character character vs. society character vs. nature character vs. God character vs. technology
foreshadowing-
-words gestures or other actions that suggest future events or outcomes
Denotation
The basic meaning of a word, its dictionary definition
Title
the name attached to a work of literature
Symbolism
the use of objects or events to suggest meaning beyond their immediate, physical presence
Onomatopoeia
the use of words whose sounds supposedly resemble the sounds they denote (thump, rattle, growl hiss), group of words whose sounds help to convey what is being described -words like thump crack creek to help describe the sound within the story
Archetype
An image, symbol, character type, or plot line that occurs frequently enough in literature, religion, myths, folktales and fairu tales to be recognizable as an element of universal experience and that evokes a deep emotional response. Ex: hero, mother, good vs. Bad -an image symbol, character type that appears enough to be general knowlege common sense, hero is the good guy, villain is a bad guy.
metafiction-
-fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions (especially naturalism) and traditional narrative techniques. or is a literary device used self-consciously and systematically to draw attention to a work's status as an artifact
setting- plot- exposition- rising action- climax- falling action- dénouement- AKA
1- context for action, the time, place, culture, and atmosphere in which it occurs. 2-the sequence of major events in a story, usually related by cause and effect 3-a means of filing in the audience on events that occured offstage ot before the play's begining 4-The increasingly tense and complicated action leading up to the climax 5- the turning point at which a play switches from rising to falling action 6-the action fter the climax whereby the tension lesens and the okay moves toward the ending. 7- : a satisfying outcome that effectively ends the conflict of a play
-static -dynamic characters
1-: a literary or dramatic character who undergoes little or no inner change; a character who does not grow or develop 2. who undergoes an important inner change, as a change in personality or attitude
-flat -round characters;
1-: is a type of character in fiction that does not change too much from the start of the narrative to its end or an easily recognized character type in fiction who may not be fully delineated but is useful in carrying out some narrative purpose of the author. -2 major character in a work of fiction who encounters conflict and is changed by it.
irony- verbal- situational- dramatic-
1-a feeling, tone, mood, or attitude arising from the awareness that what is (reality) is opposite from, and usually worse than, what seems to be. 2- overstatement & understatement. a figure of speech in which what is said is early the opposite of what is said is nearly the opposite of what is meant 3- the mood evoked when an action intended to have a crtain effect turns out to have a different and more sinister effect. 4-a situation in which a reader or an audience knows more than the speakers or characters, about either the outcome of events ect.
parody-
1. humorous or satirical imitation of a serious peice of literature or writing
Oxymoron
A figure of speech combining in one phrase (usually adjective and noun) two seemingly contradictory elements, bright smoke, beautiful nightmare?, loving hate, sick health, cold fire. -combining two words that are opposites of each other
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which two things usually thought to be dissimilar are treated as if they were alike and have characteristics in common. Books are the mirrors of the soul -connecting two unrelated things and giving a hidden similarity for them -compare and contrast without using like or as
Satire
A work, or manner within a work employing comedy and irony to mock a particular human characteristic or social institution the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. -use of humor, exaggeration to mock or criticize people's characteristics or stupidity
Diction
A writer's selection of words, the kind of words, phrases, and figurative language used to makeup a workof literature
Conflict
Antagonism bwt characters, ideas, or lines of action; bwt a character and the outside world -a problem that causes struggles within a story
Hyperbole
Exaggeration, a figure of speech in which something is stated more strongly than is logically warranted ex: My grandmother is as old as the hills
Form
Genre or literary type (lyric form), patterns of meter, lines, and rhymes (stanaic form) a style of expressing yourself in writing FORM: The "shape" or organizational mode of a particular poem. In most poems (like sonnets), the form consists of a set number of lines, a set rhyme scheme, and a set meter for each line. In concrete poetry, the form of a poem may reflect the theme, topic, or idea of the words in the actual shape of the text on a piece of paper. In the free verse or open-form poetry common to the modernist and postmodernist movements, the rigid constraints of form are often discarded in order to achieve a variety of effects.
Literal
In accordance with the primary or strict meaning of a word or words, not figurative or metaphorical. the literal meaning of a word. -the actual meaning of a word
Explication
The process of making clear that which is implicit or subtle in a work of literature. This is achieved by performing a close reading--reading a piece of literature with an eye toward such sentence level elements as sentence structure, style, imagery, word choice, and figurative language and then explaining the larger purpose and effect of those elements -The idea and practice of explication is rooted in the verb to explicate, which concerns the process of "unfolding" and of "making clear" the meaning of things, so as to make the implicit explicit -making a clear meaning of a literary piece, explore and discover the true meaning
Alliteration
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words Alliteration occurs when a series of words in a row (or close to a row) have the same first consonant sound. For example, "She sells sea-shells down by the sea-shore" or "Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers" are both alliterative phrases. -repetition of the first letter
Rhyme
The repetition of the accented vowel sound of a word and all succeeding consonant sounds
Assonance
The repition of identical or similar vowel sounds in words relatively near to one another. takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds. Ex: "Men sell the wedding bells." -repetition is vowel sounds within words of a sentence
Figurative language
Uses of language employing metaphor or simile or other figures of speech that depart from standard or literal usage in order to achieve a special effect or meaning -is language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation.
Paradox
a figure of speech in which a statement initially seemig self-contradictory or absurd turns out, seen in another light, to make good sense. contrary to expectations, existing belief or perceived opinion. It is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth. Your enemy's friend is your enemy. I am nobody. "What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young." - George Bernard Shaw Wise fool Truth is honey which is bitter. "I can resist anything but temptation." -a pphrase that sounds silly, or self-contradictary but has the truth in it
Personification
a figure of speech in which something nonhuman is treated as if it had human characteristics or performed human acts -giving human characteristics to things that are not human, like dogs, lamp etc.
Elements of poetry
Verbal, aural, and structural features of poetry, including diction, tone, images, figures of speech, symbols, rhythm, rhyme, and poetic form, which are combined to create poems
Thesis statement
a few sentences, usually located toward the beginning of a paper, declaring the position the author plans to take on the proposed topic -the main reason, keypoint or meaning or objective of the writing or reading
Stanza
a grouping of poetic lines into a section, either according to form, each section having the same number of lines and the same prosody
Poem
a literary composition, written or oral, typiclly characterized by imagination , emotion, sense impressions ad concrete language that invites attention to its own physical features
Text
a piece of writing, or words where readers interact
Line
a sequence of words printed as a separate entity on a page, basic unit of poetry -a sequence of words
Genre
a type or form of literature . while the major literary genres are fiction, drama, poetry, and exposition, many other subcatagories of genres are regcognized, including comedy, tragedy, romance, etc. -type of literature, catagories differeiate the type of reading/writing into different groups. fiction, comedy horror etc
Syllable
a unit of language consisting of one uninterrupted sound. -unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is : wa and ter.
Parallelism
a verbal arrangement in which elements of equal weight within phrases, sentences, or paragraphs are expressed in a similar grammatical order and structure Parallelism is a literary device in which parts of the sentence are grammatically the same, or are similar in construction. It can be a word, a phrase, or an entire sentence repeated. King's famous 'I have a dream' repetition makes the speech compelling and rhythmic, as well as memorable Like father, like son. The escaped prisoner was wanted dead or alive. Easy come, easy go. Whether in class, at work or at home, Shasta was always busy. Flying is fast, comfortable, and safe. -when parts of the sentence are the same to give meter or rhythm to the piece
Connotation
an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning. Connotation refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. Words carry cultural and emotional associations or meanings in addition to their literal meanings or denotations. Ex: a dove implies peace -a word that strikes an idea or feeling. the emotions and associations connected to a word is known as its connotative meaning. Hollywood (fame), home (safe)
Simile
expression of a direct similarity, using such words as like as or than bwt two things usually regarded as dissimilar compare and contrast using like or as
Parody
now, a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing, -a more humorous mock of an original play
Setting
one of the elements of fiction, setting is the context for the action: the time, place, culture, and atmosphere in which it occurs
Symbol
something that is itself and stands for something else. white flag. is a white flag but means defeated ex.
Image
sometimes called a word picture an image is a word or group of words that refers to a sensory experience or to an object that can be known by one or more of the senses -words, sentences that form a visual image within a piece of literature
Theme
the central idea embodied by or explored in a literary work; the general concept, explicit or implied, that the work incorporates and makes persuasive to the reader the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts,
Cultural context
the environment or situation that is relevant to the beliefs, values, and practices of the culture under study.
Structure
the framework, the general plan outline, or organizational pattern of a literary work.
Tone
the implied attitude, or stance toward the subject and toward the reader or audience in a literary work, tone of voice of the story; serious, playful, exaggerated, understated, formal, informal, ironic, straightforward, complex etc.
Rhythm
the patterned movement of language created by the choice of words and their arrangement -in poetry: rhythm is affected by in addition to meter such factors as linee length, line endings, pauses within the line, word choice and combinations of sounds
Speaker
the persona voicing the poem