Literary Terms Review

Literary Terms Review 2014-2015

Alliteration • stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series • “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes; A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.” – Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare • “His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.” - James Joyce, The Dead

ALLUSION • Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text. • “Learnèd Faustus, to find the secrets of astronomy Graven in the book of Jove’s high firmament, Did mount him up to scale Olympus’ top, Where, sitting in a chariot burning bright, Drawn by the strength of yokèd dragons’ necks, He views the clouds, the planets, and the stars.” • Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus

ANaphora • Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines. • Deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect • Ex.: “What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp?” William Blake, “The Tyger” • "It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too." (Barack Obama, "The Audacity of Hope," July 27, 2004)

Anathema a thing or person accursed or damned; a thing or person greatly detested; a formal curse or condemnation excommunicating a person from a church or damning something; any strong curse “I cannot hear the chimes of distant churches, Though they repeat the music of the sky, Because the noisy crowd beneath my window Is shouting forth anathemas close by.” -”fences” - Jewell Miller "Roll over" -- an innocuous verb in the context of doggy tricks or Roth IRAs -- is anathema to SUV manufacturers.”

Anecdote Anecdote is defined as a short and interesting story or an amusing event often proposed to support or demonstrate some point and make readers and listeners laugh. Lennie sighed deeply. From outside came the clang of a horseshoe on metal, and then a chorus of cheers. “Somebody made a ringer,” said Curley’s wife. Now the light was lifting as the sun went down, and the sun streaks climbed up the wall and fell over the feeding racks and over the heads of the horses. Lennie said, “Maybe if I took this pup out and throwed him away George wouldn’t never know. An’ then I could tend the rabbits without no trouble.” Curley’s wife said angrily, “Don’t you think of nothing but rabbits?” “We gonna have a little place,” Lennie explained patiently. “We gonna have a house an’ a garden and a place for alfalfa, an’ that alfalfa is for the rabbits, an’ I take a sack and get it all fulla alfalfa and then I take it to the rabbits.' She asked, “What makes you so nuts about rabbits?” Lennie had to think carefully before he could come to a conclusion. He moved cautiously close to her, until he was right against her. “I like to pet nice things. Once at a fair I seen some of them long-hair rabbits. An’ they was nice, you bet. Sometimes I’ve even pet mice, but not when I couldn’t get nothing better.” John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

Antecedent That which goes before in time; that which precedes. "The Homeric mythology, as well as the Homeric language, has surely its antecedents .” “To what emergency concealed, Abides the realm we seek to share Which to all antecedent pray'r Eternity hath not revealed?” - “The Testimony of the Suns” by George Sterling

AntimetabolE Antimetabole is derived from a Greek word which means “turning about”. It is a literary term or device that involves repeating a phrase in reverse order. Ex.: Fair is foul and foul is fair. Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. —Samuel Johnson, Rasselas "Women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget.” – Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Antithesis a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. "It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." Abraham Lincoln “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.” – John Milton, “Paradise Lost”

Aphorism a statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner. The term is often applied to philosophical, moral and literary principles. “Having nothing, nothing can he lose.” – Henry IV, William Shakespeare “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, W. Shakespeare “To err is human, to forgive divine.” – Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Criticism”

APostrophe a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. The effect may add familiarity or emotional intensity. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee! I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” Hamlet, W. Shakespeare “Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness.” – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Archetype an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature. An archetype, also known as universal symbol, may be a character, a theme, a symbol or even a setting The Mother Figure: Such a character may be represented as Fairy Mother who guides and directs a child, Mother Earth who contacts people and offers spiritual and emotional nourishment, and Stepmother who treats their stepchildren roughly. In Literature: Lucy and Madame Defarge from Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”, Disely from Faulkner’s “The sound and The Fury”, Gladriel from “Lord of the Rings”, Glinda from the “Wizard of Oz” etc.

Asyndeton The omission of conjunctions between clauses, often resulting in a hurried rhythm or vehement effect “Consciousness of place came ebbing back to him slowly over a vast tract of time unlit, unfelt, unlived…..” -James Joyce, The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man “This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely…….” Rhetoric, Aristotle

Bildungsroman a special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character from his or her youth to adulthood “Never Let Me Go”, a science fiction novel by Kazuo Ishiguro (Japanese-born British author) This is a most recent example of a Bildungsroman novel. The novel is divided in three acts; Childhood, Adult and Donor. It traces the life of Kathy, the protagonist and narrator of the novel. She is a “donor” who is harvested for organs to be donated to clients. We see Kathy as free-spirited, kind and loving in her childhood. As a young woman she shows less emotion looking back at her past. At the end of the novel, she is a mature woman and accepts the lives of herself and her friends.

Catharsis an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress “Here’s to my love! [Drinks] O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. [Falls]“ – Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare In “Romeo and Juliet”, Romeo commits suicide by drinking the poison that he erroneously thinks Juliet had tasted too. The audience usually finds themselves crying at this particular moment for several reasons. Primarily because losing a loved one is a feeling that all of us share. Watching or reading such a scene triggers the memories of someone we have lost (either by death or by mere separation) and because we are able to relate to it, we suddenly release the emotions that we have been repressing.

Colloquialism the use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness. It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big, still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didn't ever feel like talking loud, and it warn't often that we laughed--only a little kind of a low chuckle. We had mighty good weather as a general thing, and nothing ever happened to us at all--that night, nor the next, nor the next.” Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Conceit a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors An extended metaphor. Popular during the Renaissance and typical of John Donne or John Milton. Unlike allegory, which tends to have one-to-one correspondences, a conceit typically takes one subject and explores the metaphoric possibilities in the qualities associated with that subject. “Thou counterfeit’st a bark, a sea, a wind; For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea, Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is, Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs; Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them, Without a sudden calm, will overset Thy tempest-tossed body.” Romeo and Juliet, W. Shakespeare

Cumulative Sentence sentence that begins with the main idea and adds additional information, usually for description; also called a loose sentence "Her moving wings ignited like tissue paper, enlarging the circle of light in the clearing and creating out of the darkness the sudden blue sleeves of my sweater, the green leaves of jewelweed by my side, the ragged red trunk of a pine.” Annie Dillard, Holy the Firm

Deductive reasoning Sherlock Holmes and Watson were on a camping trip. They had gone to bed and were lying there looking up at the sky. Holmes said, "Watson, look up. What do you see?" "I see thousands of stars." "And what does that mean to you?" "I guess it means we will have another nice day tomorrow. What does it mean to you, Holmes?" "To me, it means someone has stolen our tent." reasoning from the general to the particular (or from cause to effect) a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises. (Contrast with induction.) In logic, a deductive argument is called a syllogism "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.” The Princess Bride, Vizzinni

Denotation literal or dictionary meanings of a word in contrast to its connotative or associated meanings. 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. For instance, “Wall Street” literally means a street situated in Lower Manhattan but connotatively it refers to “wealth” and “power”. Vizzini: He didn't fall? Inconceivable. Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. (The Princess Bride, 1987)

diction style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a writer “When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy.” Ellen Foster, Kaye Gibbons

Elegy form of literature which can be defined as a poem or song written in honor of someone deceased. It typically laments or mourns the death of the individual. “O CAPTAIN! My Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But O heart! Heart! Heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.” “O Captain! My Captain!” Walt Whitman

Epithet descriptive literary device that describes a place, a thing or a person in such a way that it helps in making the characteristics of a person, thing or place more prominent than they actually are. Also, it is known as a by-name or descriptive title. “God! he said quietly. Isn’t the sea what Algy calls it: a great sweet mother? The snot-green sea.” Ulysses, James Joyce

Ethos ethos represents credibility or an ethical appeal which involves persuasion by the character involved a persuasive appeal (one of the three artistic proofs) based on the character or projected character of the speaker or writer In Cicero's speech defending the poet Archias, he begins his speech by referring to his own expertise in oratory, for which he was famous in Rome. While lacking modesty, this tactic still established his ethos because the audience was forced to acknowledge that Cicero's public service gave him a certain right to speak, and his success in oratory gave him special authority to speak about another author. In effect, his entire speech is an attempt to increase the respectability of the ethos of literature, largely accomplished by tying it to Cicero's own, already established, public character.

Euphemism polite, indirect expressions which replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite or which suggest something unpleasant King Richard: What says he?  Northumberland: Nay, nothing, all is said. His tongue is now a stringlessinstrument” [meaning "he died"] Shakespeare, Richard II

Hubris extreme pride and arrogance shown by a character that ultimately brings about his/her downfall “Victor” the protagonist of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” exhibits Hubris in his endeavor to become an unmatched scientist. He creates a “monster” named “Frankenstein” which ultimately becomes the cause of his disaster.

Imagery to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses “Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft, And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.” “To the Autumn” John Keats

Inductive Reasoning reasoning that takes specific information and makes a broader generalization that is considered probable, allowing for the fact that the conclusion may not be accurate Jennifer leaves for school at 7:00 a.m. and is on time. Jennifer assumes, then, that she will always be on time if she leaves at 7:00 a.m.

Irony figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. It may also be a situation that may end up in quite a different way than what is generally anticipated. In simple words, it is a difference between the appearance and the reality. Situational, Verbal, and Dramatic “Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Coleridge

Jargon use of specific phrases and words by writers in a particular situation, profession or trade. These specialized terms are used to convey hidden meanings accepted and understood in that field. In August 2008, 19 individuals brought a putative class action lawsuit in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Facebook and the companies that had participated in Beacon, alleging violations of various federal and state privacy laws. The putative class comprised only those individuals whose personal information had been obtained and disclosed by Beacon during the approximately one-month period in which the program’s default setting was opt out rather than opt in. The complaint sought damages and various forms of equitable relief, including an injunction barring the defendants from continuing the program. (MAREK v. LANE, Supreme Court Order)

Juxtaposition two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.In literature, juxtaposition is a useful device for writers to portray their characters in great detail to create suspense and achieve a rhetorical effect. It is a human quality to comprehend one thing easily by comparing it to another. Therefore, a writer can make readers sense “goodness” in a particular character by placing him or her side by side to a character that is predominantly “evil”. Consequently, goodness in one character is highlighted by evil in the other character. Juxtaposition in this case is useful in the development of characters. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…” Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Logos a literary device that can be defined as a statement, sentence or argument used to convince or persuade the targeted audience by employing reason or logic “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man”. (Of Studies by Francis Bacon)

Metonymy figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” Julius Caesar, W. Shakespeare “I’m mighty glad Georgia waited till after Christmas before it secedes or it would have ruined the Christmas parties.” Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Mimesis The imitation of another's gestures, pronunciation, or utterance The enemy said, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them." —Exodus 15:9 In art, mimesis is known as realism, naturalism, or illusionistic, depending on the type of reality expressed in art. In grammar, mimesis is seen as the realistic representation of a person's dialogue through writing, adding accents and other identifiers to give a story a more realistic tone. Many historical fiction texts have this quality. Plays that attempt to use different accents and way of speaking are also using mimesis, and movies also employ the act of mimesis. In Hamlet, Act II, Scene II, Hamlet's conversation with Polonius uses a logical style of arguing but he is in fact saying nothing. Thus, the way something is said is represented instead of described.

Motif an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work In the poem “The Raven,” by Edgar Allan Poe, for example, the word nevermore is a motif appearing at the end of each stanza.

Oxymoron Placing two ordinarily opposing terms adjacent to one another; figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect *It is important to understand the difference between a paradox and an oxymoron. A paradox may consist of a sentence or even a group of sentences. An oxymoron, on the other hand, is a combination of two contradictory or opposite words. A paradox seems contradictory to the general truth but it does contain an implied truth. An oxymoron, however, may produce a dramatic effect but does not make sense. “The bookful blockhead ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head, With his own tongue still edifies his ears, And always list’ning to himself appears.” -”Essays of Criticism” Alexander Pope ”...Yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible Served only to discover sights of woe.” Paradise Lost, Milton

Paradox A statement that is self-contradictory on the surface, yet seems to evoke a truth nonetheless;the term Paradox is from the Greek word “paradoxon” that means 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. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. Animal Farm, George Orwell “Child is father of the man” “My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold” – W. Wordsworth

Pathos the means of persuasion that appeals to the emotions of an audience; Pathos is a method of convincing people with an argument drawn out through an emotional response “The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

Periodic Sentence A long sentence that is not grammatically complete (and hence not intelligible to the reader) until the reader reaches the final portion of the sentence, most common type of periodic sentence involves a long phrase in which the verb falls at the very end of the sentence after the direct object, indirect object and other grammatical necessities “And pulseless and cold, with a Derringer by his side and a bullet in his heart, though still calm as in life, beneath the snow lay he who was at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat.” Bret Harte, “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius.” “Self-Reliance” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Persona a voice or an assumed role of a character that represents the thoughts of a writer or a specific person the writer wants to present as his mouthpiece; Most of the time, the dramatis personae are identified with the writers though sometimes a persona can be a character or an unknown narrator. "According to those who knew him well, Hemingway was a sensitive, often shy man whose enthusiasm for life was balanced by his ability to listen intently . . .. That was not the Hemingway of the news stories. The media wanted and encouraged a brawnier Hemingway, a two-fisted man whose life was fraught with dangers. The author, a newspaper man by training, was complicit in this creation of a public persona, a Hemingway that was not without factual basis, but also not the whole man. Critics, especially, but the public as well, Hemingway hinted in his 1933 letter to [Maxwell] Perkins, were eager 'automatically' to 'label' Hemingway's characters as himself, which helped establish the Hemingway persona, a media-created Hemingway that would shadow--and overshadow--the man and writer." (Michael Reynolds, "Hemingway in Our Times." The New York Times, July 11, 1999)

Polysyndeton a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect I said, "Who killed him?" and he said, "I don't know who killed him but he's dead all right," and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Key and she was all right only she was full of water. —Ernest Hemingway, "After the Storm."

Satire a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule. It intends to improve humanity by criticizing its follies and foibles. A writer in a satire uses fictional characters, which stand for real people, to expose and condemn their corruption The Daily Show & The Colbert Report Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver Travels is one of the finest satirical works in English Literature. Swift relentlessly satirizes politics, religion, and Western Culture. Criticizing party politics in England, Swift writes, “that for above seventy Moons past there have been two struggling Parties in this Empire, under the Names of Tramecksan and Slamecksan from the high and low Heels on their shoes, by which they distinguish themselves.”

Scansion The act of "scanning" a poem to determine its meter. To perform scansion, the student breaks down each line into individual metrical feet and determines which syllables have heavy stress and which have lighter stress. “Hopeis the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all . . .” Emily Dickinson, “Hope is the thing with feathers”

Syllogism a rhetorical device that starts an argument with a reference to something general and from this it draws conclusion about something more specific; form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion Dr. House: Words have set meanings for a reason. If you see an animal like Bill and you try to play fetch, Bill's going to eat you, because Bill's a bear. Little Girl: Bill has fur, four legs, and a collar. He's a dog. Dr. House: You see, that's what's called a faulty syllogism; just because you call Bill a dog doesn't mean that he is . . . a dog. Flavius: Have you forgot me, sir? Timon: Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men; Then, if thou grant'stthou'rt a man, I have forgot thee. (William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act Four, scene 3)

Synecdoche literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part. “His eye met hers as she sat there paler and whiter than anyone in the vast ocean of anxious faces about her.” The Lady of the Tiger? -Stockton Synecdoche examples are often misidentified as metonymy (another literary device). Both may resemble each other to some extent but they are not the same. Synecdoche refers to the whole of a thing by the name of any one of its parts. For example, calling a car “wheels” is a synecdoche because a part of a car “wheels” stands for the whole car. However, in metonymy, the word we use to describe another thing is closely linked to that particular thing, but is not necessarily a part of it. For example, “crown” that refers to power or authority is a metonymy used to replace the word “king” or “queen”.

Syntax a set of rules in a language. It dictates how words from different parts of speech are put together in order to convey a complete thought. “Thee, Shepherd, thee the woods and desert caves, With wild thyme and the gadding vine o’ergrown, And all their echoes mourn” “Lycidas” Milton The modified word order in the above lines is Object+Subject+SubjectComplement+Verb.

trope a rhetorical device or figure of speech involving shifts in the meaning of word – i.e., metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, irony, hyperboles, litotes (deliberate understatement, ex. your apartment is not unclean) "The streets were a furnace, the sun an executioner." (Cynthia Ozick, "Rosa")

understatement a figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is “I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.” J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye

verisimilitude the semblance of truth or reality in literary works; or the literary principle that requires a consistent illusion of truth to life verisimilitude is likeness to the truth i.e. resemblance of a fictitious work to a real event even if it is a far-fetched one. “I didn’t want to go back no more. I had stopped cussing, because the widow didn’t like it; but now I took to it again because pap hadn’t no objections… But by-and-by pap got too handy with his hick’ry, and I could’t stand it. I was all over with welts. He got to going away so much, too, and locking me in. Once he locked me in and was gone three days. It was dreadful lonesome.” Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain Twain successfully achieves verisimilitude or resemblance to a reality by introducing colloquialism in his narrative. The use of double negatives is quite evident in the above passage.

Vernacular The language of a particular group, profession, region, or country, especially as spoken rather than formally written. The everyday or common language of a geographic area or the native language of commoners in a country as opposed to a prestigious dead language maintained artificially in schools or in literary texts “Ah’molder than Tea Cake, yes. But he done showed me where it’s de thought dat makes de difference in ages. If people thinks de same they can make it all right. So in the beginnin’ new thoughts had tuh be thought and new words said. After Ah got used tuhdat, we gits ‘long jus’ fine. He done taught me de maiden language all over.” Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Literary Terms Review