Glossary of Literary Terms

ALLEGORY-a narrative in which characters and action represent abstract concepts different from the literal meaning of the story.

ALLITERATION-the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words ie. I walked in a wooden way; A geek's guide to gift giving.

ALLUSION- an indirect reference to a work of literature or to a person, a place or an event that the reader is expected to recognize-historical,mythological,and literary. ie. he met his Waterloo, Achilles heel, he is a real Romeo; George dances like King Kong.

AMBIGUITY- multiplicity of meaning, often deliberate, that leaves the reader uncertain about the intended significance.

ANALOGY-a comparison made between two unlike things, one being more familiar or simpler than the other,ie. this car moves with the speed of a leopard.

ANALYSIS-an examination, which usually proceeds by separating the object into parts.

ANAPEST- a three-syllable poetic measure comprising two short or unaccented syllables followed by a longer accented one (--/).

ANECDOTE-a brief story used to illustrate an idea.

ANTAGONIST-a character in fiction or drama who stands directly opposed to the protagonist. The antagonist creates the conflict for the protagonist. It may be a person(s), the environment, or a psychological force(s).

ANTICLIMAX- a sudden drop, sometimes deliberately comic, sometimes merely inept.

ANTITHESIS- a figure of speech in which two or more contrasting ideas are used in parallel construction to emphasize their differences.

APHORISM-a short, pithy statement of a truth or doctrine, a maxim,ie. home is where the heart is.

APOSTROPHE-the writer directly addresses someone or something not actually present.

APPROXIMATE RHYME-only the final consonant-sounds are the same, as in crown/alone,pail/fall

ARCHETYPE- a universal symbol that is recognized across cultures etc., also a prototype.

 

ASIDE- a short speech given by an author when on stage by him or her self, or spoken only for the audience to hear, and not the other characters on stage. It offers the character a way to express his or her inner thoughts without informing the other characters.

ASSONANCE- the close repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables. ie Twinkle, twinkle little star ; Mary sees three trees.

ATMOSPHERE- refers to the mood or feeling in which a piece of writing is pitched. It is the intangible, subjective, mental and spiritual quality which represents the tone of the work and the effect of the writing on the reader.

AUTHOR-writer of a story. Consider: attitude of writer,historical influences on writer, philosophy of writer and purpose of writer.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY-a recounting of the author's life, written by himself/herself.

BALLAD- a song that tells a story. Refrains, repetitions, and narrative transitions create the characteristic atmosphere. The usual stanza form is a quatrain.

BATHOS-the effect resulting from an unsucessful effort to achieve dignity or pathos; an unintentional dropping from the sublime to the ridiculous; the depth of stupidity.

BIOGRAPHY- an accurate recounting of a chosen person's true life, written by another.

BLANK VERSE-unryhmed poem of iambic pentameter rhythm: much of Shakespeare’s play writing.

CACOPHONY-an unpleasant combination of sounds

CAESURA-a pause or break in the metrical or rhymical progress of a line of verse. Usually the caesura is placed near the middle of a line of poetry.

CANON- literary works thought to have a special merit by a given culture

CANTO- Italian for “song”, a major section of a long poem.

CARICATURE- a portrait which makes a person or work absurd by exaggerating or distorting prominent features without losing the likeness.

CATASTROPHE- the final stage in the falling action of a tragedy. It ends the dramatic struggle and usually involves the death of the hero and others.

CATHARSIS-Aristotle described the effect of tragedy as a "purging" of the spectator's emotions; the pity and fear excited by the tragic action that is "purged" by modifying or repelling passion.

CHANCE- the occurrence of an event which has no previous cause for its happening; used to create suspense.

CHARACTER- the people, animals, things, or even machines that act or speak in a story. The word character also refers to the personalities of those individuals - whether STATIC/unchanging or DYNAMIC/changing.

CHARACTERIZATION-the methods by which a writer develops a character’s personality. The five methods of characterization are 1) describing a character’s physical appearance and its influence on the character, 2) revealing the character's thoughts and words showing inner qualities,attitudes/beliefs or personality and education, 3)showing the character’s actions,behaviour or reactions to situations, 4) showing what other characters think and say about the character, and 5) telling the reader directly what the writer thinks of the character.

CHARACTERS

1. MAJOR: protagonist, antagonist,

2. MINOR: confidant, foil, type character, stock characters

--developed as a flat(one or two traits)character,round character(more traits), dynamic(developing),or static(unchanging) character.

Presented directly through description,exposition and analysis or indirectly through the characters actions and reactions, leaving interpretation to the reader.

Evaluated by the consistency of behaviour,personality or viewpoint and changes plausible to the character. The character must also be believable and motivated within the context of the story.

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER-the arrangement of events in the order in which they occur.

CHIASMUS- parallel construction in which the words repeat in a back and forth arrangement,i.e.scream and cry and cry and scream; I cut my hair short and it grows long; it grows long and I cut it short; life is a combination of happiness and failure, failure and happiness. It may also be back and forth simply in parallel construction, ie. What is learned unwillingly is gladly forgotten.

CLASSIC-a term used to describe a piece of literature which by common consent has achieved a recognized position in literary history for its superior qualities, also an author of like standing.

CLICHE- a once surprising phrase now made colourless by repetition, ie.It's raining cats and dogs.

CLIMAX- the point of greatest interest or highest tension in a story. Usually the turning point.

COHERENCE-a progressive and logical arrangement of ideas in sentences, paragraphs or essays, related in order of time, place, sequence, climax and structure.

COLLOQUIALISM-a word or phrase peculiar to the language of common or familiar conversation.

COMEDY-a literary work beginning in a state of disorder, and ending in order: the process of moving from chaos to order.

COMIC RELIEF-a humorous scene, incident, or speech in the course of a serious fiction or drama, often provided to relieve tension.

COMPARISON AND CONTRAST- to note similarities;to note differences.

CONCRETE LANGUAGE- words that describe things that the reader knows and understands with his or her senses. It describes something that actually exists and can be seen or touched in the reader’s mind.

CONCRETE POETRY- the words of the poem are arranged in such a way that the physical shape of the pem of the page resembles the subject of the poem, ie. a poem about a rabbit will be shaped to look like a rabbit.

CONFLICT-a struggle of some kind that is central to the plot of every story. The plot of a novel is based on conflict centered in the protagonist who wishes to obtain some goal. He or she is hindered in pursuit of his or her goal by forces within the character(self-psychological), within another person(s)(society),in his or her environment(physical/nature) or spiritual/moral. Conflicts provide suspense when opposing forces appear almost evenly matched with the elements in the protagonist favor. The conflict is relieved when his or her triumph becomes apparent.

CONNOTATIONS-implications or suggestions that a word/work evokes.

CONSONANCE- the close repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowels, such as flip-flop, feel-fill, came-home; Their hearts remain rigid.

CONVENTION-in art, an unrealistic device that the public agrees to tolerate, ie. soliloquy, sonnets, stock characers.

COUPLET- lines of poetry rhyming in pairs ie. That was a rainy day/ when he went away.