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Literary Terms Defined Drama Terms 1. Aside—line or two spoken by the character to himself, so that no other character on stage hears. Usually, the character turns aside to portray this to the audience 2. Antagonist—Any force in a story that is in conflict with the protagonist. An antagonist may be another person, an aspect of the physical or social environment, or a destructive element in the protagonist's own nature. 3. Act— major division in the action of a play, typically indicating by lowering the curtain or raising the houselights. Playwrights frequently employ acts to accommodate changes in time, setting, mood, etc. In longer plays, acts are frequently subdivided into scenes, which mark the point where new characters enter or a location changes. 4. dynamic character—A character who during the course of a story undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of his personality or outlook. 5. flat character--A character who has only one outstanding trait or feature, or at the most a few distinguishing marks. 6. round character--A character who is complex, multi-dimensional, and convincing. 7. static character--A character who is the same sort of person at the end of a story as s/he was at the beginning. 8. stock character-- stereotyped character: one whose nature is familiar from prototypes in previous fiction 9. comedy--A type of drama, opposed to tragedy, usually having a happy ending, and emphasizing human limitation rather than human greatness. 10. comic relief--A humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in an otherwise serious work. In many instances these moments enhance the thematic significance of the story in addition to providing laughter 11. farce--A type of drama related to comedy but emphasizing improbable situations, violent conflicts, physical action, and coarse wit over characterization or articulated plot. 12. foil character—characters who, when presented on stage together, bring out one another’s differences 13. epilogue—statement at the end of a novel or play that tells what occurred following the conclusion of it 14. hubris—Greek word for pride (often the downfall of a character) 15. monologue—a long speech spoken by one character to other characters on the stage 1 16. prologue—opening section of a play that sets up the plot 17. protagonist--The central character in a story who is trying to accomplish something 18. scene—divisions within the act of a play, broken apart by location but still related to the overall purpose of the act 19. soliloquy—A speech in which a character, alone on the stage, addresses himself; a soliloquy is a "thinking out loud," a dramatic means of letting an audience know a character's thoughts and feelings. 20. Tragedy--A type of drama, opposed to comedy, in which the protagonist, a person of unusual moral or intellectual stature or outstanding abilities, suffers a fall in fortune because of some error of judgment, excessive virtue, or flaw in her/his nature. A tragedy often ends with one or more deaths. 21. tragic flaw—the downfall of the protagonist (who is often noble or of elevated status); pride is a common tragic flaw. 22. tragic hero—protagonist whose downfall is his tragic flaw 23. villain—an inherently evil character Fiction Terms 1. antithesis—establishing a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together in parallel structure Ex: That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind—Neil Armstrong Ex: Success makes men proud; failure makes them wise 2. anecdote—a short, simple story to illustrate a point 3. allegory—the representation of abstract ideas and principles by characters and events (Pilgrim’s Progress) 4. allusion—well known reference to something in mythology, history, literature, the Bible 5. ambiguity—being unclear 2 6. analogy—a comparison of 2 things that are slightly similar for the purpose of explaining an unfamiliar or difficult idea a. Ex: It is not the health who need a physician but those who are sick; I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark 2:17 7. epigraph—a quotation at the beginning of a book that sets forth the theme 8. epiphany—moment of awakening or realization for a character 9. euphemism—the substitution of a milder or less negative phrase for a harsh or blunt one (Ex: passed away for death or restroom for toilet/bathroom) 10. epigram—a witty saying briefly expressed or a short, satirical poem 11. fable—a short tale used to teach a moral lesson usually using animals 12. figurative language—non literal language 13. flashback—when a character moves back to an earlier memory or scene that is usually important to the plot (usually the flashback interrupts) 14. hyperbole—extreme exaggeration 15. jargon—the language familiar to a particular trade, profession or group. (medical jargon) 16. irony a. dramatic—audience or another character knows something that a character does not b. situational—surprise twist at the end (Fight Club) c. verbal—play on words; pun 17. metaphor-3 18. metaphysical—deals with the spiritual or non-material world 19. Modernism—literary movement from early 1900’s (see Catch-22 intro ppt) 20. narrative voice—the speaker or ―voice‖ telling you the story (personality) 21. oxymoron—a paradox reduced to two words (usually adj.-noun) "jumbo shrimp" 22. paradox-- a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth 23. pathos—the quality in writing that evokes pity or compassion 24. parable-- a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson. 25. personification 26. point of view a. first person—narrator is referred to as ―I‖ and we see only his or her perspective b. third person objective – outside narrator only; we only see what a camera would capture and no thoughts revealed. The only things revealed are what the reader can "see" (such as imagery) or "hear" (such as dialogue). We don’t go inside any character’s head/thoughts. c. third person omniscient—third person narrator who is able to see into more than one character’s mind and understands all the action (we get into two or more characters’ heads/thoughts) d. third person limited—third person narrator who only gives the thoughts of one character (only get inside one character’s thoughts) 27. prose—opposite of poetry 4 28. satire --A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit 29. sarcasm—criticism in the form of praise or flattery; to mean the opposite of what you say 30. setting—time and place where a narrative occurs; usually affects the plot line 31. simile—comparison of two things that uses like or as (the snow glittered like diamonds in the sun) 32. stream-of-consciousness—form of writing in which a character or narrator’s thoughts flow together as they go through the character’s mind; can be confusing 33. subplot—smaller plots within the story that help to develop the main plot 34. symbol—common or every day object or person which represents some abstract idea; something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else. Ex: winter and darkness may represent death or a sad mood 35. theme—the main lesson or moral the author wants to teach 36. tone—author’s attitude towards the subject matter of the book or towards a character in the novel 37. understatement—opposite of exaggeration; a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is. Ex: From Macbeth, ―It was a rough night‖ after the murder 38. grotesque -- imagery or characters that inspire fear, disgust, empathy, and curiosity. (An archetypal villain would only inspire fear and disgust.) Examples of grotesque characters: Hunchback of Notre Dame, Phantom of the Opera, Beast (of Beauty and the Beast) 5 Style Terms 1. atmosphere—feelings of the environment 2. colloquial—conversational, everyday speech, usually regional in nature ("pop" or "soda" for carbonated beverage; "wanna" or "ain't"; sayings such as "there's more than one way to skin a cat") 3. connotation—implication of a word (to associate a secondary meaning with it) 4. denotation—the explicit, "dictionary" meaning of a word 5. dialect—local language used by the people of a particular region 6. diction—word choice 7. invective—harsh, scathing words or criticism 8. litotes -- understatement usually combined with double negatives for rhetorical effect. (Examples: not unattractive, not bad, not as young, not wrong, no ordinary) 9. mood—the emotional feeling that the story gives the reader 10. paradox—a statement that appears contradictory but has truth ―I always lie‖ is a paradox b/c if it is true it must also be false 11. pun—the humorous use of a word or phrase to suggest its different meanings 12. sarcasm— SEE FICTION 13. satire—SEE FICTION 14. slang—words that come about in society and eventually turn into a socially acceptable word; informal diction not considered "correct" among the educated and elite. 15. syntax—sentence structure (telegraphic vs. long and flowing, parallelism, etc.) 6 Poetry Terms 1. alliteration—repetition of consonant sounds at beginning of words 2. allusion—well known reference to the Bible, mythology, literature, history 3. apostrophe—a figure of speech in which someone (usually dead), some abstract quality, or some idea in nature is addressed by the poet/speaker: "O death!" "Is this a dagger....." 4. assonance—repetition of vowel sounds, usually in the middle or end of words: ―a land laid waste with all its young men slain‖ 5. blank verse—unrhymed iambic pentameter 6. cacophony—the harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or words 7. caesura—a pause, usually near the middle of a line of verse: ―To err is human, to forgive divine‖ 8. conceit—an elaborate metaphor or analogy that points to a striking parallel between two seemingly dissimilar things. Ex: John Donne’s poem where he compares his and his wife’s souls to the legs of a math compass 9. consonance—repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words, usually at end (bill and ball, barn and burn) 10. couplet—a two line stanza, usually ending with the same rhymes 11. didactic poem—a poem intended primarily to teach a lesson 12. elegy—a formal poem that meditates on death or some other solemn theme 13. dramatic monologue/poem—poem that takes on the form of a monologue 14. enjambment—the continuation of one line of poetry to the next (no pauses or commas) 7 15. extended metaphor—an implied analogy or comparison that is carried throughout a stanza or entire poem. Donne compares a beautiful woman to fish bait and men to fish who want to be caught by the woman. 16. euphony—style in which the combination of words is pleasant sounding. Keats: a thing of beauty is a joy for ever/Its loveliness increases, it will never/pass into nothingness, but still will keep/ a bower quiet for us and a sleep/full of sweet dreams and health and quiet breathing. 17. figurative language--writing that uses a figure of speech as opposed to literal language. Examples include similes and metaphors. 18. free verse—poetry that has no specific meter but is still rhythmical 19. heroic couplet—entire poem made of couplets, where each pair are end stopped iambic pentameter lines that rhyme. Example from Pope: "But when to mischief mortals bend their will / How soon they find instruments of ill‖ (from The Rape of the Lock, canto III, lines 125-126) 20. imagery—the sensory details of a work (visual or auditory descriptions) 21. lyric poem—any short poem that presents a single speaker who expresses thoughts and feelings 22. meter—rhythmic quality in poetry; each unit of meter is known as a foot 23. metonymy—a figure of speech—the substitution of a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind for the word itself. Ex: ―The Pen is mightier than the sword‖ (pen stands for publishing, sword for the military), or the ―crown‖ is an object closely associated with royalty. Ask, "Is A closely associated with B but not part of its whole?" 24. narrative poem—a non dramatic poem which presents a narrative or tells a story. Epics and ballads are examples of narrative poems 25. onomatopoeia—use of sound words 26. poetic foot 8 a. iambic—u / b. trochaic--/ u 27. quatrain—four line stanza 28. scansion -- metrical analysis of a line of verse a. monometer—one foot per line b. dimeter--2 c. trimeter--3 d. tetrameter—4 feet per line e. pentameter—5 feet per line 29. sonnet—14 line iambic pentameter poem; petrarchan, spenserian, shakespearian 30. stanza—a repeated grouping of 3 or more lines with the same meter and rhyme scheme 31. synecdoche—figurative language where mentioning a part signifies the whole. For example: Foot soldiers for infantry and field hands for manual labor. Ask, "Is A a component of B?" 32. terza rima -- rhyming verse stanza with interlocking three line scheme, such as ABA, BCB, CDC, DED. Example: Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind." 33. ballad (or common) meter -- four lines that alternate between iambic tetrameter (four metrical feet, u/s) and iambic trimeter (three metrical feet, u/s). Example: "Amazing Grace." ("Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound / that saved a wretch like me! / I once was lost, but now I'm found / Was blind, but now I see.") Other Terms not on the list: 9