World Literature ENG 203 Key Terms – Flashcards
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allegory
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an extended metaphor, often in narrative or dramatic form, in which an abstract idea is represented a series of parallels b/t the idea and the object or character that represents it. It is this systematic and structured quality that distinguishes an allegory from an analogy.
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alliteration
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a figure of speech that creates pleasant sound by repeating consonants, especially initial consonants or stressed ones
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atmosphere
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the general feeling or "air" surrounding a novel or other works of art
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aside
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drama: the remark that a character makes that, by convention, the audience or another character hears but other characters do not.
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assonance
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a figure of speech that creates a pleasant sound by repeating vowels, especially initial consonants or stressed ones
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auditory image
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a sound image
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ballad
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a folksong that tells a story, usually one involving a legend or a tragedy
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blank verse
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verse that does not rhyme but does conform to metric measures
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cacophony
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sounds that are unpleasant to the ear
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caesura
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a pause in poetic line
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carpe diem
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literally "seize the day" it is a type of poetry that argues for union or love making because life is short and transient
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character
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a person in a play or narrative
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climax
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high point of a play or story, the point where a major conflict is about to be resolved
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closed couplet
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metric and rhymed couplet which usually completes its syntax and meaning and is thus self-contained
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comedy
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a work of art. usually a play or a narrative, that creates humor
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convention
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a rule in drama or other genres based on an agreement or understanding b/t the audiences and the authors
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cosmic irony
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an opposition b/t two situations one of which is fate, nature, or some other powerful force
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dactyl
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a metric unit or foot in verse which has the pattern stressed, unstressed,; stressed, unstressed, unstressed
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decorum
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rules and conventions of speech which determine what language is appropriate for what situations
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denotation
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a literal or dictionary meaning of a word as opposed to its cultural connotation
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denouement
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drama, falling action
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dialect
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a social or regional variety of language such as New York dialect
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dialogue
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a conversation b/t two or more parties
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didactic poem
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a poem that focuses on teaching a message usually at the expense of artistic excellence
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doggerel
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very bad, monotonous poetry
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double entendre
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a word or expression with two possible meanings, one of which is usually playful or obscene
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drama
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a genre of literature which represents a narrative, usually one involving intense conflict on stage
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dramatic irony
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a type of irony where the audience's knowledge creates a layer of meaning that some character on stage is unaware of
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dramatic monologue
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a poem consisting of only one character who makes an extended speech
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dramatis personae
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the characters in a play or story, or by extension in a real-life incident (Latin)
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dumb show
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a silent show
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dynamic character
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a character which develops in personality or attitudes during the course of a story or drama
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editing
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making changes in writing, be it in grammar or content, to improve its effectiveness
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elegy
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a poem about someone's death
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end rime
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the most common form of rhyme which happens at the end of a line
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endnote
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notes at the end of a chapter or paper
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end-stopping line
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a line in a poem that finishes the sentence or clause by the end of the line
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English sonnet
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a sonnet of 3 quatrains and a final couplet
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epic
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a long poem about heroic deeds. epics have certain formal qualities such as epic similes. The Iliad and Beowulf are examples of epic poems
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epigraph
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writing on tombstone
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episodic
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characterized by unimportant details and vaguely related incidents; broken down into small narrative parts
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erotica
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from Eros, the greek god of love; tasteful art about literature treating the subject of sexual love
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euphemism
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a mild word or expression used in place of an unpleasant one, as "passing" for "death"
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euphonic
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something that sounds pleasant, or agreeable when heard, such as music
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extemporaneous
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spontaneous, without advanced preparation
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fable
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a short tale with a moral or didactic purpose
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fairy tale
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a folktale with a lot of imagination and a happy ending
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falling action
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action in a drama after the climax or the highest point
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farce
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a type of comedy with extreme confusion and highly improbably sequence of events with little attention to artistic quality
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feminine rime
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a rhyme on the syllable before the last one for example "persuaded/they did"
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fiction
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short story or novel
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figure of speech
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a special use of language that produces poetic effect i.e. metaphor or pun
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finale
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a grand conclusion, as of a performance; the last scene of a play
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flashback
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a type of narration that starts at the present and relates episodes about the story line or background at a later point
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flat character
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a character that possesses very few aspects and the audience cannot know much about either because it is not a major character or because it is not drawn carefully and fully.
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foot
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a metric unit in a line of a poem consisting of two or three syllabi
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foreshadowing
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showing signs or suggestions at an earlier time about events that happen later in the story
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form
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a broad term referring to linguistic and structural qualities of a work of art as opposed to its message or "content"
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free verse
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verse without any obligatory rhyme or rhythmic pattern
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gargantuan
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from the giant king gargantua in the 16th century novel gargantua and pantagruel by Francois Rabelais; enormous gigantic prodigious
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genre
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a class, type or kind - as of literature. Poetry is a genre, film is another
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gothic story
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stories especially novels about fearsome and mysterious events usually taking place in medieval castles
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grotesque
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unnaturally strange or bizarre; markedly different from that which is considered normal and natural
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haiku
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a short japanese verse of 3 lines 5, 7, and 5 syllables that captures a single impression of some natural phenomena
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historical novel
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a novel whose story line is based on events and characters of real history
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hyperbole
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artistic exaggeration
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iambic meter
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a meter in poetry with the pattern unstressed, unstressed, stressed
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iambic pentameter
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iambic verse in five feet. iambic has the stress pattern unstressed, stress, unstressed, stressed
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image
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a word or group of word creating a concrete picture. not every image is symbolic, but the totality of images enriches the meaning of a work even if no symbolism is intended
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imagery
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collective word for images
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implied metaphor
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a way of expressing a metaphoric relationship that does not place the grammatical focus on the comparison but rather assumes it: he roared instead of He is a lion
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improvise
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to perform without previous preparation; to invent in the process of performing
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inflection
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a change in the word dictated by a grammatical rule i.e. run-ran
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interior monolgue
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a speech that takes place in the mind of a character
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irony
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a figure of speech involving opposition either b/t what is said and what is intended, or b/t what is expected and what is experienced
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italian sonnet
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a 14 line poem strictly metric and rhymed that has an 8-line (octave) followed by 6 lines (sestet) rhyme scheme in abbaabba for the octave and cdecde for the sestet
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katharsis
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aristotle's term for purging of emotions, esp. the emotions of pity and fear in a tragedy
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lilliputian
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inhabitant of the imaginary land in gulliver's travels who are very small
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limerick
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a versy of 5 anapestic lines with humorous content. line 1,2,5 have 3 stressed syllables while lines 3,4 have only 2. rhyme scheme is aabba
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literati
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collectively, the educated, or well lettered members of society, scholarly ppl
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locale
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the place of a story or poem geographic location as opposed to physical landscape etc referred to as setting
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localism
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an expression or manner typical of a specific region
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masculine rime
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normal rhyme with the rhyming syllable falling at the end of the word
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melodrama
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an inferior drama with exaggerated depiction of emotions and unwarranted intensity in conflict
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metaphor
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a figure of speech involving a compassion b/t two unlike objects. the linguistic expression of a metaphor is substitution or equivalence b/t the 2 objects: life is a red light.
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meter
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formal measure of rhyme
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metonymy
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a type of metaphor based on proximity in space: crown for king, 9th floor for admin
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motivation
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reason or cause for characters behaviour if there is not enough motivation, the work may be considered less well-written
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myth
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a narrative of a culture that explains natural and philosophical events usually in dramatic or metaphoric form
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narrative poem
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a poem that tells a story
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naturalism
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a literary movement that emphasizes realistic depiction of nature and natural behaviour
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neologism
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new words introduced to language
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novelette
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a short novel
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objective point of view
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telling the story by a narrator who is not himself part of the story
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octave
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the 8-line portion of a sonnet contrasted to sestet (6-line portion)
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odyssey
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a journey full of adventure; the homeric epic describing the adventures of odysseus
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amniscient narrator
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a narrator who has knowledge about all characters and their minds
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onomatopoeia
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a similarity b/t the sound of a word and its meaning ie. splash, roar, drip etc
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overstatement
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exaggeration
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pantomime
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a silent play
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parable
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a story which is told in order to illustate a point
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parole
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a concept in linguistics indicating the specific instances of an abstract rule, pattern possibility etc. actualization of the abstract
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paradox
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seems illogical but makes sense if read carefully. i.e. i only have 2 students in my class. the intention is to consider the rest non-students or not really students
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parallel
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similarity in grammatical or other aspect of structure
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paraphrase
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keep the meaning intact but change the words and sentence structure
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partial rime
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a rhyme which falls short of a repetition of exact sound
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pastoral poetry
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poetry depicting and praising natural landscape and simple innocent human life
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pathos
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a feeling of sadness created in a work of art. pathos is diff from tragedy in the vagueness and suggestiveness of saddness
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pedant
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excessively concerned with display of knowledge
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personification
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a type of metaphor in which an inanimate object is treated as a person
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phonetics
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study of sound such as the origins of vowels
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picaresque novel
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a novel that involves tricks and cleverness
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play
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a drama
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plot
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the way the story is told, the sequence of events as narrated
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poetic diction
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an elevated style in word choice
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point of view
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the angle from which the story is told and by implication the way events are seen and interpreted ie first person, objective, multiple etc
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polyglot
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having many languages a text with complex voice
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polysyllabic
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having many syllables
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propaganda
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speech or writing aimed at furthering a political agenda with little regard to journalistic scruples
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prosody
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the study of meter and rhythm in verse
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protagonist
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main character
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psalm
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a religious poem
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pun
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a play on words usually involving 2 meanings of the same word
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quatrain
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a 4-line poem
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realism
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a literary movement that emphasized imitation of life and staying close to what life really is as opposed to how it should be. realism recognizes the importance of ordinary people and how their environment affects their lives
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recapitulation
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summary
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recognition
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in tragedy, the realization that one has made a mistake
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refrain
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a part of a poem that is repeated at regular intervals
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repartee
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a clever and usually witty exchange in conversation
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resolution
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the solving of the play's main problem
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reversal
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in tragedy, the change in fortune from good to bad
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rhythm
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division of language esp. poetry into units of sound
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rime
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repetition of a part of a word for poetic effect
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rising action
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the movement of action towards the climax
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romantic comedy
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a comedy involving love story and happy ending
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romanticism
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the literary movement emphasizing emotionality rural purity rebellion. focuses on the individual as opposed to the collective
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round character
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a complex character that possesses many life-like characteristics and is not easily predictable
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sarcasm
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indirect, ironic discourse aimed at cutting ppl down and bitterly criticizing them
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satire
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a form of writing involving ridicule, esp attacking a person or an idea
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scene
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a unit in a play or a movie with some completeness in action where characters and setting remains essentially the same
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semantics
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a study of meaning and its complexities
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sentimental
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excessive in displaying emotionality
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seset
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the 6 line part of a sonnet as opposed to octabe
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short story
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fiction 2-10k words generally about one major action with only few major characters
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simile
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comparison of unlike objects for poetic effect as opposed to metaphor simile involves the use of words such as like, resemble etc.
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slapstick comedy
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a kind of comedy involving a lot of physical action such as falling beating cake throwing etc
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spondee
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two accented syllables in one metric foot
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stanza
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an organization unit of a poem comparable to a paragraph in prose
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static character
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a character who does not change or develop in the story
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stock character
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a character with a predefined conventionalized traits ie nurse/doctor/cop
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stream on consciousness
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a type of writing that recreates the active thinking of a character and therefore has very little apparent structure
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stress
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the part of a word pronounced with more force and loudness (english stress 1st syllable, french last syllable)
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style
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the manner in which the writer uses language mainly the choices that he or she makes in word choice, sentence types, and other matters of form and structure. style is closely related to the voice and personality of the author
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subplot
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a secondary plot that parallels the main one
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summary
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the main points of a passage written usually in paragraph form. summary does not include minor detail, but it must have specific points
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surrealism
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an anti-realistic movement in art/poetry that intentionally dislocates and distorts the usual sense of order and perception
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suspense
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holding info back from the reader to arouse his/her interest
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syllable
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a unit of sound consisting of 1 vowel and 1 to several consonants. ie potato has 3 syllables
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symbol
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an object that acquires meaning beyond the literal level. some symbols are a part of lang others have to be given meaning in context
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synecdoche
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a type of metaphoric expression that substitutes the part for the whole or the whole for the part ie eye for face, nose for person, etc
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tale
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a story in traditional format, most commonly folktale
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tall tale
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a story with lots of exaggeration for humerous purposes
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thesis sentence
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the sentence in an essay that expresses the central idea and sometimes the broad outline of the paper
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tone
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the way a piece of writing sounds esp. in its feelings and attitudes: can be passionate, disinterested, sarcastic, etc.
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tragedy
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a type of drama with an essentially good person as a hero. tragic hero suffers unfortunate consequences partly because of his tragic flaw
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tragic flaw
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the one shortcoming that a tragic hero has, a shortcoming that causes his downfall
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understatement
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emphasizes a statement by putting too little emphasis
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verbal irony
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saying one thing and meaning the opposite
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verisimilitude
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similarity to truth
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verse
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speech that rhymes; the opposite of prose
