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| a brief, pointed statement in prose or in verse. It developed from simple inscriptions on monuments into a literary genre-short poems or sayings characterized by conciseness, balance, clarity, and wit. (To err is Human, to forgive divine) |
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| is a quotation that appears at the beginning of a literary work. It usually introduces a motif or theme that is developed in the work itself. |
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| the final part of a work of literature (except a play) completing and rounding it off; the opposite of preface. |
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| a moment of sudden revelation or insight |
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| theoretically, an epistle is any letter, but in practice the term is limited to formal compositions written by an individual or a group to a distant individual or group. |
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| is an inscription on a tomb or monument to honor the memory of a deceased person. It is also used to describe any verse commemorating someone who has died. It may be serious or humorous. |
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| is a brief phrase that points out traits associated with a particular person or thing. Homer's Iliad contains many example of epithets, such as the references to Achilles as "the great runner" and to Hector as "the killer of men" |
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| a short, nonfiction work about a particular subject. It can be formal or informal. It may be classified as descriptive, narrative, expository, argumentative, or persuasive. |
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| a formal piece of writing or oration in praise of a person or thing; it has come to mean any general expression of praise. |
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| a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing ("downsizing" is a euphemism for cutting jobs) |
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| a term that denotes sounds pleasing to the ear; the opposite of cacophony |
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| Greek meaning "I have found it!" - an exclamation of delight at having made a discovery |
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| a short tale or anecdote with a moral, especially one used in a medieval sermon (Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale" illustrates that the love of wealth is the root of all evil) |
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| an interjection to lend emphasis, sometimes a profanity |
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1.) lays the groundwork for the plot and provides the reader with essential background information. Characters are introduced, settings are described, and the major conflict is identified.
2.) writing or speech that explains, informs, or presents information. |
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| a brief story, usually with animal characters, that teaches a lesson or a moral. Aesop, a Greek writer of the sixth century, wrote the earliest fables. |
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| a statement that can be proved true or false by evidence |
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| is an error in reasoning. In an attempt to make persuasive arguments, people often commit this |
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| is all of the action that takes place after the climax of a literary work. During this time, the conflict is resolved, and the suspense decreases. |
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| (fallacy) - This is an argument that forces an opponent to choose between two alternatives both unfavorable to him or her. |
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| is highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life. Some include extreme or grotesque characters. Others portray realistic characters in a realistic world who only marginally overstep the bounds of reality. |
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| a kind of comedy that features physical horseplay, stereotypical characters, and absurd plots, often ones involving mistaken identities and recognition scenes. The writer uses exaggeration, irony, and witty dialogue to move his or her audience to laughter. |
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| is writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally. It creates vivid word pictures and makes writing emotionally intense and concentrated (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, apostrophe, etc.) |
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| a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event from an earlier time. |
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| a character who embodies a single quality and who does NOT develop in the course of a story (similar to a static character) |
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| a character who provides a contrast to another character, thus intensifying the impact of that other character (Laertes is a BLANK to Hamlet) |
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| includes the stories, legends, myths, ballads, riddles, sayings and other traditional works produced orally by illiterate or semi-literate peoples. |
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| is the use, in a literary work, of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur. Writers use this to create suspense or to prepare the audience for the eventual outcome of events. |
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| the way a literary work is made. The structure - composed not of content, but of syntax, diction, tone, and various other devices - that a work is constructed upon. |
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| are the main types of writing: description, narration, exposition, and persuasion. |
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| framework story or frame device |
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| a story within a narrative setting or framework, a story within a story. This is a convention frequently used in classical and modern writing (The Canterbury Tales, Frankenstein, and Wuthering Heights) |
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| poetry which is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical. (Walt Whitman's poetry) |
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| is a statement that applies to more than one thing. |
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| a term used in literary criticism to designate the distinct types or categories into which literary works are grouped according to technique or form or, sometimes, subject matter. |
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| is a term used to describe literary works that make extensive use of primitive, Medieval, wild, mysterious, or natural elements. frankenstein. |
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| characterized by distortions or incongruities. The fiction of Poe is often described as this. |
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iambic pentameter lines rhymed in pairs. The favorite meter of Chaucer, this verse form did not come into its greatest popularity, however, until the middle of the 17th century, after which time it was for several years the dominant mode of the poetic drama.
"But when to mischief mortals bend their will, How soon they find fit instruments of ill." |
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| a line containing six feet |
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| a sermon or a moralistic lecture. |
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| Greek - extreme pride. Hubris is a tragic flaw of pride, ambition, or overconfidence that leads a hero to ignore warnings of the gods or to disregard established moral codes, resulting in the hero's downfall (Macbeth) |
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| varieties of this include : situation (exaggerated events or situational irony), character (exaggerated personalities), and language (sarcasm, exaggeration, puns, or verbal irony) |
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| is a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement |
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| a question that raises a hypothesis, conjecture, or supposition. |
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| is metrical poetry that consists of five iambic feet per line (iamb, or iambic foot, consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable) |
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| the practice of seeing or representing things in ideal form rather than as they usually exist in real life; the opposite of a realist who conforms |
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| an expression having a special meaning not obtainable or not clear from the usual meaning of the words in the expression ("fly off the handle" or "on pins and needles" or "raining cats and dogs") |
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| a pastoral poem, usually brief, describing the picturesque in country life and conveying a mood of peace and contentment. Any bucolic, peaceful, romantic episode or period in life or literature that might be suitable a subject for this. |
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| is the descriptive language used in literature to recreate sensory experiences relating to sight, taste, touch, hearing and smell. This enriches writing by making it more vivid. |
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| constituting the mood that expresses a command or request |
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| a suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly (author implies, reader infers) |
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| a suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly (author implies, reader infers) |
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| in a plot, it introduces the central conflict |
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| is a juxtaposition of incompatible or opposite elements. |
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| a form of argument in which the conclusion is true but not necessarily true. It is the production of facts to prove a general statement. |
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| any logical or reasonable conclusion based on known facts or accepted premises. The conclusions of both the deductive and inductive arguments are this. |
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| Latin for "in the middle of things". When an epic or narrative starts in the middle of the action. |
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| a form of dramatic entertainment that originated as a brief skit between meals. It was a transitional form between the Miracle plays and the Morality plays of the Middle Ages |
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| rhyme that occurs WITHIN a line, rather than at the end |
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| an intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack |
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| a reversal or change in the regular word order of a sentence |
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| an appeal to a Muse or another divine being for help in writing a poem. |
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| a contrast between expectation and reality, usually surprising the reader or viewer. incongruity! unexpectedness! |
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| the special language of a profession or group. lawyer BLANK, critic BLANK, computer BLANK, military BLANK |
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| a statement about the quality or value of something. A sound BLANK of a literary work is one that is based on evidence derived from careful reading and thoughtful analysis |
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| two contrasting elements placed side by side. |
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| a metaphorical phrase used in Anglo-Saxon poetry to replace a concrete noun (Beowulf - "whale road" used for sea.) |
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| one honored by a crown of LAUREL; one especially singled out because of special achievement. Nobel BLANK, Poet BLANK |
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| a widely told story about the past, one that may or may not have foundations in fact. Cultural. |
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| a humorous, epigrammatic (concise and clever) piece of verse in five lines (there once was a man, who had a large van...) |
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| when the knowledge of the storyteller is LIMITED to the internal states of one character. |
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| not figurative; accurate, matter-of-fact, or concrete |
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| ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary ("I shan't be sorry for I shall be glad.") |
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| is a highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker. elegy, ode, sonnet |
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| the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar ("The doctor wrote a subscription") |
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| a form of dramatic entertainment. The BLANK, like drama, probably found its roots in primitive fertility rites. It appears in many societies in many FORMS (halloweeen!!!) Usually it ends in a dance where both performer and spectator take part. |
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| a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage |
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| a play spoken with musical accompaniment. Used to represent poetry, but now represents a play with a romantic, emotional plot. |
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| a comparison between two things WITHOUT using "like" or "as". |
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| style of poetry written in 17th century, started by John Donne. written by intellectuals who had a broad range of knowledge who wrote confusing poems that utilized paradox. |
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| the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in poetry. each unit is a foot. |
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| a figure of speech that substitutes something closely related for the thing actually meant. (just a handful of SILVER refers to money, the crown can be the king, the white house can be the government, the pen can be writing while the sword can be war.) |
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| a romantic tale in verse. |
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| an early form of comedy, probably originating in Italy, where players combined dialogue with dancing and suggestive gestures. Today dialogue is omitted. |
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| a poem about a trivial matter written in the style of a serious EPIC. |
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| is a speech or performance given entirely by one character. |
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| also called atmosphere, the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. YOUR reaction. TONE is, conversely, AUTHOR'S ATTITUDE. |
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| These plays were allegorical dramas of the late Middle Ages. Characters are always abstract personifications. |
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| a recurring literary convention or element that is repeated within a literary work. It can be synonymous with theme, but it usually unifies a work and adds to the theme. |
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| a reason that explains or partially explains a character's thoughts, feelings, REASON TO ACTION, or speech. |
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| Nine goddesses represented as presiding over song, the various departments of literature, and the arts. Daughters of Zeus. |
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| a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events (Christianity, The Holy Bible) |
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| describes a neurotic obsession with one's own person. |
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| writing that tells a story; one of the major forms of discourse |
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| the one who tells a story; first or third-person, limited or omniscient. |
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| a term that is sometimes applies to writing that demonstrates a deep interest in NATURE (Wordsworth) |
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| a revival in the 17th and 18th centuries of classical standards of order, balance and harmony in literature. |
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| prose writing that is about real people, places, or events. It is largely concerned with FACTUAL information, although the writer selects and interprets the information according to his or her viewpoint. |
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| a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement |
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| a long work of fiction. It usually has a complicated plot, many major and minor characters, a significant theme and several settings. |
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| a serious fictional form that is somewhere between the novel and the short story in length. |
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