English Literary Terms 2
Terms
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- Comedy
- literature in which human errors or problems appear funny.
- Narrator
- the person who is telling the story
- Understatement
- way of emphasizing an idea by talking about it in a restrained manner
- Novel
- a lengthy fictional story with a plot that is revealed by the speech, action, and thoughts of the characters.
- Foil
- someone who serves as a contrast or challenge to another character
- Allegory
- a story in which people, things, and actions represent an idea or a generalization about life; often have a strong moral or lesson
- Hubris
- excessive pride; flaw that leads to the downfall of the tragic hero
- Local color
- the use of language and details that are common in a certain region of the country
- Antithesis
- an opposition or contrast of ideas
- Metaphor
- a comparison of two unlike things in which no word of comparison is used
- Motif
- the term for an often repeated idea or theme in literature
- Pathos
- suffering or passionate part in a play or story
- Parable
- a short descriptive story that illustrates a particular belief or moral.
- Irony
- using a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or normal meaning.
- Moral
- the particular value or lesson the author is trying to get across to the reader
- Pathetic fallacy
- form of personification giving human traits to nature
- Myth
- traditional story that attempts to justify a certain practice or belief.
- Figure of speech
- literary device used to create a special effect or feeling by making some type of interesting or creative comparison
- Imagery
- use of words to create a certain picture in the reader's mind.
- Genre
- refers to a category or type of literature based on its style, form, and content.
- Impressionism
- the recording of events or situations as they have been impressed upon the mind.
- Parody
- Form of literature that intentionally uses comic effect to mock a literary work or style
- Plot
- action or sequence of events in a story
- Picaresque novel
- work of fiction consisting of a lengthy string of loosely connected events.
- Plot line
- the graphic display of the action or events in a story
- Melodrama
- an exaggerated form of drama characterized by heavy use of romance, suspense, and emotion
- Foreshadowing
- giving hints or clues of what is to come later in a story
- Fable
- short fictional narrative that teaches a lesson
- Characterization
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the method an author uses to reveal characters and their personalities
- Gothic novel
- type of fiction that is characterized by gloomy castles or characters.
- Narration
- writing that relates an event or a series of events: a story
- Allusion
- a literary reference to a familiar person, place, thing or event
- Novella
- a prose work longer than the standard short story, but shorter and less complex than a full novel
- Hyperbole
- an exaggeration or overstatement
- Essay
- a piece of prose that expresses an individual's point view; usually, it is a series of closely related paragraphs that combine to make a complete piece of writing.
- Epithet
- a word or phrase used in place of a person's name; it is a characteristic of that person
- Dialogue
- the conversation carried on by the characters in a literary work.
- Metonymy
- the substituting of one word for another related word
- Malapropism
- type of pun, or play on words, that results when two words become jumbled in the speaker's mind.
- Exaggeration
- overstating or stretching the truth for special effect
- Poetic justice
- "getting what he deserves"
- Point of view
- vantage point from which the story is told.
- Mood
- the feeling a text arouses in the reader
- Climax
- the most intense point in a story
- Conflict
- the problem or struggle in a story that triggers the action.
- Personification
- literary device in which the author speaks of or describes an animal, object, or idea as if it were a person
- Memoir
- writing based on the writer's memory if a particular time, place, or incident.
- Farce
- literature based on a humorous and improbable plot
- Character sketch
- a short piece of writing that reveals or shows something important about a person or fictional character
- Content
- the set of facts or circumstances surrounding an event or a situation in a piece of literature
- Flashback
- returning to an earlier time for the purpose of making something in the present more clear.
- Falling action
- the part of a play or story that works out the decision arrived at during the climax
- Epigram
- a brief, witty saying or poem often dealing with its subject in a satirical manner
- Empathy
- putting yourself in someone's place and imagining how the person must feel.
- Caricature
- a picture or an imitation of a person's features or mannerisms exaggerated in a comic or absurd way.
- Diction
- an author's choice of words based on their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness
- Exposition
- writing that is intended to explain something that might otherwise be difficult to understand. In a play or novel, it would be the portion that gives the backround or situation surrounding the story
- Figurative language
- language used to create a special effect or feeling.
- Dramamtic monologue
- literary work in which a character is speaking about himself as if another person were present.
- Analogy
- a comparison of two or more similar objects, suggesting that if they are alike in certain respects, they will probably be alike in other ways as well
- Epitaph
- a short poem or verse written in memory of someone
- Denouement
- the final resolution or outcome of a play or story
- Paradox
- a statement that seems contrary to common sense, yet may, in fact, be true.
- Didactic
- literature instructs or presents a moral or religious statement
- Epic
- a long narrative poem that tells of the deads and adventures of a hero.
- Biography
- the story of a person's life written by another person.
- Oxymoron
- combination of contradictory terms such as jumbo shrimp, tough love, or cruel kindess
- Drama
- the form of literature known as plays; but a drama also refers to the type of serious play that is often concerned with the leading character's relationship to society.
- Simile
- comparison of two unlike things using the words LIKE or AS.
- Naturalism
- an extreme form of realism in which the author tries to show the relation of a person to the environment or surroundings.
- Epiphany
- a sudden perception that causes a character to change or act in a certain way
- Autobiography
- an author's account or story of her or his own life.
- Anecdote
- a short summary of a humorous event used to make a point.
- Antagonist
- the person or thing working against the protagonist, or hero, of the work.