literary terminology 3
Terms
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- poetry
- poem collection; genre characterized by rhythm, rhyme (sometimes), and stanzas, as opposed to prose.
- malapropism
- confusion of similar-sounding words which often ends up sounding humorous.
- prose
- literature written in sentences and paragraphs, as opposed to poetry or verse.
- nuance
- slight shade of meaning or detail.
- plot
- structure of the literature; the way it is put together; the unfolding or sequence of the events.
- mystery play
- early dramatizations of the Old and New Testaments.
- metaphor
- comparison of unlike things without using the word LIKE or AS.
- play
- story written to be acted out by actors on a stage; contains dialogue and stage directions; drama.
- literary realism
- literature reflecting real life, rather, than imaginary or idealistic life.
- paraphrase
- restatement of writing, keeping the basic meaning, but telling it in one's own words.
- historical novel
- full-length fiction book, using historical facts as its basis for plot or setting, but including imaginary characters and dialogue.
- nom de plume
- pen name or pseudonym used by author.
- personification
- literary device where writer attributes human qualities to objects or ideas.
- rhetorical question
- question asked without expecting an answer; used for effect.
- literary parody
- satire imitating, but mocking an author or work.
- literary motif
- recurrent words or phrases.
- protagonist
- main character, hero, or heroine in a written work.
- n.b.
- note well ( followed by important point to remember)
- novella
- short novel with fewer characters than novel.
- pun
- play on words; words put together in wuch a way as to be humorous.
- morality play
- early drama involving teaching and preaching of moral principles, usually by allegorical characters.
- proverb
- saying, adage, or maxium, usually short and generally believed to be true.
- plagiarism
- using other people's work as one's own without crediting the true author.
- moral
- a lesson the literature is teaching; fables usually teach a lesson about life.
- oxymoron
- used of paradoxical or opposite words for effect.
- novel
- long, fictional prose story.
- paradox
- contradictory statement that makes sense.
- gothic novel
- novel with medieval setting suggesting mystery and/or horror.
- purple passage
- writing that contains flowery, ornate language, often in the midst of otherwise dull passages.
- miracle play
- early drama based on religious stories; saint play.
- point-of-view
- perspective from which the story is written; can be omniscient (all knowing), first-person ("I"), shifting between characters, or other.
- narration
- telling a story.
- pseudonym
- name author uses instead of his/her really name; nom de plume
- op. cit.
- used in footnotes/bibliographies to refer to work previously cited or quoted.
- litotes
- understatement, where a positive is expressed as a negative.
- mythology
- traditional tales about goddesses, gods, heroes and otehr characters, often telling about the creation of the universe, talking about death, or otherwise philosophically explaining human existence.
- picaresque novel
- novel characterized by young hero or lower-class, unrespectable background, who leaves home and is faced with a harsh, cruel world, and eventually conforms to its realities.
- narrator
- person telling the story or narrative