Glossary of Literary, Rhetorical and Narrative Terminology That You Will Come Across Or Utilize

Term Definition Example

Abstract language A term used to describe language that deals with generalities and intangible concepts. Contrast this with concrete language.

Evil, love, beauty

Ad hominem Appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one's intellect or reason. Attacking an opponent's character rather than answering his argument.

"My opponent for office just received an endorsement from the Puppy Haters Association. Is that the sort of person you would want to vote for?"

Allegory A story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for (symbolize) other people, places or events or for abstract qualities or ideas. An allegory can be read on one level for its literal meaning and on a second level for its symbolic meaning.

George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm allegorically represents the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent despotic regime of the Communists in The Soviet Union.

Alliteration The repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginnings of words.

In the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” the speaker states, “Nature’s first green is gold. / Her hardest hue to hold.”

Allusion A reference in a work of literature to something outside the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work.

In the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” the speaker says, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be” (111).

Ambiguity A technique by which a writer deliberately suggests two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work.

At the end of the movie Inception Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Cobb spins his top to see if his reunion with his children is real, or if he is still dreaming. The film ends uncertainly with the top still spinning.

American Dream A uniquely American vision of the country consisting of three central ideas: America is a new Eden – a land of beauty, bounty, and unlimited promise; a feeling of optimism, created by ever expanding opportunity; and a confidence in triumph of the individual.

One of the most important TOPICS of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the American Dream.

Anachronism An error in chronology, or placing an event, person, item or language expression in the wrong period.

The reference to a clock in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar is an example of this.

Anacoluthon A stylistic device where the syntax deviates from one form to another. In this interruption, the expected sequence

From Lewis Carrol’s poem of “The Walrus and the Carpenter”: “The time has come,” the Walrus said,“To talk of many

of grammar is absent. things:Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—And cabbages—and kings—And why the sea is boiling hot—And whether pigs have wings.”

Anadiplosis repetition in the first part of a clause or sentence of a prominent word from the latter part of the preceding clause or sentence, usually with a change or extension of meaning

“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Anagram Anagram is a form of word play in which letters of a word or phrase are rearranged in such a way that a new word or phrase is formed.

Tom Marvolo Riddle – I am Lord Voldemort

Analogy A comparison made between two things to show how they are alike.

In “The Crisis, No. 1” Thomas Paine draws an analogy between a thief breaking into a house and the king of England interfering in the affairs of the American Colonies.

Anapest Anapest is a poetic device defined as a metrical foot in a line of a poem that contains three syllables wherein the first two syllables are short and unstressed followed by a third syllable that is long and stressed. This is the reverse of dactylic meter.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house/ Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;/ The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, / While visions of sugar plums danced in their head /had just settled our brains for a long winter‘s nap /As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky /with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

(“‘Twas the Night before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore)

Anaphora The repetition of a word or phrase of one line or clause to begin the next.

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right” Abraham Lincoln, “2nd Inaugural Address”

Anathema A curse, excommunication, divine judgment and wrath upon someone/something

The puritan church of Salem, Massachusetts gives anathema to all of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, as portrayed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Anecdote A very brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something.

In Thomas Paine’s “The Crisis No. 1” the tale of the Tory tavern keeper and is child is an anecdote.

Antagonist The opponent that struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist in a

Poseidon and the suitors are antagonists in The Odyssey. Bob Ewall, as well as just

story. The antagonist can be a person, or a societal force, or a force of nature.

racial bigotry and fear, are antagonists in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Antanaclasis Antanaclasis is a rhetorical device in which a phrase or word is repeatedly used. However, the meaning of a word changes in each case. It is the repetition of a similar word in a sentence with different meanings, or a word is repeated in two or more than two different senses.

Shakespeare’s Othello says, “put out the light, then put out the light”

Anthropomorphism Attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object. Writers often anthropomorphize animals or objects in order to achieve humorous or satirical effects.

In the Navajo poem “Song of the Earth” the Earth is anthropomorphized as a woman.

Anticlimax A drop, often sudden and unexpected, from a dignified or important idea or situation to a trivial one or a descent from something amazing to something banal or absurd. In fiction and drama, this refers to action which is disappointing in contrast to the previous moment of intense interest or anything which follows the climax.

In H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds the Martian invaders are defeated by microorganisms that cause common colds, not by any climactic battle or weapon.

Antihero The antihero contrasts with the (Romantic) hero archetype, or model, which appears over and over again in traditional literature. The modern antihero gives in to disillusionment, hopelessness, and inaction.

Holden Caulfield of The Catcher in the Rye and nearly every character created by Ernest Hemingway are classic examples.

Antimetabole Reversal of repeated words or phrases for effect.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address”

Antistasis The repetition of a word in a different or contrary sense.

“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” Benjamin Franklin

Antistrophe Antistrophe is a derivative of a Greek word that means “turning back”. It is defined as a rhetorical device that involves the repetition of the same words at the end of consecutive phrases, clauses, sentences and paragraphs.

“A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break the bonds of fellowship,but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down,but it is not this day. This day we fight…”

(The Return of the King by J. R. R.

Tolkien)Antithesis Contrary ideas expressed in a balanced

sentence.Patrick Henry’s final line of his “Speech to the Virginia Convention” is “give me liberty or give me death.”

Aphorism A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.

Ben Franklin wrote, “Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.”

Aphorismus Aphorismus is borrowed from a Greek word that means marking off, banishment or rejection. It is a figure of speech that brings into question the meaning of words in case the words are used inappropriately. Aphorismus often appears as a rhetorical question used to create a difference between the current situation being discussed and the general idea of the subject. Aphorismus examples are found both in casual conversations and in literary pieces.

“If such astonishment as this can seizeEternal spirits; or have ye chos’n this placeAfter the toyl of Battel to reposeYour wearied vertue, for the ease you findTo slumber here, as in the Vales of Heav’n? Or in this abject posture have ye swornTo adore the Conquerour?”

(Paradise Lost by John Milton)

Apophasis Calling attention to something by dismissing it.

A politician might say, "I don't even want to talk about the allegations that my opponent is a drunk."

Aporia An expression of real or pretended doubt or uncertainty, especially for rhetorical effect.

“To be or not to be: that is the question. / Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them?” (William Shakespeare’s Hamlet)

Aposiopesis Aposiopesis is derived from a Greek word that means “becoming silent”. It is a rhetorical device that can be defined as a figure of speech in which the speaker or writer breaks off abruptly and leaves the statement incomplete, as if the speaker is not willing to state what is present in his mind due to being overcome by passion, excitement or fear. In a piece of literature, it means to leave a sentence unfinished so that the reader could determine his own meanings.

She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear:Well, I lay if I get hold of you I’ll –She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom, and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat….

(The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain)

Apostrophe A figure of speech in which someone (usually, but not always absent), some abstract quality, or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present

Juliet exclaims, “Fortune be fickle” to the Roman concept of Fate, hoping in vain that hers and Romeo’s luck will turn around.

Archaic Language Archaism is the derivative of a Greek Thee, thy, thine, thou

word, archaïkós, which means beginning or ancient. The phrase or word is considered very old fashioned and outdated. It can be a word, a phrase, a group of letters, spellings or syntax. Archaism is the use of writing or speech, which is now rarely used. It is the use of older versions of language and art

Archetype A very old imaginative pattern that appears in literature across cultures and is repeated through the ages. An archetype can be a character, a plot, an image, a theme, or a setting.

The Old Wise Advisor, such as Obiwan Kanobe, Mr. Miaggi, Gandalf, Dumbledore, and Tiresias are all examples.

Aside It is a short comment or speech that a character delivers directly to the audience or to himself, while other actors on the stage cannot listen. Only the audience can realize that an actor has expressed speech for them. In essence, through aside, a character comments on what happens in the play. Simply, we can define aside as a short commentary that reveals private opinions and reactions of the character.

Time thou anticipat’st my dread exploits.The flighty purpose never is o’ertookUnless the deed go with it. From this momentThe very firstlings of my heart shall beThe firstlings of my hand. (From Macbeth by William Shakespeare)

Assonance The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds

“in a proud round cloud in white high night” says the speaker of E.E. Cummings’ poem “if a cheerfulest elephantangelchild should sit”

Authorial Voice The voices or speakers used by authors when they seemingly speak for themselves in a book. The use of this term makes it clear in critical discussion that the narration or presentation of a story is not necessarily to be identified with the biographical and historical author.

In The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien utilizes a character and narrator named Tim O’Brien who the author says is not himself, as well as other speakers.

Autobiography An account of a writer’s own life. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Richard Wright’s Black Boy are all famous examples.

Back-Story A story that precedes events in the story being told – past events or background that add meaning to current circumstances.

Prequels and the usage of flashbacks in narration are ways of presenting a back-story.

Ballad A song or poem that tells a story. The typical ballad tells a tragic story in the form of a monologue or dialogue. Ballads usually have a simple, steady rhythm, a simple rhyme pattern, and a refrain, all of which make them easy to memorize.

“The Ballad of Billy the Kid” is an example of a modern ballad.

‘From a town known Wheeling, Wes VirginiaRode a boy with six gun in his handsAnd his daring life crimeMade him a legend in his timeEast and west of Rio Grande’

Bildungsroman A type of novel concerned with education, development, and maturation of a young protagonist. Essentially, a bildungsroman traces the formation of a protagonist’s maturity (the passage from childhood to adulthood) by following the development of his/her mind and character.

The author Charles Dickens is famous for utilizing the type of narrative in such works as Great Expectations and David Copperfield.

Biography An account of someone’s life written by another person.

John McCullough’s biography John Adams is excellent – Pulitzer prize winner and made into an acclaimed miniseries.

Blank Verse Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost is written in blank verse.

Cacophony A harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones. It may be an unconscious flaw in the poet’s music, resulting in harshness of sound or difficulty of articulation, or it may be used consciously for effect, as Browning and Eliot often use it.

“With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, / Agape they heard me call.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

Cadence The natural, rhythmic rise and fall of a language as it is normally spoken.

The speaker of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” “I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, / I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”

Caesura A pause, usually near the middle of a line of verse, usually indicated by the sense of the line, and often greater than the normal pause

“To err is human; to forgive, divine” Alexander Pope, “Essay on Criticism”

Canon From the Greek word meaning “measuring rod”, the Western Canon consists of the greatest works of various types of art (including literature) that everyone ought to study. For a text to become canonized, scholars must argue its value and worth to be placed in this list.

The tradition the Canon, and texts that appear in it, has been hotly debated in recent decades. Many argue about the abundance of “dead white male writers” and the lack of female and minority writers. In recent years more and more women and minority writers have gained their due recognition. But, as some writers/texts come into the Canon, others

must be removed, so who should this be?Catalog A list of things, people, or events. By

selecting and naming items in this way, a writer create a kind of rhythm built on the repetition of certain sentence patterns.

“I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, / Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, / The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam. / The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work” (1-4) Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing”

Catharsis A Catharsis is an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress. Catharsis is a Greek word and it means cleansing.In literature it is used for the cleansing of emotions of the characters. It can also be any other radical change that leads to emotional rejuvenation of a person. Originally, the term was used as a metaphor in Poetics by Aristotle to explain the impact of tragedy on the audiences. He believed that catharsis was the ultimate end of a tragic artistic work and it marked its quality.

Macbeth’s soliloquy of “…a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more.  It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing” (5.5. ) is the scene of catharsis in the tragedy.

Causal Reasoning A reasoning/argument based on cause-and-effect

Stories where the narrative is sequential and chronological often have a clear cause-and-effect sequence to them. One’s argumentative essay might be set up in a similar scientific fashion.

Chiasmus Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect.

“The instinct of a man isto pursue everything that flies from him, andto fly from all that pursues him.”  (Voltaire)

Circular Reasoning Also called “Begging the Question”, circular reasoning is an argument in which the finality of the argument is the same as where the argument began. It has a fallacy to it in that the suppositions or support in the beginning are assumed or proposed as being true. Not the same as deductive reasoning.

The Bible is the Word of God because God tells us it is in the Bible.

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger is a type of narrative or a Look at the end of every chapter in Dan

plot device in which the end is curiously abrupt so that the main characters are left in a difficult situation without offering any resolution of conflicts. As a result of a sudden end, suspense is created at the very end of the novel, leaving the readers in such a state that they could not help but to ask, “What will happen next?” This type of end is common to the serially published novels which end at a dramatic or suspenseful moment. Cliffhanger plot device ensures readers will buy the next installment in order to read and find out what happens

Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code

Climax That point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense or interest. The climax is usually the point at which the conflict in the story is resolved.

Romeo’s death, immediately followed by Juliet’s, is the climax of the play.

Comedy In general, a story that ends with a happy resolution (marriage?) of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters. In many comedies the conflict is provided when a young couple who wish to marry is blocked by adults. In many comedies the main character at the end has moved into a world of greater freedom.

Shakespeare’s comedies such as Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are famous examples.

Concrete Language A term for language that uses specific words and details to describe a particular subject. Concrete language deals with the specifics of a subject. Words that engage the 5 senses are important examples of concrete language.

The chair was a deep spruce green color.

Conflict – Internal or External

The struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story. The struggle can be internal, or there can be an external conflict between two or more people, between a person and a force of nature or a machine, or between a person and a whole society.

An internal conflict is seen in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn between Huck’s desires to help his friend, the runaway slave Jim, but risk being a “lowdown abolitionist” in the process. An external conflict exists between Huck and his drunk, abusive father Pap.

Connotation The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary (denotative) definition. Words with strong connotations are

The words determined, firm, rigid, stubborn, and pigheaded have similar dictionary definitions, but widely different connotations. Determined and firm suggest an admirable kind of resoluteness.

often called loaded words or suggestive words.

But rigid suggests an inability to bend and a kind of mindless refusal to change. Stubborn and pigheaded are even worse, having associations with mules and pigs.

Consonance The repetition of the same or similar final consonant sounds on accented syllables or in important words.

“Nature’s first green is gold.”

Couplet Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry. If the two rhyming lines express a complete thought, they are called a closed couplet.

“If ever wife was happy in a man, / Compare with me, ye women, if you can.” These are the last two lines of Anne Bradstreet’s “To My Dear and Loving Husband”

Dactyl Dactyl is a metrical foot, or a beat in a line, containing three syllables in which first one is accented followed by second and third unaccented syllables (accented/unaccented/unaccented) in quantitative meter such as in the word “humanly.” In dactyl, we put stress on first syllable and do not stress on second and third syllables, try to say it loud-“HU-man-ly.” Dactyl originates from a Greek word dáktylos, which means finger, because it is like bones of human fingers, beginning from central long knuckle, which is followed by two short bones. Dactyl is the opposite of anapestic meter.

Half a league, half a league,Half a league onward,All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.“Forward, the Light Brigade!Charge for the guns!” he said.Into the valley of DeathRode the six hundred. “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Dark Romanticism A group of 19th Century writers who explored the dark side of (human) nature. In contrast to the optimistic nature of the Transcendentalist writers, the Dark Romantics explored the potentially evil side of nature and humanity.

The Dark Romantics include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe.

Deductive Reasoning

A process of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the premises presented, so that the conclusion cannot be false if the premises are true, as opposed to circular reasoning.

All noble gases are stable and helium is a noble gas, so helium is stable.

Deism An 18th Century philosophy based on rationalism. Deists believed that God created the world and its natural laws, but takes no other part in it. In contrast to the Puritans, Deists believed in

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and most other Founding Fathers, were Deists.

humanity’s innate goodness and perfectibility.

Denotation The dictionary, literal meaning and definition of a word.

Look up the word in the dictionary if you don’t know it!

Denouement The conclusion, or resolution, of a story. The French word means “unraveling”. At this point in a story, all the mysteries are unraveled, the conflicts are resolved, and all the questions raised by the plot are answered. A story utilizing ambiguity might not have this.

At the end of Romeo and Juliet, Act V scene v, when the Friar and the Nurse tell of their involvement in the botched ambitions of the two lovers and the two families come together, you have the denouement.

Deus Ex Machina The term deus ex machina refers to the circumstance where an implausible concept or a divine character is introduced into a storyline for the purpose of resolving its conflict and procuring an interesting outcome.

Theoclymenos is furious when Helen and Menelaus trick him and run away together .In consequence, he tries to murder his sister for not telling him that Menelaus was not dead. The demi-gods Castor and Polydeuces, Helen’s brothers and sons of Zeus and Leda, appear astonishingly to interrupt.

Dialect A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area. Dialects may differ from one another in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Many writers try to capture dialects to give their stories local color, humor, or air of authenticity.

The dialect that has become dominant in America is Standard English, which is the dialect most often used on national radio and television news broadcasts.

Diatribe Diatribe is a violent or bitter criticism on something or someone. It is a rhetorical device used as a verbal attack against a person, group, institution, or a particular behavior. Merriam Webster defines diatribe as “an angry and usually long speech or piece of writing that strongly criticizes someone or something.” Its purpose is to point out the follies and weaknesses of something or someone. However, if the focus of criticism diverts from targeting the main object, it may become negative or destructive criticism on account of its harshness.

Joseph Conrad’s narrative Heart of Darkness is based on forced labor of subjugated Africans as well as mistreatment and beating by European colonialists, which serve as an adequate diatribe of imperialism and colonialist countries. The tone of this account is sympathetic toward Africans, while Marlowe describes the imperialists as “conquest of the earth” which is “not a pretty thing.” Further, he uses severe criticism terming it a “robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale” and Europeans “grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got.”

Diction A speaker or writer’s choice of words. “We went upstairs, through period

Diction can be formal, informal, colloquial, full of slang, poetic, ornate, plain, abstract, concrete, and so on. Diction depends on the writer’s subject, purpose, and audience. Some words, for example, are suited to informal conversations but are inappropriate in a formal speech. Diction has a powerful effect on the tone of a text.

bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk and vivid with new flowers, through dressing-rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms, with sunken baths – intruding into one chamber where a disheveled man in pajamas was doing liver exercises on the floor.” From F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

Direct Characterization

When a writer does this the reader does not have to figure out what a character’s personality is like – the writer tells us directly.

Charles Dickens’ description of Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol is an example: Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas.

Discourse Speech or writing that deals with formal subject matter. This is composed of thoughts, ideas, various actions, beliefs, practices, and more.

Various types of discourse include poetical discourse, expository discourse, narrative discourse, descriptive discourse, expressive discourse, theological discourse and cultural discourse.

Doppelganger Doppelganger, German word meaning “look-alike” or “double walker”, originally meant a ghost or shadow of a person but nowadays it simply refers to a person that is a look-alike of another person.

The ghost of Hamlet’s father in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson are examples.

Double Entendre A double entendre is a literary device that can be defined as a phrase or a figure of speech that might have

In the following lines from Romeo and Juliet Mercutio says something with a double entendre: Nurse: “God ye good

multiple senses, interpretations or two different meanings or that could be understood in two different ways.

morrow, gentlemen.Mercutio: God ye good den, fair gentlewoman.Nurse: Is it good den?Mercutio: ‘Tis no less, I tell you; for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.Nurse: Out upon you! What a man are you”

Dramatic Monologue A poem in which a character speaks to one or more listeners whose responses are not known. The reactions of the listener must be inferred by the reader. From the speaker’s words the reader

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is an example of a dramatic monologue.

Dynamic Character A character that changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

Scout Finch goes through a dynamic shift in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Dystopia An imaginary society in fictional writing that represents, as M.H. Abrams puts it, “a very unpleasant imaginary world in which ominous tendencies of our present social, political, and technological order are projected in some disastrous future culmination.”

Famous dystopias include George Orwell’s’ 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

End-Stopped Rhyme Rhyming words at the end of the lines. “Once upon a midnight dreary / While a pondered weak and weary” (1-2) from Poe’s “The Raven”

Elegy A poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died.

“O Captain! My Captain!” is an elegy for president Lincoln by Walt Whitman

Elision An elision is the removal of an unstressed syllable, consonants, or letters from a word or phrase to decrease the number of letters or syllables in order to mix words together. The missing letter is replaced by an apostrophe. Generally, the middle or end letter or syllable is eliminated or two words are blended together and an apostrophe is inserted.

“But with thy brawls thou hast disturb’d our sportThe ox hath therefore stretch’d his yoke in vain,The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green cornHath rotted ere his youth attain’d a beard;And crows are fatted with the murrion flock;The nine men’s morris is fill’d up with mud,”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare

Ellipsis Ellipsis is a literary device that is used in narratives to omit some parts of a sentence or event, which gives the reader a chance to fill the gaps while acting or reading it out. It is usually written between the sentences as “…”. Most films have ellipses to omit the sections of a story or event that are not of any significance within the

A very good example of the use of ellipsis in filmmaking would be Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The movie directly proceeds to the modern technology (space station) from the most primitive tool of mankind (a bone). In film language, this kind of ellipsis is often called a match cut. It is bridged by the symbolic comparison between the two things.

narrative. Apart from being convenient, ellipsis also helps in advancing the story.

Enjambment The running on of sense from the end of one line of verse into the next, without punctuated pause. Poets often use enjambment to add rhythmic diversity. Enjambment is contrasted with an end-stopped line (a line that is a grammatical unit and ends with punctuation). Enjambed lines allow the poet to create a pause in the middle of a sentence.

Notice the lack of punctuation in some of the opening lines from E.E. Cummings’ poem “In Just-““In Just-spring when the world is mud-luscious the littlelame balloonman

whistles far and wee”

Enlightenment See Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence for a text that demonstrates Enlightenment thinking.

Enthymeme An argumentative statement in which the writer or the speaker omits one of the major or minor premises, does not clearly pronounce it, or keeps this premise implied is called enthymeme. However, the omitted premise in enthymeme remains understandable even if is not clearly expressed.

For instance, “Where there is smoke, there is fire.” (The hidden premise: The smoke causes fire)

Epic A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society.

Homer’s The Odyssey and John Milton’s Paradise Lost are epic poems. Many Americans see Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as our national epic.

Epigram A short, often satirical poem dealing concisely with a single subject and usually ending with a witty or ingenious turn of thought.

"It comes once a year/But it fades with fear."- from Harry Potter

Epigraph A phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional context.

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway begins with two epigraphs: a quote from the writer Gertrude Stein that “you are all a lost generation” and a passage from Ecclesiastes chapter 2, from where the book title comes.

Epilogue A short postscript to any literary work, such as a brief description of the fates of the characters in a novel, or a speech, usually in verse, addressed to the audience by an actor at the end of a

“A glooming peace this morning with it brings; / The sun for sorrow will not show his head. / Go hence to have more talk of these sad things, / Some shall be pardoned, and some punished, / For never was a story

play of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo”

Epiphany Derived from the Greek word “epiphaneia”, epiphany means “appearance” or “manifestation. In literary terms, an epiphany is that moment in the story where a character achieves realization, awareness or a feeling of knowledge after which events are seen through the prism of this new light in the story.

James Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man shows two examples of epiphany.Stephen Daedalus, the main character of “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”, experienced his first epiphany when he was sixteen and in a boarding school.

One day he goes back to his room. Depressed by his sins, he falls ill and makes a decision to reform himself. He goes to church for confession where the priest is very kind. So, Stephen finds a new course in life – he becomes a priest.

Stephen’s second epiphany was when his life took another turn. He realizes that he cannot waste his life living as a priest. He wants to live in the real world and be creative like an artist. He sees some boys diving from the rocks, and sees and follows attractive girls standing in the water – this moment in the novel is Joyce’s “epiphany”. It is an emotional moment with an emotional meaning which marks a realization leading to a transformation in Stephen’s life.

Epiphora Epiphora, also known as epistrophe, is a stylistic device in which a word or a phrase is repeated at the end of successive clauses. Examples of epiphora are not only found in literary pieces. Debates and persuasive writings are also rich with epiphora examples.

In Romeo and Juliet the Friar exclaims, “Fie, fie, thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit,Which, like a userer, abound’st in all,And uses none in that true sense indeedWhich should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy wit.”

Epistolary Novel Any novel that takes the form of a series of letters – either written by one character or several characters. The form allows an author to dispense with an omniscient point of view, but still switch between viewpoints of several characters during the narrative.

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is a novel told in epistolary fashion.

Epitaph A commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument about the

Robert Frost wrote this epitaph for himself a few years prior to his death: “And were

person buried at that site an epitaph to be my story / I’d have a short one ready for my own. / I would have written of me on my stone: / I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.”

Epithet A descriptive word or phrase that is frequently used to characterize a person or a thing.

George Washington is “the father of our country” or New York City is “the Big Apple”

Equivocate To use ambiguous or unclear language in order to avoid commitment or to mislead

A teenage girl tells her parents she’s spending the night at a “friend’s” house when in fact she’s “spending the night” at her boyfriend’s house.

Essay A short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a subject. The word essay comes from French essai, meaning “to try,” a derivation that suggests that the essay form is not an exhaustive treatment of a subject.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Baldwin and Annie Dillard are famous American Essayists.

Ethos In rhetoric, ethos represents credibility or an ethical appeal which involves persuasion by the character involved.

“John is a forensics and ballistics expert working for the federal government for many years – if anyone’s qualified to determine the murder weapon, it’s him.”

In determining the murder weapon, the basis of ethos of John is his experience of working for the federal government as a forensic and ballistics expert.

Eulogy Known as homily, the term eulogy originates from a Greek word eulogia, which means to praise somebody or something. A eulogy is a literary device that is a laudatory expression in a speech, or a written tribute to a person deceased recently. We can say, it is a commendation or high praise intended to give honor, generally, to a dead family member, or a loved one, or it is a tribute given to a dead person at his/her funeral. Eulogies are also paid as tributes to living persons; for instance, one can dedicate it to his retired colleagues, bosses or employees for winning respectable position and noble deeds. Hence, in general, it is a gesture of honoring somebody.

“Renowned Spenser, lie a thought more nighTo learned Chaucer, and rare Beaumont lieA little nearer Spenser to make roomFor Shakespeare in your threefold, fourfold tomb.Betwixt this day and that by fate be slain…Sleep rare tragedian Shakespeare, sleep alone,That unto us and others it may beHonor hereafter to be laid by thee.”

From “On Mr. Wm. Shakespeare, he died in April 1616” by William Basse

Basse dedicated this eulogy to Shakespeare 25 years after his death, and suggested that his grave should have been next to Spenser, Chaucer and Beaumont in Westminster Abbey.

Euphony A sound pleasing to the ear “Success is counted sweetest / By those who ne’er succeed. / To comprehend a nectar / Requires sorest need. / Not one of all the purple host / Who took the flag today / Can tell the definition, / So clear, of victory, / As he, defeated, dying, / On whose forbidden ear / The distant strains of triumph / Break, agonized and clear!” In Emily Dickinson’s poem the “s”, “wh”, “f” and other sounds create soft, sonorous melody.

Existentialism The biggest postwar intellectual influence via John Paul Satre and Albert Camus, and carried down through American writers. Atheism (usually), a sense of social and metaphysical alienation, a sense of absurdity and despair about human life, and an emphasis on the idea that men are “condemned to freedom” characterize Existentialism. Questions of where we find TRUTH and is there a GOD are seriously looked at. Satre said, “Existence precedes Essence” – people exist before anything else, before anyone can define them

Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man conveys an existentialist sentiment with its main character.

Exposition One of the four major forms of discourse, in which something is explained or set forth (the other forms are description, narration, and persuasion). Exposition also refers to that part of the plot in which the reader is given important background information on the characters, their setting, and their problems.

Think of the opening texts that come across the screen in the opening sequence of every Star Wars film

Extended Metaphor A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

The following is an extended metaphor from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot: “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, / The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes, / Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening, / Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains, / Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys, / Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap, / And seeing that it was a soft October

night, / Curled once about the house, and fell asleep” (15-22).

Eye Rhyme Rhyming words that seem to rhyme when written down as text because parts of them are spelled identically, but which are pronounced differently from each other in modern English.

“Tis the last rose of summer, / Left blooming alone; / All her lovely companions / Are faded and gone” by Thomas More. ‘alone’ and ‘gone’ appear to rhyme but in fact do not.

Fable A very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life. In many fables the characters are personified animals.

Aesop’s fables, such as “The Tortoise and the Hair” are famous examples.

Fantasy Novel Any novel that is removed from reality – especially those novels set in nonexistent worlds, such as an elfish kingdom, on the moon, or in alternative versions of the historical world – such as a version of London where vampires or sorcerers have seized control of parliament. The characters are often something other than humans, or human characters may interact with nonhuman characters such as trolls or dragons.

The Harry Potter Series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Game of Thrones are examples of Fantasy Novels.

Farce A type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly far-fetched situations. The humor in a farce is often physical and slapstick, with characters being hit in the face with pies or running into closed doors.

Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot is an absurdist, existentialist farce.

Feminine Rhyme A rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed

“Lenore” and other similar rhymes are feminine in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”

Figurative Language The use of figures of speech (see below) in language

He is a pain in the neck.

Figures of Speech A word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of something else and that is not meant to be taken literally. Figures of speech almost always involve a comparison to two things that are basically very dissimilar. Metaphors of all types (personification, allusion, synecdoche, et.) are figures of speech.

“The classroom was a beehive of activity.”

Flashback A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a

To Kill a Mockingbird and The Odyssey are both told through the use of a flashback.

story to depict something that happened at an earlier time. Although the word was coined to describe a technique used by moviemakers, the technique itself is ancient.

Flat Character Flat characters have few personality traits. The can be summed up by a single phrase such as the loyal sidekick or nosy neighbor.

The characters of Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise are flat, though intentionally so.

Foil A character who acts as a contrast to another character.

The peaceful Benvolio serves as a foil to the fiery Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet.

Foot A metrical unit of poetry. A foot always consists of at least one stressed syllable and, usually, one or more unstressed syllables.

“Nature’s first green is gold” = 3 iambic feet

Foreshadowing The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in the plot.

Jack London’s story “To Build a Fire” foreshadows throughout the story what will happen to the main character at the end.

Formal Fallacy A pattern of reasoning that is always wrong. This is due to a flaw in the logical structure of the argument which renders the argument invalid. The presence of a formal fallacy in a deductive argument does not imply anything about the argument's premises or its conclusion. Both may actually be true, or even more probable as a result of the argument, but the deductive argument is still invalid because the conclusion does not follow from the premises in the manner described. By extension, an argument can contain a formal fallacy even if the argument is not a deductive one; for instance an inductive argument that incorrectly applies principles of probability or causality can be said to commit a formal fallacy.

Some girls have long hair.Alexandra is a girl.Therefore, Alexandra has long hair.

Frame Story A literary device in which a story is enclosed in another story, a tale within a tale.

The Outsiders is framed around Ponyboy’s flashback composition that he writes for his English class.

Free Verse Poetry that does not conform to regular meter or rhyme scheme. Poets who write in free verse try to reproduce the natural rhythms of spoken language.

Walt Whitman is known as the innovator of free verse poetry in America.

Gothic Novel A type of fiction that incorporates Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram

fiction, horror and Romanticism. Stoker’s Dracula are two well known Gothic novel.

Harlem Renaissance A cultural movement of the early 1920’s led by African American artists, writers, musicians, and performers, located in Harlem. After WWI, vast numbers of African Americans migrated north and settled in the New York City neighborhood called Harlem.

See the works of Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes and many others.

Historical Novel A novel in which fictional characters take part in, influence, or witness real historical events and interact with historical figures of the past.

Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow is a historical novel about the early 20th Century.

Hubris Hubris is extreme pride and arrogance shown by a character that ultimately brings about his or her downfall. Hubris is a typical flaw in the personality of a character who enjoys a powerful position; as a result he or she overestimates his or her capabilities to such an extent that he or she loses contact with reality. A character suffering from Hubris tries to cross normal human limits and violates moral codes. Examples of Hubris are found in major characters of tragic plays such as Oedipus Rex.

“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n” says John Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost.

Hyperbole A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration, or overstatement, for effect.

“My love is such that rivers cannot quench” – from Anne Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband”

Iamb A metrical foot in poetry that has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

“Whose woods” – iambic line from Robert Frost

Iambic pentameter A line of poetry that contains five iambic feet.

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” – “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost

Idiom An expression particular to a certain language that means something different from the literal definitions of its parts.

The new kid on the block. To be under the weather

Imagery The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an expression. Imagery most often utilizes sight, but

See Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” for imagery usage of the first

can also implement the other senses.Imagism A 20th Century movement in European

and American poetry that advocated the creation of hard, clear images, concisely expressed in everyday speech.

“The apparition of these face in the crowd; / Petals on a wet, black bough.” Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro”

Impressionism A 19th Century movement in literature and art that advocated recording one’s personal impression of the world, rather than attempting a strict representation of reality.

Stephen Crane pioneered a kind of literary impressionism in which he portrayed not objective reality but one character’s impressions of reality. This is best seen in his novel The Red Badge of Courage.

In Medias Res Beginning a narrative well along in the sequence of events. It is a convention used in epic poetry and sometimes novels, short stories, drama, and narrative poetry designed to attract immediate attention from and secure the prompt interest of the reader or audience.

The Odyssey begins in the middle of the story, when Odysseus is already enslaved on island.

Incongruity The deliberate joining of opposites or of elements that are not appropriate to each other.

“Let us go then, you and I, / When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table” (1-3) “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot

Indirect Characterization

The audience has to deduce for themselves the characteristics of the character by observing his/her thought process, behavior, speech, way of talking, appearance, and way of communication with other characters and also by discerning the response of other characters.

With a first person narrator like Huckleberry or Nick Carraway, the reader has to assess the character more indirectly by what the narrator says, how he/she acts, communicates, thinks of himself/herself, etc.

Inductive reasoning reasoning from detailed facts to general principles; generalization

Every time you eat nuts your throat swells up. Every time you smell or touch nuts your throat swells up. You are allergic to nuts.

Informal fallacy A pattern of reasoning may have a valid logical form and yet be unsound because one or more premises are false. Informal fallacies may also exploit the emotional, intellectual, or psychological weaknesses of the audience. Having the capability to recognize fallacies in arguments is one way to reduce the likelihood of such occurrences.

You should try to study harder in school this year because it will spare your parents the embarrassment of an email from the teacher telling the you’re not taking your schoolwork seriously.

Interior Monologue A narrative technique that records a character’s internal flow of thoughts, memories, and associations.

William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury has the interior monologue of several characters.

Internal Rhyme Rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry or within consecutive lines.

The speaker of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” begins, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary” (1).

Inversion The reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.

The opening line of Anne Bradstreet’s “Upon the Burning of Our House” states, “In silent night when rest I took” (1).

Irony (verbal, situational, dramatic)

A discrepancy between appearances and reality. Verbal irony occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else. Situation Irony takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate

In Romeo and Juliet the audience knows of Romeo and Juliet’s demise, but the characters are unaware of their fate. This is an example of dramatic irony. In The Things They Carried the soldiers use the expressions “lit up” and “zapped” to talk about a fellow soldier’s death. This is

Jargon language of a particular trade or profession, gibberish, pretentious way of

The opening chapter of The Things They Carried has a lot of military jargon.

Literary devices Any literary method the author uses to convey the text’s message.

Literary devices can be narrative features (1st person vs. 3rd),

Litotes Understatement for rhetorical effect, especially when achieved by using negation with a term in place of using an antonym of that term.

"She was not a little upset" for "She was extremely upset."

Lyric Poem A poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker.

Most poems are lyrical

Magic Realism A genre developed in Latin America that juxtaposes the everyday with the marvelous or magical. Myths, folk tales, religious beliefs, and tall tales are the new raw material for many magic realist writers.

See Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s story “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” where the character Estaban has enormous height, weight, encrustation of scales, and mythically heroic like attributes.

Malapropism Malapropism, from French mal a propos (inappropriate), is a use of an incorrect word in place of a similar sounding word that results in a nonsensical and humorous expression.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Aunt Sally says “I was most putrefied with astonishment” instead of petrified.

Marxism The political and economic philosophy developed by Karl Marx and his followers in the mid-nineteenth century. In contrast to capitalists, Marxists believe greater economic unity can be reached by a classless

There are a number of Marxist style criticisms of texts, and texts that warrant themselves, in-part, to a Marxist perspective and interpretation.

society.Masculine Rhyme Rhyme that falls on the stressed and

concluding syllables of the rhyme words.

“keep” and “sleep”, “glow” and “no”, “spell” and “impel”

Memoir A type of autobiography that often focuses on a specific time period or historical event.

Elie Wiesel’s Night is a memoir about the author’s harrowing experience in a concentration camp.

Metaphor (Direct, Implied, Extended)

In general, a figure of speech that draws a comparison between two unlike things. Figures of speech, figurative language, tropes, and metaphors all go relatively hand-in-hand.

A direct metaphor states the comparison directly – “Fame is a bee” Emily DickinsonAn implied metaphor does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison – “Love

Meter A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. Examples of meters include Iambic, Trochaic, Dactylic, and Anapestic

Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “We real cool” has a dactylic meter (every syllable is stressed!) – “We real cool / we left school / we

Metonymy A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it.

Referring to a king or queen as the “crown” is an example

Midquel A midquel is a sequel which takes place during a chronology gap within a single previously completed work.

The Narnia book The Horse and His Boy takes place during the reign of the Pevensie children, which happens towards the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Mixed Metaphors A mixed metaphor is a metaphor that fails to make a logical comparison because its mixed terms are visually or imaginatively incompatible.

If you say, “The president is a lame duck who is running out of gas” you’ve lost control of your metaphor and have produced a statement that is ridiculous (ducks do not run out of gas).

Modernism A term for the bold new experimental styles and forms that swept the arts during the first third of the twentieth century. Modernism called for changes in subject matter, in fictional styles, in poetic forms, and in attitudes.

The writings of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner and many others are part of the Modernist movement.

Monody A poem in which the speaker laments the death of another. It can be said or sung by one person or member of the chorus.

Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “In Memoriam” is a monody for his lost friend Arthur Halem.

Mood The overall emotion created by a work of literature. Mood can usually be described with one or two adjectives such as playful, romantic, or frightening. All the elements of literature, including sound effects,

Look at the mood created in this sentence by the word ‘disheveled’ - “We went upstairs, through period bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk and vivid with new flowers, through dressing-rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms,

rhythm, and diction contribute to a work’s mood.

with sunken baths – intruding into one chamber where a disheveled man in pajamas was doing liver exercises on the floor.” From F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

Motif A reoccurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in a work, or works, of literature.

Light and dark images are motifs in Romeo and Juliet.

Myth An anonymous traditional story that is basically religious in nature and that usually serves to explain a belief, ritual, or mysterious natural phenomenon. Most myths have grown out of religious rituals, and almost all of them involve the exploits of gods and humans.

The story of Icarus and his father attempting to escape from the island of Crete by means of wings made of feathers and wax is an instructive myth. The father Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly too low or too high, but Icarus ignores his father and flies too high near the sun, the wax melts, and Icarus falls to his death in the sea below. It is a story instructing against the dangers of the hubris Icarus feels that leads to his death.

Narrative The form of discourse that tells about a series of events. Narration is used in all kinds of literature: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Usually a narrative is told in chronological order – in the order in which events occurred. The other three major forms of discourse are description, exposition, and persuasion.

Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes is a Spanish comical, satirical narrative.

Narrative Poem A poem that tells a story - a series of related events with a beginning, middle, and an end. A narrative poem also features characters and, frequently, dialogue.

The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spencer is a narrative poem.

Narrator (omniscient, 3rd person limited, 1st person)

In fiction the one who tells the story. Narrators differ in their degree of participation in the story: omniscient narrators are all-knowing and outside the action; they can take us into minds and hearts of all the characters and behind all the events unfolding in the story; first-person narrators are either witnesses to or participants in the story; third-person-limited narrators are omniscient narrators too, but they zoom in one character and allow us to

The narrative of many famous American novels are told from a first-person perspective, such as Scout narrating To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn narrating The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Some writers utilize the third person limited technique such as Ernest Hemingway and his novels Old Man and the Sea and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Many novels are narrated through an omniscient perspective as well such as . Some texts, such as Tim O’Brien’s The

experience the story through this one character’s perceptions.

Things They Carried, switch between different types of narration.

Naturalism A nineteenth-century literary movement that was an extension of realism and that claimed to portray life exactly as if it were being examined through a scientist’s microscope. The naturalists relied heavily on the new fields of psychology and sociology. They tended to dissect human behavior with complete objectivity, the way a scientist would dissect a specimen in the laboratory. The naturalists were also influenced by Darwinian theories of the survival of the fittest. Naturalists believed that human behavior is determined by heredity and environment; they felt that people have no recourse to supernatural forces and that human beings, like animals, are subject to laws of nature beyond their control.

Theodore Dreiser’s novels such as McTeague, Jack London’s novels such as The Call of the Wild, and John Steinbeck’s novels have influences from Naturalism.

Novella An extended fictional prose narrative that is longer than a short story, but not quite as long as a novel.

Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Hemingway’s Old Man in the Sea are a couple of examples

Octave An eight-line poem or the first eight lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet. In a Petrarchan sonnet the octave states the subject of the sonnet or poses a problem or question.

Look at the octave for Robert Frost’s poem “Design” to see how he manipulates the Petrarchan stanza structure.

Ode A lyric poem, usually long, on a serious subject and written in dignified language. In ancient Greece and Rome, odes were written to be read in public at ceremonial occasions. In modern literature, odes tend to be more private, informal, and reflective.

John Keats’ poem “Ode to a Nightingale” is one of the best!

Onomastic Related to names. For instance, a character’s name might contain an onomastic symbol – if that character is named Faith

Arthur Dimmesdale’s name in The Scarlet Letter alludes to his “dim” complexion and outlook on his sin.

Onomatopoeia The use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning.

The word buzz is onomatopoetic; it imitates the sound it names.

Oxymoron A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

Living death, deafening silence, jumbo shrimp, limited nuclear war

Parable A relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson, about how to lead a good life.

The parables told by Jesus in the Bible, such as the Parable

Paradox A statement that appears self-contradictory but reveals a kind of truth. Many writers like to use paradox because it allows them to express the complexity of life by showing how opposing ideas can be both contradictory and true.

“Much Madness is divinest Sense” by Emily Dickinson

Parallel structure The repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures (also called parallelism).

“That government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth” – Lincoln’s “The Gettysburg Address”

Parody A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style. Parodies often achieve their effects by humorously exaggerating certain features in the original work.

Some scenes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn parody Shakespearean plays when the Duke and King act them out.

Pastoral A type of poem that depicts country life in idyllic, idealized terms. The term pastoral comes from the Latin word for “shepherd” (the word survives today in our word pastor). Originally, in the Latin verse of ancient Rome, pastorals were about the loves of shepherds and nymphs and the simple idealized pleasures of country life. Today the term has a looser meaning, referring to any poem that portrays an idyllic rural setting or expresses nostalgia for an age or place of lost innocence. England has a long pastoral tradition; America has almost no pastoral tradition at all.

The term pastoral is often used misleadingly, to refer to poets who write about rural life. Robert Frost, for example, has been called a pastoral poet. No poet’s work could be further from the idealized pastoral tradition. Frost is a deeply ironic, even dark poet.

Pathetic fallacy The endowment of nature, inanimate objects, etc., with human traits and feelings in formal arguments and discourse.

The smiling skies; the angry sea.

Pathos Emotional appeal, one of the three modes of persuasion in rhetoric that the author uses to inspire pity or sorrow towards a character – typically does not counterbalance the target character’s suffering with a positive outcome, as in Tragedy.

From The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: “He had meant the best in the world, and been treated like a dog—like a very dog. She would be sorry someday—maybe when it was too late. Ah, if he could only die TEMPORARILY!” Tom arouses feelings of pity in readers’ minds by telling how

the girl, whom he loved, treated him like an animal despite his honest feelings for her. He wishes he had died and then she would feel sorry for him.

Personification A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

“When well-appareled April on the heel / Of limping winter treads.” From Romeo and Juliet

Phallic symbol A sexualized representation of male potency, power, or domination – particularly through some object vaguely reminiscent of the penis.

Common phallic symbols include sticks, staves, clubs, towers, trees, missiles, rockets, and the swords like those in the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet.

Picaresque Novel A humorous novel in which the plot consists of a young knave’s misadventures and escapades narrated in comic or satiric scenes. This roguish protagonist – called a picaro – makes his (or sometimes her) way through cunning and trickery rather than through virtue or industry. The picaro frequently travels from place to place engaging in a variety of jobs for several masters and getting into mischief. The picaresque novel is usually episodic in nature and realistic in its presentation of the seamier aspects of society.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes are Picaresque Novels.

Ploce The repetition of a word or name, often with a different sense, after the intervention of one or more other words.

“We’ll be over, we’re coming over, / And we won’t come back till it’s over / Over there.” George M. Cohan, “Over There” A WWI Patriotic Song

Plot sequence The series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the story line.

The sequences of a plot in order usually include: (1) basic situation or exposition including perhaps external and/or internal conflict (2) complications (3) rising action (4) climax (5) resolution or denouement

Postmodernism A term for the dominant trend in the arts since 1945 characterized by experiments with nontraditional forms and the acceptance of multiple meanings. The lines between real and imaginary worlds are often blurred in postmodern texts, as is the boundary between fiction and nonfiction. Other characteristics of postmodern texts are cultural diversity and an often playful self-consciousness, which is an acknowledgment that literature is not a

The writings of Toni Morrison, Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, Tim O’Brien and many other contemporaries is considered postmodern

mirror that accurately reflects the world, but a created world unto itself.

Protagonist The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. The protagonist might or might not be the story’s hero; some protagonists are actually the villains in the story.

Satan is the protagonist of John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. Huckleberry Finn is the protagonist of the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Proverb A short, pithy statement that expresses common truth or experience.

Many of Benjamin Franklin’s aphorisms have become proverbs such as “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Also, see the book of Proverbs in the Bible.

Psychoanalysis A method of examining the unconscious mind, developed primarily by the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis is based on the assumption that many mental and emotional disorders are the result of the conscious mind repressing factor that persist in the unconscious and can cause conflicts.

The most famous example of a text that utilizes this technique is James Joyce’s Ulysses. Also, see “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber.

Psychoanalytical criticism

A type of literary criticism that evaluates the desires, fantasies, language choice, emotions and other psychological elements in characters and in the writers who create them.

An analysis of Edgar Allan Poe that looks at the effects of his deceased mother and wife in his literature is psychoanalytical in nature.

Pun A play on words based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.

The singer was locked out of the audition because she couldn’t find the right key. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar the man who repairs shoes claims to be a mender of men’s souls (soles).

Puritans Puritans were a Separatist Protestant group that sought to “purify” the Church of England by returning to a “simpler” form of worship and church organization as described in the Christian Scriptures. The Church of England was still too “Catholic” (ornamental, ritualized, political) for the Puritans despite its separation from the Catholic Church under Henry VIII. For them religion was personal and inner. They endeavored to come to the New World and establish a “City upon a Hill” as John Winthrop, the group’s first governor of the Massachusetts Bay

See Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible about the Salem Witch trials hysteria, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writings which address the Puritan legacy in America, and the poetry of Anne Bradstreet.

Colony called it. The puritans left a lasting legacy upon the colonial identity of what would become the United States.

Quatrain A poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.

The third stanza of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost is a quatrain which reads, “He gives his harness bells a shake /To ask if there’s some mistake. /The only other sound’s the sweep /Of easy wind and downy flake. (9-12)

Rationalism The belief that human beings can arrive at truth by using reason, rather than by relying on the authority of the past, on religious faith, or on intuition.

The Declaration of Independence is a document based on rationalist principles.

Realism A style of writing, developed in the 19th

century, which attempts to depict life accurately, as it really is, without idealizing or romanticizing it. Instead of writing about the long ago or far away, the realists concentrated on contemporary life and on middle and lower-class lives in particular. They also rejected extravagant language in favor of simple, everyday diction.

The writings of Willa Cather, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, and many others demonstrate a Realist style.

Red herring A rhetorical tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance.

Spoiler Alert! The character of “Bishop Aringarosa” in Dan Brown’s novel Da Vinci Code serves as an example of a red herring throughout the novel. The character is presented in such a way that the readers suspect him to be the mastermind of the whole conspiracy in the church. Later it was revealed that he was innocent. This example of a red herring in the novel distracts the readers from who the real bad person is and thus, adds to the mystery of the story

Refrain A word, phrase, line or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem.

The word “Nevermore” in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is an example.

Regionalism Literature that emphasizes a specific geographic setting and that reproduces the speech, behavior, and attitudes of the people who live in that region.

William Faulkner is a regionalist writer of the South.

Repetition A unifying property of repeated words, sounds, syllables, and other elements

Robert Frost finishes the poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” with the

that appear in a work. Repetition can appear in most poetry and in some prose. Repetition is used to create rhythm, to reinforce a message, and to enhance the mood or emotional effect.

repeated lines, “And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep.” (15-16)

Resolution The conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have been settled. See also denouement.

At the end of Romeo and Juliet, Act V scene v, when the Friar and the Nurse tell of their involvement in the botched ambitions of the two lovers and the two families come together, you have the denouement.

Rhetorical question A question that is asked for effect and that does not actually require an answer. Such questions presume the audience agrees with the speaker on the answers.

In his “Speech to the Virginia Convention” Patrick Henry asks, “Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation.”

Rhyme The repetition of vowel sounds in accented syllables and all succeeding syllables.

Listen/glisten, chime/sublime

Rhythm The alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language. Rhythm occurs naturally in all forms of spoken and written English. The most obvious kind of rhythm is produced by meter. Writers can also create less structured rhythms by using rhyme, repetition, pauses, and variations in line length and by balancing long and short words or phrases.

Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” has an iambic meter, 3 feet in length, with each foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Rising Action All of the actions in a plot that take place before the turning point or climax.

In Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’ novel, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, the rising action occurs when magic mirror of the Queen warns her that she is no more the fairest lady in the land; instead, it is now Snow White. Then envious Queen orders her huntsman to take her stepdaughter Snow White away from the palace in the forest and secretly kill her. Fortunately, he cannot kill her and loses her in the forest where seven tiny dwarfs find her. They bring her up in their home; however, action rises another time when mirror tells the Queen that Snow White is alive.

Romance In general, a story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful. In a romance,

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

beauty, innocence, and goodness usually prevail over evil. Romances are traditionally set in the distant past and use a great deal of fantasy. The laws of nature are often suspended in a romance, so that the hero often has supernatural powers. Stories set in the American West are in the romance mode, except that the supernatural elements are eliminated (although the sheriff-hero usually has a nearly magical skill with his gun). Romance today also refers to a kind of popular escapist love story, which often takes place in an exotic setting.

Romanticism A revolt against Rationalism that affected literature and the other arts, beginning in the late eighteenth century and remaining strong throughout most of the nineteenth century. Romanticism is marked by these characteristics: (1) a conviction that intuition, imagination, and emotion are superior to reason; (2) a conviction that poetry is superior to science; (3) a belief that contemplation of the natural world is a means of discovering the truth that lies behind mere reality; (4) a distrust of industry and city life and an idealization of rural life and the wilderness; (5) an interest in the more ‘natural’ past and in the supernatural. Romanticism

The writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe and others are Romantic.

Romantic Novel A novel with a happy ending that presents readers with characters engaged in adventures filled with courageous acts, daring chases, and exciting escapes.

James Fenimore Cooper’s novels, especially his Leatherstocking Tails such as The Last of the Mohicans.

Round character Round characters have more dimensions to their personalities – they are complex just as real people are.

Huckleberry and Gatsby are very rounded characters in their respective stories.

Sarcasm A type of irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it. Its purpose is to injure or to hurt.

In The Things They Carried the soldiers use expressions like “lit up” to talk about comrades who are killed in action.

Satire A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions

Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal is one of the most famous examples. Mark

in an attempt to bring about change. Satire can cover a wide range of tones, from gentle spoofing to savage mockery. Satire is always intensely moral in its purpose.

Twain is one of the most well-known American satirists.

Scanning The analysis of a poem to determine its meter. When you scan a poem, you describe the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line. Stresses are accented with two different symbols. An unstressed symbol looks like a letter u; a stressed symbol looks like a forward slash.

u / u / u / “Nature’s first green is gold.” This scanning shows that poem is iambic trimeter.

Science Fiction A narrative which draws imaginatively on scientific knowledge, theory, speculation, and the effects of future events on human beings in its plot, theme, and setting. It considers these events rationally in terms of explanation and consequences and is concerned with the impact of change on people. This is a form of fantasy which hypothesizes by logical extrapolation about the possibilities of space travel, adventures on other planets. et. Recently, it has become a form of literature that takes place in an alternative present, a preconceived past, or an extrapolated future with these alterations based upon technological or sociological changes in the present.

The stories of Arthur C. Clarke, H.G. Wells, and Ray Bradbury are some of the best.

Sentimental Novel An 18th Century or early 19th Century novel emphasizing pathos rather than reason and focusing on an optimistic view of the essential goodness of human nature.

Jane Austen’s novels like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are sentimental.

Serial Published or produced in installments A lot of Victorian novels such as those by Charles Dickens and George Eliot were published in serial form.

Sestet Six lines of poetry, especially the last six lines of a Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet. In the Petrarchan sonnet the sestet offers a comment on the subject or problem presented in the first eight lines, or octave, of the poem.

Setting The time and location in which a story takes place. Setting can have several functions in fiction: (1) Setting is often used to create conflict. In the purest and often simplest form of a story, a character is in conflict with some element of a setting. (2) Often the setting helps to create atmosphere or mood. (3) Setting can also create and delineate character.

The narrator in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” is in conflict with the extreme cold. The setting of a dungeon in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” creates a mood of horror. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” Miss Emily Grierson’s old-fashioned house with its musty rooms reflects her refusal to live in the present.

Sibilance A hissing sound, as in that created by the letter s or similar consonants like ch, sh

Look at how this sound is used in Emerson’s poem “The Snowstorm”

Simile A figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as, than or resembles.

“Helen, thy beauty is to me / Like those Nicéan barks of yore” Poe’s “To Helen”

Slant rhyme (Also called approximate rhyme, half rhyme, off rhyme, imperfect rhyme)

Words that have some correspondence in sound but not an exact one. This type of rhyme has the effect of catching the reader off guard: Where you expect a perfect rhyme, you get only an approximation. The emotional effect is something like that of the sound of a sharp or flat note in music.

Flash/flesh, stream/storm, early/barley, follow/fellow, mystery/mastery

Soliloquy A long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are onstage. A soliloquy is different from a monologue in that the speaker appears to be thinking aloud, not addressing a listener.

Hamlet’s “To be or to be” soliloquy is one of the most famous.

Sonnet (Shakespearean, Italian)

A fourteen-line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, which has one of the two basic structures. The Petrarchan Sonnet, also called the Italian sonnet, is named after the 14th Century Italian poet Petrarch. Its first eight lines, called the octave, ask a question or pose a problem. These lines have a rhyme scheme of abba, abba. The last six lines, called the sestet, respond to the question or problem. These lines have rhyme scheme of cde, cde. The Shakespearean sonnet, also called the English or Elizabethan sonnet. It has three 4-line units, or

The opening sonnet in Romeo and Juliet is Shakespearean. Robert Frost’s poem “Design” is an example of an Italian poem.

quatrains, and it concludes with a couplet. The most common rhyme scheme for the Shakespearean sonnet is abab, cdcd, efef, gg.

Sound effects The use of sounds to create specific literary effects. Writers use devices such as rhythm, rhyme, meter, alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, consonance, and repetition to make the sounds of a work convey and enhance its meaning.

Edgar Allan Poe is master of sound in poems like “The Raven”

Speaker The voice that addresses the reader in a poem. The speaker may be the poet or a persona, a character whose voice and concerns do not necessarily reflect those of the poet.

Some speakers are named, such as J. Alfred Prufrock in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot.

Stanza A group of consecutive lines that form a structural unit in a poem. Stanzas come in a varying number of lines, though four is the most common. On the page, stanzas are separated by lines, the kind of metrical feet in each line, and metrical and rhyme schemes, if any.

“He, who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright. “

This is the last 4 line stanza of William Cullen Bryant’s poem “To A Waterfowl”

Static character One who does not change much in the course of a story.

Bob Ewall remains the same bigoted, vengeful character throughout To Kill a Mockingbird.

Stereotype A fixed idea or conception of a character or a group of people that does not allow for any individuality and is often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices.

The unsophisticated farmer, the socially inept honor student, the dumb athlete, and the lazy teenager.

Stock character A stereotyped and easily identifiable character. Sometimes writers will make use of stock characters for some comment or effect.

In James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Walter is the stereotypical henpecked husband and Mrs. Mitty is the domineering wife.

Straw man A made-up version of an opponent's argument that can easily be defeated. To accuse people of attacking a straw man is to suggest that they are avoiding worthier opponents and more valid criticisms of their own position: His speech had emotional appeal, but it wasn't really convincing because he attacked a straw man rather than addressing the real issues.

"Senator Jones says that we should not fund the attack submarine program. I disagree entirely. I can't understand why he wants to leave us defenseless like that.”

Stream of consciousness

A style of writing that portrays the inner (and often chaotic) workings of a character’s mind. The technique usually consists of a recording of the random flow of ideas, memories, associations, images, and emotions, as they arise spontaneously in a character’s mind. This flow of the contents of a character’s mind is called an interior monologue.

William Faulkner utilizes this technique in his novels such as The Sound and the Fury. Also, see T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Structure The arrangement of materials within a work; the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole; the logical divisions of a work.

The Scarlet Letter is structured around the 3 scaffold scenes in the novel.

Style The distinctive way in which a writer uses language. Style can be plain, ornate, metaphorical, spare, descriptive, and so on. Style, or the ‘stylistic technique’ is determined by such factors as sentence length and complexity, syntax, figurative language, imagery and diction.

A Romantic writer such as Ralph Waldo Emerson has a much more ornate and elaborate style than say a minimalist, Modernist writer such as Ernest Hemingway.

Subjective vs. objective writing

Subjectivity, in terms of writing, suggests that the writer’s primary purpose is to express personal experiences, feelings, and ideas. Objectivity suggests that the writer’s purpose is to report facts, avoiding personal judgments and feelings. Autobiographies and memoirs typify subjective writing. Objective writing is used mostly in news reporting and other types of journalism. This is not to say that all writing must be one or the other. In fact, most writing will have elements of subjective and objective writing.

See John Hersey’s writing about the Hiroshima bombing A Noiseless Flash, which is in your textbook.

Surrealism A movement in art and literature that started in Europe during the 1920s. Surrealists wanted to replace conventional realism with the full expression of the unconscious mind, which they considered to be more real than the ‘real’ world of appearances. Surrealists, influenced

Kurt Vonnegut’s writings such as Slaughterhouse Five have surrealistic style to them.

Suspense A feeling of uncertainty and curiosity Edgar Allan’s Poe’s stories are filled with

about what will happen next in a story. A key element in fiction and drama suspense is one of the hooks a writer uses to keep the audience interested.

suspense.

Syllogism An extremely subtle, sophisticated, or deceptive argument. An argument the conclusion of which is supported by two premises, of which one contains the term (major term) that is the predicate of the conclusion, and the other (major premise) contains the term (minor term) that is the subject of the conclusion; common to both premises is a term (middle term) that is excluded from the conclusion. A typical form is “All A is C; all B is A; therefore all B is C.” Some men are mortal; some men are angelic; so some mortals are angelic is invalid, while some temples are in ruins; all ruins are fascinating; so some temples are fascinating is valid. Here fascinating, in ruins, and temples are respectively major, middle, and minor terms

“All crows are black and the bird in my cage is black. So, the bird in my cage is a crow.” This is a false argument as it implies a conclusion “all blackbirds are crows” is incorrect. It is known as Syllogism Fallacy. Another example of Syllogism fallacy is “Some televisions are black and white and all penguins are black and white. Therefore, some televisions are penguins”. You can easily see that the conclusion is practically impossible and in fact has a comical outcome.

Symbol A person, a place, a thing, or an event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself. A public symbol is one largely recognized by the country/world at large, such as the bald eagle, a skull and crossbones, or a dove. Most symbols used in literature are personal symbols; even though a symbol may be widely used, a writer will usually adapt it in some imaginative, personal way so that it can

The scarlet letter in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter has multiple symbolic meanings, besides and beyond just “adultery”.

Symbolism A literary movement that originated in late 19th Century France in which writers rearranged the world of appearances in order to reveal a more truthful version of reality. The symbolists believed that direct statements of feeling were inadequate. Instead, they called for new and striking imaginative images to evoke complexities of meaning and mood.

The poetry of Ezra Pound demonstrates the influence of symbolism.

Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole.

“There are 100 hands working in the fields” is a synecdoche for, probably, 50 workers (slaves).

Synesthesia The juxtaposition of one sensory image with another image that appeals to an unrelated sense. In synesthesia an image of sound might be conveyed in terms of an image of taste, for example.

“Sweet laughter”, “golden touch”

Syntax The ordering of words into patterns or sentences. If a writer shifts words from the usual word order, you know you are dealing with an older style of writing or a writer who wants to shift emphasis onto a particular word. The choice and register of syntax can affect the impact of the words and sentences.

Look at the following line from Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street - “When I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees.” This is an example of a periodic sentence, a sentence which delays the subject and verb to the end.

Theme The insight about human life that is revealed in literary work. Themes are rarely stated directly in literature. Most often, a reader has to infer the theme of a work after considerable thought. Theme is different from subject. A story’s subject might be stated as “growing up,” “love,” “heroism,” or “fear.” The theme is the statement the writer wants to make about the subject. Theme must be stated in at least one sentence; most themes are complex enough to require several sentences, or even an essay.

“Writing the story of his fellow outsiders as a creative process for Ponyboy, and working his way through the prose of the tragedy, conveys the therapeutic means of achieving his catharsis.” This might be a theme for The Outsiders.

Thesis Basically, then central argument of an essay. A thesis might address some persuasive topic such as a school dress code, or it may address the theme and meaning of any work of literature. A thesis must be one sentence in length. It must come at the end of the introductory paragraph of a paper. It must address the prompt given. The thesis becomes the guiding and foundational sentence of the entire paper. Everything else in the paper must relate to, support and build upon the thesis.

In her novel Beloved Toni Morrison mirrors the fragmentation of her character’s lives through the novel’s non linear structure, specifically through her use of flashback, stream of consciousness, and shifts in point of view.

In Romeo and Juliet the irony, diction and cadences tie in with other issues of the play regarding identity and love to portray the theme that Romeo, as a symbol for young men, never finds his identity except when his ladylove leads him by the hand.

Threnody A dirge, funeral song, same as monody, lament sung for the dead

“Amazing Grace” is a song, or threnody, often sung at funerals.

Tone The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience. In speaking we use voice inflections and even body language to show how we feel about what we are saying. Writers manipulate language in an attempt to achieve the same effect. Tone is dependent on diction and style, and we cannot say we have understood any work of literature until we have sensed the writer’s tone. Tone can usually be described in a single word: objective, solemn, playful, ironic, sarcastic, critical, reverent, irreverent, philosophical, cynical, etc.

John Hersey’s tone in “A Noiseless Flash” is objective in talking about the Hiroshima bombing. Patrick Henry’s tone in his “Speech to the Virginia Convention” is impassioned and subjective.

Topic The subject of a work, such as love or fear, or the focus of a paragraph of writing such as diction or metaphor.

The topics of The Things They Carried include love, comradeship, war, storytelling, truth, heroism, and PTSD.

Tragedy In general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some other unhappy end. In most tragedies the main character is in an enviable, even exalted, position when the story begins (in classical tragedies and in Shakespeare’s plays, the tragic hero is of noble origin, often a king or queen, prince or princess). The character’s downfall generally occurs because of some combination of fate, an error in judgment, or a personality failure known as a tragic flaw. The tragic character has usually gained wisdom at the end of the story, in spite of suffering defeat or even death. Our feeling on reading or viewing a tragedy is usually exaltation – despite the unhappy ending – because we have witnessed the best that human beings are capable of.

Arthur Miller’s plays including Death of a Salesman portray the common, modern man in the tragic mode.

Transcendentalism A 19th Century movement in the Romantic tradition, which held that every individual can reach ultimate truths through spiritual intuition, which transcends reason and sensory experience. The Transcendental movement was centered in Concord,

“Hitch your wagon to a star.” Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson are the main Transcendentalists.

Massachusetts, home of Emerson and Thoreau. The basic tenets were: a belief that God is present in every aspect of nature, including every human being; the conviction that everyone is capable of apprehending God through the use of intuition; the belief that all of nature is symbolic of the spirit.

Trope A trope is simply a figure of speech. When using this literary device, you intend for the word or words to have a meaning that is different than the literal meaning. In other words, there is a shift from the literal meaning of a word or words to a non-literal meaning.

Tropes can refer to similes, metaphors, hyperboles, allegories, personification and other devices.

Understatement A statement that says less than what is meant. Understatement, paradoxically, can make us recognize the truth of something by saying that just the opposite is true. Understatement is often used to make an ironic point; it can also be used for humor.

If you are setting down to enjoy a ten-course meal and say, “Ah! A little snack before bedtime,” you are using an understatement to emphasize the tremendous amount of food you are about to eat.

Unreliable Narrator An imaginary storyteller or character who describes what he/she witnesses accurately, but misinterprets those events because of faulty perception, personal bias, or limited understanding. Often the writer or poet creating such an unreliable narrator leaves clues so that readers will perceive the unreliability and question the interpretations offered.

The speaker of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Telltale Heart” must be questioned because of his delusional tone.

Vernacular The language spoken by the people who live in a particular locality. Regionalist writers try to capture the vernacular of their area. See also dialect.

The characters in John Steinbeck’s novels, including Of Mice and Men, use the vernacular of the Salinas Valley in California, and that of Oklahoma if the characters are migrants from there.

Villanelle A nineteen-line poem consisting of five tercets (three-line stanzas) with the rhyme scheme aba and with a final quatrain of abaa.

A well-known villanelle is Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”

Yonic symbol A sexualized representation of femininity and reproductive power – particularly through some object vaguely reminiscent of the vagina.

Common yonic symbols include cups, cauldrons, chalices, goblets, wells, caves, tunnels, circles, hoops, pots, and other containers.

Zeitgeist The preferences, fashions, and trends that characterize the intangible essence of a specific historical period.

The free love and progressive thinking of the late 1960’s and 1970’s

Zeugma The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way.

“Wage war and peace” or “On his fishing trip, he caught three trout and a cold.”