General Literary Terms

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General Literary Terms

• C-E

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cacophony

• Harshness or discordance of sound the opposite
  of euphony
• Robert Brownings Caliban upon Setebos
• And Squared and stuck there squares of soft
  white chalk
• And, with a fish-tooth, scratched a moon on each
• Euphony a pleasing smoothness of sound by
  using liquid consonants (l, r) long vowels, and
  semi-vowels (w, y)
• Let the long running lee find a finger of wet
  stream . . .

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Carpe Diem

• A quotation from Horaces Odes, meaning seize
  the day, or make the best of the present
  moment.
• Famous Example Robert Herricks To the
  virgins, to make much of time (1648)
• Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,Old Time is
  still a-flyingAnd this same flower that smiles
  to-dayTo-morrow will be dying.

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Catachresis

• The use of a words meaning is a surprising and
  illogical metaphor.
• Example Shakespeares Hamlet
• To take arms against a sea of troubles
• arms against a sea?
• a sea of troubles?

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Characterization

• The way an author presents characters.
• In direct presentation, a character is described
  by the author, the narrator or the other
  characters.
• In indirect presentation, a character's traits
  are revealed by the characters action and speech.

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Other Terms related to Character

• The protagonist is the main character, who is not
  necessarily a hero or a heroine.
• Atticus Finch
• Huckleberry Finn
• The antagonist is the opponent the antagonist
  may be society, nature, a person, or an aspect of
  the protagonist.
• Bob Ewell
• The Institution of Racism, Slavery, Injustice . .
  . .

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Other Terms Related to Character

• A persona is a fictional character.
• Sometimes the term means the mask or alter-ego of
  the author
• it is often used for first person works and lyric
  poems, to distinguish the writer of the work from
  the character in the work.
• Characters may be classified as
• ROUND three-dimensional, fully developed)
• FLAT (having only a few traits or only enough
  traits to fulfill their function in the work)
• developing (dynamic) characters
• static characters never change

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Climax

• A moment of Great Intensity in a work, especially
  in Drama
• Climax is the high-point of a story
• Typical Structure of Story
• Exposition (the background information), includes
  setting and early characterization
• Rising Action (develops the plots main
  complication)
• Complication is the arrival of the principal
  conflict or problem)
• Climax
• Falling Action (story resolves itself)

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Conceit

• An unusually far-fetched or elaborate metaphor or
  simile presenting a surprising apt parallel
  between two apparently unrelated things or
  feelings.
• Example
• Grief is a puddle, and reflects not clear / Your
  beauties rays.

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Connotation

• The range of meanings associated with a word.
• Example Worming his way into favor
• Denotation The literal primary sense of the
  word

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Dactyl

• A metrical unit (foot) of verse, having one
  stressed syllable followed by two unstressed
  syllables
• Example Thomas Hardys The Voice
• Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me
• The traditional verse of Epic Poetry

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Deus Ex Machina

• Meaning the God from the Machine
• Term now used to describe an improbable or
  unexpected contrivance by which the author
  resolves the complications of the plot
• Originally a GOD was lowered by some type of
  machinery at the end of a play in Ancient Greek
  plays

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Dialectic

• The art of formal reasoning, especially the
  procedure of seeking truth through debate or
  discussion
• See Socratic Method
• The procedure of questioning assumptions,
  reaching consensus on a point, then continuing to
  further question . . .

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Diction

• The Choice of Words in a literary Work.
• Aristotle argued that Diction should be
  consistent with Character (Unified)

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Didactic

• Instructive
• Designed to impart information
• Didacticism is often viewed negatively, as the
  moral of a story come to some doctrinal end.

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Diphthong

• A vowel sound that changes noticeably in quality
  during pronunciation.
• Examples Wide, Late, Beer, or Round
• Simple Vowels (not diphthongs) cat, feed

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dirge

• A song of lamentation in mourning for someones
  death . . . A funeral dirge

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Dramatis Personae

• The Latin Phrase for Persons of the play, used
  to refer collectively to the characters
  represented in a dramatic work

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Dystopia

• A modern Term invented as the opposite of
  utopia, and applied to any alarmingly unpleasant
  imaginary world, usually of the projected future.
• Example
• Orwells 1984

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Epic

• A long narrative poem celebrating the great deeds
  of one or more legendary heroes.
• Hero usually protected by, or descending from,
  the Gods
• Epic Simile An extended and elaborate simile
  used in Epic

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Epigraph

• A quotation or motto placed at the beginning of a
  book, chapter, or poem as an indication of theme.

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Epilogue

• A Concluding section of any written work.
• Often, in drama, a character would address the
  audience directly, begging indulgence or
  applause.
• Both the speaker and the speech were known as the
  epilogue

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Epiphany

• A term used in Christian theology for a
  manifestation of Gods presence in the world.
• A sudden spiritual manifestation
• A revelatory moment

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Epistle / Epistolary Novel

• A letter.
• A novel written in the form of a series of
  letters exchanged among the characters in the
  story.

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Epithet

• An adjective or adjective phrase used to define a
  characteristic quality or attribute or some
  person or thing.
• Example Catherine the Great
• Homeric Epithet
• wine-dark sea
• Odysseus, master mariner, man of woe
• Akhilleus breaker of men

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Agenda

• Vocabulary 13 (15 minutes)
• Literary Terms (20 minutes)
• Review A-B terms (5)
• Do passage quiz and A-B (45-50 minutes)
• Do reading note sheet
• Next class Passage quiz a-e (cumulative)