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LITERARY LANGUAGE TERMS FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION (Note: cross-referenced terms are indicated below with italics)

Every discipline needs a proper language to communicate. Just as two mathematicians will communicate more effectively if they both understand that “acute” and “obtuse” refer to angles that are either less than or more than 90 degrees, you will be able to analyze and discuss literature more effectively if you understand how an author uses language and have the technical terminology to communicate your ideas precisely. The following terms are ones we want you to learn while you are attending Notre Dame; the numbers following each term indicate the grade level when the term will typically be taught. At the end of the senior year, we will expect you to know all the terms on this list; we will expect juniors to know all the terms for grades 9, 10, and 11; sophomores all the terms for grades 9 and 10; freshmen all the terms for grade 9.

Abstract/concrete (9) – the general distinction between words or ideas that are either vague (“severe economic deprivation”) or specific (“grinding poverty”). Abstract words are often used as euphemisms, disguising the truth, as in the first example given here. Good writers generally strive for concrete language, which is more precise.

Allegory (11) – the description of a subject under the guise of some other subject; a manner of utilizing well-understood elements carrying highly symbolic meaning. For example, in Lord of the Flies, the regression of the young boys on a desert island to bloodthirsty savages is an about the struggle between Christian and pagan values, between civilization and barbarism. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s , “Young Goodman Brown,” the husband goes on a journey that becomes an allegory of his life, for he sees (or dreams of seeing?) all the people of his town carousing with the devil, including his wife, Faith. As a result, he turns away from all the townspeople, including his Faith, both literally and symbolically.

Alliteration (9) – the beginning of two or more words in close connection with the same letter, or rather the same sound, such as Adam’s stunned reaction in Paradise Lost to Eve’s eating of the forbidden fruit: “How art thou lost, how on a sudden lost,/ Defac'd, deflow'r'd, and now to death devote!” (9.900-901). Used to emphasize or beautify a passage.

Allusion (9) – an indirect or subtle reference to another or work of literature, such as when the says he ought to be Victor Frankenstein's Adam, but is instead more like his rebel angel—an allusion to Paradise Lost (and, ultimately, the Bible).

Anachronism (10) – something that is chronologically out of place in a particular time or , such as a striking clock in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Analogy (10) – a logical comparison of two pairs of items, related in a similar fashion: A is to B, as C is to D, such as cats are to kittens, as dogs are to puppies. In literature, an analogy is a comparison of two dissimilar things made to clarify a point. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio complains that Benvolio is too eager for a fight using the following analogy: “Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat [food]” (3.1.23-24).

Anapest (10) – see meter.

Anecdote (9) – a story used to draw a reader's interest, to provide a concrete example.

Antagonist (9) – the most prominent of the characters who oppose the in a or drama. The is often a seeking to frustrate the protagonist, but in those cases where the latter is evil, the antagonist will often be virtuous (as is in Lord of the Flies). The antagonist can also be a force of nature.

Anti- (9) – a protagonist who has qualities opposite to those normally expected from a hero, such as stupidity, insecurity, dishonesty, cowardliness. A popular anti-hero in popular culture is the cartoon character Homer Simpson.

Aphorism (10) – a literary synonym for a proverb, a short, witty piece of folk wisdom, such as “a stitch in time saves nine.”

Apostrophe (12) – a direct address to an absent listener or to the reader.

Argument (9) – the marshaling of evidence to support a specific point of view. One of the four basic types of prose; the other three types are: definition, , .

Aside (10) – a speech delivered to the while unheard by the other characters on stage. Asides are typically used to express a character’s true feelings and reactions, and are therefore a means of .

Assertion (9) – a claim that needs support to be persuasive.

Assonance (9) – the repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds within a passage. Compare consonance.

Audience (9) – the person or persons intended to read a piece of literature. It is often important when reading literature to ask oneself for whom is the author apparently writing. (The same is true in everyday life. For whom does Eminem write his songs? Who does he intend to hear them? For whom do the president’s speech writers pen their words?)

Ballad (10) – a narrative poem originally intended to be sung, depicting ordinary people in the midst of tragic events or adventures of love and bravery. Typically, a ballad consists of four-line stanzas, or quatrains, with the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyming. W. H. Auden’s “O What Is That Sound” is an example of a ballad.

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Bias (cf. slanting) (9) – using language that predisposes one's audience toward a particular point of view. Calling a thin model “emaciated” lets the reader know that the writer of the piece believes the model to be excessively, unhealthily slim. “Slender,” on the other hand, suggests the writer finds the model attractively slim. See also connotation and denotation.

Blank verse (10) – unrhymed iambic pentameter, typical verse used in Shakespeare’s later plays, such as Julius Caesar and Othello and the form of Milton’s Paradise Lost. See meter.

Caesura (11) – a pause or breathing place in about the middle of a line of ; also, a division of sense in the middle of a line of poetry.

Catalogue (11) – enumeration, a listing of something to strengthen or exaggerate a claim, such as Orwell's cataloguing of the horrors of swimming at his grammar school: “There was the slimy water of the plunge bath—it was twelve or fifteen feet long, the whole school was supposed to go into it every morning, and I doubt whether the water was changed at all frequently—and the always-damp towels with their cheesy smell: and, on occasional visits in the winter, the murky sea-water of the local Baths, which came straight in from the beach and on which I once saw floating a human turd. And the sweaty smell of the changing-room with its greasy basins, and, giving on this, the row of filthy, dilapidated lavatories, which had no fastenings of any kind on the doors” (“Such, Such Were the Joys . . .” 22).

Catharsis (9) – a purgation or exercising of emotion which leaves the reader/viewer feeling cleansed: an effect especially appropriate to dramatic poetry. Catharsis is a typical effect caused by watching ; see that definition below.

Cause and effect (9) – showing a causal connection between two events that might otherwise appear unconnected. For example, in the Middle Ages, many people feared that cats were responsible for the bubonic plague (the Black Death) that swept through Europe. Killing cats had the effect of increasing the rat population (whose fleas carried the plague), directly causing the plague to break out with increased force.

Characterization (9) – the creation of fictitious characters in a literary work, giving them essential features so that they seem real. Fully developed figures are often called “three- dimensional,” as opposed to those who are only partially developed, or “flat.”

Climax (9) – the highest point in a series of dramatic actions; the turning point of the dramatic , at which point the outcome of the becomes inevitable, followed by the denouement.

Comedy (9) – a form of drama that adopts a humorous or familiar style and depicts laughable characters and incidents, normally having a happy ending to its .

Comparison/contrast (9) – the rhetorical in which a writer discusses two or more topics by detailing the ways in which they are similar (comparison) or different (contrast). Often (but not always) these two techniques are used together.

Conclusion (9) – the final paragraph in a persuasive essay, ideally a paragraph that takes what has already been proven and shows the consequences or implications of the argument, or pushes the argument one step further, tying the argument to the world of the reader.

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Conflict (9) – the collision of interests, opinions, feelings that occurs in a literary work, leading to physical or emotional strife. Some conflicts may be internal, within a single character, as opposed to external, with some other person or group or nature itself.

Connotation (10) – the positive or negative overtones of a word, as opposed to its denotation, its dictionary definition. For example, “slender” has the connotation of being “attractively thin,” while “emaciated” has the connotation of being “unhealthily thin.” See also bias and slanting.

Consonance (10) – the repetition of a pattern of consonants with changes in the intervening vowels—for example: linger, longer, languor.

Couplet (9) – a two-line pair of rhymed iambic pentameter lines, used by Chaucer, Shakespeare, and other English writers. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses rhymed couplets to emphasize Juliet’s realization of her grievous plight: My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me That I must love a loathèd enemy. (1.5.152-55)

Robert Browning, in “My Last Duchess,” uses rhymed couplets and yet through punctuation and run-on lines (verses that have no punctuation at the end of a line) makes the lines seem continuous and sound as if they are not rhymed: And [strangers] seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, How such a glance came there; so, not the first Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas not Her husband's presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek . . . (lines 11-15)

Also the name of the last two lines of a sonnet, summing up (or contradicting) the ideas developed in the earlier twelve lines of the poem.

Creation (11) – a story that explains how the universe, earth, and life began, such as in Genesis, or in Native-American stories, such as “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” an Iroquois creation myth.

Dactyl (10) – see meter.

Definition (9) – one of the types of exposition, a definition is the statement of the meaning of a word or a phrase. A definition may be brief or extended, part of an essay or the entire essay itself. The three other types are: argument, exposition, narration. Typically, words that the audience can be expected to know should not be defined in an essay’s introduction.

Denotation (10) – the dictionary definition of a word, as opposed to its connotation, its overtones, either positive or negative. Compare bias.

Denouement (9) – commonly called the “winding down” of the action in a play, the denouement (a French word, pronounced day-new-maw), is the final resolution of a work’s dramatic ,

4 occurring directly after the of the play. Especially appropriate to the structure of a Shakespearean play.

Deus ex machina (12) – literally, “the God from the machine,” a type of dramatic effect in which a character is saved from the consequences of his or her actions by the direct intervention of outside forces, often supernatural forces. (Derived from Greek tragedy, in which a god literally descended from the heavens by way of stage machinery.)

Dialogue (9) – the words used in drama to develop a character, as well as to communicate ideas with the other characters on stage. Also, the conversation between two or more characters in a work of . Compare with soliloquy.

Diction (9) – the choice of spoken or written language or levels of language, such as harsh or soothing , or formal, informal, or colloquial diction; see .

Digression (9) – a wandering away from the main point of a speech or a paragraph, often to add a bit of humor or to create an air of informality (can be very short, less than a sentence, or much longer).

Dramatic (10) – the state or quality in a play in which a viewer in the audience is aware of some information that characters on stage are ignorant of. In Othello, the characters of Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio address Iago as “good” and “honest,” which is clearly not true. In Hamlet, when Claudius asks Hamlet, “Is there no offense” (3.2.245) in the play being presented to the court, his speech is filled with dramatic irony, for the play is a direct attack on Claudius himself, who—Hamlet believes—killed his father.

Dramatic monologue (10) – a speech delivered to the audience or to another character, in which the speaker typically reveals his or her true feelings or character. Robert Browning’s most famous poems, such as “My Last Duchess,” are dramatic monologues. See also persona.

Epic (or poem) (12) – a long narrative poem celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes, in a grand, ceremonious style. The Iliad and Odyssey (circa 8th century B.C.) are epics in , as are Beowulf and Paradise Lost in British literature. Compare with myth.

Epic hero (12) – a larger-than-life figure who embodies the ideals of a nation or race. Usually protected by or even descended from gods, epic heroes take part in dangerous adventures, perform superhuman exploits in battle, and accomplish great deeds. Many undertake long, difficult journeys, displaying great courage and strength. Odysseus is an epic hero in Greek mythology; Beowulf is an epic hero in British literature.

Epilogue (10) – a brief narrative appended to a story that tells the reader the final outcome of the story or the characters.

Epithet (10) – a brief phrase that points out traits associated with a particular person or thing. A technique typically associated with , in The Odyssey, Odysseus is often described with the epithet “nimble-witted.”

5 Euphemism (9) – the substitution of a pleasant or neutral word for an unpleasant one, such as “passing away” for “dying.”

Euphony (12) – the quality of having a pleasant sound, especially appropriate to the effect of poetic language upon the ear.

Exaggeration/understatement (9) – two complementary techniques used either to overstate a point for emphasis or to downplay a point, again often for emphasis.

Example (9) – providing concrete instances or illustrations to support a writer’s claims in an essay. Examples can either be direct quotations, paraphrases, or specific instances taken from the literature being analyzed (or real life, in a personal essay). Direct quotations are typically the most persuasive examples in a literary essay. Compare illustration.

Exposition (9) – the objective explanation of a subject in an essay or the setting up of the interactions of various characters in the early part of a play, before complications of the plot begin. Also, one of the four basic types of prose; the other three are: argument, definition, narration.

Fable (10) – a story used, generally, to relate some truth. Most fairy tales are . Fairy tales where all the characters are animals are called beast fables. See also folk tale.

Figurative language (10) – language that communicates meanings beyond the literal level of what is being expressed, used to create effects, emphasize ideas, and evoke emotions. Some special types of figurative language include: apostrophe, hyperbole, , personification, and simile.

Flashback (10) – an account of an episode, a conversation, or an event that occurred before the beginning of a story. By revealing significant thoughts, experiences, or events in a character’s life, a can help readers understand a character’s present situation. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is told through flashbacks.

Foil (10) – a character whose qualities or actions serve to emphasize those of the protagonist (or some other character) by providing a strong contrast with them. Thus, in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Uncle Willie’s weak submission to the injustice of racial prejudice strongly contrasts with Maya’s resolute determination to overcome that prejudice. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the forthright and kind Elizabeth acts as a to the deceitful and vicious Abigail, the play’s antagonist.

Folk tale (11) – a story passed on by word-of-mouth, rather than by writing, and thus partly modified by successive re-tellings before being recorded. The category includes fables, fairy tales, jokes, , tall tales, tales, and the like.

Foot (10) – see meter below.

Foreshadowing (9) – literally, the shadow thrown before an object; hence, in a literary work, to repeat something imperfectly before it occurs, to prefigure what is to come later in the work.

6 Free verse (10) – verse that does not contain regular patterns of rhythm and rhyme, and thus achieves a rhythm more like that of everyday speech. Although free verse lacks conventional meter, it may contain various rhythmic and sound effects such as repetition.

Generalization (9) – a vague, insufficient, or inadequately developed statement about a subject, or one offered without proof of its validity. Compare assertion.

Genre (9) – the four distinct groups into which literary works can be grouped: drama, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

Gothic (11) – literature that is medieval or romantic—featuring barbarous, dark characters and unpolished, sinister action—as opposed to literature that is classical or restrained. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a Gothic romance; many of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories are also Gothic tales.

Grotesque (11) – literature or descriptions characterized by distortion or unnatural combinations; fantastically extravagant or absurd; bizarre.

Hero or heroine (9) – the main character in a narrative or dramatic work. The more neutral term protagonist (see below) is often preferable, to avoid confusion with the usual sense of heroism as admirable courage or nobility. In epic poems, such admirable qualities are required in the hero. Compare with anti-hero.

Hyperbole (9) – the literary term for exaggeration, the overstating of something for emphasis. Compare exaggeration. In “Grover Dill and the Tasmanian Devil,” Jean Shepherd’s narrator Ralph uses hyperbole when he complains, “We’d go to school in a sandstorm and come home just before a tornado.” When William Blake’s narrator talks about the poor orphans herded into an ice-cold church in “The Chimney Sweeper” (Songs of Experience) and claims that “God & his Priest & his King,/ . . . make up a heaven of our misery” (lines 11-12), he is using hyperbole.

Iamb (10) – see meter.

Idiom (10) – stock phrases that often include a particular prepositional phrase that is associated with a particular verb and object. For example, a person turns on a light, but turns into a driveway. Idiomatic phrases can change from region to region; British English may have different idioms than American English, calling the “hood” of a car a “bonnet” instead.

Illustration (9) – another term used for example, used to develop or clarify an idea. Illustrations or examples enable writers to show—and not simply tell—readers what they mean.

Imagery (9) – the descriptive words and phrases a writer uses to re-create sensory experiences by referring to “concrete” objects, scenes, actions, or states. For example, “Then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones” (Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”).

Introduction (9) – the first part of a formal essay, introducing the reader to what the essay will cover. Typically, a good introduction will attempt to draw the reader in, establish the writer’s tone in the essay, and—most importantly—specify the thesis.

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Irony (9) – irony refers to a contrast between appearance and actuality, usually disguised. dramatic irony: readers know more about a situation or a character in a story than the characters do. In ’s Romeo and Juliet, for example, readers know the masked Romeo has surreptitiously slipped into the Capulet ball, but the guests at the party do not. situational irony: a contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen, as in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” when those who have “safely” sealed themselves away in a fortress are shocked to find themselves in the company of Death. verbal irony: someone states one thing and implies another meaning, as in Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Siren Song.” In it the narrator claims, “This song/is a cry for help: Help me!” All the while, however, she intends to devours those who come near her.

See also and sarcasm, progressively more pointed, more biting forms of critiquing what the author finds objectionable.

Jargon (9) – another term for technical language, the special vocabulary of a trade or a profession. Writers who use technical language need to be aware of their audience. If the audience is a group of peers, technical language may be used freely, but if the audience is a more general one, jargon should be used sparingly and carefully, so as not to sacrifice clarity.

Legend (11) – like a myth, but considered to have more of an historical basis. While some legends may be based on real people or situations, most of the events are either greatly exaggerated or fictitious. Legends, like , incorporate supernatural elements and magical deeds.

Local color realism (11) – especially popular in the latter half of the 19th century, a style of writing that truthfully imitates ordinary life and brings a particular region alive by portraying the dialects, dress, mannerisms, customs, character types, and landscapes of that region. Examples are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”

Logic (11) – the careful reasoning a writer employs. The two main types are: Inductive logic – abstracting from a number of specific truths a general theory that explains them: “Paper burns, cardboard burns, furniture burns. Therefore, all wood products burn.” (Also called scientific logic.) Deductive logic – starting from a general law (“all wood products burn”) and arguing to a specific conclusion (“this cardboard is made from wood and will burn”). Deductive logic is the same as syllogistic logic (see syllogism).

Lyric poem (12) – a poem that typically stresses the speaker’s innermost emotions, as opposed to his or her ideas.

Melodrama (12) – a dramatic piece characterized by sensational incidents and violent appeals to the emotions, but with a happy ending.

Metaphor (9) – an implied comparison which asserts one thing as the equivalent of another. Jacques’ claim in As You Like It, that “all the world’s a stage,” is a famous metaphor about how all people are on display (for better or for worse) in their daily lives.

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Metaphysical conceit (12) – a far-fetched comparison, usually of two very dissimilar objects, such as Donne's comparison of the souls of the two lovers to the twin legs of a mathematician’s compass in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”: “Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show/To move, but doth, if the other do./And though it in the center sit,/Yet when the other far doth roam,/It leans, and hearkens after it,/And grows erect, as that comes home” (lines 27-32).

Meter (10) – the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in poetry. Each unit of meter is known as a foot, consisting of one stressed syllable and one or two unstressed syllables. The most typical meter in English is the iamb, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Other typical metrical feet are the trochee, a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable; the anapest, two unstressed syllables, followed by a stressed syllable; and the dactyl, a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.

Metonymy (12) – the substitution of a thing associated with a thing for the thing itself (e.g., the Lamb of God for Jesus Christ). Compare synecdoche.

Mood (10) – the feeling or atmosphere a writer creates for the reader through techniques such as dialogue, , and figurative language. The final paragraph of “Marigolds” by Eugene Collier creates a of regret.

Myth (9) – a traditional story, normally anonymous and passed down through generations by word of mouth. Myths contain supernatural and boldly imaginative elements that explain why the world is the way it is. They are regarded as fictional stories that deeper truths, expressing collective attitudes about fundamental matters of life, death, divinity, and existence.

Narration (9) – one of the four basic types of prose (description, exposition, and argument are the other three). To narrate is to tell a story, to tell what happened. A good narrative essay has four essential features. The first is context: making clear when an action happened, where it happened, and to whom. The second is point of view: the writer establishes and maintains a consistent relationship to the action, either as a participant or a reporter. The third is selection of detail: the writer carefully chooses what to include, focusing on those actions and details that are most important to the story, while merely mentioning or even eliminating subsidiary points. Fourth is organization: the writer organizes the events of the narrative into an appropriate sequence, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Naturalism/realism/romanticism (11) – three terms used to denote the degree to which a work’s style conforms to (or seems to conform to) ordinary standards of probability. (See also Romanticism—the actual literary movement—and Transcendentalism, below.) naturalism provides a “slice of life” with little heightening of action; usually a naturalistic writer believes that humans are determined by their environment, with no spiritual or supernatural forces operating. realism provides some heightening of dialogue or action, but appears to conform to normal laws of probability. Hemingway or Fitzgerald are realistic writers. romanticism includes a deliberate heightening of plot and dialogue, an emphasis on emotion, and a tendency to suspend normal laws of probability. Includes 19th-century writers like Hawthorne and Poe, as well as 20th-century writers like Faulkner.

9 Objective/subjective (9) – objective is lacking in bias or slanting (compare realism below); subjective is slanted, biased, or based on personal rather than universal standards. Compare romanticism, immediately above, and Romanticism below.

Octave (9) – the first eight lines of a sonnet (composed normally of two quatrains); compare sestet.

Onomatopoeia (10) – the use of words whose sounds echo their meanings, such as buzz, gargle, and murmur.

Oxymoron (10) – two qualities that are normally considered impossible to exist together (e.g., jumbo shrimp; tragical mirth). Compare paradox, below.

Parable (10) – a story used to illustrate some moral truth, often employed in the New Testament, such as the of the loaves and the fishes.

Paradox (10) – a statement or tenet contrary to received opinion or belief; a situation that is self- contradictory, absurd, or at variance with common sense. (For example, it is impossible to have an irresistible force oppose an immovable object.) Also a phrase that at first glance seems contradictory, but actually embodies a deeper, underlying truth such as “standing is more tiring than walking.”

Parallelism (9) – the concept that similar ideas should be expressed in similar grammatical form; such parallelism enhances the rhythm and force of a writer's prose. Compare repetition.

Paraphrase (9) – translating poetry or prose into language a reader might find more understand- able. One problem with paraphrase is that the nuances and overtones of the original are normally lost when it is paraphrased, rather than quoted—a particular problem in persuasive essays.

Parody (10) – a mocking imitation of the style of a literary work or works, ridiculing the stylistic habits of an author or school by exaggerated mimicry. Compare satire, a more savage attack on a person’s behavior, rather than an author’s .

Pathetic fallacy (12) – the Romantic notion that nature responds sympathetically to human situations, for example, raining when a tragic event occurs, or becoming sunny and clear when people are happy.

Pathos (9) – writing that excites a feeling of pity or sadness; the power of stirring tender or melancholic emotions. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men employs pathos.

Persona (10) – the fictional character created by an author, not to be confused with the author himself or herself. For example, in Robert Browning’s dramatic monologues, the deranged speakers (including murderers and perverts) are not to be confused with the author. In Woman Hollering Creek, Sandra Cisneros uses several personas, both male and female.

Personification (9) – attributing personal form, or human nature, to the representation of a thing or an abstraction. When Sue Doro, in “The Cultural Worker,” says that “The poem went back to wait at the door until dinner break,” she is using personification, since a poem cannot realistically wait by a door.

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Persuasive writing (9) – writing that is intended to convince a reader to adopt a particular opinion or to perform a certain action. Persuasive writing can take many forms, including sermons, political speeches, newspaper editorials and advertisements. For example, consider the language of the following sermon: “O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath” (Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”). This Puritan preacher expected his listeners to change their lives as a result of this fire-and-brimstone sermon.

Plot (10) – the sequence of events and actions in a narrative or a story.

Point of view (9) – the perspective from which a story is narrated. Typically, stories are narrated from three different points of view: first person – the narrator speaks using “I” and cannot view the minds of other characters third person, limited – the narrator speaks using “he” or “she,” but—as in first-person narration—cannot view the minds of other characters third person, omniscient – the narrator speaks using “he” or “she,” and can move into the minds of other characters, reading their innermost thoughts

Primary source (11) – a first-hand account, written or created by people who either directly participated in or observed an historical event. Primary sources include letters, diaries, historical chronicles, speeches, newspaper articles, and eyewitness accounts. In English, , plays, poems, and short stories are also considered primary sources. Compare secondary source.

Propaganda (11) – the one-sided, biased presentation of a subject (often that bias is disguised under a cloak of objectivity).

Protagonist (9) – the main character (often a hero/heroine) in a play or story, usually the one with whom the audience identifies, such as the character Ralph in Lord of the Flies. Very often, the protagonist is opposed by an antagonist; see above.

Quatrain (9) – a stanza of four lines in a poem, or a grouping of four lines in a sonnet. Sonnets are composed of three quatrains and a couplet. Compare with octave and sestet.

Realism (9) – the literary movement associated with the representation of reality in an objective fashion, with human actions conforming to normal laws of probability. Compare Naturalism/realism/romanticism above.

Repetition (9) – the appropriate reinforcement of ideas by phrasing similar ideas in similar grammatical form. Compare parallelism.

Rhetoric (11) – the art of communicating ideas persuasively, using reasoned arguments either in favor of or against an audience’s beliefs or courses of action.

Rhetorical question (10) – a question to which no answer is expected because the answer is obvious and is implied by the question being asked. Rhetorical questions are often used in persuasive writing to emphasize a point or create an emotional effect. In Julius Caesar, both Brutus’ speech and Anthony’s funeral oration use rhetorical questions to move their audience. In

11 “Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry asks, rhetorically, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” The answer is obvious: No.

Rhyme (10) – words rhyme when the sounds of their accented syllables and all succeeding sounds are identical, such as in amuse and confuse. Rhyme that occurs at the end of lines of poetry is called end rhyme; end rhymes that are not exact (such as come and doom) are called slant rhyme or near rhyme.

Rhyme scheme (10) – the pattern of end rhyme in a poem, assigning a letter of the alphabet to each line, and starting with a. For example, the rhyme of a Shakespearean sonnet begins abab.

Rhythm (10) – the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. In English, the most typical rhythm is iambic pentameter, five iambic feet, followed by iambic tetrameter, four iambic feet. See meter, above.

Romanticism (11) – the literary movement in England—which began in Germany—extending from 1789 to 1832, in which emotion rather than reason was prized, and a new appreciation of children, individualism, the lower classes, minorities, nature, self-reliance, and women was demonstrated by writers. See also Naturalism/realism/romanticism above (definitions of literary styles rather than literary movements) and compare Transcendentalism, the American branch of this literary movement.

Sarcasm (9) – overt, abusive satire. Compare irony.

Satire (11) – a literary technique in which foolish ideas or customs are exposed and ridiculed for the purpose of improving society. Satire may be gently witty, mildly abrasive, or bitterly critical. Any written work or performance piece may be a vehicle for satire. For example, Gulliver’s Travels or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. On television, “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons” are both . Compare parody, the ridiculing of an author’s writing style.

Secondary source (11) – an account of an event or a piece of literature written not by someone who personally experienced the event, but by a critic or reporter who comments on the event, sometimes years or even centuries after the event occurred. Almost all , except the few pieces written by the author himself or herself, are secondary sources. Compare with primary source.

Sentimentality (11) – playing excessively on people's emotions; similar to melodrama, in which the emotions a writer seeks to evoke are exaggerated beyond what we would expect from the events being narrated or dramatized (for example, crying over the death of an ant).

Sestet (9) – the last six lines in a sonnet, sometimes composed of a quatrain and a couplet.

Setting (10) – the time and place of the action of a short story, a , a play, a narrative poem, or a nonfiction narrative. The setting of Collier’s “Marigolds” in the South during the Great Depression of the 1930s is a very important element in the story.

Simile (9) – a comparison between two different objects using “like” or “as”: “My love is like a red, red rose.” Compare metaphor.

12 Slang (9) – the lowest and least-acceptable level of diction in writing.

Slanting (9) – using biased words or descriptions to sway a reader to some point of view.

Soliloquy (9) – an address within a dramatic piece in which a character converses with himself or herself, revealing his or her thoughts to the audience without addressing another person on stage. Compare aside and dialogue.

Sonnet (9) – 14 lines of rhymed iambic pentameter, usually about love, with one of two rhyme schemes: Shakespearean (or English): abab cdcd efef gg Petrarchan (or Italian): abba abba cde cde (or) abba abba cdcd ee The first eight lines of a sonnet, called the octave, typically set up a situation that is resolved in the last six lines, the sestet. Sometimes, however, the three quatrains of the sonnet set up a more complicated situation that is resolved, abruptly, in the final couplet.

Speaker (10) – see persona, above.

Stream of consciousness (11) – the literary attempt to mirror the actual workings of the human mind, often without logical connections or the development of complete thoughts. Writers such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Toni Morrison are among the writers who use in their works.

Summary (9) – a brief repetition of important points used to fix them in the mind of a reader or a listener. While summaries may be useful in speeches or in long essays (ten pages or more), in shorter essays they can easily seem repetitive, annoying, or both.

Syllogism (12) – deductive logic having three parts: major premise: “all wood products burn” minor premise: “cardboard is made of wood” conclusion: “cardboard will burn” If the major and minor premises are true, the conclusion must also be true. See logic, above.

Symbol (9) – something that stands for, represents, or denotes something else, especially a material object taken to represent something immaterial or abstract. For example, a lamb is commonly a symbol for Jesus, innocence, or a child.

Synecdoche (12) – substitution of a part for the whole or the whole for a part (e.g., “a crowd was marching at my heels,” rather than “a crowd was marching behind me”). Compare metonymy.

Syntax (11) – the way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, or sentences. For example, Donne's syntax is often convoluted, meaning that it is wrenched from its normal word order of subject-verb-object. In the following example, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” the main clause, “let us melt,” does not appear until the fifth line of the poem:

As virtuous men pass mildly away, And whisper to their souls to go, Whilst some of their sad friends do say

13 The breath goes now, and some say, No; So let us melt, and make no noise . . .

Tall tale (11) – a distinctively American type of humorous story, characterized by exaggeration. Tall tales and practical jokes are similar; in both, someone gets fooled, to the amusement of someone who knows the truth.

Theme (10) – the central idea or message in a work of literature. For example, Sandra Cisneros’ “Only Daughter” explores the of parental expectations; the theme of prejudice is central in Nash Candelaria’s “The Day the Cisco Kid Shot John Wayne.”

Thesis (9) – the central claim of an essay, which all subsequent paragraphs of the essay must be related to and support. A thesis normally comes at the end of the introduction.

Tone (9) – the implied emotional attitude or point of view of a writer or speaker as conveyed by his or her diction and imagery (a very important term on the English AP).

Tragedy (9) – dramatic art which depicts sorrowful or terrible events in a serious and dignified style; the representation of the downfall of a person better than the norm, who falls because of some tragic flaw, and whose fall inspires pity and in the audience ('s classic definition). The result of effective tragedy is to provide catharsis, an exercising of the emotions of pity and fear, which is meant to leave the audience feeling cleansed.

Tragic hero (10) – the fall, from prosperity to wretchedness—through some tragic flaw or the action of fate—of a person who exhibits qualities greater than the norm. This tragic fall occasions feelings of pity and fear in the audience. In Shakespeare, the tragic flaw often comes from the very qualities that made the hero great in a different set of circumstances, such as Othello's boldness and trust of his subordinates—qualities that are basic to the success of a military leader, but disastrous when transferred to the sphere of love, or when one is being advised by a satanic character like Iago.

Transcendentalism (11) – the American offshoot of the Romantic literary movement, extending from about 1832 to 1862 (date of Thoreau’s death), in which emotion rather than reason was prized, and a new appreciation of children, individualism, the lower classes, minorities, nature, self-reliance, and women was demonstrated by writers. See also Naturalism/realism/ romanticism, and compare Romanticism, the English branch of this literary movement.

Transition (9) – words or phrases that link sentences, paragraphs, and larger units of a composition in order to achieve coherence. These devices include conjunctions, parallelism, pronoun references, and the repetition of key ideas, as well as the many conventional transitional expressions, such as consequently, in addition, in contrast, and moreover.

Trochee (10) – see meter.

Understatement (9) – the rhetorical technique of describing something from a perspective that gently (often humorously) plays down the importance of the subject, often to make a point ironically. For example, in “Letter to John Adams,” Abigail Adams points out the tyranny of male power by gently saying, “I cannot say that I think you very generous to the ladies.” Compare exaggeration, hyperbole, and irony.

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