2.7 Literary Conventions Flashcards
A story that contains a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning, is what literary convention?
Allegory
A story that contains a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.
Allegory
The common children’s tale “Three Little Pigs” has a literal and symbolic meaning: the literal meaning concerns the three pigs’ experiences building houses of various materials, and the symbolic meaning concerns the idea that hard work pays off, is an example of what convention?
allegory
A reference to some meaning that exists outside of a text. The outside reference enriches the reader’s experience with the text if the reader understands its meaning, is what literary convention?
Allusion
T.S. Eliot, a modernist poet, was well-known for including allusions in his poetry, so much so that, at times, critics criticized his work as being inaccessible to readers unfamiliar with the referenced meanings. In his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” which you can find in the Literature E-Anthology, Eliot references “Michelangelo”: “In the room the women come and go/Talking of MIchelangelo” (13-24). “Michelangelo” is an allusion to the Renaissance artist, is an example of what convention?
allusion
The common children’s tale “Three Little Pigs” has a literal and symbolic meaning: the literal meaning concerns the three pigs’ experiences building houses of various materials, and the symbolic meaning concerns the idea that hard work pays off, is an example of what convention?
allegory
A reference to some meaning that exists outside of a text. The outside reference enriches the reader’s experience with the text if the reader understands its meaning.
Allusion
T.S. Eliot, a modernist poet, was well-known for including allusions in his poetry, so much so that, at times, critics criticized his work as being inaccessible to readers unfamiliar with the referenced meanings. In his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” which you can find in the Literature E-Anthology, Eliot references “Michelangelo”: “In the room the women come and go/Talking of MIchelangelo” (13-24). “Michelangelo” is an allusion to the Renaissance artist, is an example of what convention?
allusion
In drama, a brief passage spoken only so the audience can hear it (spoken either directly to the audience or spoken in an undertone). Since drama relies on dialogue and action, asides allow for audience to understand the inner thoughts and motivations of characters, is what literary convention?
Aside
William Shakespeare’s plays contain a great many asides. In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet says, “A little more than kin, and less than kind” (I, ii, 65) after his new stepfather refers to him as his “son.” The line is often read as an aside to show Prince Hamlet muttering the line under his breath rather than speaking it directly to his new stepfather, is an example of what convention?
aside
A phrase used to describe a situation where an outside force intervenes to resolve a human conflict. The Latin translation of the phrase is “a god from a machine.” While the term traditionally referred to an actual presence, like a god, intervening in the conflict, the term is now used, in contemporary criticism. to refer to elements in plots that feel forced, implausible, or unbelievable. Audiences tend to feel cheated if a plot element that does not feel “believable” works to resolve some kind of crisis or situation in a story. It is often seen as an “easy out”, is what literary convention?
Deus ex machina
Euripides, a Greek tragedian, used deus ex machina extensively in his plays. One example is the play Medea, where the character Medea avoids punishment after committing murder by escaping via the sun god Helios’ chariot to Athens, is an example of what convention?
deues ex machina
A reliving of a scene through a character’s perspective. It is often a device used to reveal background information that allows readers to understand more about a character’s motivations or the context of a story, is what literary convention?
Flashback
The film Forrest Gump (1994) contains numerous flashbacks that depict events that explain the “present” of the story. The “present” consists of Forrest sitting on a park bench telling his story to passerby, but the bulk of the movie consists of flashbacks Forrest has as he is telling others about his life, is an example of what convention?
flashback
As noted in the “Literary Elements” section, foreshadowing occurs when later evens of a plot are hinted at earlier on in a narrative, is what literary convention?
Foreshadowing
