Allusions and Literary Terms Flashcards
Artful Dodger
From Dickens’s Oliver Twist
Now a name for any skillful crook
Augean stables
Greek mythology
Now refers to anything very difficult to clean up, figuratively or actually
Belling the cat
From an old fable and Piers Plowman
Now someone who has the courage to stick his neck out for his friends despite putting himself at risk
Big Brother is watching you
Orwells 1984
Now refers to any ruler/gov. that tries to dictate, eavesdrop, or gather personal info. on its citizens
Bligh
Nordhoff, Hall, and an actual British Naval Officer involved in mutinees
Now any person who is cruel, unreasonable, and tyrannical
Brahmin
Oliver Wendell Holmes and friends were referred to as this
Now refers to any socially prominent amd intellectually refined individual
Brave New World
From Huxley’s Brave New World
Often used sarcastically or ironically to depict “advances” in society that may lead to humanity’s ruin
Byronic
(After Lord Byron) George Gordon, Lord Byron
Now refers to any person like Byron himself or whose writing includes handsome, sad, brooding, and appealing characters like Byron’s
Catch-22
From Hellers Catch-22
Lose lose situation, lose no matter what side you take
Chesire Cat
From Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland
Now refers to people who grin a lot like the Chesire cat
Damon and Pythias
From Greek legends
Now refers to any close friends
Dantesque
(After Dante)
Now any writing resembling Dante’s epic scope, vivid detail, and allegory
Dickensian
(After Dickens)
Now refers to situations or writings similar to Dicken’s novels showing the poverty, misery, and injustice of Victorian England
Dog in the manger
From an old fable
Now refers to anyone who tries to spoil something for someone else even though it is of no use to the spoiler
Don Juan
From Tellez’s El Burlador de seville and Byrons epic poem Don Juan
Now refers to a man who is a playboy or philander
Dorian Gray
From Wilde’s The picture of Dorian Gray
Refers to anyone who clings to youth and is afraid of aging
Everyman
From the old play Everyman
Referred to and refers to every man, or all men
Faulknerian
(After Faulkner)
Refers to writings, characters, or settings similar to Faulkners, which featured characters driven byhidden forces beyond their control, plots of tragic violence, and set in the south
Faustian
From a body of literature works
A Faustian bargain is one where one sacrifices everything for immediate gratification, but pays later
For whom the bell tolls
From Donne’s Devotions
“No man is an island”, all people share a common fate,“Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”
Gatsby
From Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby
Someone who gives in to his own fantasies and obsessions and represents ostentatious and lavish living
Gilded age
From Twain and Warners The Gilded Age
Phrase has come to denote the post-Civil War era.
Heart of darkness
From Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness
Now refers to the dark side of the human soul
Holy Grail
From Arthurian and Christian legends
In current usage signifies any difficult or possibly unattainable quest
Homeric
After Homer
Now refers to anything that is larger than life
Horatio Alger
From Horatio Alger’s stories
Now refers to anyone who makes good after being born into a life of poverty
Kafkaesque
Franze Kafka’s writings
Now refers to any literature or situation similar to characters who are thwarted by red tape and authoritarian bureaucracies
Spithead and Nore
Locations of mutiny
Now allude to mutiny
Lord Nelson
England’s most renowned naval hero
Alludes to heroism, particularly military
Montaigne
Philosopher beliving that man can find truth in the universe despite being victim to customs, prejudice, and self-interest
Alludes to his basic philosophy
Last hurrah
From O’Connor’s novel The Last Hurrah
Has come to stand for the final action of a person before the end of a career
Leviathan
From Book of Job
Today anything that is huge and monstrous
Lilliputtian
From Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels
Now anything that is tiny and can control something larger than itself
Machiavellian
From Machiavelli’s The Prince
Now refers to anyone who is merciless, clever, and unethical to obtain goals
Man for all seasons
After Thomas More
Now is any respected person who stands up for his ideals under pressure
Moby Dick
From Melville’s Moby Dick
Now refers to any monstrous obsession
Munchkin
From Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Now used to describe a physically small person, often affectionately
Noble savage
From Jean Jacques Rousseau’s writings
Refers to an uncultivated person who is really more worthy and sensible than some of his or her ‘civilized’ counterparts
Oedipus Complex
Greek mythology
A child’s powerful erotic attachment to the parent of opposite gender, creating rivalry with that of the same gender
Orwellian
After Orwell
Now refers to anything bleak and oppressive, especially a political situation
Pilgrim’s progress
From Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
Now anyone who overcomes worldly problems is said to have made a pilgrim’s progress
Platonic love
From Plato’s Symposium
Any strong but non-lover affinity for another is called platonic
Promethean
From Greek mythology
Now refers to a person who is independent, defiant of authority, and willing to make sacrifices for his beliefs
Pygmalion
From Greek mythology
Any story where a mentor takes on a pupil, remakes the person, then falls in love with the resulting creation is compared to the Pygmalion myth
Queeg
From Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny
Has come to denote any petty, incompetent person in a leadership position
Quixotic
From Cervantes’s Don Quixote
Now any one who pursues idealized, impractical goals is called this
Rube Goldberg
Anything that makes a simple task seem complicatedis compared to a Rube Goldberg contraption.
Runyonesque
Dmaon Runyons writings
Now refers to any underworld or even a personable or likeable rogue
Shangri-la
Hilton’s Lost Horizons
Now has come to mean any idyllic place
Shot heard around the world
Emerson’s Concord Hymn
Now refers to any dramatic statement or action that begins something important or greatly influences something later
Silent Spring
Carson’s Silent Spring
Now refers towards any ecological calamity
Socratic method
Socrates/Plato
Refers to the method of Q&A teaching versus lectures
Svengali
DuMaurier’s Trilby
Now anyone who has (or tries to obtain) power over someone else through strength of personality is this
Tabula rasa
Latin “blank slate”
Means that the mind is blank, fresh, unsullied, and ready to be inscribed with knowledge
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass
Now denotes any two things that are difficult to tell apart
Ugly American
From Burdick and Lederer’s The Ugly American
Now describes overbearing American policies or behavior in foreign countries.
Utopia
Thomas More’s Utopia
Utopia is any perfect place, state of being, or government
Walter Mitty
Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
Now a person who fantasizes about unrealistic, brave deeds is Mittylike, Mittyish, or a Walter Mitty
Willy Loman
From Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”
Now is any person who is working hard trying to earn a living, but is not being very successful and is therefore a pathetic figure
Armageddon
From Book of Revelation
Now refers to any fierce confrontation resulting in mutual destruction
City on a hill
Book of Matthew
Refers to a place that would be a shining example and a model to others
Daniel in the lion’s den
Old Testament
Now a person who is confronted with difficulties and is encouraged to hold up in the face of adversity or persecution as David did
Ham
Old Testament
Can be used as an allusion to Noah’s descendants bearing the curse of servitude
Elijah and Jezebel
Old Testament
Now refers to any wicked or shameless women
Esther and the king of Persia
Old Testament
Esther and her foster father, Modecai, helped deliver the Jews from persecution by the king of Persia.
Feet of clay
From the Book of Daniel
Now refers to the flaw of an otherwise strong and admirable person
Aristotle
Great Greek philosopher who may rely upon the heart as well as common sense for direction
Queen Bess
Representative of the grandest of all time periods in the modern era—the arets and literature flourished during the Elizabethan Era
Hannibal
Represents a daring plot to wage war against a most formidable enemy, despite his failure, he is remembered for his success in using elephants against Rome
Belial
Satan, satanic, devil—evil is connoted
Pequod
Name usually implies a foreshadowing of doom—extermination, destruction, some kind of complete disaster suggested
Jove
King of all gods, represents the all-powerful, the controller of the universe
Narcissus
Denotes excessive self-love, vanity corrupts
Ahab
Swayed by things negative and sinful, Ahab suggest a dark, evil inclination
Pan
From it came the word panic
Liked to surprise people in the forest and make them panic
John Locke
English philospher
Origin of all knowledge comes from the senses
Immanuel Kant
German philosopher
knowledge is not derived from senses, man should avoid the extremes
Gabriel
Angel of Mercy
Euroclydon
A disastrous wind that stirs the waters violently
Brahmins
Suggests high caste position or highly honored position in society
Vishnu
Usually related to India
The “Preserver”
Andromeda
A princess or person rescued from a “monster”
Benedict Arnold
American representativeof all that a traitor stands for
Morgan le Fay
Arthurian
A deceitful temptress
Perceval
Arthurian
A kind, naïve, and uncouth hero
Lancelot
Arthurian
A near-perfect hero who has a fatal flaw
Merlin
Arthurian
Powerful magician
Galahad
Arthurian
Purity and perfection
Guinevere
Arthurian
Passionate and independent woman
Gawain
A likable hero made human by his flaws
The Holy Grail
Arthurian
A penultimate achievement
Camelot
Arthurian
Place of justice, friendship, and chivalry
Excalibur
Arthurian
Most powerful of all weapons, symbolic of strength and justice
Round Table
Arthurion
Friendship, loyalty, chivalry
Antihero
Character, usually the protagonist, who faces a series of problems and events in a story, but is often going against societal standards
Aphorism
Wise saying, usually brief, reflecting truth. Ex: haste makes waste
Bildungsroman
Fiction depicting the moral and intellectual growth of a protagonist, often intended for the education and guidance of others
Bowdlerize
To excise material deemed objectionable from a piece of writing
Burlesque
Literary form which ridicules or mocks
Catharsis
Therapeutic release of emotion upon identifying with and being moved by a piece of literature
Catastrophe
Final event of a dramatic work, usually ruin or death
Circumlocution
Writing or speaking that goes around the subject instead of getting directly to the point. Ex: This was not unlike…
Classicism
Literary (and other artistic) movements of ancient Greece amd Rome, using strict forms, accenting reason, and characterized by restraint. Opposite is romanticicsm
Coherence
Clarity in connecting ideas
Conciseness/concision
“Tight” writing; use of only the necessary words to express thoughts
Concrete
Opposite of extract; refers to specific people and things that can be perceived with the five senses
Connotation
Feelings and associations added to specific word meaning. Ex: mother—kindly, self-sacrificing, nurturing woman
Alliteration
Rep. of sounds at the beginning of words
Consonance
Rep. of similar consonant sounds, with changes in intervening vowel sounds
Convention
Accepted literary form of the past
Denotation
Dictionary meaning of a word
Didactic
Literary works meant to teach a moral or lesson
Doppelgänger
Personification of a character’s darker side; ghost
Double entendre
Double meaning of a word, phrase, or sentence, often raucous in implication. Ex: All eyes to the rear
Envoy/envoi
Brief postscript to book, essay, or poem; often the concluding stanza to a ballade, summarizing the poem
Epigram
Witty, often paradoxical, saying or brief poem
Epitaph
Inscription on tombstone or marker for the dead
Eponym
Person whose name is the source of a new word
Euphemism
More palatable word for a less pleasant subject
Fable
Story with moral or lesson about life, often with animal characters possessing human characteristics
Foil
Character opposite or different from the protagonist, used to highlight the protagonist’s traits; incidents or settings may also be used as foils
Folklore/folktales
Stories and legends transmitted by word of mouth, rather than in writing
Homonym
Sound and spelled alike, diff meanings
Homophones
Sound alike, includes homonyms
i.e.
That is
Ibid
Used in footnotes and bibliographies to refer to the source mentioned directly above
Idiom
Phrase in common use that does not literally mean what it says
Imagery
Creation of mental pictures by pertinent word choice and heightened description
In medias res
Beginning in the middle of events
Malapropism
Confusion of similar-sounding words which often ends up sounding humorous
Literary motif
Recurrent words or phrases
n. b.
Note well (followed by important point to remember)
nom de plume
Pen name or pseudonym used by author
Novella
Short novel with fewer characters than a novel
Gothic novel
Novel with midieval setting suggesting mystery and/or horror
Picaresque novel
Novel characterized by young hero of lower-class, unrespectable background, who leaves home and is faced with a harsh, cruel world, and eventually conforms to its realities
op. cit.
Used in footnotes/bibliographies to refer to work previously cited or quoted
Oxymoron
Use of paradoxical or opposite words for effect. Ex: poor little rich girl
Literary parody
Satire imitating an author or work with the aim of mockery
Purple passage
Writing that contains flowery, ornate language, often in the midst of otherwise dull passages
Proverb
Saying, adage, or maxim, usually short and generally believed to be true
Pseudonym
Name author uses instead of his/her real name
Literary realism
Literature reflecting real life, rather than imaginary or idealistic life.
Rhetoric
Persuasive writing
Roman à clef
Novel based on actual people and places, but written as fiction instead of fact
Romance
Story about heroic deeds, mysterious settings, or love
Romanticism
Literary moment characterized by emotion, imagination, and goodness of people, little emphasis on reason. Opposite of classicism
Sarcasm
Form of irony which seems to praise, but really criticizes
Satire
Literature that makes fun of social conditions or conventions, often for the purpose of creating change
Style
The way an author characteristically expresses him or herself
Synonym
Words meaning the same
Synopsis
Summary or condensed statement of a literary work
Thriller
Story or movie filled with suspense
Verse
Writing with rhyme and meter, as opposed to prose; often verse refers to poetry of a less serious nature
Fates
Greek mythology
Control life, does not allow reference to free will
Cerberus
Greek mythology
Most monstrous of fears and conflicts may be overcome through ingenuity and cunning
Allegory
Writing that has a deeper meaning hidden beneath the obvious one
Ellipses
To show words have been left frim a quote, or to indicate the passage of time
Editorial
Newspaper or magazine article expressing opinion of an editor or publisher
Essay
Short prose work expressing an author’s views on a subject
Poetry
Poem collection; genre characterized by rythm, rhyme (sometimes), and stanzas, as opposed to prose
Prose
Literature wirtten in sentences and paragraphs, as opposed to poetry and verse
Short story
Fiction story shorter than a novel, often having a surprising ending
Novel
Long, fictional prose story
Narration
Telling a story
Narrator
Person telling a story
Historical novel
Full-length fiction book, using historical facts as its basis for plot or setting, but including imaginary characters and dialogue
Nuance
Slight shade of meaning or detail
Paradox
Contradictory statement that makes sense
Jacob Esau
Biblical
Sometimes people relate any arguing or greedy family members as being them
Job
Old Testament
Patience of Job
Comedy
Fictional writing that has a happy ending for its major characters and contains humor
Tragedy
Literature, often drama, ending in catastrophe for protagonists after dealing with a series of problems
Thriller
Story or movie filled with suspense
Fairy tale
Fanciful, imaginary story about a hero or heroine overcoming a problem, often involving mystical creatures, supernatural power, or magic; often a type of folktale
Resolution
Clarification, solution, or outcome of the conflict in a story
Redundancy
Repition that is unnecessary and awkward, as contrasted with intentional repetition for a particular effect
Denouement
Outcome, resolution, solution of a plot
Critic
Person who evaluates literature or other art
Criticism
Essays and critiques evaluating a writer for his work, based on set standards, according to the philosophy of the critic
Hero
Character, usually the protagonist, who rises above and conquers a series of problems and events in the story
Literary genre
Kind of literature, literary classification
Flashback
Jumping backward in the chronology of a narrative, often through a dream or musing sequence
Popular fiction
Fiction aimed at the mainstream population
Science fiction
Fiction concerning advanced tech., usually imagined, no actual scientific advancements
Understatement
Form of irony where the autheor intentionally understates the facts
Tone
Mood brought forth by a storybor poem
Symbol
All Might
Theme/thesis
Main idea ina piece of literature; topic or subject
Simile
Comparison using like or as
Setting
Time and place
Sequel
A subsequent work similar to that of an original, often with the same characters
Rhetorical question
Question asked without expecting an answer; used for effect
pun
Play on words; words put together in such a way as to be humorous
Protagonist
Main character, hero, or heroine in a written work
Point of view
Perspective from which the story is written
Plot
Structure of the literature; the way it is put together; the unfolding or sequence of events
Plagiarism
Using of other people’s works as one’s own without crediting the true author
Personification
Literary device where writer attributes human qualities to objects or ideas
Paraphrase
Restatement of writing, keeping the basic meaning, but telling it in one’s own words
mythology
Traditional tales about goddesses, gods, heroes, and other characters, often telling about the creation of the universe, talking about death, or otherwise philosophically explaining human existence
Moral
A lesson the literature is teaching; fables usually teach a lesson about life
Metaphor
Comparison of unlike things without using like or as
Irony
Phrases or words with meanings quite different from what is actually said
Hyperbole
Extreme exaggeration used for effect
Foreshadow
Hints about what is to come
First-person narration
Told from first person point of view, usually using I
Dialogue/dialog
Speaking and conversation between characters in stories, plays, and in person
Copyright
Legal rights to published works which stop anyone else from using the work without permission
Conflict
Opposing elements or characters in a plot
Climax
Higgh point of the plot where reader is most intrigued and does not know what is next
Cliche
Trite, overused idea or statement
Antagonist
Person who opposes or competes with the main character, hero, or heroine; often the villain
Analogy
Comparison of two dissimilar things that are alike in some way, often using a simile or metaphor
Allusion
Reference, without explanation, to a work of literature, a character, a principle, and so on, assuming the reader is familiar with its implications
