Lit Terms Flashcards
the formal study of art and language, especially in relation to the idea of
beauty
Aesthetics
a story or a narrative, often told at some length, which has a deeper meaning below the surface (e.g. George Orwell`s Animal Farm)
Allegory
a reference to another event, person, place, or work of literature. The allusion is usually implied rather than explicit, and often provides another layer of meaning to what
is being said.
Allusion
use of language where the meaning is unclear or has two or more possible interpretations. It could be created through the weakness of the writer`s expression, but
often it is deliberately used by writers to create layers of meaning in the mind of the reader.
Ambiguity
the situation where more than one possible attitude is being displayed by the writer or poet towards a character, theme, idea, event, etc.
Ambivalence
something that is historically inaccurate
Anachronism
: a type of referencing that points backwards in a text (e.g. The student worked hard, so she had little spare time.)
Anaphoric reference
contrasting ideas or words that are balanced against each other (e.g. “To be, or not to be” - Shakespeare`s Hamlet”)
Antithesis
use of language that is old-fashioned and no longer exists in common usage
Archaism
: the people addressed by a piece of writing, speech, etc. This is closely associated with the idea of purpose.
Audience
a narrative poem that tells a story (traditional ballads were songs) usually in a straightforward way. The theme is often tragic or contains a whimsical, supernatural, or
fantastic element.
Ballad
often supporting or opposing a particular person or thing in an unfair way by allowing personal opinions to influence your judgment
Bias
a character described through the exaggeration of the features that he or she possesses
Caricature
a type of referencing that points forward in the text (e.g. Those were the days my friend.)
Cataphoric Reference
a purging of emotions such as takes place at the end of a tragedy
Catharsis
the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts.
Censorship
a phrase, idea, or image that has been over-used so that it has lost so much of its original meaning, impact, and freshness
Cliche
links and connections that unite the elements of discourse or text
Cohesion
the creation and addition of new words to the existing word stock
Coinage
two or more words that frequently appear together as part of a set phrase. They are often well known and predictable, and many could be described as idioms or cliches (e.g. safe and sound).
Collocation
an informal quality in speech or writing, often characterized by the use of slang or non-standard features
Colloquial
the type of sentence in which someone is told to do something
Command
the reason why a piece of writing has been written or a speech made (e.g. to entertain, to explain, to persuade, to argue)
Communicative Purpose
a word made up of at least two free morphemes (e.g. babysitter)
Compound
an elaborate, extended, and sometimes surprising comparison between things that, at first sight, do not have much in common
Conceit
the associations attached to a word in addition to its dictionary definition
Connotation
the social circumstances in which speech and writing takes place
Context
a shortened word (e.g. isn`t)
Contraction
the application of a particular socio/historical standpoint used to analyze a text
Contextual Framework
a study of the key features in informal spoken interaction, with a view to determining the following: (1) turn-taking; (2) constructing sequences of utterances across turns; (3) identifying and repairing problems; (4) employing gaze and movement
Conversation Analysis
detailed analysis and assessment of something, esp. a literary, philosophical, or political theory
Critique
refers to the following ways of life, including but not limited to (1) Language: the oldest human institution and the most sophisticated medium of expression. (2) Arts & Sciences: the most advanced and refined forms of human expression. (3) Thought: the ways in which people perceive, interpret, and understand the world around them. (4) Spirituality: the value system transmitted through generations for the inner well-being of human beings, expressed through language and actions. (5) Social activity: the shared pursuits within a cultural community, demonstrated in a variety of festivities and life-celebrating events. (6) Interaction: the social aspects of human contact, including the give-and-take of socialization, negotiation, protocol, and conventions.
Culture
: a grammatical mood that expresses a statement (e.g. I am a hardworking student.)
Declaritive
words that can be interpreted only with reference to the speakers position in space or time. These are known as deictic forms and fall into three main types: (1) personal deixis, including the use of such pronouns as you or I that identify who is taking part in the discourse; (2) spatial deixis, showing the speakers position in relation to other
people or objects, e.g. this, that, here; (3) temporal deixis, relating the speaker to time, using words such as tomorrow, now, yesterday.
Deixis
a term used to describe determiners or pronouns that distinguish one item from other similar ones (e.g. this, that, these, those)
Demonstrative
the dictionary definition of a word
Denotation
a language variety marked by a distinctive grammar and vocabulary, used by people with a common regional or social background
Dialect
language interaction between two or more people
Dialogue
the choice of words that a writer makes
Diction
a term describing a work that is intended to preach or teach, often containing a particular moral or political point
Didactic
the actual words spoken by a person, recorded in written form using speech marks or quotation marks
Direct Speech
any spoken or written language that is longer than a sentence
Discourse
a meditative poem, usually sad and reflective in nature
Elegy
a word or phrase used to avoid saying an unpleasant or offensive word (e.g. to pass away replaces to die)
Euphemism
the omission of an unstressed syllable so that the line conforms to a particular metrical pattern (e.g. oer, een)
Elision
the omission of a part of a sentence, which can be understood from the context (e.g. I`d like to go to the concert but I can’t (go to the concert). )
Elipsis
the study of the history or origins of words
Etymology
a type of referencing that points beyond the text, where the reader or listener has to make a connection with something outside the text (e.g. The fish was this big.)
Exophoric Reference
a term to denote language that is patterned and always appears in the same form (e.g. Yours faithfully)
Formulaic
a critical skeleton that could be applied to analyze texts in various ways to suit the purpose of the analysis (e.g. literary framework, linguistic framework, contextual framework, etc)
Framework
the general characteristics and behaviors between different sexes in a society
Gender Roles
a category of texts characterized by a particular style, form, or content (e.g. prose, poetry, drama)
Genre
a deliberate and extravagant exaggeration
Hyperbole
a theory, or set of beliefs or principles, especially one on which a political system, party or organization is based
Ideology
a sequence of words that is a unit of meaning (e.g. kick the bucket)
Idiom
