Literarure Key Terms and Concepts Flashcards
Allusion
A reference in a work of literature that is in regards to something that is in fact outside the literature (frequent cases are references to famous historical events or other pieces of highly regarded literature)
Attitude
A spoken author or characters disposition
Autobiography
Authors account of his or her own life
Biography
An accurate history of a single person
Climax
Point of highest interest in the novel. The turning point.
Connotation
The implication of a word or phrase as oppose to its exact meaning
Denotation
A words exact meaning
Diction
Word choice
Euphemism
A figure of speech using indirection to avoid offensive bluntness
Figurative Language
Writing that uses figures of speech (as appose to literal language). Examples would be using metaphors or similes to construct figurative language
Genre
A literary form such as an essay novel or poem
Hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.
Imagery
The images of literary work. The sensory details of a work. The figurative language of a work.
Irony
A figure out of speech in which intent and actual meaning differ (essentially the book says irony is sarcasm).
Jargon
The special language of a profession or group
Literal
Not figurative. Accurate to the letter. Matter of fact of concrete.
Lyrical
Song like. Characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and imagination.
Metaphor
A figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative term to describe a relation.
Narrative Technique
The methods involved in telling a story
Novel
A fictional narrative in prose of a considerable length
Omniscient point of view
Vantage point that is essentially all knowing and able to skip around to any period anytime
Oxymoron
The union of contradictory terms
Parable
A story designed to suggest a principle or illustrate a moral
Paradox
A statement that seems to be self contradicting but is in fact true
Parody
A composition that imitates the style of another composition (often in a joking manner)
Personification
A figurative use of language that endows non-humans humanistic qualities or characteristics
Plot
The interrelated action of play or novel that move to the climax and final resolution
Vantage point
Literary point of view
Rhetorical question
A question asked for effect
Rhetorical technique
Devils used in effective or persuasive language (contrast, understatement, sarcasm, rhetorical questions, etc)
Satire
Writing that seeks to arouse the readers disapproval by ridicule
Setting
The background to the story
Simile
A direct expressed comparison usually using “like” “as” or “than”
Soliloquy
A speech in which a character who is alone speaks his or her thoughts aloud
Strategy
Rhetorical strategy (the management of language for a specific effect).
Structure
The arrangement of materials within a work, the relationships between parts of a work in regards to the work as a whole
Style
The mode of expression in language
Syllogism
A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them
Symbol
Something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else
Theme
The main thought expressed by a work
Thesis
The theme meaning or position a writer undertakes to prove or support
Tone
The manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude
Tragedy
Now defined as a play with serous content and an unhappy ending
Allegory
A story where people, things, or events have another meaning
