literary 1-30

Question 1

literature

Answer 1

a body of written works, related by subject-matter by language or place of origin

Question 2

orature

Answer 2

oral literature

Question 3

hermeneutics

Answer 3

the theory of interpretation, concerned with general problems of understanding the meaning of texts

Question 4

affective

Answer 4

pertaining to emotional effects or dispositions in literary works in term of the feelings they arouse in readers

Question 5

intentional fallacy

Answer 5

an author’s declared or supposed intention in writing a work is the paper basis for deciding the meaning and the value of that work

Question 6

close reading

Answer 6

detailed analysis of a literary text

Question 7

distant reading

Answer 7

attempt to discover what may be learned about novels without actually reading them

Question 8

muse

Answer 8

a source of inspiration to a poet or other writer

Question 9

pathos

Answer 9

the emotionally moving quality or power of a literary work or of particular passages within it, appealing especially to our feelings of sorrow and pity and compassionate sympathy

Question 10

catharsis

Answer 10

the effect of purgation or purification achieved by tragic drama, releasing strong emotions

Question 11

didactic

Answer 11

instructive, designed to impart information

Question 12

defamiliarization

Answer 12

the distinctive effect achieved by literary works in disrupting our habitual perception of the world, enabling us to ‘see’ things afresh

Question 13

alienation effect

Answer 13

a dramatic effect aimed at encouraging an attitude of critical detachment in the audience

Question 14

death of the author

Answer 14

topple the supposedly godlike authority of the writer over the possible meanings of his work, and to grant more freedom of interpretation to readers

Question 15

autotelic

Answer 15

having, as an artistic work, no end or purpose beyond its own existence

Question 16

oeuvre

Answer 16

the French word for a work, often used to refer instead to the Toal body of works produced by a given writer

Question 17

canon

Answer 17

a body of writings recognised by authority

Question 18

theme

Answer 18

salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary work’s treatment, a topic recurring in a number o literary works

Question 19

ambiguity

Answer 19

an instance in which some use of language may be understood in diverse ways

Question 20

plot

Answer 20

the pattern of events and situations in a narrative or dramatic work, as selected and arranged both to emphasise relationships

Question 21

story

Answer 21

any narrative or tale recounting a series of events

Question 22

narrative

Answer 22

a telling of some true or fictions event or connected sequence of events, recounted by a narrator

Question 23

frame narrative

Answer 23

a story in which another story is enclosed or embedded as a ‘tale within the tale’

Question 25

context

Answer 25

those part of a text preceding and following any particular passage giving it a meaning fuller or more identifiable than if it were to read in isolation

Question 26

epigraph

Answer 26

quotation or motto placed at the beginning of a book, chapter or poem as indication of its theme

Question 27

paratext

Answer 27

a textual item that serves some supplementary function in relation to a principal text that is describes, introduces, justifies or explains

Question 28

prologue

Answer 28

an introductory section of a play, speech or other literary work

Question 29

exposition

Answer 29

the setting forth of a systematic explanation of argument about any subject; or the opening part of a play or story in which we are introduced to the characters ant their situation

Question 30

climax

Answer 30

any moment of great intensity in a literary work, especially in drama