Literary Terms Flashcards
allegory
written piece in which ideas or morals are represented by individual characters or things
allusion
a reference within an artistic work to another artistic work
antagonist
In a literary work, the character whose actions oppose those of the hero
ballad
a story - poem, often sung aloud
Beat movement
a group of American poets and artists whose expressions of alienation in the 1950s became a calling card of the underground (Ginsberg Kerouac)
Blank verse
Non - rhyming verse consisting of 10 - syllable lines
canto
a subdivion of an epic poem
Classicism
Artistic of literary movement that is aesthetically based on the Ancient Greeks or Romans
Climax
The point in any story at which the action reaches its zenith
couplet
two rhyming lines of poetry in succession, most often of a similar or like meter
denouement
The conclusion or resolution following the climax of the story
elegy
a poem of remembrance
Existentialism
French philosophical idea that the individual lives in an indifferent world and must take responsibility for his or her own choices (Sartre, Camus)
fable
an allegorical story often employing animals as characters
genre
a category of work within art or letters, usually of a distinctive style
haiku
a Japanese poem containing 3 lines and 17 syllables in a structured order (5- 7- 5)
irony
a literary style in which a situation is shown with the intent of representing its opposite
lost generation
a group expatriate writers and artists in Paris in the 1920s centered around Gertrude Stein (Hemingway, Fitzgerald)
metaphor
the comparison of two things in which one item represents another
Modernism
High intellectual movement whose goal was the examination of pure art (Pound, Stein, Woolf)
motif
a recurring element or theme in an artistic work
ode
a lyric poem of rigidly structured stanzas
parable
a story depicting a message of a moral or religious nature
Pathos
Evoking pity in a literary work
Realism
An artistic and literary style in which the society and events are depicted as they appear in real life
restoration
the period of intensively active literary and artistic activity in England 1660 - 1688 when Charles II returned to the Throne (Dryden)
Romantic movement
Predominately English movement in the 19th century whose basic belief was that passion should supercede logic and whose main opposition was classicalism (Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron)
Satire
A literary work in which, through the use of irony, sarcasm and wit, the absurd humanity is brought to light. (Swift’s a modest proposal)
Sonnet
A verse of 14 lines and written in one of several rhyme schemes (Shakespeare and Petrarch)
Stanza
One division within a poem, usually of commonly metered verse
Stream of consciousness
a literary device in which a character’s thoughts emerge on the page as they occur (Joyce and Woolf)
Transcendentalism
American Movement in which insight and experience took precedence over logic and reason and that held the belief that all things coexist in nature (Thoreau, Emerson)
Victorian Age
19th century England, considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. Characterized by rigid social manners and conservativism (Dickens, Hardy)