Literary Terms: for all texts

Question 1

what is an allusion?

Answer 1

a reference to something in history or literature, outside of the text, may include other works of literature , myth, or biographical detail.

Question 2

what is analepsis and prolepsis?

Answer 2

• commonly referred to in films as flashbacks/ flashforwards
• analepsis = flashback to an earlier point in the story
• prolepsis = flashforward to a moment later in the chronology

Question 3

what is anaphora?

Answer 3

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences

Question 4

what is assonance?

Answer 4

the repetition at close intervals of accented syllables or important words.

Question 5

what is an absolute?

Answer 5

a word free from limitations or qualifications: best, all, unique, prefect

Question 6

what are concrete details?

Answer 6

details that relate to or describe actual, specific things or events

Question 7

what is meant by direct presentation?

Answer 7

the writer tells the readers what kind of personality the character possesses rather than allowing the character to show his/ her personality and allow readers to draw their own conclusions.

Question 8

what is an epigraph?

Answer 8

a saying or statement on the title page of a work which presents the adventures of characters in a high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation

Question 9

what is eye rhyme?

Answer 9

words that are spelled alike, but that do not sound alike: catch/ watch

Question 10

what is falling action?

Answer 10

the portion of a work following the climax where the conflicts are resolved.

Question 11

what is imagery?

Answer 11

the use of language to evoke sensory impressions on the reader

Question 12

what is indirect presentation?

Answer 12

the writer presents the character in action, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions about the personality of that character.

Question 13

what is meant by in media res?

Answer 13

a latin term meaning ‘in the midst of things’ it refers to the fact that a literary work may begin in the middle of the action, in Ulysses by Tennyson, the narrative is set after he returns home, indicating a whole story that has gone before it.

Question 14

what is a limited omniscient point of view?

Answer 14

a third person narrator who gives the reader access to the thoughts and feelings of one character, usually the protagonist.

Question 15

what is an objective point of view?

Answer 15

also called a dramatic point of view, the third person narrator relates only what we can see and hear, without giving access to the thoughts and feelings of any of the characters.

Question 16

what is polsynderton?

Answer 16

the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural

Question 17

what is pathos?

Answer 17

the quality of a work that prompts the reader to feel pity

Question 18

what is vernacular?

Answer 18

the everyday speech of a particular country or region, often involving non-standard usage.

Question 19

what is sadism?

Answer 19

gaining sexual gratification by causing pain or degradation to others

Question 20

what is masochism?

Answer 20

sexual gratification depends on suffering physical pain or humiliation of oneself

Question 21

what is male chauvinism?

Answer 21

male prejudice against women, the belief that men are superior in terms of ability, intelligence etc.

Question 22

what is anthropomorphism?

Answer 22

the attribution of human characteristics and qualities to non-human objects or abstractions.

Question 23

what is an archetype?

Answer 23

a standard character type showing typical traits e.g. the vampire, the hero.

Question 24

what is an aside?

Answer 24

when a character in a play speaks in such a way that the other characters cannot hear what is being said, or they address the audience directly. it is a device used to reveal a character’s private thoughts, emotional and intensions.

Question 25

what is a caricature?

Answer 25

a description of a person that exaggerates something about the person, often for comic effect.

Question 26

what is Commedia dell’arte?

Answer 26

a type of comic drama evolved in 16th century Italy using standard, recognisable plots usually based on love intrigues. plot and dialogue were often improvised, and the performance would often include mimic, farce, slapstick buffoonery, dancing and music.

Question 27

what is deus ex machina?

Answer 27

in greek drama a god was sometimes lowered into the stage by a piece of machinery in order to assist the hero or untangle the plot (comes from the latin for ‘god out of a machine’), the phrase is often used today to indicate an unexpected and frequently improbable twist to the plot.

Question 28

what does eponymous mean?

Answer 28

it is an adjective describing the character who gives his or her name to the title of a play or novel

Question 29

what is magic realism?

Answer 29

fiction or other art forms such as painting or cinema which combine realism with fantastical elements, carter is considered a magical realist.

Question 30

what is materialism?

Answer 30

the philosophy that nothing exists except material world and its shifts or changes as opposed to for example, religious belief.

Question 31

what is patriarchy?

Answer 31

a social system of government in which power is held by the elder males and passed to the younger males exclusively; although the term pre-dates feminism, patriarchy is central to the second wave feminist perspective.

Question 32

what is psychoanalytic criticism?

Answer 32

in literature, applying an approach to understanding a text by analysing the conscious motivations of the characters.

Question 33

what is a tragedy?

Answer 33

a drama dealing with the elevated emotions and characters of high social standing in which a terrible outcome becomes inevitable as a result of an unstoppable sequence of events and a fatal flaw in the personality of the protagonist.

Question 34

what is the sublime?

Answer 34

a quality of awesome grandeur, as distinguished from the beautiful in nature.

Question 35

what is the oedipus complex?

Answer 35

the repressed but continuing desire in the male adult to possess the mother and destroy the father, freud drew the term

Question 36

what is the ‘other’?

Answer 36

otherness means difference, defining the other is part of what constructs the self. victor constructs himself as rational and civilised in opposition to the creature whom he defines as an irrational and primitive ‘other’

Question 37

what is a hamartia?

Answer 37

a character’s flaw (or error) which leads to the downfall of that character in a tragedy.

Question 38

what is regicide?

Answer 38

the killing of a king

Question 39

what is a myriad?

Answer 39

a great number of persons or things

Question 40

what does androgynous?

Answer 40

being both male and female, having both masculine and feminine characteristics, having an ambiguous sexual identity. (lady macbeth)

Question 41

what is a soliloquy?

Answer 41

a dramatic convention in which a character, unheard by other characters, thinks aloud about motives, feelings and intentions. the audience is given direct access through the soliloquy to the character’s inner thoughts, in macbeth the use of the soliloquy gives a sense of extraordinary depth to the main characters and provides the audience with a perspective on the characters not available in the public actions and words of the play. lady macbeth’s sleepwalking seen for example.