Midterm Literary Analysis Terms

Question 1

Allegory

Answer 1

narrative form in which the characters are representative of some larger humanistic trait (i.e. greed, vanity, or bravery) and attempt to convey some larger lesson or meaning to life. Although allegory was originally and traditionally character based, modern allegories tend to parallel story and theme.

William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily- the decline of the Old South
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde- man’s struggle to contain his inner primal instincts
District 9- South African Apartheid
X Men- the evils of prejudice
Harry Potter- the dangers of seeking “racial purity”

Question 2

Character

Answer 2

representation of a person, place, or thing performing traditionally human activities or functions in a work of fiction

Question 3

Protagonist

Answer 3

The character the story revolves around.

Question 4

Antagonist

Answer 4

A character or force that opposes the protagonist.

Question 5

Minor character

Answer 5

Often provides support and illuminates the protagonist.

Question 6

Static character

Answer 6

A character that remains the same.

Question 7

Dynamic character

Answer 7

A character that changes in some important way.

Question 8

Characterization

Answer 8

The choices an author makes to reveal a character’s personality, such as appearance, actions, dialogue, and motivations.

Question 9

Connotation

Answer 9

implied meaning of word. BEWARE! Connotations can change over time.

confidence/ arrogance
mouse/ rat
cautious/ scared
curious/ nosey
frugal/ cheap

Question 10

Denotation

Answer 10

dictionary definition of a word

Question 11

Diction

Answer 11

word choice that both conveys and emphasizes the meaning or theme of a poem through distinctions in sound, look, rhythm, syllable, letters, and definition

Question 12

Figurative language

Answer 12

the use of words to express meaning beyond the literal meaning of the words themselves

Question 13

Metaphor

Answer 13

contrasting to seemingly unalike things to enhance the meaning of a situation or theme without using like or as

You are the sunshine of my life.

Question 14

Simile

Answer 14

contrasting to seemingly unalike things to enhance the meaning of a situation or theme using like or as

What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun

Question 15

Hyperbole

Answer 15

exaggeration

I have a million things to do today.

Question 16

Personification

Answer 16

giving non-human objects human characteristics

America has thrown her hat into the ring, and will be joining forces with the British.

Question 17

Foot

Answer 17

grouping of stressed and unstressed syllables used in line or poem

Iamb - unstressed syllable followed by stressed
Made famous by the Shakespearian sonnet, closest to the natural rhythm of human speech
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways

Spondee - stressed stressed
Used to add emphasis and break up monotonous rhythm
Blood boil, mind-meld, well- loved

Trochee - stressed unstressed
Often used in children’s rhymes and to help with memorization, gives poem a hurried feeling
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

Anapest - unstressed unstressed stressed
Often used in longer poems or “rhymed stories”
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house

Dactyls - stressed unstressed unstressed
Often used in classical Greek or Latin text, later revived by the Romantics, then again by the Beatles, often thought to create a heartbeat or pulse in a poem
Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.

The iamb stumbles through my books; trochees rush and tumble; while anapest runs like a hurrying brook; dactyls are stately and classical.

Question 18

Imagery

Answer 18

the author’s attempt to create a mental picture (or reference point) in the mind of the reader. Remember, though the most immediate forms of imagery are visual, strong and effective imagery can be used to invoke an emotional, sensational (taste, touch, smell etc) or even physical response.

Question 19

Meter

Answer 19

measure or structuring of rhythm in a poem

Question 20

Plot

Answer 20

the arrangement of ideas and/or incidents that make up a story

Question 21

Foreshadowing -

Suspense -

Conflict -

Exposition -

Rising Action -

Crisis -

Resolution/Denouement -

Answer 21

When the writer clues the reader in to something that will eventually occur in the story; it may be explicit (obvious) or implied (disguised).

The tension that the author uses to create a feeling of discomfort about the unknown

Struggle between opposing forces.

Background information regarding the setting, characters, plot.

The process the story follows as it builds to its main conflict

A significant turning point in the story that determines how it must end

The way the story turns out.

Question 22

Point of View

Answer 22

pertains to who tells the story and how it is told. The point of view of a story can sometimes indirectly establish the author’s intentions.

Question 23

Narrator -

First-person -

Second person -

Third Person (Objective) -

Omniscient -

Answer 23

The person telling the story who may or may not be a character in the story.

Narrator participates in action but sometimes has limited knowledge/vision.

Narrator addresses the reader directly as though she is part of the story. (i.e. “You walk into your bedroom. You see clutter everywhere and…”)

Narrator is unnamed/unidentified (a detached observer). Does not assume character’s perspective and is not a character in the story. The narrator reports on events and lets the reader supply the meaning.

All-knowing narrator (multiple perspectives). The narrator knows what each character is thinking and feeling, not just what they are doing throughout the story. This type of narrator usually jumps around within the text, following one character for a few pages or chapters, and then switching to another character for a few pages, chapters, etc. Omniscient narrators also sometimes step out of a particular character’s mind to evaluate him or her in some meaningful way.

Question 24

Rhythm

Answer 24

often thought of as a poem’s timing. Rhythm is the juxtaposition of stressed and unstressed beats in a poem, and is often used to give the reader a lens through which to move through the work.

Question 25

Setting

Answer 25

the place or location of the action. The setting provides the historical and cultural context for characters. It often can symbolize the emotional state of characters. Example – In Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, the crumbling old mansion reflects the decaying state of both the family and the narrator’s mind. We also see this type of emphasis on setting in Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice.

Question 26

Speaker

Answer 26

the person delivering the poem. Remember, a poem does not have to have a speaker, and the speaker and the poet are not necessarily one in the same.

Question 27

Structure (fiction)

Answer 27

The way that the writer arranges the plot of a story.

Question 28

Structure (poetry)

Answer 28

The pattern of organization of a poem. For example, a Shakespearean sonnet is a 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter. Because the sonnet is strictly constrained, it is considered a closed or fixed form. An open or free form poem has looser form, or perhaps one of the author’s invention, but it is important to remember that these poems are not necessarily formless.

Question 29

Symbolism

Answer 29

when an object is meant to be representative of something or an idea greater than the object itself.

Cross - representative of Christ or Christianity
Bald Eagle - America or Patriotism
Owl - wisdom or knowledge
Yellow - implies cowardice or rot

Question 30

Tone

Answer 30

the implied attitude towards the subject of the poem. Is it hopeful, pessimistic, dreary, worried? A poet conveys tone by combining all of the elements listed above to create a precise impression on the reader.