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Short Fiction > Terms and definitions > Flashcards

Terms and definitions Flashcards

1
Q

Juxtaposition

A

relationship between events

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2
Q

Protagonist

A

hero/main character of the story

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3
Q

Antagonist

A

Character against the protagonist

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4
Q

Static character

A

doesn’t change

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5
Q

Dynamic

A

character that changes over time

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6
Q

flat

A

“one note” few sides

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7
Q

Rounded

A

Complex, 3D, many sides of people

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8
Q

Omniscient narrator

A

3rd person, knows everything, sees into the minds of all characters

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9
Q

Limited omniscient narrator

A

3rd person, enter the mind of 1 or 2 characters

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10
Q

Objective narrator

A

3rd person, detached perspective, report what can be seen or heard, bystander, doesn’t have any judgment.

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11
Q

1st person narrator

A

participant of the story, unreliable (children or older people, convince us of stg, speaks to you)

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12
Q

Setting

A

time and place

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13
Q

Atmosphere

A

mood of the story, it fosters the reader’s expectations

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14
Q

tone

A

author’s attitude towards his subject

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15
Q

voice

A

The way the author uses the narrator’s voice in a certain style (comedy, drama, irony, tragedy, serious

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16
Q

style

A

The way a writer uses language (plain, ornate, colloquial, formal) (irony, heavy reliance on adjectives, metaphors)

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17
Q

Diction

A

author’s choice of words

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18
Q

Archetypes

A

recurring characters (universal, ex: hero, symbol of a rose=love), events, symbols

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19
Q

Theme

A

Unifying idea that runs through the story

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20
Q

Moral

A

Unitary, singular, and directed at personal behaviour or belief

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21
Q

Formalist

A

all elements tied in one theme

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22
Q

Post-structuralists

A

Multiplicity of themes or readings

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23
Q

Different types of characterization

A

1- direct : telling
2- indirect : showing

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24
Q

Parallels

A

can be made between 2 characters

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25
Q

Poetic justice

A

good and virtuous: rewarded
Bad and vicious: punished

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26
Q

Unity of effect

A

A story is so short that every word and details are important to create an effect on the reader

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27
Q

Frame narrative

A

A story within a story

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28
Q

Short story

A

Reading that can be done in one sitting

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29
Q

Precursors of the short story

A

Chaucer (Canterbury tales)
Boccaccio (The Decameron)

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30
Q

satire

A

Irony

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31
Q

Narrative tension

A

The suspense of not knowing what happens next in the story. It’s what sustains the reader’s interest and keeps them reading

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32
Q

Allegory

A

The story has a second meaning (extended metaphor)

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33
Q

Imagery

A

Visually descriptive or figurative language in a literary work

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34
Q

Metaphor

A

Comparison between 2 things

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35
Q

Simile

A

Comparison between 2 things with the words: like, as, such as

36
Q

Symbol

A

Object that represents stg else

37
Q

Foreshadowing

A

Indications/clues that indicates of a future event

38
Q

literary allusion

A

Reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work of art in another work of literature

39
Q

Epiphany

A

Flash of insight, lightbulb moment

40
Q

Verbal irony

A

“sarcasm” use of words

41
Q

Situational irony

A

Event or situation opposite of what you expect

42
Q

Dramatic irony

A

Readers know stg that the character does not

43
Q

Structural irony

A

The outcome of a situation is contrary to what is expected or intended

44
Q

Locus amoenus

A

An idyllic place/landscape
Quiet, comfortable

45
Q

Synecdoche

A

a part to represent a whole

46
Q

Coming-of-age/Bildungsroman

A

Growth of the protagonist child to an adult
Spiritual growing
Modernism

47
Q

Quest motif

A

Hero embarks on an adventure to achieve a specific goal, often facing challenges and obstacles on his way

48
Q

Archetype

A

Type that is embodied by the character is experienced as universal truth

49
Q

Stereotypical

A

type is borrowed directly from everyday life and repeats certain lazy and inaccurate habits of generalization

50
Q

Hero’s journey

A

-call: hero summoned to go on a quest
-Difficulties along the way
-treasure
-transformation of a hero
Separation-initiation-return

51
Q

Romanticism

A

Perrault, Grimms, Irving, Hawthorne, Poe
-Sublime, emotion, nature
-individual vs society

52
Q

Realism

A

-James, Crane, Bierce
-represents life as it already is
-ordinary/low-life characters
Human behaviour: determined by heredity and/or environment

53
Q

Naturalism

A

-Freud, Marx, Darwin, Comte
-emphasis on harsh aspects of life
-determinism
-human behaviour: forces beyond their control (nature, heredity, social forces)
-pessimism about human behaviour
-low socio-economical characters

54
Q

Modernism

A

-After WW1
-Woolf, Joyce, Darwin, Marx, Freud
-Make it new
-rejection of conventional+ traditional institutions
-Stream of consciousness
-shift of povs
-open endings
-hedonism, cynical, despair
-absence of plot
-writes about nothing

55
Q

Post-modernism

A

-After WWII
-Literature: absurd, antihero, antinovel, beat writers, concrete poetry, metafiction, new novel

56
Q

Impressionism

A

Subjective/highly personal style of writing
colour, light and movement

57
Q

Contribution of Poe

A

Unity of effect, invention of science fiction

58
Q

Contribution of Virginia Woolf

A

Writes about small things
Stream of consciousness (interior monologue)

59
Q

Contributions of Nathaniel Hawthorne

A

Uses older material in a new way + uses conventions in more effective way s or went beyond them

60
Q

Contribution of Ambrose Bierce

A

Realist approach + romantic passages

61
Q

Another word to say: story

A

Narrative

62
Q

Twist

A

Unexpected development/ending

63
Q

Pathetic Fallacy

A

Attribution of human emotion to inanimate objects, nature or animals (Ex: The Painted Door: “angry little snakes of snow”)

64
Q

Georgic Literature

A

rural, farm topics (Ex. The Painted Door: “There’ll be chores for me to do”)

65
Q

Ghost story genre

A

-Contain supernatural, ghost element, include fear, someone who does not believe
-Ominous setting: hidden rooms, sounds and mysterious stains = the strange and sinister
-Back story (reason for the ghost to be present)
-Fine balance between psychological and the spectral
-Blurring between reality and madness or projection
-Atmosphere: the mood + resonance, sounds, scents + tense awareness = anything could happen
(Ex: The Demon Lover by Elizabeth Bowen)

66
Q

Types of Imagery (8) (The demon Lover, Studies in the Park)

A
  • Visual (sight)
  • Auditory (hearing)
  • Olfactory (smell)
  • Tactile (touch)
  • Gustatory (taste)
  • Abstract or conceptual (appeals to the intellect)
  • Kinetic (of or related to the motion of bodies)
  • Kinaesthetic (pertaining to feeling or imagining the sense of movement/or the making of motion
67
Q

Irony: Verbal

A

use of words to express the opposite of the literal meaning. Depends on knowledge of the fictional speaker’s ironic intention, which is shared both by speaker + reader

68
Q

Situational Irony

A

event or situation = reverse of what is expected

69
Q

Structural Irony

A

depends on a knowledge of the author’s ironic intention, which is shared by the reader but is not intended by the fictional speaker.

70
Q

Dramatic Irony

A

the audience or reader shares with the author knowledge of present or future circumstances of which the character is ignorant.

71
Q

Synaesthesia

A

a blending or confusion of different kinds of sense impressions. Ex: loud colours, bitter cold, sweet sound. (Ex: The Demon Lover, Studies in The Park)

72
Q

Postcolonial Literature (Studies in the Park by Anita Desai, Vengeful creditor by Chinua Achebe

A

-Voice of people that were once colonized by Europeans powers and marginalized
-Authors have anti-colonial pushback  navigate between tradition and modernity

73
Q

Post-colonialism + Post-modernism

A

-Desire to break taboos
-Desire to tell stories/experiences
-Marginalized people
-Those in the center = power
-Those on the margin’s borders (periphery) = marginalized + lack power

74
Q

Archetype

A

symbol, theme, setting or character type that recurs in different times and places in myth, literature and folklore as to suggest that it embodies elements of universal human experience.

75
Q

Trickster Character

A

-Archetype character
-Complex character type known for trickery, buffoonery, and crude behavior.
-Creator, culture hero and teacher
-Both protagonist + antagonist
-Dichotomy of good and evil
-“Coyote is a very popular figure, playing his role of scheming, self-seeking trickster, stirring up trouble, testing and violating moral precepts. He provides a vicarious escape from social restrictions—that is, until his usual come-uppance for such outrageous misbehavior reinforces them.”

76
Q

Biculturalism

A

Coexistence of two dominant cultures in a society/country/region

77
Q

Multiculturalism

A

Coexistence of culturally diverse population

78
Q

Marginalization

A

The act of treating someone or stg as if they are not important

79
Q

Assimilation

A

The process of taking and fully understanding it its culture and religion to assimilate them to a dominant culture.

80
Q

Motif

A

Situation, idea, image, incident found in many different literary works  elaborated into general theme (can occur many times) (How to Pronounce Knife, Simple Recipes)

81
Q

Symbol

A

has a literal meaning and an abstract meaning (might occur once to have impact)

82
Q

Allusion

A

A reference made to something that is not directly mentioned

83
Q

Self-reflexive

A
84
Q

Magic realism

A

Realistic narrative combined with surreal elements of dream or fantasy (Messages in Bottles by Heather O’Neill)

85
Q

Metafiction

A

-The “point” of the novel or story is about the process of making fiction
-calls attention to the arbitrariness and artificiality of fictional constructions

86
Q

Post-modernism (1945 (Europe) or 1960 (N-A))

A

-Satire, parody, jokes, black humor often dominate the tone of a work of fiction
-Social/scientific progress is rejected
-Individual: random collection or collage of miscellaneous pieces of the external culture (Simple Recipes, How to pronounce Knife)
-Aspects of present culture, fantastic combination (ancient myths + cartoons)
-Objective reality: Inseparable boundaries between reality and illusion

Short Fiction (3 decks)

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