Week 3 Lit Terms

Question 1

Connotation

Answer 1

s a commonly understood subjective cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to the word’s or phrase’s explicit or literal meaning

EX: Aroma Stench = Smell

Question 2

Denotation

Answer 2

the literal meaning or “dictionary definition” of a term, devoid of emotion, attitude, and color

Question 3

Deus ex machina

Answer 3

a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object. Depending on usage, it can be used to move the story forward when the writer has “painted himself into a corner” and sees no other way out, to surprise the audience, or to bring a happy ending into the tale.

Question 4

Diction

Answer 4

Understood to be the distinctive tone or tenor of an author’s writings that becomes immediately synonymous with his/her name. Diction is usually judged with reference to the prevailing standards of proper writing and speech and is seen as the mark of quality of the writing. It is also understood as the selection of certain words or phrases that become peculiar to a writer.

Question 5

Doppelganger

Answer 5

“Doppelgänger” has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-alike of a person—most commonly an “evil twin”. The literal translation of the German word is “double–goer”, meaning someone who is acting (e.g. going) the same way as another person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection. They are generally regarded as harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person’s friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one’s own doppelgänger is an omen of death. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who precedes a living person and is seen performing their actions in advance.

Question 6

Ekphrasis

Answer 6

Ekphrasis or ecphrasis is the graphic, often dramatic, description of a visual work of art. In ancient times it referred to a description of any thing, person, or experience. The word comes from the Greek ek and phrasis, ‘out’ and ‘speak’ respectively, verb ekphrazein, to proclaim or call an inanimate object by name.

Question 7

Epilogue

Answer 7

a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work. It is presented from the perspective of within the story; when the author steps in and speaks directly to the reader, that is more properly considered an afterword. The opposite is a prologue - a piece of writing at the beginning of a work of literature or drama, usually used to open the story and capture interest.

Question 8

Epithet

Answer 8

a descriptive term (word or phrase) accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage.

Epithets are characteristic of the style of ancient epic poetry, notably in that of Homer or the northern European sagas. See above, as well as epithets in Homer. When James Joyce uses the phrase “the snot-green sea” he is playing on Homer’s familiar epithet “the wine-dark sea”. The phrase “Discreet Telemachus” is also considered an epithet.

Question 9

Euphemism

Answer 9

generally innocuous word, name, or phrase that replaces an offensive or suggestive one

Question 10

EUPHONY

Answer 10

A Soothing Plesent Sound