Literary Terms - Spark Notes Chark

8/12/2019 Literary Terms - Spark Notes Chark

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Next: Elements of Style

Narrative

A narrativeis a sequence of events that a narrator tells in story form. A narratorisa storyteller of any kind, whether the authorial voice in a novel or a friend telling youabout last nights party.

Point of View

The point of view is the perspective that a narrative takes toward the events itdescribes.

First-person narration:A narrative in which the narrator tells the story from hisher

own point of view and refers to himherself as !".# The narrator may be an activeparticipant in the story or $ust an observer. %hen the point of view represented isspecifically the authors, and not a fictional narrators, the story is autobiographicaland may be nonfictional&see'ommon (iterary )orms and *enres below+.

Third-person narration:The narrator remains outside the story and describes thecharacters in the story using proper names and the thirdperson pronouns !he,#!she,# !it,# and !they.#

Omniscient narration:The narrator knows all of the actions, feelings, andmotivations of all of the characters. )or e-ample, the narrator of (eoTolstoysAnna Kareninaseems to know everything about all the charactersand events in the story.

Limited omniscient narration: The narrator knows the actions, feelings,and motivations of only one or a handful of characters. )or e-ample, thenarrator of (ewis 'arrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland has fullknowledge of only Alice.

Free indirect discourse:The narrator conveys a characters inner thoughtswhile staying in the third person. *ustave )laubert pioneered this style inMadame Bovary,as in this passage !Sometimes she thought that thesewere after all the best days of her life, the honeymoon, socalled.#

Obective narration:A style in which the narrator reports neutrally on the outwardbehavior of the characters but offers no interpretation of their actions or their innerstates. Ernest /emingway pioneered this style.

!nreliable narration:The narrator is revealed over time to be an untrustworthysource of information. /umbert in 0ladimir 1abokovs Lolitaand Stevens in 2a3uo"shiguros The Remains of the Dayare good e-amples of unreliable narrators.

"tream-of-consciousness narration:The narrator conveys a sub$ects thoughts,impressions, and perceptions e-actly as they occur, often in dis$ointed fashion and

without the logic and grammar of typical speech and writing. 4olly 5loomsmonologue in the final chapter of 6ames 6oyces 7lysses is an e-ample of stream of
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consciousness. %hile streamofconsciousness narration usually is written in thefirst person, it can, by means of free indirect discourse&see above+, be written inthe third person, as in 0irginia %oolfs Mrs. Dalloay.

#haracter

A characteris a person, animal, or any other thing with a personality that appearsin a story.

Protagonist: The main character around whom the story revolves. "f theprotagonist is admirable, he or she is called the hero or heroineof the story. Aprotagonist who is not admirable, or who challenges our notions of what should beconsidered admirable, is called an antihero or antiheroine$ )or e-ample, %illy(oman in Arthur 4illers Death of a !alesmanis an antihero because he is ordinaryand pathetic, whereas 4eursault in Albert 'amuss The !tran"er is an antiherobecause he challenges the traditional conception of what a hero should be.

%ntagonist:The primary character or entity that acts to frustrate the goals of theprotagonist. The antagonist typically is a character but may also be a nonhumanforce. )or e-ample, 'laudius is the antagonist in Shakespeares #amlet,whereasthe military bureaucracy is the antagonist in 6oseph /ellers $atch%&&.

"toc& character: A common character type that recurs throughout literature.1otable e-amples include the witty servant, the scheming villain, the femme fatale,the trusty sidekick, the old miser, and so on. A stock character that holds a centralplace in a cultures folklore or consciousness may be called an archet'pe &seeThematic 4eaning, belo+.

Foil:A character who illuminates the qualities of another character by means ofcontrast. "n 6ohn 2eatss !8de to a 1ightingale,# the swiftly traveling nightingaleserves as a foil to 2eatss sleepy, opiumladen narrator.

Plot

A plotis the arrangement of the events in a story, including the sequence in whichthey are told, the relative emphasis they are given, and the causal connectionsbetween events.

(lements of a plot:A plot can have a complicated structure, but most plots havethe same basic elements.

1. #onflict:The central struggle that moves the plot forward. The conflict canbe the protagonists struggle against fate, nature, society, or another person."n certain circumstances, the conflict can be between opposing elementswithin the protagonist.

2. )ising action:The early part of the narrative, which builds momentum anddevelops the narratives ma$or conflict.

3. #limax:The moment of highest tension, at which the conflict comes to a

head. The word !clima-# can refer either to the single moment of highesttension in the plot or, more generally, to any episode of high tension. An


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anticlimaxoccurs when the plot builds up to an e-pected clima- only totease the reader with a frustrating nonevent. 6ane Austens novels, such as!ense and !ensibility,are full of romantic anticlima-es.

4. Falling action:Also called the denouement* this is the latter part of thenarrative, during which the protagonist responds to the events of the clima-

and the various plot elements introduced in the rising action are resolved.5. )eversal:Sometimes called by its *reek name, peripeteia*a reversal is a

sudden shift that sends the protagonists fortunes from good to bad or viceversa.

6. )esolution:An ending that satisfactorily answers all the questions raisedover the course of the plot.

T'pes of plot: 9lots can take a wide variety of forms, ranging from orderlysequences of clearly related events to chaotic $umbles of loosely connected events.

#hronological plot:Events are arranged in the sequence in which they

occur. Ernest /emingways The 'ld Man and the !ea,for e-ample, tells aroughly straightforward story from beginning to end.

%chronological plot:Events are not arranged in the sequence in which theyoccur. )or e-ample, /omers (liadis full of flashbacks and digressions thatrelate what happened before and after the central conflict of the poem.

#limactic plot:All the action focuses toward a single clima-. AeschylussA"amemnonis a classic e-ample of a climactic plot.

(pisodic plot: A series of loosely connected events. 'ervantess Don)ui*oteis episodic.

Non se+uitur plot: 4ore of an !antiplot,# the non sequitur plot defies

traditional logic by presenting events without any clear sequence andcharacters without any clear motivation. The theater of the absurd &see(iterary 4ovements, belo+ is particularly famous for its non sequiturs.

"ubplot:A secondary plot that is of less importance to the overall story butmay serve as a point of contrast or comparison to the main plot. )ore-ample, the subplot involving *loucester and his sons in ShakespearesKin" Learserves this function.

"etting

"etting is the location of a narrative in time and space. "t may be specifically

historical or geographical, as in the ancient :ome of :obert *ravess (, $laudius,orit may be imaginary, as in the 1everland of 6. 4. 5arries +eter +an.The suggestivemood that the setting may create is called the atmosphere$)or e-ample, the openwindows of the nursery in +eter +ancreate an atmosphere of innocence and magic.

(lements of "t'le


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Figures of Speech

Figures of speech are e-pressions that stretch words beyond their literalmeanings. 5y connecting or $u-taposing different sounds and thoughts, figures ofspeech increase the breadth and subtlety of e-pression.

%lliteration:The repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants, at the beginningof words. )or e-ample, :obert )rosts poem !8ut, out;# contains the alliterativephrase !sweet scented stuff.#

%posiopesis: A breakingoff of speech, usually because of rising emotion ore-citement. )or e-ample, !Touch me one more time, and " swear;#

%postrophe:A direct address to an absent or dead person, or to an ob$ect, quality,or idea. %alt %hitmans poem !8 'aptain, 4y 'aptain,# written upon the death ofAbraham (incoln, is an e-ample of apostrophe.

%ssonance:The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words.)or e-ample, Alfred, (ord Tennyson creates assonance with the !o# sound in thisline from !The (otosEaters# !All day the wind breathes low with mellower tone.#

#acophon':The clash of discordant or harsh sounds within a sentence or phrase.'acophony is a familiar feature of tongue twisters but can also be used to poeticeffect, as in the words !anfractuous rocks# in T. S. Eliots !Sweeney Erect.# Althoughdissonance has a different musical meaning, it is sometimes used interchangeablywith !cacophony.#

#hiasmus:Two phrases in which the synta- is the same but the placement ofwords is reversed, as in these lines from Samuel Taylor 'oleridges !The 9ains ofSleep# !To be beloved is all " need, And whom " love, " love indeed.#

#lich,:An e-pression such as !turn over a new leaf# that has been used sofrequently it has lost its e-pressive power.

#ollo+uialism:An informal e-pression or slang, especially in the conte-t of formalwriting, as in 9hilip (arkins !Send 1o 4oney# !All the other lads there %ereitching to have a bash.#

#onceit:An elaborate parallel between two seemingly dissimilar ob$ects or ideas.The metaph'sical poets&see(iterary 4ovements, belo+ are especially known fortheir conceits, as in 6ohn !ethnic cleansing#

instead of !genocide.#


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(uphon':A pleasing arrangement of sounds. 4any consider !cellar door# one ofthe most euphonious phrases in English.

'perbole:An e-cessive overstatement or conscious e-aggeration of fact !"vetold you about it a million times already.#

.diom:A common e-pression that has acquired a meaning that differs from itsliteral meaning, such as !its raining cats and dogs# or !a bolt from the blue.#

Litotes:A form of understatement in which a statement is affirmed by negating itsopposite !/e is not unfriendly.#

/eiosis: "ntentional understatement, as, for e-ample, in Shakespeares Romeoand uliet,when 4ercutio is mortally wounded and says it is only !a scratch.#4eiosis is the opposite of h'perboleand often employs litotesto ironic effect.

/etaphor:The comparison of one thing to another that does not use the terms!like# or !as.# Shakespeare is famous for his metaphors, as in Macbeth !(ife is but awalking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage.#

/ixed metaphor:A combination of metaphors that produces a confused orcontradictory image, such as !The companys collapse left mountains of debtin its wake.#

/eton'm':The substitution of one term for another that generally is associatedwith it. )or e-ample, !suits# instead of !businessmen.#

Onomatopoeia:The use of words, such as !pop,# !hiss,# and !boing,# that soundlike the thing they refer to.

Ox'moron:The association of two contrary terms, as in the e-pressions !samedifference# or !wise fool.#

Paradox:A statement that seems absurd or even contradictory on its face but oftene-presses a deeper truth. )or e-ample, a line in 8scar %ildes !The 5allad of:eading *aol# !And all men kill the thing they love.#

Paralipsis: Also known as praeteritio* the technique of drawing attention tosomething by claiming not to mention it. )or e-ample, from /erman 4elvillesMoby%Dic- !%e will not speak of all ?ueequegs peculiarities here> how heeschewed coffee and hot rolls, and applied his undivided attention to beefsteaks,done rare.#

Parallelism: The use of similar grammatical structures or word order in twosentences or phrases to suggest a comparison or contrast between them. "nShakespeares !Sonnet @B# !5efore, a $oy proposed> behind, a dream.#9arallelism also can refer to parallels between larger elements in a narrative &see(iterary Techniques, belo+.


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Pathetic fallac':The attribution of human feeling or motivation to a nonhumanob$ect, especially an ob$ect found in nature. )or e-ample, 6ohn 2eatss !8de to4elancholy# describes a !weeping# cloud.

Periphrasis:An elaborate and roundabout manner of speech that uses more words

than necessary. Saying !" appear to be entirely without financial resources# insteadof !"m broke# is an e-ample. Euphemisms often employ periphrasis.

Personification:The use of human characteristics to describe animals, things, orideas. 'arl Sandburgs poem !'hicago# describes the city as !Stormy, husky,brawling, 'ity of the 5ig Shoulders.#

Pun:A play on words that e-ploits the similarity in sound between two words withdistinctly different meanings. )or e-ample, the title of 8scar %ildes play The(mortance of Bein" /arnestis a pun on the word !earnest,# which means !seriousor sober,# and the name !Ernest,# which figures into a scheme that some of the

plays main characters perpetrate.

)hetorical +uestion:A question that is asked not to elicit a response but to makean impact or call attention to something. )or e-ample, the question !"snt shegreatC# e-presses regard for another person and does not call for discussion.

"arcasm:A simple form of verbal iron'&see(iterary Techniques, belo+ in whichit is obvious from conte-t and tone that the speaker means the opposite of what heor she says. Sarcasm usually, but not always, e-presses scorn. 'ommenting !Thatwas graceful# when someone trips and falls is an e-ample.

"imile:A comparison of two things through the use of !like# or !as.# The title of:obert 5urnss poem !4y (ove "s (ike a :ed, :ed :ose# is a simile.

"'naesthesia:The use of one kind of sensory e-perience to describe another,such as in the line !/eard melodies are sweet# in 6ohn 2eatss !8de on a *recian7rn.#

"'necdoche:A form of metonymy in which a part of an entity is used to refer to thewhole, for e-ample, !my wheels# for !my car.#

Trope:A category of figures of speech that e-tend the literal meanings of words byinviting a comparison to other words, things, or ideas. 4etaphor, metonymy, andsimile are three common tropes.

0eugma:The use of one word in a sentence to modify two other words in thesentence, typically in two different ways. )or e-ample, in 'harles


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Literary Techniques

%hereas figures of speech work on the level of individual words or sentences,writers also use a variety of techniques to add clarity or intensity to a largerpassage, advance the plot in a particular way, or suggest connections between

elements in the plot.

%llusion: An implicit reference within a literary work to a historical or literaryperson, place, or event. )or e-ample, the title of %illiam )aulkners novel The!ound and the 0uryalludes to a line from Shakespeares Macbeth. Authors useallusion to add symbolic weight because it makes subtle or implicit connections withother works. )or e-ample, in /erman 4elvilles Moby%Dic-,'aptain Ahabs namealludes to the wicked and idolatrous biblical king Ahab;a connection that addsdepth to our understanding of Ahabs character.

%nagnorisis:A moment of recognition or discovery, primarily used in reference to

*reek tragedy. )or e-ample, in Euripides The Bacchae, Agave e-periencesanagnorisis when she discovers that she has murdered her own son, 9entheus.

1athos:A sudden and une-pected drop from the lofty to the trivial or e-cessivelysentimental. 5athos sometimes is used intentionally, to create humor, but $ust asoften is derided as miscalculation or poor $udgment on a writers part. An e-amplefrom Ale-ander 9ope !De *ods Annihilate but Space and Time And make twolovers happy.#

#aricature: A description or characteri3ation that e-aggerates or distorts acharacters prominent features, usually to elicit mockery. )or e-ample, in $andide,

0oltaire portrays the character of 9angloss as a mocking caricature of the optimisticrationalism of philosophers like (eibni3.

Deus ex machina:*reek for !*od from a machine.# The phrase originally referredto a technique in ancient tragedy in which a mechanical god was lowered onto thestage to intervene and solve the plays problems or bring the play to a satisfactoryconclusion. 1ow, the term describes more generally a sudden or improbable plottwist that brings about the plots resolution.

(piphan':A sudden, powerful, and often spiritual or life changing reali3ation that acharacter reaches in an otherwise ordinary or everyday moment. 4any of the shortstories in 6ames 6oyces Dublinersinvolve moments of epiphany.

Foreshadowing: An authors deliberate use of hints or suggestions to give apreview of events or themes that do not develop until later in the narrative. )ore-ample, in Emily 5rontFs Wutherin" #ei"hts,the nightmares (ockwood has thenight he spends in 'atherines bed prefigure later events in the novel.

In medias rest:(atin for !in the middle of things.# The term refers to the techniqueof starting a narrative in the middle of the action. )or e-ample, 6ohn 4iltons+aradise Lost,which concerns the war among the angels in /eaven, opens after

the fallen angels already are in /ell and only later e-amines the events that led totheir e-pulsion from /eaven.


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.nterior monologue:A record of a characters thoughts, unmediated by a narrator."nterior monologue sometimes takes the form of stream-of-consciousnessnarration &see9oint of 0iew, above+ but often is more structured and logical thanstream of consciousness.

.nvocation: A prayer for inspiration to a god or muse usually placed at thebeginning of an epic. /omers (liadand 'dysseyboth open with invocations.

.ron': A wideranging technique of detachment that draws awareness to thediscrepancy between words and their meanings, between e-pectation andfulfillment, or, most generally, between what is and what seems to be.

Verbal iron': The use of a statement that, by its conte-t, implies itsopposite. )or e-ample, in Shakespeares ulius $aesar, Antony repeats,!5rutus is an honorable man,# while clearly implying that 5rutus isdishonorable. "arcasm&see)igures of Speech, above+ is a particularly blunt

form of verbal irony. "ituational iron':A technique in which one understanding of a situation

stands in sharp contrast to another, usually more prevalent, understanding ofthe same situation. )or e-ample, %ilfred 8wens !


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Pathos:)rom the *reek word for !feeling,# the quality in a work of literature thatevokes high emotion, most commonly sorrow, pity, or compassion. 'harles


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%estern architecture in E. 4. )orstersA +assa"e to (ndia,or may be a recurrentidea, phrase, or emotion, like (ily 5arts constant desire to move up in the world inEdith %hartons The #ouse of Mirth.

"'mbol:An ob$ect, character, figure, or color that is used to represent an abstract

idea or concept. )or e-ample, the two roads in :obert )rosts poem !The :oad 1otTaken# symboli3e the choice between two paths in life. 7nlike an emblem* asymbol may have different meanings in different conte-ts.

Theme:A fundamental and universal idea e-plored in a literary work. )or e-ample,a ma$or theme of 6ohn Steinbecks /ast of /denis the perpetual contest betweengood and evil.

Thesis:The central argument that an author makes in a work. Although the term isprimarily associated with nonfiction, it can apply to fiction. )or e-ample, the thesis of7pton Sinclairs The un"le is that 'hicago meatpacking plants sub$ect poor

immigrants to horrible and un$ust working conditions, and that the government mustdo something to address the problem.

Tone:The general atmosphere created in a story, or the narrators attitude towardthe story or reader. )or e-ample, the tone of )yodor


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%ccentual-s'llabic meter:5oth the number of stressed syllables and the numberof total syllables is fi-ed. Accentualsyllabic meter has been the most common kindof meter in English poetry since 'haucer in the late 4iddle Ages.

6uantitative meter:The duration of sound of each syllable, rather than its stress,

determines the meter. ?uantitative meter is common in *reek, (atin, Sanskrit, andArabic but not in English.

The Foot

The footis the basic rhythmic unit into which a line of verse can be divided. %henreciting verse, there usually is a slight pause between feet. %hen this pause isespecially pronounced, it is called a caesura$The process of analy3ing the numberand type of feet in a line is called scansion$

These are the most common types of feet in English poetry.

.amb:An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable !to da'# Trochee:A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable ! carry# 2act'l:A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables ! difficult# %napest:Two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable !it is

time# "pondee:Two successive syllables with strong stresses 7stop* thief8 P'rrhic:Two successive syllables with light stresses !up to#

4ost English poetry has four or five feet in a line, but it is not uncommon to see asfew as one or as many as eight.

/onometer:8ne foot 2imeter:Two feet Trimeter:Three feet Tetrameter:)our feet Pentameter:)ive feet exameter:Si- feet eptameter:Seven feet Octameter:Eight feet

T'pes of %ccentual-"'llabic /eter

Accentualsyllabic meter is determined by the number and type of feet in a line ofverse.

.ambic pentameter:Each line of verse has five feet &pentameter+, each of whichconsists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable &iamb+. "ambicpentameter is one of the most popular metrical schemes in English poetry.

1lan& verse: 7nrhymed iambic pentameter. 5lank verse bears a closeresemblance to the rhythms of ordinary speech, giving poetry a natural feel.

Shakespeares plays are written primarily in blank verse.


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1allad: Alternating tetrameter and trimeter, usually iambic and rhyming. 5alladform, which is common in traditional folk poetry and song, en$oyed a revival in the:omantic period with such poems as Samuel Taylor 'oleridges !The :ime of theAncient 4ariner.#

Free verse:0erse that does not conform to any fi-ed meter or rhyme scheme. )reeverse is not, however, loose or unrestricted its rules of composition are as strictand difficult as traditional verse, for they rely on less evident rhythmic patterns togive the poem shape. %alt %hitmans Leaves of 3rassis a seminal work of freeverse.

Line and Stanza

9oetry generally is divided into lines of verse. A grouping of lines, equivalent to aparagraph in prose, is called a stan9a$8n the printed page, line breaks normallyare used to separate stan3as from one another.

T'pes of )h'me

8ne common way of creating a sense of musicality between lines of verse is tomake them rh'me$

(nd rh'me:A rhyme that comes at the end of a line of verse. 4ost rhyming poetryuses end rhymes.

.nternal rh'me:A rhyme between two or more words within a single line of verse,as in !*ods *randeur# by *erard 4anley /opkins !And all is seared with trade>bleared, smeared with toil.#

/asculine rh'me:A rhyme consisting of a single stressed syllable, as in the rhymebetween !car# and !far.#

Feminine rh'me: A rhyme consisting of a stressed syllable followed by anunstressed syllable, as in the rhyme between !mother# and !brother.#

Perfect rh'me:An e-act match of sounds in a rhyme.

"lant rh'me: An imperfect rhyme, also called obli+ue rh'me or off rh'me* inwhich the sounds are similar but not e-actly the same, as between !port# and!heart.# 4odern poets often use slant rhyme as a subtler alternative to perfectrhyme.

)h'me "chemes

:hymes do not always occur between two successive lines of verse. /ere aresome of the most common rh'me schemes$


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#ouplet:Two successive rhymed lines that are equal in length. A heroic coupletisa pair of rhyming lines in iambic pentameter. "n Shakespeares plays, charactersoften speak a heroic couplet before e-iting, as in these lines from /amlet !The timeis out of $oint 8 cursed spite, That ever " was born to set it right#

6uatrain:A fourline stan3a. The most common form of English verse, the quatrainhas many variants. 8ne of the most important is the heroic +uatrain*written iniambic pentameter with an A5A5 rhyme scheme.

Tercet:A grouping of three lines, often bearing a single rhyme.

Terza rima:A system of interlaced tercets linked by common rhymes A5A 5'5'


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ai&u:A compact form of 6apanese poetry written in three lines of five, seven, andfive syllables, respectively.

Limeric&:A fanciful fiveline poem with an AA55A rhyme scheme in which the first,second, and fifth lines have three feet and the third and fourth have two feet.

tta!a rima:"n English, an eightline stan3a with iambic pentameter and the rhymescheme A5A5A5''. This form is difficult to use in English, where it is hard to findtwo rhyming triplets that do not sound childish. "ts effect is ma$estic yet simple.%illiam 5utler Deatss poem !Among School 'hildren# uses ottava rima.

"estina:Si- si-line stan3as followed by a threeline stan3a. The same si- wordsare repeated at the end of lines throughout the poem in a predetermined pattern.The last word in the last line of one stan3a becomes the last word of the first line inthe ne-t. All si- endwords appear in the final threeline stan3a. Sir 9hilip SidneysArcadiacontains e-amples of the sestina.

"onnet: A singlestan3a lyric poem containing fourteen lines written in iambicpentameter. "n some formulations, the first eight lines 4octave5pose a question ordilemma that is resolved in the final si- lines 4sestet5$There are three predominantsonnet forms.

.talian or Petrarchan sonnet:


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%necdote:The brief narration of a single event or incident.

%phorism:A concise e-pression of insight or wisdom !The vanity of others offendsour taste only when it offends our vanity# &)riedrich 1iet3sche, Beyond 3ood and/vil+.

%utobiograph':The nonfictional story of a persons life, told by that person. St.Augustines $onfessions is an early, canonical work in this genre &see alsomemoir*belo+.

1allad:Traditionally, a folk song telling a story or legend in simple language, oftenwith a refrain. A number of poets outside the folk tradition have adopted the balladform, as Samuel Taylor 'oleridge did in !The :ime of the Ancient 4ariner.#

1iograph': The nonfictional story of a persons life. 6ames 5oswells Life ofohnsonis one of the most celebrated works of biography. %hen the author of a

biography is also its sub$ect, the work is an autobiograph'&see above+.

1lac& comed':


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2'stopic literature:A genre of fiction that presents an imagined future society thatpurports to be perfect and utopian but that the author presents to the reader ashorrifyingly inhuman. 7sually the author intends to warn contemporary readers thattheir own society resembles, or is in danger of resembling, this flawed future world.*eorge 8rwells @BJK and Aldous /u-leys Brave 1e Worldare wellknown works

of dystopic literature.

(clogue:A short pastoralpoem &see belo+ in the form of a solilo+u'&see belo+or dialogue between two shepherds. 0irgils /clo"uesis the most famous e-ampleof this genre.

(leg':A formal poem that laments the death of a friend or public figure, or,occasionally, a meditation on death itself. "n *reek and (atin poetry, the termapplies to a specific type of meter &alternating he-ameters and pentameters+regardless of content, but only some elegies in English obey that meter. 9ercy5ysshe Shelleys poem !Adonais,# which mourns the death of 6ohn 2eats, is an

e-ample of an elegy.

(pic:A lengthy narrative that describes the deeds of a heroic figure, often ofnational or cultural importance, in elevated language. Strictly, the term applies onlyto verse narratives like Beoulfor 0irgilsAeneid,but it is used to describe prose,drama, or film works of similar scope, such as (eo Tolstoys War and +eace or0ictor /ugos Les Mis5rables.

(pigram: A succinct, witty statement, often in verse. )or e-ample, %illiam%ordsworths observation !The child is the father of the man.#

(ssa':A form of nonfictional discussion or argument that 4ichel de 4ontaignepioneered in the @HGGs. Essays are fle-ible in form although they usually are shortprose works, there are also e-amples of booklength essays &by 6ohn (ocke+ andverse essays &by Ale-ander 9ope+.

Fable:A short prose or verse narrative, such as those by Aesop, that illustrates amoral, which often is stated e-plicitly at the end. )requently, the characters in afable are animals that embody different human character traits.

Fiction:An invented narrative, as opposed to one that reports true events.

Legend:A story about a heroic figure derived from oral tradition and based partlyon fact and partly on fiction. The terms legend and m'th&see belo+ are often usedinterchangeably, but legends are typically rooted in real historical events, whereasmyths are primarily supernatural. The stories of 2ing Arthur and :obin /ood aree-amples of legends.

L'ric:A short poetic composition that describes the thoughts of a single speaker.4ost modern poetry is lyrical &as opposed to dramatic or narrative+, employing suchcommon forms as the ode and sonnet.

/emoir:An autobiographical work. :ather than focus e-clusively on the authorslife, it pays significant attention to the authors involvement in historical events and


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the characteri3ation of individuals other than the author. A famous e-ample is%inston 'hurchills Memoirs of the !econd World War.

/etafiction:)iction that concerns the nature of fiction itself, either by reinterpretinga previous fictional work or by drawing attention to its own fictional status. E-amples

of the former include 6ohn *ardners 3rendel,which retells the AngloSa-on epicBeoulf from a new perspective, and 4ichael 'unninghams The #ours, whichportrays three women connected to 0irginia %oolfs Mrs. Dalloay,including %oolfherself. An e-ample of the latter is 4ilan 2underas The 2nbearable Li"htness ofBein",in which the narrator tells the story and simultaneously comments on his owntelling of the story.

/'th: A story about the origins of a cultures beliefs and practices, or ofsupernatural phenomena, usually derived from oral tradition and set in an imaginedsupernatural past. 8vids Metamorhosesis a famous early e-ample. Some writers,such as %illiam 5lake and %illiam 5utler Deats, have invented their own myths.

4yths are similar, but not equivalent, to legends&see above+.

Noir:A fiction genre, populari3ed in the @BKGs, with a cynical, disillusioned, lonerprotagonist. 1oir often involves crime or the criminal underworld. The term stemsfrom !film noir,# which describes films of similar style and content. 'lassic e-amplesof noir fiction include :aymond 'handlers The Bi" !leeand


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Novel of manners:A novel that focuses on the social customs of a certainclass of people, often with a sharp eye for irony. 6ane Austens novels areprime e-amples of this genre.

Picares+ue novel: 8riginally, a realistic novel detailing a scoundrelse-ploits. The term grew to refer more generally to any novel with a loosely

structured, episodic plot that revolves around the adventures of a centralcharacter. 'ervantess Don )ui*oteis a classic picaresque novel. "ocial protest novel:A novel in which the authors aim is to tell a story that

illuminates and draws attention to contemporary social problems with thegoal of inciting change for the better. /arriet 5eecher Stowes 2ncle Toms$abin,which e-posed the horrors of African American slavery, and 6ohnSteinbecks The 3raes of Wrath,which populari3ed the plight of pennilessmigrant workers during the *reat


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plays The Threeenny 'eraand Mother $oura"eare two famous works inthis genre.

Farce: A form of highenergy comedy that plays on confusions anddeceptions between characters and features a convoluted and fastpacedplot. )arce often incorporates buffoonery, slapstick, and stock characters to

provoke uproarious laughter. 4oliMre was a master of farce with such playsas The (ma"inary (nvalid. /iracle pla':A play from the 4iddle Ages featuring saints or miraculous

appearances by the 0irgin 4ary. /oralit' pla': A play written in the fifteenth or si-teenth centuries that

presents an allegor'&see above+ of the 'hristian struggle for salvation. /'ster' pla':A short play based on a biblical story. 4ystery plays, popular

in the 4iddle Ages, often were presented in c'cles*in which do3ens of playswere performed at different locations throughout a city and collectivelypresented the most significant moments in the 5ible.

Noh drama:A rituali3ed form of 6apanese drama that evolved in the @NGGs

involving masks and slow, styli3ed movement. Problem pla':A play that confronts a contemporary social problem with the

intent of changing public opinion on the matter. /enrik "bsen populari3ed thisform in plays such as #edda 3abler.

Traged':A serious play that ends unhappily for the protagonist. SophoclesAnti"oneis one of the bestknown *reek tragedies.

Tragicomed': A play such as Shakespeares A Winters Tale that mi-eselements of tragedy and comedy.

One-act pla':A play consisting of a single act, without intermission andrunning usually less than an hour. Edward Albees 7oo !toryis a wellknown

e-ample.Primitivist literature:%orks that e-press a preference for the natural over theartificial in human culture, and a belief that the life of primitive cultures is preferableto modern lifestyles. 9rimitivism is often associated with a nostalgia for the lostinnocence of a natural, childlike past. 6ean6acques :ousseau was one of theforemost advocates of primitivism in works such as ulie, ou la 1ouvelle #5lo8se.

Propaganda:A work of didactic literature that aims to influence the reader on aspecific social or political issue. Thomas 9aines $ommon !enseis an e-ample ofpropaganda instrumental in the American :evolution.

Prose: Any composition not written in verse. The basic unit of prose is thesentence, which distinguishes it from free verse&see poetr'*above+, in which thebasic unit is a line of verse. 9rose writing can be rhythmic, but on the whole, rhythmin prose is less pronounced than in verse. 9rose works encompass everything from/enry 6amess The Ambassadors, with its elaborate sentences, to Amy Tansinterconnected stories in The oy Luc- $lub.

Prose poem: A poetic work that features the strong rhythms of free verse &see)h'thm and /eter*above+ but is presented on the page in the form of prose,without line breaks. Arthur :imbauds (lluminationsis an e-ample of a prose poem.


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)omance:A nonrealistic story, in verse or prose, that features ideali3ed characters,improbable adventures, and e-otic settings. Although love often plays a significantrole, the association of !romance# with !love# is a modern phenomenon. :omances,such as Edmund Spensers The 0aerie )ueene,were particularly popular in the4iddle Ages and :enaissance.

#hivalric romance:A romance that describes the adventures of medievalknights and celebrates their strict code of honor, loyalty, and respectfuldevotion to women. Sir *awain and the *reen 2night is an e-ample of achivalric romance.

"atire:A work that e-poses to ridicule the shortcomings of individuals, institutions,or society, often to make a political point. 6onathan Swifts 3ullivers Travelsis oneof the most well known satires in English.

"cience fiction:)iction that is set in an alternative reality;often a technologically

advanced future;and that contains fantastical elements. The genre traces its rootsto the works of 6ules 0erne and /. *. %ells in the late @JGGs. 1otable Gthcenturyscience fiction writers include :ay 5radbury and "saac Asimov.

"hort stor':A work of prose fiction that is much shorter than a novel &rarely morethan forty pages+ and focused more tightly on a single event. 2atherine 4ansfields!The *arden 9arty# is a masterful short story.

"hort-short stor':A particularly compressed and truncated short story. Shortshortstories are rarely longer than @,GGG words.

"olilo+u':A speech, often in verse, by a lone character. Soliloquies are mostcommon in drama, perhaps the most famous e-ample being the !To be or not to be#speech in Shakespeares #amlet.

Literar' /ovements and Periods

(iterature constantly evolves as new movements emerge to speak to the concernsof different groups of people and historical periods.

%bsurd* literature of the 4c$ ;?;5:A movement, primarily in the theater,that responded to the seeming illogicality and purposelessness of human life inworks marked by a lack of clear narrative, understandable psychological motives, oremotional catharsis. Samuel 5ecketts Waitin" for 3odot is one of the mostcelebrated works in the theater of the absurd.

%estheticism 4c$ ;A=B?;5:A late@Bthcentury movement that believed in art asan end in itself. Aesthetes such as 8scar %ilde and %alter 9ater re$ected the viewthat art had to posses a higher moral or political value and believed instead in !artfor arts sake.#


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%ngr' Coung /en 4;s?;s5:A group of male 5ritish writers who createdvisceral plays and fiction at odds with the political establishment and a selfsatisfiedmiddle class. 6ohn 8sbornes play Loo- Bac- in An"er&@BHL+ is one of the seminalworks of this movement.

1eat eneration 4;s?;s5:A group of American writers in the @BHGs and@BIGs who sought release and illumination though a bohemian counterculture ofse-, drugs, and Oen 5uddhism. 5eat writers such as 6ack 2erouac &'n The Road+and Allen *insberg ol+ gained fame by giving readings in coffeehouses, oftenaccompanied by $a33 music.

1loomsbur' roup 4c$ ;D?;s5:An informal group of friends and lovers,including 'live 5ell, E. 4. )orster, :oger )ry, (ytton Strachey, 0irginia %oolf, and6ohn 4aynard 2eynes, who lived in the 5loomsbury section of (ondon in the earlyGth century and who had a considerable liberali3ing influence on 5ritish culture.

#ommedia dellEarte 4;B>>s?;@>>s5: "mprovisational comedy first developed in:enaissance "taly that involved stock characters and centered around a setscenario. The elements of farce and buffoonery in commedia dellarte, as well as itsstandard characters and plot intrigues, have had a tremendous influence on%estern comedy, and can still be seen in contemporary drama and televisionsitcoms.

2adaism 4;


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1e 1e"ro,Oora 1eale /urstons novel Their /yes Were Watchin" 3od,and thepoetry of (angston /ughes and 'ountee 'ullen.

Lost eneration 4c$ ;


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plot and character, in favor of neutrally recording the e-perience of sensations andthings.

Postcolonial literature 4c$ ;s?present5:(iterature by and about people fromformer European colonies, primarily in Africa, Asia, South America, and the

'aribbean. This literature aims both to e-pand the traditional canon of %esternliterature and to challenge Eurocentric assumptions about literature, especiallythrough e-amination of questions of otherness, identity, and race. 9rominentpostcolonial works include 'hinua Achebes Thin"s 0all Aart,0. S. 1aipaulsA#ouse for Mr. Bisas,and Salman :ushdies Midni"hts $hildren.Edward Saids'rientalism &@BLJ+ provided an important theoretical basis for understandingpostcolonial literature.

Postmodernism 4c$ ;


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"urrealism 4;s?;s5:An avantgarde movement, based primarily in )rance,that sought to break down the boundaries between rational and irrational, consciousand unconscious, through a variety of literary and artistic e-periments. Thesurrealist poets, such as AndrP 5reton and 9aul Eluard, were not as successful astheir artist counterparts, who included Salvador 5: An American philosophical and spiritualmovement, based in 1ew England, that focused on the primacy of the individualconscience and re$ected materialism in favor of closer communion with nature.

:alph %aldo Emersons !Self:eliance# and /enry


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2econstruction 4;


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Fran&furt "chool 4c$ ;


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theory draws on the work of the :ussian )ormalists, as well as the linguistictheories of )erdinand de Saussure and '. S. 9eirce.

Literar' Terms and Theories

Literar' theor' is notorious for its complex and somewhat inaccessibleargon$ The following list defines some of the more commonl' encounteredterms in the field$

%nxiet' of influence:A theory that the critic /arold 5loom put forth in The An*ietyof (nfluence9 A Theory of +oetry&@BLN+. 5loom uses )reuds idea of the Oedipuscomplex &see belo+ to suggest that poets, plagued by an-iety that they havenothing new to say, struggle against the influence of earlier generations of poets.5loom suggests that poets find their distinctive voices in an act of misprision* ormisreading, of earlier influences, thus refiguring the poetic tradition. Although 5loompresents his thesis as a theory of poetry, it can be applied to other arts as well.

#anon:A group of literary works commonly regarded as central or authoritative tothe literary tradition. )or e-ample, many critics concur that the %estern canon;thecentral literary works of %estern civili3ation;includes the writings of /omer,Shakespeare, Tolstoy, and the like. A canon is an evolving entity, as works areadded or subtracted as their perceived value shifts over time. )or e-ample, thefiction of %. Somerset 4augham was central to the canon during the middle of theGth century but is read less frequently today. "n recent decades, the idea of anauthoritative canon has come under attack, especially from feminist andpostcolonial critics, who see the canon as a tyranny of dead white males thatmarginali3es less mainstream voices.

2eath of the author:A poststructuralist theory, first advanced by :oland 5arthes,that suggests that the reader, not the author, creates the meaning of a te-t.7ltimately, the very idea of an author is a fiction invented by the reader.

2iachronicJs'nchronic:Terms that )erdinand de Saussure used to describe twodifferent approaches to language. The diachronicapproach looks at language as ahistorical process and e-amines the ways in which it has changed over time. Thes'nchronicapproach looks at language at a particular moment in time, withoutreference to history. Saussures structuralist approach is synchronic, for it studieslanguage as a system of interrelated signs that have no reference to anything &suchas history+ outside of the system.

2ialogicJmonologic: Terms that the :ussian critic 4ikhail 5akhtin used todistinguish works that are controlled by a single, authorial voice 4monologic5fromworks in which no single voice predominates 4dialogic or pol'phonic5$ 5akhtintakes (eo Tolstoy and )yodor


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2iscourse:A poststructuralist term for the wider social and intellectual conte-t inwhich communication takes place. The implication is that the meaning of works isas dependent on their surrounding conte-t as it is on the content of the worksthemselves.

(xegesis:An e-planation of a te-t that clarifies difficult passages and analy3es itscontemporary relevance or application.

(xplication:A close reading of a te-t that identifies and e-plains the figurativelanguage and forms within the work.

ermeneutics:The study of te-tual interpretation and of the way in which a te-tcommunicates meaning.

.ntertextualit':The various relationships a te-t may have with other te-ts, throughallusions, borrowing of formal or thematic elements, or simply by reference to

traditional literary forms. The term is important to structuralist and poststructuralistcritics, who argue that te-ts relate primarily to one another and not to an e-ternalreality.

Linguistics:The scientific study of language, encompassing, among other things,the study of s'ntax* semantics*and the evolution of language.

Logocentrism:The desire for an ultimate guarantee of meaning, whether *od,Truth, :eason, or something else. 6acques rather, they assert, alllanguage is on an even plane and therefore there is no essential differencebetween literature and criticism.

/etanarrative: A larger framework within which we understand historical

processes. )or instance, a 4ar-ist metanarrative sees history primarily as a historyof changing material circumstances and class struggle. 9oststructuralist criticsdraw our attention to the ways in which assumed met narratives can be used astools of political domination.

/imesis:!eediegesisJmimesis*above.

/onologic:!eedialogicJmonologic*above.

Narratolog':The study of narrative, encompassing the different kinds of narrativevoices, forms of narrative, and possibilities of narrative analysis.


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Oedipus complex:Sigmund )reuds theory that a male child feels unconscious$ealousy toward his father and lust for his mother. The name comes fromSophocles play 'edius Re*, in which the main character unknowingly kills hisfather and marries his mother. )reud applies this theory in an influential reading of/amlet, in which he sees /amlet as struggling with his admiration of 'laudius, who

fulfilled /amlets own desire of murdering /amlets father and marrying his mother.

"emantics:The branch of linguisticsthat studies the meanings of words.

"emiotics or semiolog':Terms for the study of sign s'stemsand the ways inwhich communication functions through conventions in sign systems. Semiotics iscentral to structuralist linguistics$

"ignJsignifierJsignified: Terms fundamental to )erdinand de Saussuresstructuralism linguistics. A signis a basic unit of meaning;a word, picture, or handgesture, for instance, that conveys some meaning. A signifier is the perceptible

aspect of a sign &e.g., the word !car#+ while the signifiedis the conceptual aspect ofa sign &e.g., the concept of a car+. A referentis a physical ob$ect to which a signsystem refers &e.g., thephysical car itself+.

"'nchronic:!eediachronicJs'nchronicabove.

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