English Literary Terms Part II
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Created by:
bewilderme on May 19, 2012
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29 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Syllogism | a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion. A=B, B=C, so A=C. "All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal." |
| Logos | an appeal based on logic or reason |
| Verbal Irony | In this type of irony, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's true meaning |
| Anecdote | A story or brief episode told by the writer or a character to illustrate a point. |
| Denotation | the literal or dictionary meaning of a word |
| Dramatic Irony | In this type of irony, facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or a piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work |
| Parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. |
| Connotation | the feelings or emotions surrounding/associated with a word, beyond its literal meaning. Generally positive or negative in nature. |
| Repetition | The duplication, either exact or approximate, or any element of language, such as sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. |
| Syntax | The grammatical structure of prose and poetry. |
| Voice | Two definitions/uses. One refers to the total "sound" of the writer's style.The second refers to the relationship between a sentence's subject and verb (active and passive). |
| Argumentation | Writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments; persuasive writing is a form of argumentation |
| Allusion | A reference to another work outside of the present work. |
| Genre | The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama. |
| Stream-of-consciousness | A narrative technique that places the reader in the mind and thought process of the narrator, no matter how random and spontaneous that may be. |
| Allegory | A work that functions on a symbolic level (a type of extended symbolism) |
| Parallelism | similarity in structure and syntax in a series of related words, phrases, clauses, sentences, or paragraphs that develops balance. Ex. "When you are right, you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative"- MLK |
| Analogy | Drawing a comparison to show a similarity in some respect. It is assumed that what applies to a parallel situation also applies to the original circumstance. |
| Description | A rhetorical mode based in the five senses. It aims to re-create, invent, or present something so that the reader can experience it. |
| Rhetoric | the techniques and rules for using language effectively, eloquently, and persuasively. |
| Third Person Limited | Point of view in which narrator exists outside of all characters, but is privy to the feelings and thoughts of one character, presenting only the actions of all remaining characters |
| Third Person Omniscient | Point of view in which an all-knowing narrator who is privy to the thoughts and actions of any or all characters. |
| Character | one who carries out the action of the plot in literature. Major, minor, static, and dynamic are the types. |
| Colloquialism | Slang in writing, used often to create local color and to provide an informal tone. Twain's Huck Finn |
| Antecedent | the word, phrase, or clause that a pronoun refers to. |
| Thesis | The sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition. |
| Tone | Attitudes and presuppositions of the author that are revealed by their linguistic choices (diction, syntax, rhetorical devices) |
| Prose | The literary genre that is written in ordinary language and most closely resembles everyday speech. Opposite of verse. |
| Asyndeton | Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words, speeds up flow of sentence. X, Y, Z as opposed to X, Y, and Z. |
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