Literary Terms
Order by
35 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Allegory | A symbolic narrative Usually relates to a dark theme, (civilization, evil) |
| Allusion | A brief reference to a person, event, or place, or work of art in a narrative |
| Conflict | a struggle found in a narrative |
| 3 Types of Conflicts | 1) Man vs. man 2) Man vs. nature 3) Man vs. self |
| Diction | a writer's or speaker's choice of words |
| in media res | "in the middle of things" i.e. beginning an epic poem in the middle of the action, then using flashbacks |
| Invocation to a god | when a poet calls on a god for an blessing or inspiration |
| statement of theme or purpose | in a long epic when a poet begins with announcing what the recitation was to be about |
| Epithet | descriptive word or phrase, "bright eyed goddess" |
| Catalogues | lists of things (gifts, warriors, etc) |
| Long and formal speeches | often said during battle, council or banquet |
| intervention of the gods | the helping and intervening of gods throughout the epic |
| epic digressions | These are passages that do not further the action of the story because they are asides or because they are repetitions. Have themes that underscore what is taking place in the main story. As repetition, the audience had to remember a vast amount of material, so redundancy or reminding them of background material would have been helpful to them. Ex. Aganemnon |
| Vast setting in time and space | dealing with the past and all known places |
| Epic hero | of noble birth, brave, strong, and clever, but have one major flaw Ex. Hubris |
| Foreshadowing | to show or indicate beforehand |
| Hyberbole | Obvious and intentional exaggeration Ex. "scared to death" "hungry as a horse" |
| Dramatic irony | audience knows something character does not |
| Verbal irony | Saying opposite of what is meant |
| Situational irony | what happens is opposite of what is expected |
| Pathos | true, genuine emotion |
| Personification | the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects ex. island in LOTF |
| Plot | storyline, scheme of a literary work |
| 1st person point of view | The narrator is a character in the story. ( I, me, my, we, our ) |
| 2nd person point of view | The narrator tells the story to another character using "you," so that the story is being told through the addressee's point of view |
| 3rd person omniscient point of view | The narrator is considered to be "all knowing" and can see/hear everything in the story and can tell the reader what each characters are thinking and feeling |
| 3rd person objective point of view | a narrator tells the story without making any comments/remain neutral Ex. The Lottery |
| 3rd person limited | when the narrator is telling the story about one character that is not him/herself and is limited to the knowledge of that character |
| Protagonist | the main character, who must overcome obstacles and resolve the conflict |
| Antagonist | the character who works against the protagonist in the story |
| Theme | the general and universal idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express |
| Tone | the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character Ex. serious, humorous, sarcastic, satirical, etc. |
| Satire | the use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions Ex. Pride and Prejudice |
| Symbolism | using an object or action that means something more than the literal meaning |
| Syntax | the order of words in a sentence Ex. passive vs. active |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.
Completed “Learn” mode
cgaffney , caitlinm14 , pcollamore , cbuts , abrothers7 , Steff_5 , noneill , mcordell , kemahoney , ccooney , mcoene , ekogilvie , nduke , ahagerup , memorley (See all 26)