| A | B |
|---|
| theme | observation about life, society, or human nature illustrated through plot, characters, setting, &/or structure of a story |
| plot structure | "Freytag's pyramid". exposition (intro. info.): conditions, characters, problems, setting. complication (rising action). climax (turning point): tension reaches its peak. denouoement (falling action) |
| points of view | 1st: I. 2nd: you. 3rd: he, she, it. limited: reports action, doesn't know all. omniscient: reads thoughts of many characters, all knowing |
| verisimilitude | author depicts stereotypes of a particular cultural group using dialect, setting, behaviors |
| irony | situational: unexpected twist, opposite of what expected happens. dramatic: audience/reader knows something characters don't |
| conflict | internal: man vs. self. external: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, society vs. society, man vs. supernatural, man vs. unknown, man vs. technology |
| static | character doesn't change throught story. uses behaviors, beliefs, attitudes |
| dynamic | character changes in at least one way in story |
| flat | only one-sided & one dimensional. we only see one part of a character |
| round | multi-dimensional. we see more than one side or trait of character |
| direct | author tells us directly about character |
| indirect | words-dialog-and actions reveal character's personality. implied. observing what other characters say about character |
| epiphany | sudden realization with powerful emotional response |
| explication | "dissection of lit. works". examine pieces (words-meaning & sound-, characters, plot, symbolism) to gain deeper understanding of whole |
| suspense | uncertainty brings tensity |
| mood | atmosphere/feeling created in a lit. work |
| tone | author's attitude in a work toward a subject |
| political allegory | story where people, things, events are symbols of events in real-life |
| alliteration | repetition of initial letter |
| assonance | repetition of vowel sound |
| consanance | repetition of last letter's sound |
| allusion | reference to something well-known |
| apostrophe | literary device where speaker addresses subject directly |
| personification | author gives non-human things human qualities |
| metaphor | similarity not using "like" or "as" |
| extended metaphor | big "mother" metaphor. at beginning. everything else responds back to it |
| simile | comparison using "like" or "as" |
| rhythm/meter | "foot". iamb: u /. trochee: / u. dactyl: / u u. anapest: u u / |
| sensory imagery/imagistic language | paints picture in mind |
| iambic pentameter (sonnet) | u / u / u / u / u / |
| quatrain/sestet (sonnet) | poems in groups of 4 lines |
| Shakespearean sonnet | 14 lines. 10 syllables with 5 iambs. uses quatrain |
| diction | poet's choice of words |
| denotation | literal definition of word |
| symbolism | item, event.... represents something |
| enjambment | poetry word-wrap |
| free verse | poem isn't set up in any kind of real structure |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic |
| onomatopoeia | words sound like what they mean |
| muse | 1 of 9 minor goddesses summoned to inspire a great artist |
| arete | greatness/excellence |
| hubris | excessive pride (defying gods and overestimating own power) |
| hospitality | gracious host or guest |
| mimesis | "just punishment" |
| rhapsodes (minstrels) | traveling singer/performer |
| epic poetry | extended narrative powem telling story about legendary or historic herores |
| epic hero | half-god, half-human. hero in epic poem |
| epic simiile | same as extended metaphor, only it's in an epic poem |
| epithets | condensed descriptive phrase |
