Midyear Exam Literary Vocabulary
Sonnets &
Poetry (21)
English (Shakespearean) Sonnet, Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet, Iambic Pentameter, Meter, Iamb, Rhyme Scheme, Volta, Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, Stanza, Octet, Sestet, Quatrain, Couplet, Enjambment, End rhyme, Full rhyme, Near/Off/Half/Slant Rhyme, Sonnet Sequence/Sonnet Cycle/Corona/Crown of Sonnets, Blank Verse
Other Types of Poems (5)
free verse, villanelle, sestina, terza rima, ballads
Other Poetic Techniques (3)
anaphora, epistrophe, inversion
Figurative Language (16)
figurative language, simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, apostrophe, conceit, hyperbole, pun, double entendre, rhetorical question (=erotema), oxymoron, paradox, synesthesia, denotation, connotation
Irony (4)
irony, verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony
Narration (5)
narration, first person narration, third person limited narration, third person omniscient narration, stream of consciousness
Writing Style (9)
style, voice, diction, syntax, tone, mood, dialect, colloquialism, vernacular
Character (13)
characterization, direct characterization, indirect characterization, dynamic character, static character, round character, flat character, foil, protagonist, antagonist, tragic hero, antihero
Plot & Events (10)
Plot, exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, denouement (resolution), flashback, foreshadowing, internal conflict, external conflict,
Other Literary Terms from First Semester (4)
motif, symbol, epigraph, epiphany
English (Shakespearean) Sonnet, Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet, Iambic Pentameter, Meter, Iamb, Rhyme Scheme, Volta, Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, Stanza, Octet, Sestet, Quatrain, Couplet, Enjambment, End rhyme, Full rhyme, Near/Off/Half/Slant Rhyme, Sonnet Sequence/Sonnet Cycle/Corona/Crown of Sonnets, Blank Verse
Other Types of Poems (5)
free verse, villanelle, sestina, terza rima, ballads
Other Poetic Techniques (3)
anaphora, epistrophe, inversion
Figurative Language (16)
figurative language, simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, apostrophe, conceit, hyperbole, pun, double entendre, rhetorical question (=erotema), oxymoron, paradox, synesthesia, denotation, connotation
Irony (4)
irony, verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony
Narration (5)
narration, first person narration, third person limited narration, third person omniscient narration, stream of consciousness
Writing Style (9)
style, voice, diction, syntax, tone, mood, dialect, colloquialism, vernacular
Character (13)
characterization, direct characterization, indirect characterization, dynamic character, static character, round character, flat character, foil, protagonist, antagonist, tragic hero, antihero
Plot & Events (10)
Plot, exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, denouement (resolution), flashback, foreshadowing, internal conflict, external conflict,
Other Literary Terms from First Semester (4)
motif, symbol, epigraph, epiphany
In the comment box post accurate, complete definitions; clear, relevant examples; and citation of reliable sources before the beginning of school on Monday, January 9.
My words were:
ReplyDeleteTerza Rima: A three-line stanza form borrowed from the Italian poets. The rhyme-scheme is aba, bab, cdc, ded, etc.
Example: Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind"
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter leeing
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red. Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed...
(http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/terza.html)
Ballad: a relatively short narrative poem, written to be sung, with a simple and dramatic action. The ballads tell of love, death, the supernatural, or a combination of these. Two characteristics of the ballad are incremental repetition and the ballad stanza.
Ex) Longfellow with "The Wreck of the Hesperus"
(http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html)
Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines.
Ex) John of Gaunt in Shakespeare's Richard II
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
(http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/a/anaphora.htm)
Epistrophe: Ending a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words.
Ex)Shakespeare, The Tempest
Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you. [. . .]
Scarcity and want shall shun you,
Ceres' blessing so is on you.
(http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/e/epistrophe.htm)
Iamb: a metrical foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable
ReplyDeleteExample: “Come live/ with me/ and be/ my love.”
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/iamb
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0903237.html
Rhyme Scheme: a pattern of rhymes; usually marked by letters to represent correspondence
Example: ABABBCC
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rhyme+scheme
Volta: used in a sonnet, it is the turn in thought; usually indicated by words like but, yet, or and yet
Example: “My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare.”
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1363412/volta
Alliteration: repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of words
Example: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/pmglossary1.html
Tone: The means of creating a relationship or conveying an attitude or mood.
ReplyDeleteEXAMPLE: Author #1 creates a tale in which an impoverished but hard-working young lad pulls himself out of the slums when he applies himself to his education, and he becomes a wealthy, contented middle-class citizen who leaves his past behind him, never looking back at that awful human cesspool from which he rose. Author #2 creates a tale in which a dirty street-rat skulks his way out of the slums by abandoning his family and going off to college, and he greedily hoards his money in a gated community and ignores the suffering of his former "equals," whom he leaves behind in his selfish desire to get ahead.
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_T.html
Mood: The atmosphere that pervades a literary work with the intention of evoking a certain emotion or feeling from the audience. In drama, mood may be created by sets and music as well as words; in poetry and prose, mood may be created by a combination of such elements as SETTING, VOICE, TONE and THEME.
EXAMPLE:
"Seize The Night" by Dean Koontz; Chapter1, pg. 1
"Elsewhere, night falls, but in Moonlight Bay, it steals upon us with barely a whisper, like a gentle dark-sapphire surf licking a beach."
http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/lit-terms.html
Dialect: The language of a particular district, class, or group of persons. The term dialect encompasses the sounds, spelling, grammar, and diction employed by a specific people as distinguished from other persons either geographically or socially.
EXAMPLE: Mark Twain uses exaggerated dialect in his Huckleberry Finn to differentiate between characters:
Jim: "We's safe, Huck, we's safe! Jump up and crack yo' heels. Dat's de good ole Cairo at las', I jis knows it."
Huck: "I'll take the canoe and go see, Jim. It mightn't be, you know."
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_D.html
Denouement: refers to the outcome or result of a complex situation or sequence of events, an aftermath or resolution that usually occurs near the final stages of the plot. It is the unraveling of the main dramatic complications in a play, novel or other work of literature
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_D.html
static character
ReplyDeletenoun
a literary or dramatic character who undergoes little or no innerchange; a character who does not grow or develop.
Example:
Mr. Collins in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. He serves a vital role in the story of how Elizabeth and Darcy get together, and he provides comedy, but his character stays essentially unchanged.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/static+character
round character
Noun
A character in fiction whose personality, background, motives, andother features are fully delineated by the author, a major character in a work of fiction who encounters conflict and is changed by it.
Example:
Montag of Fahrenheit 451 is a round character, we witness his change innerward and outwardly
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/round+character
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/RoundCharacter.htm
flat character
noun
an easily recognized character type in fiction who may not be fully delineated but is useful in carrying out some narrative purpose of the author.
Example:
Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado." Fortunato is flat and static. He neither changes during the course of the piece, nor is his personality developed past the fact the reader knows he is a drunk and a fool. It is Montressor that fills the pages with, his ego, his pain, his revenge. Fortunato is, as noted, the target. Even to the end of the piece, the drunk is still obsessed with the wine and looks for the elusive treasure until his fate is sealed.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flat+character
Climax
a decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot.
Example:
The death of Caesar in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_an_example_of_climax#ixzz1ipqOdTru
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/climax
TRAGIC HERO- noun- a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, tragedy, or defeat. The tragic hero is a man of noble stature. He is not an ordinary man, but a man with outstanding quality and greatness about him. His own destruction is for a greater cause or principle.
ReplyDeleteEXAMPLE: Hamlet is considered a tragic hero because of his flaw, his inability to kill King Claudius immediately. He differs from other tragic heroes because he is aware of this flaw.
http://learnhub.com/lesson/4435-elements-of-a-tragic-hero-in-literature
ANTIHERO- noun- a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose.
EXAMPLE: Stephen Dedalus is considered an antihero because he seeks redemption after committing a sin and becoming obsessed with Church and a Holy way of life. Antiheroes often seek redemption for their actions.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/antihero
PLOT: A plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose. In literature, this is the arrangement of events to achieve an intended effect consisting of a series of carefully devised and interrelated actions that progresses through a struggle of opposing courses called conflicts to a climax and a denouement.
EXAMPLE:
http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/plot
EXTERNAL CONFLICT- noun- struggle between a literary or dramatic character and an outside force such as nature or another character, which drives the dramatic action of the plot.
EXAMPLE: The struggle between Macbeth and Macduff is considered an external conflict.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/external+conflict
ASSONANCE: The repetition of vowels in the middle or end of words that have a similar or identical sound and thus create half rhymes or function as rhymes would.
ReplyDeleteExample: “Hear the mellow wedding bells” (Edgar Allen Poe, “The Bells”)
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms.html
CONSONANCE: A form of alliteration which possesses a change in the vowel following a repeated consonant, which is then followed by a similar sound at the end of the similar words.
Example: “While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.” (Edgar Allen Poe, “The Raven”)
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms.html
STANZA: A set of lines of poetry taken as a single unit, generally separated from the other stanzas in the poem. Stanzas are to poetry as paragraphs are to prose.
Example (2 stanzas of a poem):
“Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old-
This knight so bold-
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.”
(Edgar Allen Poe, “Eldorado”)
http://www.studyguide.org/literary_terms_eng_11.htm
OCTET: The first eight lines of a sonnet, often with a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA; commonly referred to as an "octave"
Example:
“Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise?
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?”
(Edgar Allen Poe, “To Science”)
http://www.studyguide.org/literary_terms_eng_11.htm
Exposition- setting forth of the meaning or purpose
ReplyDeleteEXAMPLE: "This is not an easy book, and the reader may find the layers of detail challenging. There are long expositions of the knotty tangles of monarchical lineage, and the necessary chronicle of historical events occasionally consumes the novel's narrative drive." —Lucy Lethbridge
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exposition
Inciting Action- To provoke and urge on
EXAMPLE: He incited the workers to strike.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/inciting
Rising Action-a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest.
EXAMPLE: "Any campaign—like any good drama—will have its stylized performances. So too will it have one final dramatic element—a plot. The classic unfolding story of any drama involves an introduction, rising action, turning point, falling action, and conclusion. A presidential campaign has all of these essentials—an introduction in the way of speculation about candidates "available" for party nominations; rising action in the form of early organizational efforts, qualifying for public funding, formal announcements, etc.; turning points in the multitude of caucuses and primaries leading to party conventions and nominations; falling action (spiced with unexpected events) in the general election campaign; and a conclusion on election day. " -Dan Nimmo
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rising+action
Denotation: The direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it; the association or set of associations that a word usually elicits for most speakers of a language, as distinguished from those elicited for any individual speaker because of personal experience.
ReplyDeleteExample: “The world ‘Liberty’ often has a powerful positive denotation for nations as a whole, sparking patriotic feelings.
Connotation: The associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its primary or explicit meaning.
Example: “A possible connotation of ‘home’ is ‘a place of warmth, comfort and affection’”
Irony: The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.
Example: “There was irony in her reply of ‘how nice!’ when I said I had to work all weekend.”
Epiphany: A sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience
Example: His epiphany occurred while he was at his son’s science fair.
All: http://dictionary.reference.com/
I came up with some of the examples though.
For Erica:
ReplyDeleteColloquialism a word or phrase that is not formal or l Literary typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation,slang ... the vernacular the language or dialect spoken by ordinary people in a particular region... Characterize describing the distinctive nature or features... Motif a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition
Citation for all is my kindle , American dictionary example for colloquialism is slang , such as the how people in the. Northeast use wicked as something good vernacular is dialect such as how individuals in the south speak. Differently then in the north and motif is how hot and cold continuously came up in portrait in the artist
Verbal Irony is a situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions.
ReplyDeleteEx. When a mother walks into a room and sees that her children, instead of doing their homework, are playing video games, she gives them a stern look and says "Once you're done with your very important work there, let's take some time out for recreation in the form of some chemistry problems."
Situational Irony is a situation in which the actions that have taken place have an effect exactly opposite what was intended.
Ex. After a police chase, a man tries to hide from the police but finds he is actually in a police station.
Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows the character is making a mistake, even as the character is making it.
Ex. In Romeo and Juliet, the other characters in the cast think Juliet is dead, but the audience knows she only took a sleeping potion.
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it
Ex. The eagle is a symbol for patriotism or freedom.
By Nick Rasmussen
ReplyDeleteCONCEIT (also called a metaphysical conceit): A complex or strange comparison, usually using unlikely devices such as metaphors, hyperbole, simile and contradiction.
ReplyDeleteExample: John Donne's "The Flea"
Oh stay! three lives in one flea spare
Where we almost, yea more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
(literary term - http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_C.html)
(example - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceit)
HYPERBOLE: A generic term for changing the normal or expected order of words--including anastrophe, tmesis, hypallage, and other figures of speech.
Example: Robert Frost’s “Bereft”
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.
(literary term - http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_H.html)
(example - http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_H.html)
PUN: A play on two words similar in sound but different in meaning.
Example: William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Mercutio: “tomorrow … you shall find me a grave man.”
(literary term - http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_P.html)
(example - http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-puns-in-literature.html)
DOUBLE ENTENDRE: (French for "double meaning"): The deliberate use of ambiguity in a phrase or image--especially involving sexual or humorous meanings.
Example: William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Mercutio: "for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon."
(literary term - http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_P.html)
(example - http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_P.html)
Inversion - is also known as an anastrophe; it is the reversal of the normal order of words in a sentence.
ReplyDelete(http://library.thinkquest.org/23846/library/terms/)
Example - Natalie Dorsch's poem "Just Because"
I walked up the door,
shut the stairs,
said my shoes,
took off my prayers,
turned off my bed,
got into the light,
all because
you kissed me goodnight.
(http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_A.html#anastrophe_anchor)
Figurative Language - language not meant to be interpreted in a literal sense, always compares unlike/different things to each other, the seven categories consist of imagery, simile, metaphor, alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia and hyperbole.
(http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-figurative-language.html)
Example - "...winds whipping wildly." ~Alliteration
(http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-figurative-language.html)
Simile - comparison between two unlike things using words such as Like, As, Than, or Resembles.
(http://www.yourdictionary.com/simile)
Example - Robert Burn
O, my luve is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
O, my luve is like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune
(http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_S.html#simile_anchor)
Metaphor - comparison between two unlike things without using words such as Like or As, instead it directly compares the two things.
(http://www.yourdictionary.com/metaphor)
Example - Martin Luther
"A mighty fortress is our God, / A bulwark never failing."
(http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_M.html#metaphor_anchor)
METONYMY: A figure of speech where one entity is substituted for another, associated, entity.
ReplyDeleteExamples:
The PEN is mightier than the SWORD.
(The pen representing thought and writing, the sword representing warfare)
Or
“BUSH invaded Iraq”
(Bush representing the armed forced controlled by the government)
http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/M/metonymy.htm
SYNECDOCHE: A figure of speech where a whole is represented one of it's parts, or vice versa.
Example:
“All HANDS on deck”
(Hands referring to sailors on the ship, not just their literal hands)
http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/S/synecdoche.htm
PERSONIFICATION: When animals, inanimate objects, abstractions, or idea are given human characteristics or actions.
Examples:
“The stars DANCED across the sky.”
or
“Justice is BLIND.”
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_P.html
APOSTROPHE: The act of addressing a person, personification, or abstraction that isn't actually present.
(http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_A.html )
Example:
"Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
(John Donne, "Death be not proud")
(http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/apostrophe.htm for quote)
My words were....
ReplyDeleteBLANK VERSE:
Definition: Any verse of unrhymed lines all in the same meter (commonly iambic pentameter).
(http://www.uni.edu/~gotera/CraftOfPoetry/blankverse.html)
Ex. Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun.
FREE VERSE:
Definition: Poetry that is based on irregular rhythm cadence of phrases, images, and patterns rather than relying on the meter.
(http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/freeverse.html)
Ex.But patience is more oft the exercise
Of Saints, the trial of thir fortitude,
Making them each his own Deliver,
And Victor over all
That tyranny or fortune can inflict.
VILLANELLE:
Definition: French syllabic form of poetry that has no set number of syllables per line, carries of only two rhymes, and marked by its alternating refrain.
(http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/reports2000/page8.html)
Ex. Mad Girl's Love Song
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary darkness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I fancied you'd return the way you said.
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
--Sylvia Plath
SESTINA:
Definition: A difficult form of poetry, that's made up of seven stanzas, the first six stanzas have six lines and the seventh has three.
(http://library.thinkquest.org/3721/poems/forms/sestina.html)
Ex.a b c d e f (first stanza)
f a e b d c (second stanza)
c f d a b e (third stanza)
e c b f a d (fourth stanza)
d e a c f b (fifth stanza)
b d f e c a (sixth stanza)
a d (1st line of the 7th stanza, "a" must be in the line, but the line must end with "d")
b e (2nd line of the 7th stanza, "b" must be in the line, but the line must end with "e")
c f (3rd line of the 7th stanza, "c" must be in the line, but the line must end with "f")
SYNESTHESIA: A literary technique that plays with the tools of imagery, particularly the six senses, in an impossible way.
ReplyDeleteEx. "The scent of the rose rang like a bell through the garden."
Source: http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_S.html
RHETORICAL QUESTION(EROTEMA): A question asked for a purpose rather than to obtain an answer.
Ex. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" from Shakespeare's 18th sonnet
Source: http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/r/rhetorical%20questions.htm
PARADOX: A statement whose two parts appear to contradict one another, but with further examination actually make sense.
Ex. "Without laws, we can have no freedom."
Source: Def. - http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html
Ex. http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_P.html
OXYMORON: A condensed form of paradox, in which two words that appear to contradict one another are juxtaposed with a purpose(sometimes humor).
Ex. Jumbo Shrimp, Sweet Sorrow
Source: Def and 2nd Ex.- http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/litgloss/
Third Person Omniscient Narration:
ReplyDeleteDef: “Third person omniscient is a method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters inthe story, as opposed to third person limited, which adheres closely to one character's perspective.”
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/omniscient.htm
An example of this writing style would be Harry Potter. JK Rowling narrates the story with a third person point of view but seem theknow more about Harry’s thoughts and feeling then an outside observer.
Stream of Consciousness:
Def: “Stream of Consciousness is a literary technique which was pioneered by Dorthy Richardson, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce.Stream of consciousness is characterized by a flow of thoughts and images, which may not always appear to have a coherent structure or cohesion. The plot line may weave in and out of time and place, carrying the reader through the lifespan of a character or further along a timel ine to incorporate the lives (and thoughts) of characters from other time periods.
Writers who create stream-of-consciousness works of literature focus on the emotional and psychological processes that are taking place in the minds of one or more characters. Important character traits are revealed through an exploration of what is going on in the mind.”
An example of this writing style can be found in James Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. Stephens thoughts are often mixedup and rambling these are the time when this literature devise is used.
Style:
Def: to a fiction writer, is basically the way you write, as opposed to what you write about (though the two things are definitely linked). It results from things like word choice, tone, and syntax. It's the voice readers "hear" when they read your work.
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/crafttechnique/g/style.htm
An example of this would be the accents used in book such as Huckleberry Finn. When ever a character speaks in accent this is style. "Please take it," says I, "and don't ask me nothing – then I won't have to tell no lies." or use of improper grammar to illustrate character.
Flash Back
Def: A device that allows the writer to present events that happened before the time of the current narration or the current events in the fiction. Flashback techniques include memories, dreams, stories of the past told by characters, or even authorial sovereignty. (That is, the author might simply say, "But back in Tom's youth. . . .") Flashback is useful for exposition, to fill in the reader about a character or place, or about the background to a conflict. http://virtualsalt.com/litterms2.htm
Example: For a moment Cinderella’s thought went back to the time when her father was alive.
“You’re so lovely and will always be my star” said her father
But that was years ago.
English (Shakespearean) Sonnet: Contains 14 lines and Iambic pentameter uses three quatrains (4 stanzas) and a couplet (2 stanzas) that are each rhymed differently, the rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. There is a"volta," which is a turn that turns from the original line of thought to take the idea in a new direction.
ReplyDeleteExample: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all to short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d:
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d.
By thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wandered in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
(Shakespeare, Sonnet XVIII)
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm#s and
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_S.html
Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet: Contains 14 lines or stanzas, Iambic pentameter and has an octave (8 stanzas) followed by a sestet (6 stanzas). The octave has two quatrains (4 stanzas) rhyming abba, abba. The sestet may be arranged cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdedce. There is no volta in a Petrarchan Sonnet.
Example: When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
"Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"
I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."
(John Milton, "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent")
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm#s and
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_S.html
Iambic Pentameter: a lightly stressed syllable followed by a heavily stressed syllable.
Example: "The cúrfew tólls the knéll of párting dáy." (Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.") http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_M.html#meter_anchor
Meter: A series of varying patterns of stressed syllables alternating with less stressed syllables. Poems and other compositions written in meter are called verse. Verses can have many possible patterns. Each unit of stress and unstressed syllables is called a "foot."
Example: ("The Assyrian came dówn like a wólf on the fóld." (Lord Byron, "The Destruction of Sennacherib.")
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_M.html#meter_anchor
A sestet is the name given to the second division of an Italian sonnet (as opposed to an English or Spenserian Sonnet), which must consist of an octave, of eight lines, succeeded by a sestet, of six lines.
ReplyDeleteEX.
Leny Roovers
Thoughts on War
On desert sand the armies lie and wait;
at sea a fleet of carriers draws near,
as in the sky fly silver birds of prey.
The net is drawing close, so near the date
the shock will fill the land with war and fear;
an end has come to peacefulness and play.
Approaching Spring has lost her zest for life,
as men in tanks and bombers come to fight;
the earth now holds her breath in silent ache-
a soldier dreams of laughter and his wife.
The sky is overcast, it hides the light.
The freedom of the world, is it at stake?
Or is it once again a power game,
with money at its roots and oil the prize
of bodies died too young, returned in bags,
with only men in offices to blame?
I wonder if this war is just disguise
for other motives than sweet Freedom's flag.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestet
http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/Challenge/sestetchal.html#iti
A quatrain is a stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines of verse. Existing in various forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and China; and, continues into the 21st century, where it is seen in works published in many languages. During Europe's Dark Ages, in the Middle East and especially Iran, polymath poets such as Omar Khayyam continued to popularize this form of poetry, also known as Rubaai, well beyond their borders and time. It can be AAAA,AABB,or ABAB.
EX.
NOSTRADAMUS QUATRAIN #1-32
The grand empire will be quickly reduced
Le grand empire sera tost translate
To a tiny area, which shall very soon expand;
En lieu petit, que bien tost croistre;
An extremely low place of meager account,
Lieux bien infame, d'exigue comte,
In the middle of which he will come to lay down his sceptre.
Ou au milieu viendra poser son sceptre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatrain
http://www.godswatcher.com/quatrains.htm
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.
EX.
"Blessed are you whose worthiness gives scope,
Being had, to triumph; being lacked, to hope."
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/couplet-examples.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couplet
Enjambment or enjambement is the breaking of a syntactic unit (a phrase, clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two verses \
EX.
Trees by Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enjambment
http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/19-enjambment.htm
End Rhyme: Rhyme in which the last word at the end of each verse is the word that rhymes (web.cn.edu)
ReplyDeleteex..
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
- In this poem (above) the rhyming of the words free and sea is an example of an end rhyme
Full Rhyme: Rhyming two words in which both the consonant sounds and vowel sounds match to create a rhyme (web.cn.edu)
ex..
If you place the words 'true' and 'blue' or 'mountain' and 'fountain' in a rhyming pattern it is a full rhyme.
Near/Off/Half/Slant Rhyme: Rhymes created out of words with similar but not identical sounds (web.cn.edu)
ex..
If you place the words 'fate' and 'saint' or 'work' and 'spark' in a rhyming pattern it is an off rhyme.
Sonnet Sequence/Sonnet Cycle/Corona/Crown of Sonnets: Gathering of sonnets by a single author with similar themes (web.cn.edu)
ex.. Shakespeare's sonnets (broken into three groups)
Foil: a secondary character who contrasts with a major character
ReplyDeleteIn Hamlet, Laertes is the foil to Hamlet, the main character. There is a heated conflict between Hamlet, the protagonist, and Laertes, Hamlet's antagonist. Laertes shares a conflict with Hamlet, that of revenge against him, which allows for the contrast aspect of a foil character to be exploited as the characters' motives and methods are explored.
Protagonist: the main character, who is not necessarily a hero or a heroine
In Hamlet, Hamlet is the protagonist. The events of Hamlet are center around Hamlet even though his actions are not always heroic.
Antagonist: the opponent; the antagonist may be society, nature, a person, or an aspect of the protagonist
Voldemort from the Harry Potter series is the epitome of antagonist in our generation. Voldemort is the best example of "bad guy" and ultimate opponent to the protagonist, Harry. He proposes both internal and external conflict for the protagonist, which is a major role for the antagonist in any work of literature.
Epigraph: a quotation at the beginning of a poem, short story, book chapter, or other piece of literature. The epigraph introduces or refers to the larger themes of the piece: in a way, it may help draw the reader's attention to these ideas, setting the stage
The epigraph to E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime quotes Scott Joplin's instructions to those who play his music, "Do not play this piece fast. It is never right to play Ragtime fast." This stands in contrast to the accelerating pace of American society at the turn of the 20th century
Voice: The quality that makes an author’s writing unique, and which conveys his/her attitude, personality, and character through their chosen medium (Characters, poetry, etc.)
ReplyDeleteEx.: Many authors express themselves through poetry in which they use their individual voice to convey their feelings through a created situation, retelling of an experience, projection of themselves as a force of nature or literary device (Projection of one’s self as the antagonist).
Diction: The conscious choice of a particular word as opposed to others.
Ex.: An author could describe a rock as many things: a stone, boulder, cairn, “anomalous geological feature”, etc.
Syntax: "The orderly arrangement of words into sentences to express ideas," –David Smith. A way to manipulate the structure of a sentence to achieve poetic or rhetorical effects.
Ex.: An example of a type of syntax is anastrophe, the inverted order of words or events as a rhetorical scheme;
I walked up the door,
shut the stairs,
said my shoes,
took off my prayers,
turned off my bed,
got into the light,
all because
you kissed me goodnight.
“Just Because”-Natalie Dorsch
Foreshadowing: Suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a narrative.
Ex.: The witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth foreshadow Macbeth’s destiny with their prophecies. Through these oracles, Shakespeare seals Macbeth’s fate early on in the play.
Notes on definitions
ReplyDeleteANTIHERO- noun- a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a [traditional] heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose. [1. The term antihero is sometimes used to describe a character who is (like Winston in 1984) ultimately disappointing despite showing “nobility of mind and spirit” at times. 2. The term antihero (or the related term Byronic hero) is also sometimes used to refer to a character who (brashly, sometimes self-destructively) defies authority (and conventional morality) to create his own (sometimes admirable, sometimes perverse: depends on the reader, I suppose) moral code. Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost, Victor Frankenstein particularly in the first half of Mary Shelley’s novel, Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, even Stephen Dedalus in so much as he ultimately rejects his inherited religion might be considered examples of this type of antihero.]
CONSONANCE
EXAMPLE Bind and send the grand, round, taut, bent band.
Inciting Action- To provoke and urge on [Inciting action is the action in a narrative that “provokes” the main conflict (internal or external).]
EXAMPLE: [Bledsoe expelling the Invisible Man “incites” the main drama in Invisible Man, as does Mrs. Reed expelling Jane from Gateshead in Jane Eyre.]
Denotation: The direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it; the association or set of associations that a word usually elicits for most speakers of a language, as distinguished from those elicited for any individual speaker because of personal experience.
Example: “The world ‘Liberty’ often has a powerful positive denotation for nations as a whole, sparking patriotic feelings. [The denotation of “liberty” is “freedom”. In the U.S. “patriotism” is one of the connotations of “liberty”.]
Epiphany: A sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience
Example: His epiphany occurred while he was at his son’s science fair. [A better example might be the sudden, intuitive perception of the nature of beauty Stephen Dedalus experiences while looking at the young woman in the water at the end of chapter four of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.]
Inversion - is also known as an anastrophe; it is the reversal of the normal order of words in a sentence.
[Think of Yoda:
"Told you, I did. Reckless is he. Now matters are worse."
"Mind what you have learned. Save you it can."
"If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."]
Enjambment or enjambement is the breaking of a syntactic unit (a phrase, clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two verses \
EX.
Trees by Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
[Notice that the line break occurs in the middle of the syntactic unit so that the thought the sentence expresses is incomplete at the point of the line break.
Think about the effect—delayed meaning and word emphasis—that the enjambment has on the poem and its reader.
If you'd like a second or third version.
Go here for last year's definitions and examples:
http://apenglishghs2011.blogspot.com/2011/01/midyear-exam-literary-vocabulary.html