literary terms.docx
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literary terms.docx
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literaryterms
LiteraryTerms
Aestheticism:
Aliteraryandartisticmovementofthenineteenthcentury.Followersofthemovementbelievedthatartshouldnotbemixedwithsocial,political,ormoralteaching.Thestatement"artforart'ssake"isagoodsummaryofaestheticism.ThemovementhaditsrootsinFrance,butitgainedwidespreadimportanceinEnglandinthelasthalfofthenineteenthcentury,whereithelpedchangetheVictorianpracticeofincludingmorallessonsinliterature.
OscarWildeisoneofthebest-known"aesthetes"ofthelatenineteenthcentury.
Allegory寓言.Afigurativeworkinwhichasurfacenarrativecarriesasecondary,symbolicormetaphoricalmeaning.InTheFaerieQueene,forexample,RedCrossKnightisaheroicknightintheliteralnarrative,butalsoafigurerepresentingEverymanintheChristianjourney. Manyworkscontainallegoriesorareallegoricalinpart,butnotmanyareentirelyallegorical.Agoodexampleofafullyallegoricalworkis
∙EdmundSpenser,TheFaerieQueene
Alliteration:
Apoeticdevicewheretheconsonantsoundsinaccentedsyllablesarerepeated.
ThefollowingdescriptionoftheGreenKnightfromtheanonymousSirGawainandtheGreenKnightgivesanexampleofalliteration:
Andinguiseallofgreen,thegearandtheman:
Acoatcutclose,thatclungtohissides
Anamantletomatch,madewithalining
Offurscutandfitted—thefabricwasnoble....
Antagonist:
Themajorcharacterinanarrativeordramawhoworksagainsttheheroorprotagonist.
AnexampleofanevilantagonistisRichardLovelaceinSamuelRichardson'sClarissa,whileavirtuousantagonistisMacduffinWilliamShakespeare'sMacbeth.
Anti-hero:
Acentralcharacterinaworkofliteraturewholackstraditionalheroicqualitiessuchascourage,physicalprowess,andfortitude.Anti-herostypicallydistrustconventionalvaluesandareunabletocommitthemselvestoanyideals.Theygenerallyfeelhelplessinaworldoverwhichtheyhavenocontrol.Anti-heroesusuallyaccept,andoftencelebrate,theirpositionsassocialoutcasts.
Awell-knownanti-heroisYossarianinJosephHeller'snovelCatch-22.(ComparewithAntagonist,Hero,andProtagonist.)
Anti-novel:
AtermcoinedbyFrenchcriticJean-PaulSartre.Itreferstoanyexperimentalworkoffictionthatavoidsthefamiliarconventionsofthenovel.Theanti-novelusuallyfragmentsanddistortstheexperienceofitscharacters,forcingthereadertoconstructtherealityofthestoryfromadisorderednarrative.
Thebest-knownanti-novelistisAlainRobbe-Grillet,authorofLevoyeur.
Ballad:
Ashortpoemthattellsasimplestoryandhasarepeatedrefrain.Balladswereoriginallyintendedtobesung.Earlyballads,knownasfolkballads,werepasseddownthroughgenerations,sotheirauthorsareoftenunknown.Laterballadscomposedbyknownauthorsarecalledliteraryballads.
Anexampleofananonymousfolkballadis"Edward,"whichdatesfromtheMiddleAges.SamuelTaylorColeridge's"TheRimeoftheAncientMariner"andJohnKeats's"LaBelleDamesansMerci"areexamplesofliteraryballads.
Bildungsroman:
(AlsoknownasComingofAgeNovel,)AGermanwordmeaning"novelofdevelopment."Thebildungsromanisastudyofthematurationofayouthfulcharacter,typicallybroughtaboutthroughaseriesofsocialorsexualencountersthatleadtoself-awareness.
BlankVerse.Loosely,anyunrhymedpoetry,butmoregenerally,unrhymediambicpentameterverse(composedoflinesoffivetwo-syllablefeetwiththefirstsyllableaccented,thesecondunaccented).BlankversehasbeenusedbypoetssincetheRenaissanceforitsflexibilityanditsgraceful,dignifiedtone.
JohnMilton'sParadiseLostisinblankverse,asaremostofWilliamShakespeare'splays.
Climax:
Theturningpointinanarrative,themomentwhentheconflictisatitsmostintense.Typically,thestructureofstories,novels,andplaysisoneofrisingaction,inwhichtensionbuildstotheclimax,followedbyfallingaction,inwhichtensionlessensasthestorymovestoitsconclusion.
Conceit.Acleverandfancifulmetaphor,usuallyexpressedthroughelaborateandextendedcomparison,thatpresentsastrikingparallelbetweentwoseeminglydissimilarthings—forexample,comparingthesoulsoftwoloverstothetwolegsofacompass.TheconceitwasapopulardevicethroughouttheElizabethanAgeandBaroqueAgeandwastheprincipaltechniqueoftheseventeenth-centuryEnglishmetaphysicalpoets.Thisusageofthewordconceitisunrelatedtothebest-knowndefinitionofconceitasanarrogantattitudeorbehavior.
TheconceitfiguresprominentlyintheworksofJohnDonne,EmilyDickinson,andT.S.Eliot.
Couplet:
arhymedpairoflines,whichareusuallyofthesamelengthandoftenexpressacompleteandself-containedthought.Iftheseareiambicpentametersitistermedaheroiccouplet.ThisformwasmadepopularbyChaucer'sCanterburyTalesandbecamethedominantpoeticforminthelatterpartoftheseventeenthcentury.IntheworkofAlexanderPopeitbecomesaflexiblemediumforpointedexpression.ThefollowingcoupletisfromShakespeare’ssonnet18:
Solongasmencanbreatheoreyescansee,
Solonglivesthis,andthisgiveslifetothee.
DreamVision:
(AlsoknownasDreamAllegory.)Aliteraryconvention,chieflyoftheMiddleAges.Inadreamvisionastoryispresentedasaliteraldreamofthenarrator.Thisdevicewascommonlyusedtoteachmoralandreligiouslessons.
ImportantworksofthistypeareTheDivineComedybyDanteAlighieri,PiersPlowmanbyWilliamLangland,andThePilgrim'sProgressbyJohnBunyan.
Elegy:
Alyricpoemthatlamentsthedeathofapersonortheeventualdeathofallpeople.Inaconventionalelegy,setinaclassicalworld,thepoetandsubjectarespokenofasshepherds.Inmoderncriticism,thewordelegyisoftenusedtorefertoapoemthatismelancholyormournfullycontemplative.
ThomasGrey’s“ElegyWritteninCountryChurchyard”andPercyByssheShelley's"Adonais"aretwoexamplesofthisform.
ElizabethanAge:
Aperiodofgreateconomicgrowth,religiouscontroversy,andnationalismcloselyassociatedwiththereignofElizabethIofEngland(1558-1603).TheElizabethanAgeisconsideredapartofthegeneralRenaissance—thatis,thefloweringofartsandliterature—thattookplaceinEuropeduringthefourteenththroughsixteenthcenturies.TheeraisconsideredthegoldenageofEnglishliterature.ThemostimportantdramasinEnglishandagreatdealoflyricPoetrywereproducedduringthisperiod,andmodernEnglishcriticismbeganaroundthistime.
Thenotableauthorsoftheperiod—PhilipSidney,EdmundSpenser,ChristopherMarlowe,WilliamShakespeare,BenJonson,FrancisBacon,andJohnDonne—areamongthebestinallofEnglishliterature.
End-stopped.Alinethathasanaturalpauseattheend(period,comma,etc.).Forexample,theselinesareendstopped:
Mymistress'eyesarenothinglikethesun.
Coralisfarmoreredthanherlipsred.--Shakespeare
Enjambed.Therunningoverofasentenceorthoughtintothenextcoupletorlinewithoutapauseattheendoftheline;arun-online.Forexample,thefirsttwolineshereareenjambed:
Letmenottothemarriageoftrueminds
Admitimpediments.Loveisnotlove
Whichalterswhenitalterationfinds
Orbendswiththeremovertoremove....–Shakespeare
Enlightenment,The:
Aneighteenth-centuryphilosophicalmovement.ItbeganinFrancebuthadawideimpactthroughoutEuropeandAmerica.ThinkersoftheEnlightenmentvaluedreasonandbelievedthatboththeindividualandsocietycouldachieveastateofperfection.Correspondingtothisessentiallyhumanistvisionwasaresistancetoreligiousauthority.
ImportantfiguresoftheEnlightenmentwereDenisDiderotandVoltaireinFrance,EdwardGibbonandDavidHumeinEngland,andThomasPaineandThomasJeffersonintheUnitedStates
Epic.Anextendednarrativepoemrecountingactions,travels,adventures,andheroicepisodesandwritteninahighstyle(withennobleddiction,forexample).Itmaybewritteninhexameterverse,especiallydactylichexameter,anditmayhavetwelvebooksortwentyfourbooks.Characteristicsoftheclassicalepicincludethese:
∙Themaincharacterorprotagonistisheroicallylargerthanlife,oftenthesourceandsubjectoflegendoranationalhero
∙Thedeedsoftheheroarepresentedwithoutfavoritism,revealinghisfailingsaswellashisvirtues
∙Theaction,ofteninbattle,revealsthemore-than-humanstrengthoftheheroesastheyengageinactsofheroismandcourage
∙Thesettingcoversseveralnations,thewholeworld,oreventheuniverse
∙Theepisodes,eventhoughtheymaybefictional,provideanexplanationforsomeofthecircumstancesoreventsinthehistoryofanationorpeople
∙Thegodsandlesserdivinitiesplayanactiveroleintheoutcomeofactions
∙Allofthevariousadventuresformanorganicwhole,whereeacheventrelatesinsomewaytothecentraltheme
Examples:
∙Homer,Iliad
∙Homer,Odyssey
∙Virgil,Aeneid
∙Milton,ParadiseLost
Epistolarynovel.Anovelconsistingofletterswrittenbyacharacterorseveralcharacters.Theformallowsfortheuseofmultiplepointsofviewtowardthestoryandtheabilitytodispensewithanomniscientnarrator.Examples:
∙SamuelRichardson,Pamela
∙SamuelRichardson,Clarissa
Flashback.Adevicethatallowsthewritertopresenteventsthathappenedbeforethetimeofthecurrentnarrationorthecurrenteventsinthefiction.Flashbacktechniquesincludememories,dreams,storiesofthepasttoldbycharacters,orevenauthorialsovereignty.(Thatis,theauthormightsimplysay,"ButbackinTom'syouth....")Flashbackisusefulforexposi
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