Literary Terms List #4

interior monologue- a form of writing which represents the inner thoughts of a character.

Ex. Hamlet, "To be or not to be."

inversion-  words out of order for emphasis.

Ex.  "Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is." -Yoda

juxtaposition-  the intensional placement of a word, phrase, or sentences or a paragraph to contrast with another nearby.

Ex.  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…” Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

lyric-  a poem having musical form and quality.

Ex.  

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.''

Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -  

Only this, and nothing more.'  -Edgar Allan Poe the Raven

magic(al) realism-  a genre developed in Lain American which juxtaposes the everyday with the marvelous or magical.

Ex.  Like Water for Chocolate

metaphor (extended, controlling, & mixed)-  an analogy that compares two different things imaginatively directly.

Ex.  The ocean is a grinder, churning up large rocks into tiny grains of sand.

metonymy-  a device of figurative language in which the name of an attribute or associated thing is substituted for the usual name of a thing.

Ex.  Crown, in place of someone royal.

modernism-  literary movement characterized by stylistic experimentation.

Ex.  Walt Whitman, James Joyce, and T.S. Elliot.

monologue-  an extended speech by a character in a play, short story, novel, narrative poem.

Ex.  Crispian's Day Speech

mood-  the predominating atmosphere evoked by a literary piece.

Ex.  Gloomy, hopeful, pessimistic, ect.

motif-  a recurring feature in a piece of literature.

Ex.  In Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, childhood is a reacurring 

motif.
myth-  a story often about immortals, and sometimes connected with religious rituals that attempt to give meaning to the mysteries of the world.

Ex.  Bigfoot is a myth.

narrative-  a story or description of events.

Ex.  Newspapers are full of narratives.

narrator-  one who narrates, or tells a story.

Ex.  Huck Finn is the narrarator in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

naturalism-  extreme form of realism.

Ex.  Jack London

novelette/novella-  short story; often satirical.

Ex.  The Awakening by Kate Chopin

omniscient point of view-  knowing all things, usually third person.

Ex.  She felt a cold chill shiver down her spine.

onomatopoeia-  use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning.

Ex.  Swish! They won the game!

oxymoron-  two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect.
Ex.  Bitter sweet

pacing-  rate of movement; tempo.

parable-  story designed to convey some religious principle.
Ex.  The Boy who Cried Wolf -Aesop

paradox-  a statement apparently self-contradicting but containing a possible truth.
Ex.  "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" - Animal Farm