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| What the work is about; the plot, characters, settings, events |
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| (not to be confused with "intent"): the author's goal for his work--to explain, persuade, or to entertain; the reason for writing |
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| metaphorically, the "container" or "mold" of a work of art, as opposed to its material or contents; hence any of the structural patterns or organizing principles that underlie and shape a work. Forms can be traditional and very rigid and specific--e.g., the sonnet in poetry, the sonata in classical music--or vague, flexible, and hybrid, as in most modern works |
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| the voice of the implied author; the controlling presence behind the characters of the story. Not to be confused with the biographical author (creator); easier to “hear” when narrator is in 3rd person |
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| The idea that a work was written to have a particular meaning determined by the author |
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| one infers from a text that the author "intended" to accomplish a certain goal and then uses that inference in interpreting other parts of the text assumes that the author’s “intended” meaning is of primary importance |
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| Evidential/Biographical Fallacy |
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| the error of believing that the characters and events in the author's historical life must have inspired, influenced, or been the source for any fictional events or characters in the work, or that the narrative speaker in a literary work must be synonymous with the author or poet's own voice and viewpoints |
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| the "sound pattern" of a word, either in mental projection—as when one silently recites lines from a poem to one's self—or in actual, physical realization as part of a speech act |
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| the concept or meaning of the word |
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| the whole that is comprised of the signifier and the signifier |
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| opposite relationships that give structure and order to a text. Poststructuralism attempts to render these meaningless |
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| privileging of one idea at the expense of another |
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| practice of identifying the contradictions within a text’s claim to have a single, stable meaning, and showing that a text can be taken to mean a variety of things that differ significantly from what it purports to mean |
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| A term applied by M.H. Abrams to the view that holds the literary work to be most significant as an object in itself, independent of the facts of composition, the actuality it imitates, its author’s stated intention, or the effect it produces on its audience |
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| the resolution of opposites often in irony or paradox |
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| narrator that knows everything and is everywhere (omnipresent); used mostly in novels |
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| Limited Omniscient Narrator |
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| Focuses on the thoughts, feelings and actions of a single character |
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Presents actions and thoughts of characters in objective/nonjudgmental manner; reader must uncover the meaning
Unreliable narrator: Narrator that presents some or much of the story incorrectly |
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| how fast or slow the story is narrated |
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| metaphor where relationship is not directly stated |
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| Metaphor that runs throughout an entire work; incorporates a central metaphor; supported and extended by smaller metaphors |
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| A metaphor/saying that has been used so often it has lost the original imagery of its meaning and has taken on a new meaning |
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| a figure of speech that uses a part of the whole to represent the whole |
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| An object, picture, word or mark that represents something else by association |
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| the character in opposition to the protagonist |
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| complex character; complexity usually developed throughout plot; usually a major character |
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| a changing character; becomes round |
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| the main character of the story |
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| lacks complexity; undeveloped; usually a minor character |
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| an unchanging character; does not becoming round |
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| a character that is constructed to contrast with the protagonist in order to emphasize the qualities of the protagonist or another primary character |
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| a character whose personality/characteristics are greatly exaggerated; easily recognizable; fit readers’ preconceived notions of cultural “types”; archetypes or just very recognizable |
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| Generalized idea about human nature |
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| Recurring images, symbols, ideas, actions, or characters that emphasize certain themes |
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| a practice or device which is accepted as a necessary, useful , or given feature of a genre |
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| single line of words in a poem |
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| Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem. The stanzas of a poem are usually of the same length and follow the same pattern of meter and rhyme |
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| A word, phrase, line, or group of lines repeated regularly in a poem, usually at the end of each stanza |
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| consists of one stressed and one unstressed syllable |
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| A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry |
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| The repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together, in a group of words |
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| (Also known as Half Rhyme or Slant Rhyme.) Consonance occurs in poetry when words appearing at the ends of two or more verses have similar final consonant sounds but have final vowel sounds that differ, as with "stuff" and "off." (Compare with assonance.) |
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| The use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning. The names of some birds are onomatopoetic, imitating the cry of the bird named. For instance, cuckoo, whippoorwill, owl, crow |
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| The repetition of sounds in two or more words or phrases that usually appear close to each other in a poem. For example: river/shiver, song/long, leap/deep. If the rhyme occurs at the ends of lines, it is called end rhyme |
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| The pattern of rhymes in a poem. The rhyme scheme is indicated by a different letter of the alphabet for each new rhyme of the stanza |
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| The most common verse line in English poetry. It consists of five verse feet, with each foot an iamb-that is, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable |
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| poem consisting of 3 line stanzas |
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| The last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet |
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| first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet |
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| Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme |
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| Two consecutive lines of rhyming poetry that are written in iambic pentameter and that contain a complete thought |
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| Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, where each line usually contains ten syllables and every other syllable is stressed |
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| Poetry that has no fixed meter or pattern and that depends on natural speech rhythms. Free verse may rhyme or not rhyme; its lines may be of different lengths; and like natural speech, it may switch suddenly from one rhythm to another |
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| A fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter (in lines of ten syllables with a stress on every other syllable) |
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| Original Italian sonnet form in which the sonnet's rhyme scheme divides the poem's 14 lines into two parts, an octet (first eight lines) and a sestet (last six lines). There are 10 syllables per line |
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| A fourteen-line lyric poem consisting of three quatrains (four line stanza) and a concluding couplet (two rhyming lines). The Shakespearean, or English, sonnet was NOT invented by William Shakespeare, but is named for him because he is its most famous practitioner. Its rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg |
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| any system of representing more or less conventional poetic rhythms by visual symbols for purposes of metrical analysis and criticism; it does not make rhythm: it reveals and simplifies it by translating it from a temporal into a spatial dimension |
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| a form of drama exciting the emotions of pity and fear. Its action should be single and complete, presenting a reversal of fortune, involving persons renowned and of superior attainments,and it should be written in poetry embellished with every kind of artistic expression |
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| Physical and energetic; it is tied up in rebirth and renewal; absence of pain and emotional reactions; the behavior of the characters presented in comedy is ludicrous and sometimes absurd; results in “correction” of behaviors |
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| drama of disaster, profound sentiment, agonizing situations, and usually happy endings |
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| the most life-like of all of the genres; non-judgmental and ends with no absolutes; focuses on character relationships and shows society in a state of continuous flux; a mix of comedy and tragedy side by side |
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| a genre of performance that included skits, puppet shows, political satire, and dance, and was performed in tents |
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| Daily, subtle acts of violence (racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism, etc.) |
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a type of microaggression; the belief that some groups are predisposed to possessing aptitude in certain areas based on race. Does not imply that one group is superior to another.
Racism: The belief that race accounts for superiority of one over another; discrimination based on this belief |
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| The personal conscious or subconscious acceptance of the dominant society's racist views, stereotypes and biases of one's ethnic group |
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