General Terms Used in AP Literature Tests

1.Convention any widely accepted literary device, style, or form; for example, a soliloquy is an example of a dramatic convention. 2.Style an authors use of diction, different sentence structures, rhythm, figures of speech, rhetorical principles, and other elements of composition. Style reflects an authors personality and suits his/her purpose in writing. Style may be classified according to period (Metaphysical, Augustan, Georgian), individual authors (Chaucerian), level (grand, middle, low, plain), or language (scientific, poetic, journalistic). 3.Diction the selection and arrangement of words in a literary work; either or both may vary depending on the desired effect. There are four general types: formal (scholarly or lofty writing), informal (relaxed but educated conversation), colloquial (everyday speech) and slang (newly coined words) 4.Jargon language used or understood only by a select group; for example: the terminology in a profession 5.Idiom a word construction or verbal expression that cannot be explained using the literal meaning; for example: "how come" instead of "why; "a piece of cake" to describe a task that is easily done. 6.Figurative Language the opposite of literal language (in which every word is truthful, accurate, and free of exaggeration or embellishment); examples include hyperbole, irony, simile, metaphor and apostrophe 7.Genre a category of literary work, which may refer to the content (tragedy, comedy, pastoral), form (poetry, novel, or drama) or type of popular literature (science fiction, detective story) 8.Settingthe time period (1890's), place (downtown Warsaw), and historical milieu (during the Crimean War), as well as the social, political, and spiritual environment in a literary work. 9.Ideology a manner of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture

Poetry
Sounds and Rhythm
10.Assonancethe deliberate repetition of internal vowel sounds to create rhythm, mood, and emphasis on certain words. "Tide" and "hide" are rhymes; "tide" and "mine" are examples of assonance. Other examples: "the rare and radiant maiden. . . "; "and so all the night tide, I lie by the side" 11.Alliteration the repetition of the same or similar beginning consonant sounds in two or more words that are close together, like Poe's "ghastly, gaunt, ungainly bird." Alliteration creates a musical effect, establishes mood, and helps us remember. 12.Consonance (known as half rhyme or slant rhyme when consonance occurs at the ends of lines) often occurs in poetry; describes words that have similar consonant sounds but have vowel sounds that differ, as with "stuff" and "off" or "The curfew tolls the knells of parting day." 13.Cacophony a combination of harsh, jarring, or discordant sounds, especially in poetry. Such combinations may be accidental or intentional but result in a particular effect upon the reader. 14.Euphonya combination of pleasant mellifluous sounds in a literary work; the opposite of cacophony. 15.Onomatopoeia the invention or use of a word whose sound echoes or suggests its meaning, such as "hiss," "buzz," "fizz," "clatter," or "tick tock" 16.End-stopped line a line of verse that ends with a grammatical break such as a comma, colon, semi-colon or full stop, etc; the opposite of enjambment 17.Enjambment - the breaking of a syntactic unit (a phrase, clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two verses. The following lines from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale (c. 1611) are heavily enjambed: I am not prone to weeping, as our sex Commonly are; the want of which vain dew Perchance shall dry your pities; but I have That honourable grief lodged here which burns Worse than tears drown. 18.Caesura an audible pause that breaks up a line of verse; caesura can be indicated by punctuation or occur naturally in speech rhythms 19.Cadence the natural rhythm of language caused by the alternation of accented and unaccented syllables. Much modern poetry (notably free verse) deliberately manipulates cadence to create complex rhythmic effects. 20.Rhythm a regular pattern of sound, time intervals, or events occurring in writing, most often and most discernibly in poetry. Regular, reliable rhythm is soothing to humans while interrupted, unpredictable, or rapidly changing rhythm is disturbing. Authors use rhythm to produce a desired reaction in the reader.

Types and Placement of Rhyme

21.Perfect or exact rhymeoccurs when differing consonant-sounds precede identically stressed vowel-sounds. Examples: foe - toe, meet -fleet, buffer - rougher, fix - sticks 22.Slant, half, or near rhyme (also called consonance)occurs when only the final consonant sounds of the rhyming words are identical. Examples: soul - oil, firth - forth, trolley bully 23.Eye rhymeis not really rhyme; it just looks like rhyme. Examples: cough - bough - rough 24.End rhymedescribes rhyme that occurs at the ends of lines 25.Internal rhyme rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse Ex: "each narrow cell in which we dwell" 26.Masculine rhyme occurs when the rhyming sound falls in a single accented syllable, as with "heat" and "eat" 27.Feminine rhyme a rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed, as in "merry" and "tarry" 28.Terza rimaan interlocking three-line rhyme scheme: aba, bcb, cdc, ded, and so on. Dantes Divine Comedy and Frosts "Acquainted with the Night" are written in terza rima.

Stanza Form
29.Stanzaa group of lines in poem 30.Couplet a stanza of two lines, usually with end rhyme 31.Heroic couplet a rhyming couplet written in iambic pentameter (a line with five iambic feet) 32.Tercet a three-line stanza, usually with one rhyme 33.Quatraina four-line stanza, rhymed or unrhymed 34.Cinquaina five-line stanza 35.Sesteta six-line stanza 36.Heptasticha seven-line stanza 37.Octavean eight-line stanza

Meter
38.Meter the measurement of rhythm in poems and the rhythmic patterns resulting from combinations of heavy and light stresses on syllables The symbol U (or sometimes x) represents light stress and the symbol / represents a heavier stress. 39.Foot the smallest unit of rhythm in a line of poetry; in English-language poetry, a foot is typically comprised of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables (see names of combinations below). Types of feet: U (or x) = unstressed / = stressed syllable Iamb Trochee Anapest Dactyl Spondee Pyrrhic U/ /U UU/ /UU // UU con-tort tor-ture in-ter-cept su-i-cide rare in English rare in English Number of Feet in a Line: monometer = one foot dimeter = two feet trimeter = three feet tetrameter = four feet pentameter = five feet hexameter = six feet heptameter = seven feet octameter = eight feet

40.Prosodythe overall metrical structure of a poem

41.Scansionthe process of measuring the stresses in a line of verse to determine the metrical pattern of the line To "scan" a poem: 1. identify the foot or syllabic pattern 2. name the number of feet in the line 3. describe the stanza pattern if there is one Example: I think that I shall never see (iambic feet + four iambs in the line = iambic tetrameter) U / U / U / U / Other example combinations: iambic pentameter = five pairs of U / trochaic tetrameter = four feet of / U

Types of Analogy
42.Analogy a comparison made to explain something unfamiliar through similarity to something familiar, or to prove one point based on the acceptance of another. Metaphor and simile are types of analogies. 43.Simile a comparison using like or as 44.Metaphor a figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things 45.Conceit a clever and fanciful metaphor, usually expressed through elaborate and extended comparison, that presents a striking parallel between two seemingly dissimilar things for example, elaborately comparing a beautiful woman to an object like a garden or the sun. The conceit was a popular device throughout the Elizabethan and Baroque Ages and the principal technique of the 17th century English metaphysical poets. 46.Synesthesia a cross-sensory metaphor; for example, 'a deafening yellow' 47.Synecdoche a figure of speech that presents a kind of metaphor in which: A part of something is used for the whole, The whole is used for a part, The species is used for the genus OR the genus is used for the species The stuff of which something is made is used for the thing. 48.Metonymy a type of metaphor in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it (e.g. "the White House" for the President). Very similar to and easily confused with Synecdoche.

Language
49.Apostrophe Speech directed to an imaginary or absent person or abstract quality or idea. In dramatic works and poetry, it is sometimes made apparent by the word "O" (not "Oh"). ~ To what green altar, O mysterious priest" in John Keats "Ode on a Grecian Urn". ~ "Roll on thou dark and deep blue ocean..." in Lord Byrons "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage". 50.Chiasmus a rhetorical construction in which the order of the words in the second of two paired phrases is the reverse of the order in the first: Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure" 51.Euphemism the substitution of a mild or less negative word or phrase for a harsh or blunt one, as in "to pass away. Many terms referring to death, sex, crime, and excremental functions are euphemisms. 52.Connotationthe impression that a word gives beyond its defined meaning; a connotation may be universally understood or may be significant only to a certain group. Both "horse" and "steed" denote the same animal, but "steed" has a different connotation, possibly because of its frequent use in chivalrous/romantic narratives. 53.Denotationthe definition of a word, apart from the impressions or feelings it creates in the reader. For example, the word "apartheid" denotes a political and economic policy of segregation by race, but its connotations oppression, slavery, inequality are numerous. 54.Syntaxthe ordering of words into meaningful verbal patterns such as phrases, clauses, and sentences. Poets often manipulate syntax, changing conventional word order, to place certain emphasis on particular words. Emily Dickinsons poem about seeing a snake in the grass includes this line: "His notice sudden is." In addition to the alliterative hissing s-sounds here, Dickinson also effectively manipulates the lines syntax so that the verb is appears unexpectedly at the end, emphasizing the surprise of the snakes appearance. 55.Inversion change in normal word order, such as placing the verb before its subject 56.Oxymoron a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness); or, broadly, something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements

57.Paradox a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true 58.Hyperbole an outrageous exaggeration 59.Tone the writer's attitude toward the material and/or readers; tone may be playful, formal, intimate, angry, serious, ironic, outraged, baffled, tender, serene, depressed, etc. 60.Rhetorical Questiona question asked for effect, not actually requiring an answer. Example: "Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction?" (Patrick Henry) Example: "What kind of fool do you think I am?" 61.Personification a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities (Compare with anthropomorphism) 62.Juxtaposition the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side

Types of Poetry
63.NARRATIVE POETRY a poem that tells a story; may be short or long, simple or complex 64.Ballada simple narrative poem imitating the language, form, and spirit of a traditional song ballad, such as Keatss "La Belle Dame sans Merci" 65.Epica long poem about the adventures of a hero of great historic or legendary importance; the setting is vast and the action may have cosmic significance through the intervention of gods, angels, or demons; typically contain elaborate metaphors and allusions that enhance the symbolic importance of the hero's adventures. Examples include Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, and John Milton's Paradise Lost. Epics often begin in medias res, a Latin term meaning "in the middle of things, referring to the technique of beginning a story at its midpoint and then using various flashback devices to reveal previous action. 66.LYRIC POETRY a poem expressing the emotions and thoughts of a single speaker (not necessarily the poet); takes many forms, including the dramatic monologue, elegy, haiku, ode, and sonnet. A traditional theme of lyric poetry is carpe diem, (Latin for seize the day), advising the reader or the person the poem addresses to enjoy the pleasures of the moment. Two celebrated carpe diem poems are Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" and Herrick's "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...." 67.Dramatic monologuea poem in which the speaker addresses a silent audience, revealing a dramatic situation and some aspect of his or her temperament or personality. 68.Elegya mournful, contemplative lyric poem commemorating someone who is dead (often ending in a consolation), or a serious meditative poem expressing melancholy thoughts 69.Haiku three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables presenting an intense emotion or vivid image of nature, leading to spiritual insight (style borrowed from the Japanese) 70.Odea relatively lengthy lyric poem expressing lofty emotions in a dignified style; characterized by a serious topic, such as truth, art, freedom, justice, or the meaning of life; tone tends to be formal. No prescribed pattern defines an ode; some repeat the same pattern in each stanza, while others introduce a new pattern in each stanza. 71.Idylla poem extolling the virtues of an ideal place or time 72.Sonneta fixed poem of fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. 73.The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet divided into an octave, (abbaabba) and a sestet (cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdccdc). The octave often presents a situation, attitude, or problem that the sestet comments upon or resolves, as in John Keatss "On First Looking into Chapmans Homer." 74.The English or Shakespearean sonnet organized into three quatrains and a couplet, with a typical rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. This rhyme scheme is more suited to English poetry because English has fewer rhyming words than Italian. English sonnets, because of their four-part organization, also have more flexibility with respect to where thematic breaks can occur. Frequently, however, the most pronounced break or turn comes with the concluding couplet, as in Shakespeares "Shall I compare thee to a summers day?" 75.Aubade a poem or song of or about lovers separating at dawn; Donnes The Sunne Rising is a famous example 76.Villanelle a fixed poem consisting of nineteen lines of any length divided into five tercets and a concluding quatrain. The first and third lines of the initial tercet rhyme; these rhymes are repeated in each subsequent tercet (aba) and in the final two lines of the quatrain (abaa). Line 1 appears in its entirety as lines 6, 12, and 18, while line 3 reappears as lines 9, 15, and 19. Example: Dylan Thomass "Do not go gentle into that good night"

77.METAPHYSICAL POETRY The term metaphysical was applied to a style of 17th Century poetry first by John Dryden and later by Dr. Samuel Johnson because of the highly intellectual and often abstruse imagery involved. Chief among the metaphysical poets are John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Andrew Marvell, and Henry Vaughan. While their poetry is widely varied (the metaphysical poets are not part of a thematic or even a structural school), there are some common characteristics: Argumentative structure The poem often engages in a debate or persuasive presentation; the poem is an intellectual exercise as well as or instead of an emotional effusion. Dramatic and colloquial mode of utterance The poem often describes a dramatic event rather than being a reverie, a thought, or contemplation. Diction is simple and usually direct; inversion is limited. The verse is occasionally rough, like speech, rather than written in perfect meter, resulting in a dominance of thought over form. Acute realism The poem often reveals a psychological analysis; images advance the argument rather than being ornamental. There is a learned style of thinking and writing; the poetry is often highly intellectual. Metaphysical wit The poem contains unexpected, even striking or shocking analogies, offering elaborate parallels between apparently dissimilar things. The analogies are drawn from widely varied fields of knowledge, not limited to traditional sources in nature or art. Analogies from science, mechanics, housekeeping, business, philosophy, astronomy, etc. are common. These "conceits" reveal a play of intellect, often resulting in puns, paradox, and humorous comparisons. Unlike other poetry where the metaphors usually remain in the background, here the metaphors sometimes take over the poem and control it. Metaphysical poetry represents a revolt against the conventions of Elizabethan love poetry and especially the typical Petrarchan conceits (like rosy cheeks, eyes like stars, etc.). 78.PASTORAL POETRY poetry presenting the pleasures of rural life (often that of a shepherd) through idealism rather than realism; common topics include love and seduction; the value of poetry; death and mourning; the corruption of the city or court vs. the "purity" of idealized country life; politics (generally satirical) 79.DIDACTIC POETRY poetry designed to teach an ethical, moral, or religious lesson. Michael Wigglesworths Puritan poem Day of Doom is an example of didactic poetry. 80.CONCRETE POETRY poetry in which punctuation marks, letters, or words are arranged on a page to form a visual design (for ex: a cross or a bumblebee). 81.CONFESSIONAL POETRY-- a form of poetry in which the poet reveals very personal, intimate, or sometimes shocking information about himself or herself. Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, and John Berryman wrote poetry in the confessional vein. 82.DOGGERELa derogatory term used to describe poetry whose subject is trite and whose rhythm and sounds are monotonously heavy-handed. 83.BLANK VERSE a type of poetry with regular meter (usually iambic pentameter) but no rhyme. For example: Shakespeares plays and Miltons Paradise Lost 84.FREE VERSE OR OPEN FORM terms describing various styles of poetry lacking strict meter and rhyme, but still recognizable as poetry (Walt Whitman and E.E. Cummings) 85.FIXED FORM a poem categorized by the pattern of its lines, meter, rhythm, or stanzas. Fixed forms include the sonnet, limerick, sestina, and villanelle. 86.Sestina a type of fixed form poetry consisting of thirty-six lines of any length divided into six sestets and a three-line concluding stanza called an envoy. The six words at the end of the first sestets lines must also appear at the ends of the other five sestets, in varying order. These six words must also appear in the envoy, where they often resonate important themes. An example of this highly demanding form of poetry is Elizabeth Bishops "Sestina." A sestina may be categorized as lyric poetry or narrative poetry, depending on its focus. 87.Limerick a light, humorous poem of five lines with the rhyme scheme aabba; lines 1, 2, and 5 contain three feet, while lines 3 and 4 usually contain two feet. Subjects range from the silly to the obscene. 88.Epigrama brief, pointed, and witty poem (usually a couplet), making a satiric or humorous point. Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote an epigram that neatly sums up the form: What is an Epigram? A Dwarfish whole, Its body brevity, and wit its soul. 89.Epitapha serious or humorous inscription on a tomb or tombstone, or verse written on the occasion of a person's death. Dorothy Parker's epitaph reads, "I told you I was sick."

Fiction
90.Verisimilitudehow fully a work of fiction conforms to our sense of reality. A high degree of verisimilitude indicates that the work is very realistic and believable; it is "true to life." 91.Allusion a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art, usually to make an idea more easily understood. An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion. 92.Anthropomorphismthe presentation of animals or objects in human shape or with human characteristics; term derived from the Greek word for "human form." The Fables of Aesop, the animated films of Walt Disney, and Richard Adams's Watership Down feature anthropomorphic characters. (Compare with personification.) 93.Epiphany a sudden revelation of truth inspired by a seemingly trivial incident 94.Symbol/symbolismsomething that suggests or stands for something else without losing its original identity. In literature, symbols combine their literal meaning with the suggestion of an abstract concept. Literary symbols are of two types: universal those that carry complex associations of meaning no matter what their contexts; and contextual those that derive their suggestive meaning from their functions in specific literary works. (Compare with archetype.) Examples include a flag that stands for a nation or movement, or an empty cupboard used to suggest hopelessness, poverty, and despair. 95.Mood the atmosphere or feeling in a literary work; setting and descriptive details contribute to mood 96.Deus ex machina god from a machine lowered onto the stage in some ancient Greek plays to solve plot problems at a stroke. A later example is Shakespeare's introduction of Hymen into the last scene of As You Like It to marry off the main characters. The term is now used pejoratively for any improbable or unexpected contrivance by which an author resolves the complications of the plot in a play or novel. The discovery of a lost will was a favorite resort of Victorian novelists. 97.Archetypea universal pattern or motif that recurs so frequently or prominently in literature, religion, mythology, dreams, rituals, legends, or fairytales as to suggest that it embodies some essential element of universal human experience. Examples include recurrent symbols (the rose, serpent, or sun); common themes (unrequited love, revenge); mythical settings (the paradisiacal garden); stock characters (the femme fatale, the hero, the magician); and some basic plots (the quest, the descent to the underworld, or the feud). Archetypes reflect basic patterns in human behavior and often the natural cycle of the seasons.

Categories of Fiction
98.Existentialist novel a novel written from an existentialist viewpoint, often pointing out the absurdity and meaninglessness of existence (existentialism = cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s1950s) Life is suffering/ Life is not fair. Individuals are alienated from themselves by the highly complex, sophisticated, technological, bureaucratic world in which they live. Individual alienation the loss of ones sense of identity is perpetuated by the labels and categories used to describe people. Individuals are free to choose how they will respond to the painful existence in which they find themselves. Because they are free, individuals are also responsible for their own actions. Reality is not objectively knowable. All knowledge is subjective. Knowledge presumed to be objective and factual is actually of minimal value because it is superficial. (Science is not all it is cracked up to be.) Knowledge recognized as subjective is the most valuable, because it consists of internalized, integrated, self-initiated meanings. It is not merely cognitive, but is also affective.

99.Gothic novel a novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terror pervades the action. Gothic elements include: Ancient prophecy, especially mysterious, obscure, or hard to understand

Mystery and suspense High emotion, sentimentalism, but also pronounced anger, surprise, and especially terror Supernatural events (e.g. a giant, a sighing portrait, ghosts or their apparent presence, a skeleton) Omens, portents, dream visions Fainting, frightened, screaming women Women threatened by powerful, impetuous male Setting in a castle, especially with secret passages The metonymy of gloom and horror (wind, rain, doors grating on rusty hinges, howls in the distance, distant sighs, footsteps approaching, lights in abandoned rooms, gusts of wind blowing out lights or blowing suddenly, characters trapped in rooms or imprisoned) The vocabulary of the gothic (use of words indicating fear, mystery, etc.: apparition, devil, ghost, haunted, terror, fright) 100.Frame narrative a narrative structure that provides a setting and exposition for the main narrative in a novel. Often, a narrator will describe where he found the manuscript of the novel or where he heard someone tell the story he is about to relate. The frame helps control the reader's perception of the work, and may lend credibility to the main section of the novel. Examples of novels with frames include Frankenstein and The Scarlet Letter. 101.Allegory a narrative in verse or prose in which the literal events (persons, places, and things) consistently point to a parallel sequence of symbolic ideas, often used to dramatize abstract ideas, historical events, religious systems, or political issues. An allegory has two levels of meaning: a literal level that tells a surface story and a symbolic level in which the abstract ideas unfold. 102.Coming-of-age story or Bildungsroman a type of novel where the protagonist is initiated into adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both, often by a process of disillusionment. Understanding comes after the dropping of preconceptions, a destruction of a false sense of security, or in some way the loss of innocence. Possible shifts include: Ignorance to knowledge Innocence to experience False view of world to correct view Idealism to realism Immature responses to mature responses 103.Utopian novel a novel that presents an ideal society where the problems of poverty, greed, crime, and so forth have been eliminated 104.Dystopian novel an anti-utopian novel where, instead of a paradise, everything has gone wrong in the attempt to create a perfect society; examples include 1984 and Brave New World 105.Black Humor (also known as Black Comedy) writing that places grotesque elements side by side with humorous ones in an attempt to shock the reader, forcing him or her to laugh at the horrifying reality of a disordered world. Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 is a superb example of the use of black humor. Other well-known authors who use black humor include Kurt Vonnegut, Edward Albee, Eugene Ionesco, and Harold Pinter. 106.Burlesque any literary work that uses exaggeration to make its subject appear ridiculous, either by treating a trivial subject with profound seriousness or by treating a dignified subject frivolously 107.Grotesque describes a work or a style of expression characterized by exaggeration, deformity, freakishness, or disorder. The grotesque often includes an element of comic absurdity. Examples: some of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor (and many others)

Characterization
108.Characterization the process by which an author creates vivid, believable characters: (1) direct description of the character by the narrator; (2) the direct presentation of the speech, thoughts, or actions of the character; and (3) the responses of other characters to the character. 109.Protagonist the main character of a narrative who engages the readers interest and, usually, empathy 110.Antagonist the character, force, or collection of forces in fiction or drama that opposes the protagonist and gives rise to the conflict of the story, such as Claudius in Shakespeares play Hamlet

111.Foil a character whose behavior and values contrast with those of another character, therefore highlighting each characters distinct temperament. In Shakespeares Hamlet, Laertes acts as a foil to Hamlet because his willingness to act underscores Hamlets inability to do so. 112.Allegorical character this type of character has a symbolic role beyond his/her function in the work; the name of an allegorical character often hints at his/her symbolic role. For example, in Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown, Faith is not only the name of a character but also a symbol of religious faith. 113.Static character a character who does not undergo important change in the course of the story, remaining essentially the same throughout the story 114.Dynamic character a character who undergoes important change in the course of the story not changes in circumstances, but changes within the character: changes in insight or understanding, commitment, values 115.Round character more complex than a flat or stock character, displaying the inconsistencies and internal conflicts found in real people 116.Flat character a character who embodies one or two qualities, ideas, or traits that can be described in a brief summary. Not psychologically complex. Some flat characters are stock characters, embodying stereotypes such as the "dumb blonde" or the "mean stepfather." They become types rather than individuals. 117.Stock character a character who exists only because the plot demands it 118.Antihero a protagonist who lacks the traditional attributes of a hero. He or she may be bewildered, ineffectual, deluded, or merely pathetic. Often what antiheroes learn, if they learn anything at all, is that the world isolates them in an existence devoid of God and absolute values. Yossarian from Joseph Hellers Catch-22 is an example of an antihero. 119.Doppelganger (also known as The Double) a duplicate character (usually in the form of an alter ego, though sometimes as a ghostly counterpart) OR a character divided into two distinct, usually opposite personalities. The use of this character device is widespread in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, and indicates a growing awareness among authors that the "self" is really a composite of many "selves." A well-known story with a doppelganger character is Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which dramatizes an internal struggle between good and evil. Doppelgangers also appear in popular culture, including "evil twins" in soap operas, Captain Picard's double in Star Trek, and Phoebe's twin sister on Friends.

Point of view
120.First person narration by a character involved in the story. When the narrator uses "I" and describes his or her own experience, thoughts, or feelings, the work is in first person. 121.Third person omniscient narration by a seemingly all-knowing person who does not take part in the action of the story, but who presents the thoughts and feelings of a number of characters; Gods point of view 122.Third person limited narration by a person who does not take part in the action of the story, and who reveals the thoughts and feelings of one particular character; hence the use of the term limited as opposed to omniscient 123.Third person objective narration by a person who does not take part in the action of the story, and who does not reveal the thoughts or feelings of any character; reporter. Example: Hills Like White Elephants.

124.Second person narration that speaks to the reader or another character in the story, directly addressed as you. With this point of view, the reader may feel like a character in the narrative. This POV is VERY RARE. 125.Stream-of-consciousness technique the most intense use of a central consciousness in narration; this technique takes a reader inside a characters mind to reveal perceptions, thoughts, and feelings on a conscious or unconscious level, suggesting the flow of thought as well as content. Complete sentences may give way to fragments as the characters mind makes rapid associations free of conventional logic or transitions. 126.Unreliable narrator a narrator, usually a first person narrator, whose vision or version of the details of a story are consciously or unconsciously deceiving

Plot Structure
127.Freytags Pyramid explication, complication, climax, turning point/reversal, resolution/catastrophe; originally designed to describe the structure of a five-act drama; see diagram on last page 128.Flashbacka device that allows the writer to present events that happened before the time of the current narration or the current events in the fiction. 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. 129.Foreshadowing hints of future events in a literary work 130.Subplot a secondary story in a narrative which may serve as a motivating or complicating force for the main plot of the work, or it may provide emphasis for (or relief from) the main plot. The conflict between the Capulets and the Montagues in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is an example of a subplot. 131.Parallel plota secondary story line that mimics and reinforces the main plot.

Drama
132.Prologuethe opening speech or dialogue of a play, especially a classic Greek play, that usually gives the exposition necessary to follow the subsequent action. Today the term also refers to the introduction to any literary work. 133.Epiloguea concluding statement or section of a literary work. In dramas, particularly those of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the epilogue is a closing speech, often in verse, delivered by an actor at the end of a play and spoken directly to the audience. A famous epilogue is Puck's speech at the end of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. (Compare with Prologue.) 134.Act a major division in the action of a play. Playwrights frequently employ acts to accommodate changes in time, setting, characters onstage, or mood. In many full-length plays, acts are further divided into scenes, which often mark a point in the action when the location changes or when a new character enters. 135.Scene in drama, a scene is a subdivision of an act. In modern plays, scenes usually consist of units of action in which there are no changes in the setting or breaks in the continuity of time. According to traditional conventions, a scene changes when the location of the action shifts or when a new character enters. 136.Soliloquy a monologue in a drama used to give the audience information and to develop the speaker's character. It is typically a projection of the speaker's innermost thoughts. Usually delivered while the speaker is alone on stage, a soliloquy is intended to present an illusion of unspoken reflection. A celebrated soliloquy is Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. (Compare with Monologue.) 137.Monologue a speech given by a single individual in a drama or other public entertainment. It has no set length, although it is usually several or more lines long. 138.Aside a comment made by a stage performer that is intended to be heard by the audience but supposedly not by other characters 139.Comic relief a humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in an otherwise serious work; in many cases, these moments enhance the thematic significance of the story in addition to providing laughter. When Hamlet jokes with the gravediggers we laugh, but recognize something hauntingly serious about the humor.

Categories of Drama
140.COMEDY a work intended to interest, involve, and amuse the reader or audience, in which no terrible disaster occurs and that ends happily for the main characters. Comedy is generally divided into two classifications: high comedy and low comedy. 141.LOW COMEDY comedy which relies on slapstick and horseplay, often focusing on the everyday life of the lower classes. Low comedy is generally physical rather than verbal. 142.Farce low comedy intended to make us laugh by means of a series of exaggerated, unlikely situations that depend less on plot and character than on gross absurdities, slapstick humor, and coarse dialogue. Characters themselves may be considered farcical. 143.HIGH COMEDY comedy relying on sophisticated wit, subtle irony or sarcasm, and an intricate plot; primarily verbal rather than physical, making generous use of satire; often concerns polite society 144.Satire the literary art of ridiculing a folly or vice in order to expose or correct it. The object of satire is usually some human frailty; although, people, institutions, ideas, and things are all fair game. Satire evokes attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation toward its faulty subject in the hope of somehow improving it. Satirical techniques: 145.Ironya literary device that uses contradictory statements or situations to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true. 146.Verbal irony occurs when a person says one thing but means the opposite. 147.Situational irony exists when there is an incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens due to forces beyond human comprehension or control. 148.Dramatic irony creates a discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what the reader or audience knows to be true. 149.Tragic irony is a form of dramatic irony found in tragedies such as Oedipus the King (Oedipus searches for the person responsible for the plague that ravishes his city and ironically ends up hunting himself). 150.Cosmic irony occurs when a writer uses God, destiny, or fate to dash the hopes and expectations of a character or of humankind in general. 151.Parody a humorous imitation of another, usually serious, work. Parodists imitate the tone, language, and shape of the original in order to deflate the subject matter, making the original work seem absurd. Parody may be used to expose the defects in a work, but more often is an affectionate acknowledgment that a well-known work has become both institutionalized in our culture and fair game for some fun. 152.Reversal the point in a story when the protagonists fortunes turn in an unexpected direction 153.Inversion a reversal of position, order, form, or relationship 154.Hyperbole a boldly exaggerated statement or overstatement that adds emphasis but is not intended to be literally true. For ex: "He ate everything in the house." Hyperbole may be used for serious, comic, or ironic effect. 155.Understatementthe opposite of hyperbole; says less than is intended, usually with an ironic effect 156.Sarcasm a form of sneering criticism in which disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise. 157.Wit clever humor characterized by astuteness of perception or judgment. 158.Invective speech or writing that abuses, denounces, or attacks, directed against a person, idea, or system. It employs a heavy use of negative emotive language. Example: I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth. Jonathan Swift 159.Puna play on words that relies on a particular word having multiple meanings or sounding like another word. For example, in Romeo and Juliet (III.i.101), the dying Mercutio puns, "Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man." Puns have serious literary uses, but since the eighteenth century, puns have been used almost purely for humorous effect.

TRAGEDY 160.Tragic hero central figure must be both good and noble (by social position and moral stature), otherwise the fall to misfortune would not be great enough for tragic impact. The catastrophic consequences involve an entire nation because of the tragic heros social rank. He must possess a tragic flaw and experience hamartia. 161.Hamartia in tragedy, the event or act that leads to the downfall of the hero or heroine. This term is often incorrectly used as a synonym for tragic flaw. In Richard Wright's Native Son, the act that seals Bigger Thomas's fate is his first impulsive murder. 162.Tragic Flawthe quality within the hero or heroine which leads to his or her downfall. Examples of the tragic flaw include Othello's jealousy and Hamlet's indecisiveness 163.Hubris the most common tragic flaw: an excessive pride that adversely influences the protagonists judgment 164.Catharsis emotional reaction produced by observing the events in a tragedy. A cleansing or purging that should leave the audience feeling not depressed but relieved and almost elated. The tragic results prove the existence of truth, thereby reassuring our faith that existence is sensible. 165.REVENGE TRAGEDY a dramatic form popular during the Elizabethan Age, in which the protagonist, directed by the ghost of his murdered father or son, inflicts retaliation upon a powerful villain. Notable features of the revenge tragedy include violence, bizarre criminal acts, intrigue, insanity, a hesitant protagonist, and the use of soliloquy. Thomas Kyd's Spanish Tragedy is the first example of revenge tragedy in English, and William Shakespeare's Hamlet is perhaps the best. 166.TRAGICOMEDY a type of drama that combines certain elements of both tragedy and comedy; the plays plot tends to be serious, leading to a terrible catastrophe, until an unexpected turn in events leads to a reversal of circumstance, and the story ends happily. Tragicomedy often employs a romantic, fast-moving plot dealing with love, jealousy, disguises, treachery, intrigue, and surprises, all moving toward a melodramatic resolution. Shakespeares Merchant of Venice is a tragicomedy. 167.MELODRAMA a play in which the typical plot is a conflict between characters who personify extreme good and evil. Melodramas usually end happily and emphasize sensationalism. 168.ROMANTIC COMEDY involves a love affair that meets with various obstacles (like disapproving parents, mistaken identities, deceptions, or other sorts of misunderstandings) but overcomes them to end in a blissful union. Shakespeares comedies, such as A Midsummer Nights Dream, are considered romantic comedies. 169.PROBLEM PLAYpopularized by Henrik Ibsen, a problem play is a type of drama that presents a social issue in order to awaken the audience to it. These plays usually reject romantic plots in favor of holding up a mirror that reflects not simply what the audience wants to see but what the playwright sees in them. Often, a problem play will propose a solution to the problem that does not coincide with prevailing opinion. The term is also used to refer to certain Shakespeare plays that do not fit the categories of tragedy, comedy, or romance