INTRODUCTION TO STYLISTICS
Glossary of Literary Terms
Summer Term, AY 2017-2018
Submitted by: Ms. Abygail Magbag, Ms. Cheryl Basinag,
Ms. Jasel Muncada and Ms. Christine Cayabyab
Analogous characters -are 'similar' because
of convergence from dissimilar ancestors .These do
not indicate common ancestry, or not useful for
classification
Examples:
bat wing vs. butterfly wing: embryologically
dissimilar
aquatic habit of whales and pinnipeds
cow horn vs. deer antler: anatomically dissimilar
legless lizard vs. snake: common ancestor had legs
bat wing vs. bird wing: common ancestor
was flightless reptile
An absent- unseen character or (in radio) silent
character is a fictional character referred to but not
directly observed by the audience, but who
advances the action of the plot in a significant way,
and whose absence enhances their effect on the plot.
Examples:
As with Trifles, Glengarry Glen Ross presents two
characters whose absence guides the plays onstage
action. While no one explicitly mentions Mitch or
Murrays absence, the continuous invocation of
their names accentuates their absence from the
stage. In this play, however, the audience never
learns either characters full name.
Levene, for instance, urges Williamson to talk to
Murray [] talk to Mitch within the first few
pages of the play, and he repeats this entreaty
multiple times before the close of the scene (Mamet
17-8). Levene also makes multiple references to
everything he has done for Murrayfor Mitch
Flat Character
A flat character is a type of character in fiction that
does not change too much from the start of
the narrative to its end. Flat characters are often said
not to have any emotional depths.
E. M. Foster has discussed some features of flat
characters in his book Aspects of the Novel.
According to him, a flat character is a simple
character, shown by the authors having just one or
two qualities, which almost remain the same
throughout the story and do not undergo significant
growth or changes. Besides, audience also does not
know much about such characters, because writers
do not provide detailed information about them
Example:
Gertrude from Hamlet
Outwardly, Queen Gertrude seems to be a caring
mother of Hamlet, but inwardly she is a weak-
willed lady, who walks blindly through her life, is
not aware that Claudius has trapped her by
murdering her husband, and that he has seized her
husbands throne. She has no idea why Hamlet is
upset about her marriage. She behaves like a tool of
fate in the whole tragedy even when she stops
Hamlet from going back to Wittenberg for studies.
She is a weak character whom Claudius and
Polonius have used for their own interests. She
arranges a meeting with Hamlet so that Claudius
could spy on him and also lets Polonius remain
behind the curtains and hear the conversation
between them. Thus, throughout the narrative, she
proves her flat character and does not transform.
She remains passive, never acts on her own until
she becomes a victim herself.
Magic realism
Chiefly Latin-American narrative strategy that is
characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of
fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly
realistic fiction. Although this strategy is known in
the literature of many cultures in many ages, the
term magic realism is a relatively
recent designation, first applied in the 1940s by
Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier, who recognized
this characteristic in much Latin-American
literature. Magic realism is a natural outcome of
postcolonial writing, which must make sense of at
least two separate realitiesthe reality of the
conquerors as well as that of the conquered
Slemons (1988) seminal article on Magical
Realism as Postcolonial Discourse, provides the
basis for considering why magical realism has been
such a central element of postcolonial literatures.
He proposes that in the language of narration in a
magic realist text, a battle between two oppositional
systems takes place, each working toward the
creation of a different kind of fictional world from
the other.
Examples:
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez and works of the Chilean writer Allende.
Subaltern
Denotes a person holding a subordinate or inferior
position. Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci
(1971) used the term in his discussion of the
hegemony of the ruling classes over the
subordinate classes, such as the workers and the
peasants, in the late 19th c. and early 20th c.
Subaltern, meaning of inferior rank.The
concept of the subaltern gained increased
prominence and currency with Gayatri Spivaks Can
the Subaltern Speak? (1985) which was a
commentary on the work of the Subaltern Studies
Group, questioning and exposing their patronizing
attitude. Contradictory to the stereotyping
tendencies found in Saids Orientalism and other
similar texts, which presume the colonial
oppression as monolithic, Spivak adapts Derridean
deconstructive techniques to point out the different
forms of subject formations and othering.
Narrative retardation
An important convention for creating structure in a
film. Narrative retardation is when the director
hides or chooses not to show something important
to the audience that would help them understand the
narrative. It is used to make the audience think and
also to create mystery.
Example:
In the scene in Psycho where Marion is talking to
Norman Bates, Nornan talks about his mother as if
she is still alive and still exists in his life. What the
director decided not to tell or show the audience
was that Normans mother was actually dead.
Epigraph
An epigraph is a literary device in the form of a
poem, quotation or sentence usually placed at the
beginning of a document or a simple piece having a
few sentences but which belongs to another writer.
An epigraph can serve different purposes such as it
can be used as a summary, introduction, an
example, or an association with some famous
literary works, so as to draw comparison or to
generate a specific context to be presented in the
piece.
Epigraph is a very sophisticated form of literary
device and it can really brush up a story very well.
Nevertheless, the thought that usually comes to
mind is why an epigraph is always used in the
beginning. Sometimes, when you are done with
reading a book, you are so swamped by the story
that it makes you want to hold the book close to
your chest and transfer everything in it to your soul
directly. It is because the book is so amazing that it
makes us want to remember everything in it. Now
imagine how moving it would be to turn the very
last page thinking you have finished the book and
right there you find an epigraph that reflects on
everything you just read.
Example #1
Many famous poems are good sources of examples
of epigraph. Mistah Kurtz, he dead is a line
from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, which
was used in the famous poem The Hollow Men by
T.S Eliot to describe how modern people have dead
souls like Kurtz of Heart of Darkness. It is because
they have taken materialism as their demigod and
accepted its domination, submitting their spirits to
it like Kurtz did.
Example #2
The epigraphs used in the preface of Georges
Perecs Life: A Users Manual (La Vie mode
demploi) and in the book all together notify the
reader in advance that everything is not what it
seems and that tricks are going to be played.
Example #3
Epigraph examples are also found in philosophical
novels. The epigraph used by Dostoevsky in The
Brothers Karamazov is John 12:24 and it says:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Example #4
Ernest Hemingway used Gertrude Steins famous
quotation, You are all a lost generation in the
beginning of his book The Sun Also Rises. Through
this epigraph, Hemingway shows us the entire
period in which they were forced to live. The lost
generation phrase as coined by Steinbeck was truly
reflected by Hemingway in his other pieces as well,
but this novel proved to be a mouthpiece for the lost
generation.
Example #5
Behind every great fortune there is a crime. This
is a quotation from Balzac given in The Godfather,
a famous novel by Mario Puzo. The epigraph given
in this novel presents the true picture of a gangster
who earns a lot of wealth and wields much control
over the lives of others. The Godfather is a true
reflection of what its epigraph suggests.
Iconocity
Iconicity is a relationship of resemblance or
similarity between the two aspects of a sign: its
form and its meaning. An iconic sign is one whose
form resembles its meaning in some way. The
opposite of iconicity is arbitrariness. In an arbitrary
sign, the association between form and meaning is
based solely on convention; there is nothing in the
form of the sign that resembles aspects of its
meaning. A road sign that marks a bicycle lane and
has an image of bicycle on it is iconic because the
form of the sign, in particular the graphic image on
it, is related in a direct way to its meaning; both
form and meaning have to do with bicycles. A
warning road sign that has the form of a white
triangle with red margins is arbitrary, because its
formational units are not motivated by any aspect of
its meaning. Because iconicity has to do with the
properties of signs in general and not only those of
linguistic signs, it plays an important role in the
field of semioticsthe study of signs and signaling.
However, language is the most pervasive symbolic
communicative system used by humans, and the
notion of iconicity plays an important role in
characterizing the linguistic sign and linguistic
systems. Iconicity is also central to the study of
literary uses of language, such as prose and poetry.
The main question concerning the role of iconicity
in language is whether a given linguistic sign is
iconic or arbitrary. This question was raised several
millennia ago regarding the nature of the
relationship between the form and the meaning of
words. Later on, the scope of the question was
expanded to include other types of linguistic
entities, such as morphological and syntactic
structures. The linguistic study of sign languages,
which began in the early 1960s, has made a special
contribution to the study of the role of iconicity in
language, since sign languages are capable of much
greater iconic expressions than are spoken
languages.
Everyday Examples of Iconicity
Some examples of iconicity are below.
"Nooooo!" The extra letters add length to the word,
signifying that the word is stretched out when
spoken.
1791 is a representation of the year Seventeen
Hundred and Ninety-One.
A picture of an apple is a representation of the
Apple Corporation.
"Chirp" is an onomatopoeia word, meaning that it
is a word that represents the sound it describes in
this case, the sound a bird makes when it chirps.
In American sign language, the word "you" is
represented by pointing to the person being spoken
to. The hand sign indicates the meaning of the
word.
 In American sign language, signs relating to
emotions, including angry, happy, and feel, are
made on the chest, near the heart.
In American sign language, signs relating to the
way we think, such as understand, know, and think,
are made on the head.
A handshake represents an agreement made
between two people or organizations.
A bull stock market is represented by the Wall Street
bull.
The golden arches are a representation of the
McDonalds fast food chain.
The image of a mermaid with long wavy hair and
wearing a crown is a representation of Starbucks
coffee.
Elvis Presley is an icon of the musical style of rock
and roll.
The red target symbol, circle, or dog with a target
around its eye are visual representations of the
retail store Target.
A picture of a cup of coffee with steam rising from
the top represents a hot cup of coffee, and is used in
the logo for Dunkin Donuts.
Another logo for Dunkin Donuts uses several visual
representations for its slogan "America Runs on
Dunkin." This sentence is communicated by
showing a picture of the United States of America, a
picture of a person running, the word on, and
DD (stands for Dunkin Donuts).
In writing, the three-dot ellipses symbol "" can be
used to represent a person pausing or trailing off
when speaking.
A road sign picturing a squiggly line represents the
message that the road ahead is a winding one.
A road sign showing an image of a deer or other
animal communicates the message that those
animals may be on the road.
A sign outside of a restroom showing a picture of a
man or a woman shows which restroom is for men
and which one is for women.
A persons initials symbolize the name of a person
without writing out that name; JFK symbolizes the
person of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Some professions are represented by visual
symbols, such as a staff with a snake curled around
it symbolizes a doctor.
Fabula
The fabula is "the raw material of a story", and
syuzhet is "the way a story is
organized".Since Aristotle (Poetics 1450b25)
narrative plots are supposed to have a beginning,
middle, and end.
Example:
The film Citizen Kane starts with the death of the
main character, and then tells his life
through flashbacks interspersed with a journalist's
present-time investigation of Kane's life. This is
often achieved in film and novels via flashbacks
or flashforwards. Therefore, the fabula of the film is
the actual story of Kane's life the way it happened
in chronological order; while the syuzhet is the way
the story is told throughout the movie, including
flashbacks.
Homodiegetic vs. Heterodiegetic
Using an advanced vocabulary is essential in order
to match the intellect of the scholars whom apply
these terms in their writing. For example, instead of
describing a piece of writing as being narrated
through a first person perspective, I can substitute
this elementary description with a far more
precocious term: homodiegetic narrative. Not only
does it sound more erudite, but it also enhances the
legitimacy of the writing by appealing to a more
sophisticated audience. An example of a
homodiegetic narrative can be seen in Hunter S.
Thompsons Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The
story is told through the eyes of the main character,
Duke, making it a homodiegetic narrative. A
heterodiegetic narrative can be seen in Charles
Perraults short story Little Red Riding Hood,
narrated by an omniscient voice that does not take
part in the events of the story.
homodiegetic
adj. Describing the narrator of a dramatic work who
is also the protagonist or other character in the
work.
Framing Theory. The concept of framing is related
to the agenda-setting tradition but expands the
research by focusing on the essence of the issues at
hand rather than on a particular topic. The basis
of framing theory is that the media focuses
attention on certain events and then places them
within a field of meaning.
(with pdf attached)
Framing Theory
The concept of framing is related to the agenda-
setting tradition but expands the research by
focusing on the essence of the issues at hand rather
than on a particular topic. The basis of framing
theory is that the media focuses attention on certain
events and then places them within a field of
meaning. Framing is an important topic since it can
have a big influence and therefore the concept of
framing expanded to organizations as well.
In essence, framing theory suggests that how
something is presented to the audience (called
the frame) influences the choices people make
about how to process that information. Frames are
abstractions that work to organize or structure
message meaning. The most common use of frames
is in terms of the frame the news or media place on
the information they convey. They are thought to
influence the perception of the news by
the audience, in this way it could be construed as a
form of second level agenda-setting they not only
tell the audience what to think about (agenda-setting
theory), but also how to think about that issue
(second level agenda setting, framing theory).
The theory was first put forth by Goffman, under
the title of Frame Analysis. He put forth that people
interpret what is going on around their world
through their primary framework. This framework
is regarded as primary as it is taken for granted by
the user. Its usefulness as a framework does not
depend on other frameworks.
Goffman states that there are two distinctions
within primary frameworks: natural + social. Both
play the role of helping individuals interpret data.
So that their experiences can be understood in a
wider social context. The difference between the
two is functional.
Natural frameworks identify events as physical
occurrences taking natural quote literally and
not attributing any social forces to the causation of
events. Social frameworks view events as socially
driven occurrences, due to the whims, goals, and
manipulations on the part of other social players
(people). Social frameworks are built on the natural
frameworks. These frameworks and the frames that
they create in our communication greatly influence
how data is interpreted, processed, and
communicated. Goffmans underlying assumption is
that individuals are capable users of these
frameworks on a day to day basis. Whether they are
aware of them or not.
Framing techniques per Fairhurst and Sarr (1996):
Metaphor: To frame a conceptual idea through
comparison to something else.
Stories (myths, legends): To frame a topic via
narrative in a vivid and memorable way.
Tradition (rituals, ceremonies): Cultural mores
that imbue significance in the mundane, closely
tied to artifacts.
Slogan, jargon, catchphrase: To frame an object
with a catchy phrase to make it more memorable
and relate-able.
Artifact: Objects with intrinsic symbolic value
a visual/cultural phenomenon that holds more
meaning than the object it self.
Contrast: To describe an object in terms of what
it is not.
Spin: to present a concept in such a ways as to
convey a value judgement (positive or negative)
that might not be immediately apparent; to
create an inherent bias by definition.
Framing is in many ways tied very closely
to Agenda Setting theory. Both focus on how media
draws the publics eye to specific topics in this
way they set the agenda. But Framing takes this a
step further in the way in which the news is
presented creates a frame for that information. This
is usually a conscious choice by journalists in this
case a frame refers to the way media as gatekeepers
organize and present the ideas, events, and topics
they cover.
Framing is the way a communication source
defines and constructs a any piece of communicated
information. Framing is an unavoidable part
of human communication we all bring our own
frames to our communications.
Omniscient Point of View
The third-person omniscient point of view is a
method of storytelling in which the narrator knows
the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in
the story, as opposed to third-person limited, which
adheres closely to one character's -- usually the
main character's -- perspective.
Example:
For instance, Leo Tolstoy's renowned and
character-heavy novel "Anna Karenina" is told
from multiple points of view.
In Media Res
In medias res is Latin for "into the middle of
things." It usually describes a narrative that begins,
not at the beginning of a story, but somewhere in
the middle usually at some crucial point in the
action. The term comes from the ancient Roman
poet Horace, who advised the aspiring epic poet to
go straight to the heart of the story instead of
beginning at the beginning.
Example: THE ODYSSEY
The advantage of starting a story in the middle, or
even at the end, and then doubling back to the same
point is the ability to hook the audience
immediately, without any exposition, plopping him
down right in the middle of the action. Some of the
earliest uses of in medias res are still the most
formidable. Homer's Iliad makes use of the
technique, but The Odyssey is an even better
example. If you recall, it starts with most of
Odysseus' journey already finished. The story up to
that point is then told through flashbacks as we
learn about all the fantastic characters he met
along the way.
Anaphora
Anaphora is a literary and rhetorical device
in which a word or group of words is repeated at the
beginning of two or more successive clauses or
sentences. This technique adds emphasis and unity
to the clauses.
Example:
Look at the function of the words if only in the
following sentence:
If only I hadnt gone to the market that day, if
only I hadnt dropped my bag, if only we hadnt
met.
Cataphora
The cataphora reverses the normal pattern
of the pronoun referring back to a noun by first
using the pronoun and then introducing the noun.
The effect is that the reader is put into a state of
suspense, because he does not initially know who or
what the sentence is talking about. This gives the
writer the opportunity to surprise the reader by
associating the initial characterization with an
unexpected noun.
Examples:
In the following examples, cataphors are in
italics and their referents are in bold.
"Why do we envy him, the bankrupt man?"
(John Updike, Hugging the Shore, 1984)
A few weeks before he died, my father gave
me an old cigar box filled with faded letters.
"In 'The Pendulum Years,' his history of the
1960s, Bernard Levin writes of the
'collective insanity which seized Britain.'"
(The London Evening Standard, February 8,
1994, quoted by Katie Wales in Personal
Pronouns in Present-Day English.
Cambridge University Press, 1996)
"If she were alive today, [Barbara]
Tuchman would surely be preparing to pen
fresh furious pages tonight, as the president
seeks to rally his faltering domestic
popularity with summonses of support."
(Martin Kettle, "If He Resists the Siren
Voice of Folly, Blair's Legacy Is
Secure." The Guardian, June 25, 2005)
 "You must remember this:
A kiss is just a kiss, A sigh is just a sigh."
(Herman Hupfeld, "As Time Goes By,"
1931)
Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two
or more clauses are balanced against each other by
the reversal of their structures in order to produce
an artistic effect.
Examples:
I went to the doctor five days ago. Yes, last
week I went to the hospital.
He told me he isnt coming back. Hes not
returning, he said.
She disappeared for just a moment. In just a
second shell reemerge.
We ate all the leftovers so quickly. Speedily we
polished off all that food.
You should get a pet to help you with your
anxiety. That worry could be cured by a dog.
Framing or inclosing setting
In literature, film, television, music, and other
media, a framing device is a literary technique,
where the same element such as a setting, event,
or piece of music is used at both the beginning
and the end of the work (or part of the work). The
"frame" that this story device creates can serve
various storytelling and aesthetic purposes.
In Lost, framing devices happen on several levels of
a television series: framing individual episodes,
whole seasons, and the entire show as well.
Example: Season 1, Lost
The first season begins by showing the characters
on September 22nd 2004, both on the Island, and
on Oceanic Flight 815 in flashbacks. ("Pilot, Part
1") ("Pilot, Part 2") Several weeks pass over the
course of the season, but the finale ends by showing
flashbacks of the characters back on September
22nd, right before their flight. The final of these
flashbacks shows characters boarding the flight
whose crash launched the season. ("Exodus, Part
1") ("Exodus, Part 2")
The season's opening shot shows Jack looking up at
the unknown scenery of the Island. The camera
moves upward, away from him. The closing shot
shows him (and Locke) looking down into the
freshly opened hatch; the camera moves downward,
away from them both. The series's mystery theme
plays over the opening and closing scene.
The season's first and last word are "Waaalt."
Freudian slip
A Freudian slip is a verbal or memory mistake that
is believed to be linked to the unconscious mind.
These slips supposedly reveal the real secret
thoughts and feelings that people hold. Typical
examples include an individual calling his or her
spouse by an ex's name, saying the wrong word, or
even misinterpreting a written or spoken word.
Example:
During a Vatican sermon in 2014, Pope Francis
accidentally used the Italian word "cazzo" (which
translates to "F***) instead of "caso" (which
means "example"). The Pope quickly corrected
himself, but not before the slip posted on dozens of
websites, blogs, and YouTube videos.
A Room of One's Own
A Room of One's Own- is an extended essay by
Virginia Woolf. First published on 24 October
1929,the essay was based on a series of lectures she
delivered at Newnham College and Girton College,
two women's colleges at Cambridge University in
October 1928. While this extended essay in fact
employs a fictional narrator and narrative to explore
women both as writers of and characters in fiction,
the manuscript for the delivery of the series of
lectures, titled "Women and Fiction", which was
published in Forum March 1929,and hence the
essay, are considered non-fiction.The essay is
generally seen as a feminist text, and is noted in its
argument for both a literal and figural space for
women writers within a literary tradition dominated
by men.
Sacrificial lamb or alterego (whipping boy)
Is a metaphorical reference to a person or
animal sacrificed (killed or discounted in some
way) for the common good. The term is derived
from the traditions of Abrahamic religion where
a lamb is a highly valued possession.
In cinema and literature, the term sacrificial lamb
refers to a supporting character whose sole dramatic
purpose is to die, thus galvanizing the protagonist to
action and simultaneously demonstrating how evil
the villain is. Very often, the sacrificial lamb is a
family member, partner, or "old buddy" of the
protagonist, with whom he or she has an assumed
intimacy, thus requiring no real character
development. The term is almost always used
critically, with the implication that the character was
used transparently as a plot device.
Examples:
Macaria in Heracleidae by Euripides
A more modern example is Anthony Edwards'
character, "Goose", in Top Gun.
Hubris (Gk wanton insolence)
This shortcoming or defect in the Greek tragic hero
leads him to ignore the warnings of the gods and to
transgress their laws and commands. Eventually
hubris brings about downfall and nemesis.
Examples:
In a famous Greek Tragedy Oedipus Rex by
Sophocles, the character of the King Oedipus
provides a classic example of a character who
suffers from Hubris or excessive pride. Due to his
hubris, he attempts to defy prophecies of gods
but ended up doing what he feared the most and
what he was warned against. The Oracle of
Delphi told him that he would kill his father and
marry his mother. Overcome by Hubris, he tries to
avoid this. He leaves Corinth and travels
towards Thebes. On his way to the neighboring
city, he kills an old man in a feud and later marries
the queen of Thebes as he was made king of the
city after he saved the city from a deadly Sphinx.
One can say that he commits all these sins in
complete ignorance but nevertheless he deserves
punishment because he became so proud that he
does not shy from attempting to rebel against his
fate. His reversal of fortune is caused by his Hubris.
Nemesis (Gk retribution)
In Greek thought a personification of the gods
resentment and anger at mans insolence, hubris
(q.v.), towards themselves. Thus nemesis was
punishment; what overtook and befell the tragic
hero.
Example:
In Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, the protagonist
Victor exhibits hubris in his venture to become
an unrivaled scientist. After years of experiments,
he triumphs in creating a monster which he calls
Frankenstein. Ironically, the thing which he
considers his supreme invention proves his nemesis.
Frankenstein ultimately becomes the source of
his disaster punishing him justly for his over-
ambition.