Allegory: Where every
aspect of a story is representative, usually symbolic, of something else, usually a larger abstract concept or important historical/geopolitical
event.
Lord of the Flies provides a compelling allegory of human nature, illustrating the three sides
of the psyche through its sharply-defined main characters.
Antagonist: Counterpart
to the main character and source of a story’s main conflict. The person may not be “bad” or “evil”
by any conventional moral standard, but he/she opposes the protagonist in a significant way.
Anthropomorphism: Where
animals or inanimate objects are portrayed in a story as people, such as by walking, talking, or being given arms, legs and/or
facial features. (This technique is often incorrectly called personification.)
The King and Queen of Hearts and their playing-card courtiers comprise only one example of Carroll’s extensive
use of anthropomorphism in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Blank verse: Non-rhyming
poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter.
Most of Shakespeare’s dialogue is written in blank verse, though it does occasionally rhyme.
Characterization: The
author’s means of conveying to the reader a character’s personality, life history, values, physical attributes,
etc. Also refers directly to a description thereof.
Atticus is characterized as an almost impossibly virtuous man, always doing what is right and imparting
impeccable moral values to his children.
Climax: The turning point
in a story, at which the end result becomes inevitable, usually where something suddenly goes terribly wrong; the “dramatic
high
point” of a story.
The story reaches its climax in
Act III, when Mercutio and Tybalt are killed and Romeo is banished from Verona.
*Conceit: An elaborate
or exaggerated poetic image.
Conflict: A struggle between
opposing forces which is the driving force of a story. The outcome of any story provides a resolution of the conflict(s);
this is what keeps the reader reading. Conflicts can exist between individual characters, between groups of characters, between
a character and society, etc., and can also be purely abstract (conflicting ideas).
The conflict between the Montagues and Capulets causes Romeo and Juliet to behave irrationally once
they fall in love.
Jack’s priorities are in conflict with those of Ralph and Piggy, which causes him to break
away from the group.
Man-versus-nature is an important conflict in The Old Man and the Sea.
Context: Facts and conditions
surrounding a given situation.
Madame Defarge’s actions seem almost reasonable in the context of the Revolution.
Creative license: Exaggeration
or alteration of objective facts or reality, for the purpose of enhancing meaning in a fictional context.
Orwell took some creative license with the historical events of the Russian Revolution, in order
to clarify the ideological conflicts.
Dialogue: Where characters
speak to one another; may often be used to substitute for exposition.
Since there is so little stage direction in Shakespeare, many of the characters’ thoughts and actions are revealed
through dialogue.
Dramatic irony: Where
the audience or reader is aware of something important, of which the characters in the story are not aware.
Macbeth responds with disbelief when the weird sisters call him Thane of Cawdor; ironically, unbeknownst
to him, he had been granted that title by king Duncan in the previous scene.
Exposition: Where an author
interrupts a story in order to explain something, usually to provide important background information.
The first chapter consists mostly of exposition, running down the family’s history and describing
their living conditions.
Figurative language: Any
use of language where the intended meaning differs from the actual literal meaning of the words themselves. There are many
techniques which can rightly be called figurative language, including metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, onomatopoeia,
verbal irony, and oxymoron. (Related: figure of speech)
The poet makes extensive use of figurative language, presenting the speaker’s feelings as colors,
sounds and flavors.
Foil: A character who
is meant to represent characteristics, values, ideas, etc. which are directly and diametrically opposed to those of another
character, usually the protagonist.
The noble, virtuous father Macduff provides an ideal foil for the villainous, childless Macbeth.
Foreshadowing: Where future
events in a story, or perhaps the outcome, are suggested by the author before they happen. Foreshadowing
can take many forms and be accomplished in many ways, with varying degrees of subtlety. However, if the outcome is deliberately
and explicitly revealed early in a story (such as by the use of a narrator or flashback structure), such information does
not constitute foreshadowing.
Willy’s concern for his car foreshadows his eventual means of suicide.
Hyperbole: A description
which exaggerates.
The author uses hyperbole to describe Mr. Smith, calling him “the greatest human being ever
to walk the earth.”
Iambic pentameter: Poetry
written with each line containing ten syllables, in five repetitions of a two-syllable pattern wherein the pronunciation emphasis
is on the second syllable.
Shakespeare wrote most of his dialogue in iambic pentameter, often having to adjust the order and
nature of words to fit the syllable pattern, thus endowing the language with even greater meaning.
Imagery: Language which
describes something in detail, using words to substitute for and create sensory stimulation, including visual imagery and
sound imagery. Also refers to specific and recurring types of images, such as food imagery and nature imagery.
The author’s use of visual imagery is impressive; the reader is able to see the island in all
its lush, colorful splendor by reading Golding’s detailed descriptions.
Irony (a.k.a. Situational
irony): Where an event occurs which is unexpected, and which is in absurd or mocking opposition
to what is expected or appropriate. (Note: Most of the situations in the Alanis Morissette song are not ironic at all.) See also Dramatic irony; Verbal irony.
Jem and Scout are saved by Boo Radley, who
had ironically been an object of fear and suspicion to them at the beginning of the novel.
Metaphor: A direct relationship
where one thing or idea substitutes for another.
Shakespeare often uses light as a metaphor for Juliet; Romeo refers to her as the sun, as “a
rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear,” and as a solitary dove among crows.
Mood: The atmosphere or
emotional condition created by the piece, within the setting.
The mood of Macbeth is dark, murky and mysterious, creating a sense of fear and uncertainty.
Motif: A recurring important
idea or image. A motif differs from a theme in that it can be expressed as a single word or fragmentary phrase, while a theme
usually must be expressed as a complete sentence.
Blood is an important motif in A Tale of Two Cities, appearing numerous times throughout the
novel.
Onomatopoeia: Where sounds
are spelled out as words; or, when words describing sounds actually sound like the sounds they describe.
Remarque uses onomatopoeia to suggest the dying soldier’s agony, his last gasp described as
a “gurgling rattle.”
Oxymoron: A contradiction
in terms.
Romeo describes love using several oxymorons, such as “cold fire,” “feather of
lead” and “sick health,” to suggest its contradictory nature.
Paradox: Where a situation
is created which cannot possibly exist, because different elements of it cancel each other out.
In 1984, “doublethink” refers to the paradox where history is changed, and then
claimed to have never been changed.
A Tale of Two Cities opens with the famous paradox, “It was the best of times, it was
the worst of times.”
Parallelism: Use of similar
or identical language, structures, events or ideas in different parts of a text.
Hobbs’
final strikeout parallels the Whammer’s striking out against him at the beginning of the novel.
Personification (I) Where
inanimate objects or abstract concepts are seemingly endowed with human self-awareness; where human thoughts, actions and
perceptions are directly attributed to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. (Not to be confused with anthropomorphism.)
Malamud personifies Hobbs’ bat, giving it a name, Wonderboy,
referring to it using personal pronouns, and stating that “he went hungry” during Hobbs’ batting slump.
Personification (II) Where
an abstract concept, such as a particular human behavior or a force of nature, is represented as a person.
The Greeks personified natural forces as gods; for example, the god Poseidon was the personification
of the sea and its power over man.
Plot: Sequence of events
in a story. Most literary essay tasks will instruct the writer to “avoid plot summary;” the term is therefore
rarely useful for response or critical analysis. When discussing plot, it is generally more useful to consider its structure,
rather than simply “what happens.”
Point-of-view: The identity
of the narrative voice; the person or entity through whom the reader experiences the story. May be third-person (no narrator;
omniscient or limited) or first-person (narrated by a character in the story). Point-of-view is a commonly misused term; it
does not refer to the author’s (or characters’) feelings, opinions,
perspectives, biases, etc.
Though it is written in third-person, Animal Farm is
told from the point-of-view of the common animals, unaware of what is really happening as the pigs gradually
and secretively take over the farm.
Writing the story in first-person point-of-view enables the reader to experience the soldier’s
fear and uncertainty, limiting the narrative to what only he saw, thought and felt during the battle.
Protagonist: The main
character in a story, the one with whom the reader is meant to identify. The person is not necessarily “good”
by any conventional moral standard, but he/she is the person in whose plight the reader is most invested.
Repetition: Where a specific
word, phrase, or structure is repeated several times, to emphasize a particular idea.
The repetition of the words “What if…” at the beginning of each line reinforces
the speaker’s confusion and fear.
Setting: The time and
place where a story occurs. The setting can be specific (e.g., New York City
in 1930) or ambiguous (e.g., a large urban city during economic hard times). Also refers directly to a description thereof.
The novel is set in the South during the racially turbulent 1930’s, when blacks were treated
unfairly by the courts.
With the island, Golding creates a pristine, isolated and uncorrupted setting, in order to show that
the boys’ actions result from their own essential nature rather than their environment.
Simile: An indirect relationship
where one thing or idea is expressed as being similar to another. Similes usually contain the words “like” or
“as,” but not always.
The simile in line 10 describes the lunar eclipse: “The moon appeared as a large drop of blood.”
Speaker: The “voice”
of a poem; not to be confused with the poet him/herself. Analogous to the narrator
in prose fiction.
Structure: The manner
in which the various elements of a story are assembled.
The individual tales are told within the structure of the larger framing story, where the 29 travelers
gather at the Inn at Southwark on their journey to Canterbury,
telling stories to pass the time.
The play follows the traditional Shakespearean five-act plot structure, with exposition in Act I,
development in Act II, the climax or turning point in Act III, falling action in Act IV, and resolution in Act V.
Symbolism: The use of
specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas. This term is commonly misused, describing any and all representational
relationships, which in fact are more often metaphorical than symbolic. A symbol must be something tangible
or visible, while the idea it symbolizes must be something abstract or universal.
Golding uses symbols to represent the various aspects of human nature and civilization as they are
revealed in the novel. The conch symbolizes order and authority, while its gradual deterioration and ultimate
destruction metaphorically represent the boys’ collective downfall.
Theme: The main idea or
message conveyed by the piece. A theme is generally stated as a complete sentence; an idea expressed as a single word or fragmentary
phrase is a motif.
Orwell’s theme is that
absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The idea that human beings are essentially brutal, savage creatures provides the central theme of
the novel.
Tone: The apparent emotional
state, or “attitude,” of the speaker/narrator/narrative voice, as conveyed through the language of the piece.
The poem has a bitter and sardonic tone, revealing the speaker’s anger and resentment.
The tone of Gulliver’s narration is unusually matter-of-fact, as he seems to regard these bizarre
and absurd occurrences as ordinary or commonplace.
Tragedy: Where a story
ends with a negative or unfortunate outcome which was essentially avoidable, usually caused by a flaw in the central character’s
personality. Tragedy is really more of a dramatic genre than a literary element;
a play can be referred to as a tragedy, but tragic events in a story are essentially part of the plot, rather than a literary
device in themselves.
Tragic hero/tragic figure: A
protagonist who comes to a bad end as a result of his own behavior, usually cased by a specific personality disorder or character
flaw.
Willy Loman is one of the best-known tragic figures in American literature,
oblivious to and unable to face the reality of his life.
Tragic flaw: The single
characteristic (usually negative) or personality disorder which causes the downfall of the protagonist.
Othello’s tragic flaw
is his jealousy, which consumes him so thoroughly that he is driven to murder his wife rather than accept, let alone confirm,
her infidelity.
Verbal irony: Where the
meaning is intended to be the exact opposite of what the words actually mean. (Sarcasm is a tone of voice
that often accompanies verbal irony, but they are not the same thing.)
Orwell gives this torture and brainwashing facility the ironic title, “Ministry of Love.”