Lit Terms: List 5

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.
ex) She likes cooking, jogging and reading.

Parody:  an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist.

ex) SNL is a parody.

Pathos:  the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness. ex) Many authors involve pathos in their writing to bring out emotions of the readers.

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.

Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or  abstract ideas.
ex) The trees branches created shade for the kids.

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.
ex) The plot of Great Expectations follows Pip's life.

Poignant:  eliciting sorrow or sentiment.

Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing.
ex) 1st person, third person

Postmodernism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary.
ex) Catch-22

Prose:  the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.

Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.
ex) Pip in Great Expectations

Pun:  play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications.
ex) Can't keep beating a dead horse (Broncos)

Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.
ex) The purpose of school is to prepare us for our future.

Realism:  writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straight forward manner to reflect life as it actually is.

Refrain:  a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.

Requiem:  any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead.

Resolution: point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.
ex) The resolution of CSI is when they caught the guy that murdered the girl.

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.

Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.

Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.

Rising Action: plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax.

Romanticism:  movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.

Satire:  ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.
ex) The quote we talked about in class today contained satire.

Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter.

Setting: the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur.
ex) Tale of Two Cities took place during the war.