Lit Terms: List 3

exposition: beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas, and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.
 
expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic   representation of an inner idea or feeling(s).

fable: a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.

fallacy: from Latin word “to deceive”, a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.
 
falling action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax.

farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.

figurative language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech (such as metaphor and simile).

flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.

foil: a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.

folk tale: story passed on by word of mouth.

foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; “planning” to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.

free verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.

genre: a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content.

gothic tale: a style in literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent or grotesque action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence.

hyperbole: an exaggerated statement often used as a figure of speech or to prove a point.

imagery: figures of speech or vivid description, conveying images through any of the senses.

implication: a meaning or understanding that is to be arrive at by the reader but that is not fully and explicitly stated by the author.

incongruity: the deliberate joining of opposites or of elements that are not appropriate to each other.
 

inference: a judgement or conclusion based on evidence presented; the forming of an opinion which possesses some degree of probability according to facts already available.

irony: a contrast or incongruity between what is said and what is meant, or what is expected to happen and what actually happens, or what is thought to be happening and what is actually happening.

Lit Terms Remix 1-5

circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served


classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance


cliche: a phrase or situation overused within society


climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved


colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation

Lit Terms #2

circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served
ex. Saying "The animal that has a pouch and jumps" instead of kangaroo

classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance
ex. Homer

cliche: a phrase or situation overused within society
ex. Think outside the box

climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved
ex. The climax of Looking For Alaska is when she dies.

colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation
ex. That's tight.

comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter
ex. Doll House by Henrick Ibsen

conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension
ex. The conflict in Safe Haven is Katie trying to get away from her violent husband.

connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition
ex. "Mother" has a more negative connotation than "mom"

contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity
ex. The contrast between boys and men.

denotation: plain dictionary definition
ex. The definition of example: a pattern or model

denouement: loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, conclusion
ex. The denoument in Safe Haven is when her violent husband dies.

dialect: the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.
ex. The main dialect in the United States is English.

dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.
ex.

dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.
ex. the dichotomy between right and wrong.

diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.
ex. Diction changes between formal (interviews) and informal(casual).

didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education.
ex. Some boring classes are said to be too didactic

dogmatic: rigid in beliefs and principles.
ex. Everyone who dislikes Obama is republican.

elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.
ex. Laureate Natasha wrote an elegy about her father's passing.

epic: a long narrative poem unified by a hero who reflects the customs, mores, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time (definition bordering on circumlocution).
ex. The Epic of Gilgamesh

epigram: witty aphorism.
ex. There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.

epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.
ex. Beyond is the infinite morning of a day without tomorrow (W.S. Abbott)

epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that  may insult someone’s character, characteristics

euphemism: the use of an indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.
ex. to say "passed away" instead of "died"

evocative: a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.

AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

1. Herman Hesse’s novels before Siddhartha focused on alienated young men who rejected the cultures of their upbringings. However, these other novels did not feature the spiritual elements of Siddhartha. How do the spiritual elements of Siddhartha make it different from any other story of an alienated youth? (Essay Question)
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/siddhartha/study.html

• In these other novels, more often than not, the character would leave his home, have some huge upset that helps him discover something about himself and then returns home a whole new person. In Siddhartha, however, he never returns home. And although he reaches enlightenment and is in a sense a new human being nothing crazy happens and makes him change.

2. What purpose does self-denial serve in Siddhartha? What about self-indulgence?
http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/questions.html

• Siddhartha was taught that in order to reach enlightenment, he would have to completely get rid of all his possessions and destroy one's self in order to become this new person.

3. Examine Hesse's treatment of time lapses in this novel, focusing on the close-up technique for extending short spans of time, and the "telephoto" effect for foreshortening long spans of time.
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/s/siddhartha/study-help/essay-questions

• I read this book quite awhile ago, so I don't remember these "time lapses," but my guess would be that it'd have to do with trying to get a point across to the reader, possibly showing them how long and how much effort Siddhartha had to put in in order to reach enlightenment. 

4. The main purpose of the first-person point of view in the passage, “I am no longer what I was, I am no longer an ascetic, no longer a priest, no longer a Brahmin” is to make clear?
 a. The change in Siddhartha’s physical lifestyle, in order to follow his spiritual one
b. Show Siddhartha’s anger at the corruption present in his father’s position
c. Reveal the frustration in Siddhartha’s journey toward enlightenment
d. The views and beliefs of his family and his religion
e. Draw attention toward the excitement that Siddhartha feels now that he has less responsibility
http://snobles.grads.digitalodu.com/blog/groups/ap-english-2012-2013/forum/topic/siddhartha-multiple-choice-questions/?loggedout=true

• A, because Siddhartha had to destroy everything he was and owned in order to reach this "enlightenment" and that is a huge change in his lifestyle.

5. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole. (Essay Question)
http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/apcentral/ap13_frq_eng_lit.pdf

• In order to answer this, I would need to refresh myself on the details of Siddartha's pivotal moment, but I think this is a very well-rounded question and definitely worth preparing for.

 

Hacking My Education

Before I graduate, I want to know why bad things happen to good people. I know, yes, life's not fair blah blah blah, but why does it have to be that way? I know this is more like one of the BIG QUESTIONS and it will not be answered any time soon but that is what is on my mind right at this very moment. This semester, I want to make my blog resemble myself more and in some way have its own personality to it. I'm not exactly sure on how to approach this but I will figure it out. And finally, I don't think there is a "certain" experience I want to have before I graduate but I just want to more memorable experiences and learn to make the best of everything no matter what. I want to enjoy the last few months of high school because I am ready to get out of here, but I don't want to miss things that I will be bummed about when I look back on it.

Lit Terms: List 1

allegory (noun): A symbolical narrative
-Throughout high school, we have read many meaningful allegories.
 alliteration (noun): The commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter
- The alliteration wasn't correct but it made me laugh.
 allusion (noun): A metaphor or parable
- The Bible is used as an allusion in many novels.
 ambiguity (noun): An negative word applied to an equivocal expression
- When something is not clear, others factors can be used to resolve the ambiguity.
 anachronism (noun): Placing an event, person, item or verbal expression in the wrong historical period.
- Her grandmother was proud to be considered an anachronism when she walked down the street in a poodle skirt.
 analogy (noun): A similarity between like features of two things
- The teacher told the class to create an analogy between the two books they have read.
 analysis (noun): the separating of any material into its constituent elements
- Dr. Preston requires us to complete three literature analysis per semester.
 anaphora (noun): A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word at the beginning of a sentence
- The poem included an anaphora by having three "ifs" at the beginning.
 anecdote (noun): A brief narrative of a particular incident
- We were told to share a personal anecdote with the class.
 antagonist (noun): A character in the story who works against the main character
- The antagonist in the novel kept creating uproar for Julie.
 antithesis (noun): Opposition or contrast
- The antithesis of right is wrong.
 aphorism (noun): A terse saying involving a general truth
- "Looks to good to be true."
 apologia (noun): An apology, as in defense or justification of a belief or idea
- She wrote an apologia when she realized she was wrong.
 apostrophe (noun): A digression in the form of an address to someone not present
- There was an apostrophe in the title of the novel.
 argument (noun): A discussion involving different points of view
- The two kids got into an argument over which game was better.
 assumption (noun): Something taken for granted
- She made the assumption that he would show up.
 audience (noun): The group of spectators
- The audience was pleased with the actor's performance.
 characterization (noun): The description of a character
- The person characterized the antagonist as evil.
 chiasmus (noun): A reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases
- "He went to the country, to the town she went."

"What's In This For Me?"

This semester, like I commented, I want to finish on a high note. I've worked hard these past few years and I want to finish out high school strong and not give in to this "Senioritis." However, its frustrating that I already know what career path I want to take is, yet I am stuck in high school for another 6 months before I can go and accomplish that. I feel like this semester is in a way holding me back. But my goal is to make the best of it and get those questions answered that I do have about my future. Also, I really need to step it up in applying for scholarships because I know what I want to do to further my education, I just don't have the money to do so. And finally, with all the stress and busyness this semester is going to bring, I want to be able to relax and enjoy the last few months of adolescence before I leap out into the real world. I want to be able to pick up one of the many books I have yet to read, and be able to read them in peace without having something hanging over my head that has to be done.