Literary Terms #5

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function.
Example: "Like mother, like daughter."

Parody: an imitation of mimicking of composition; making or poking fun at something.
Example: "YouTube is filled with parodies of various songs."

Pathos: elicit emotions from the audience.
Example: "The Kite Runner uses various forms of pathos to create emotional connections."

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.
Example: The usage of unnecessary vocabulary words or facts in conversations.

Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
Example: The hands of the clock moved beautifully.

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.
Example: The plot is the map in which a story follows.

Poignant: eliciting sorrow or sentiment.
Example: The Kite Runner was poignant at times since I cried various times.

Point of View: the view at which the story is told.
Example: 1st person; 3rd person.

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

Example: Kafka (author).

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

Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction.

Example: Katniss is the protagonist of the Hunger Games series.

Pun: play on words.

Example: Drivers who speed in the snow often find themselves a drift. 

Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.

Example: Themes represent the purpose of most pieces of literature.

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

Example: Moby Dick.

Refrain: a chorus; something that reverses.

Example: La La La by Naughty Boy.

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

Example: Native Americans would perform various requiems during funerals.

Resolution: denouement.

Example: The resolution happens after the falling action.

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.

Example: Nothing is impossible! Nothing is impossible!

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

Example: Shakespeare's plays are filled with rhetoric language.

Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer.
Example: Are you serious?

Rising Action: plot build up, leading to the climax.
Example: The events that set up the future of the novel.

Romanticism:  Imagination was valued over reason and fact. 

Example: Edgar Allan Poe.

Satire:  Ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals or humanity in general. 

Example: Family Guy.

Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter. 

Example: Meter and Iambic pentameter

Setting: the time and place of a piece of literature.

Example: The cave is the setting of The Allegory of the Cave.