Literary Terms #6

simile: a phrase that uses the words like or as to describe someone or something by comparing it with someone or something else that is similar.
example: Life is like a box of chocolate. 
soliloquy: a long, usually serious speech that a character in a play makes to an audience and that reveals the character's thoughts.
example: "To be or not to be."
spiritual: relating to either one's spiritual or religious beliefs.
example: The main theme in Siddhartha is the spiritual journey in which he takes. 
speaker: someone who is speaking or talking.
example: The narrator is often referred to as the speaker.
stereotype: to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same.
example: Blondes are stereotyped as stupid due to their hair color.
stream of consciousness: the continuous unedited chronological flow of conscious experience through the mind.
example: Montaigne's essays are perfect examples of this term.
structure: the way that something is built, arranged, or organized.
example: The structure of a piece is often the foundation in which the plot is built on.
style: a particular form or design; author's diction.
example: Each author as a different style in which they write in.
subordination: less important than someone or something else.
example: The minor characters are subordinate compared to the major characters.
surrealism: a 20th century art form in which an artist or writer combines unrelated images or events in a very strange and dreamlike way.
example: Salvador Dali was a surrealist artist.
suspension of disbelief: suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative.
example: Comic books such as Spiderman.symbol: an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality.
example: The conch in Lord of the Flies.
synesthesia: a condition marked by the experience of such sensations. 
example: music.
synecdoche: a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole.
example: The phrase "hired hands" can be used to refer to workmen.
syntax: the way in which words are put together to form phrases, clauses, or sentences.
example: diction.
theme: the main subject that is vein discussed or described in a piece of writing, cinema, etc.
example: The Kite Runner has a theme of redemption.
thesis: main point or objective.
example: A thesis is the central motif that runs throughout an essay.
tone: a quality, feeling, or attitude expressed by the words that someone uses in speaking or writing.
example: The tone in Brave New World is cold and lacks any kind of emotion.
tongue in cheek: in a way that is not serious and that is meant to be funny.
example: Knock knock jokes .
tragedy: a very bad event; or something that is serious and has a extremely sad ending.
example: Romeo and Juliet.
understatement: to say that something is smaller less important, etc.
example: Romeo and Juliet is often said to be amazing, but that is an understatement.
vernacular: of or relating to the common style of a particular time, place, or group.
example: What's up?
voice: the ability to speak.
example: The voice portrays the tone and mood.
zeitgeist: the general beliefs, ideas, and spirit of a time and place.
example: Henry Goddard.