Discussion: Evaluating the Progress of Social Change

© 2015 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 1 of 3

Glossary of Terms and Techniques for Literature and Creative Writing The following terms are from The Longman Writer: Rhetoric, Reader, Research Guide and Handbook, 8

th Edition.

 Theme: A work’s controlling idea, the main issue the work addresses. Most literary analyses deal with theme, even if the analysis focuses on the methods by which that theme is conveyed.

 Plot: The series of events that occurs within the work.

 Structure: A work’s form, as determined by plot construction, act and scene divisions, stanza and line breaks, repeated images, patterns of meter and rhyme, and other elements that create discernable patterns. (See also image, meter, rhyme, and stanza.)

 Setting: The time and place in which events unfold.

 Character: An individual within a poem, play, story, or novel.

 Characterization: The way an author develops an individual in the work.

 Conflict: A struggle between individuals, between an individual and some social or environmental force, or within an individual.

 Climax: The most dramatic point in the action, usually near the end of a work and usually involving the resolution of conflict.

 Foreshadowing: Hints, within the work, of events to come.

 Narrator or speaker: The individual in the work who relates the story. The narrator is not the same as the author.

 Point of view: The perspective from which a story is told. In the first-person (I) point of view, the narrator tells the story as he or she experienced it. The first- person narrator either participates in or observes the action. In the third-person point of view, the narrator tells the story the way someone else experienced it. The third-person narrator is not involved in the action. He or she may simply report outwardly observable behavior or events, enter the mind of only one character or the minds of several characters. Such a third-person narrator may be omniscient (all-knowing) or have only limited knowledge of characters and events.

 Irony: A discrepancy or incongruity of some kind. Verbal irony, which is often tongue-in-cheek, involves a discrepancy between the literal words and what is actually meant (“Here’s some news that will make you sad. You received the highest grade in the course”). If the ironic comment is designed to be hurtful or insulting, it qualifies as sarcasm (Congratulations! You failed the final exam”). In dramatic irony, the discrepancy is between what the speaker says and what the author means or what the audience knows. The wider the gap between the speaker’s words and what can be inferred about the author’s attitudes and values, the more ironic the point of view.

 Satire: Ridicule (either harsh or gentle) of vice or folly, with the purpose of developing awareness, even bringing about reform. Besides using wit, satire often employs irony to attack absurdity, injustice, and evil.

© 2015 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 2 of 3

 Figure of speech: A non-literal comparison of dissimilar things. The most common figures of speech are similes, which use the word like or as; metaphors, which state or imply that one thing is another; and personification, which gives human attributes to something nonhuman.

 Image: A short, vivid description that creates a strong sensory impression.

 Imagery: A combination of images.

 Symbol: An object, place, characteristics, or phenomenon that suggests one or more things (usually abstract) in addition to itself (rain as mourning; a lost wedding ring as betrayal.)

 Motif: A recurring word, phrase, image, figure of speech, or symbol that has particular significance.

 Meter: A basic, fixed rhythm of accented and unaccented syllables that the lines of a particular poem follow.

 Rhyme: A match between two or more words’ final sounds.

 Stanza: Two or more lines of a poem that are grouped together. A stanza is preceded and followed by some blank space.

 Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds (“A butterfly blooms”).

 Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds (like the “a” sounds in mad as a hatter”).

 Sonnet: A fourteen-line, single-stanza poem following a strict pattern of meter and rhyme. The Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet consists of two main parts: eight lines in the rhyme pattern a b b a, a b b a, followed by six lines in the pattern c d c, c d c, or c d e, c d e. The English, or Shakespearean, sonnet consists of twelve lines in the rhyme scheme a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, followed by two rhymed lines g g (called a couplet). Traditionally, sonnets are love poems that involve some change in tone or outlook near the end.

(Source: Nadell, J., Langan, J., & Comodromos, E. A. (2011). The longman writer: Rhetoric, reader, research guide, and handbook (8th ed.) (pp. 576–577). Boston, MA: Longman.)

The following terms are from the Glossary of Terms found on the Gale Cengage website.

 Criticism: The systematic study and evaluation of literary works, usually based on a specific method or set of principles. An important part of literary studies since ancient times, the practice of criticism has given rise to numerous theories, methods, and “schools,” sometimes producing conflicting, even contradictory, interpretations of literature in general as well as of individual works. Even such basic issues as what constitutes a poem or a novel have been the subject of much criticism over the centuries.

 Dramatic Poetry: Any lyric work that employs elements of drama such as dialogue, conflict, or characterization, but excluding works that are intended for stage presentation. A monologue is a form of dramatic poetry.

© 2015 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 3 of 3

 Lyric Poetry: A poem expressing the subjective feelings and personal emotions of the poet. Such poetry is melodic, since it was originally accompanied by a lyre in recitals. Most Western poetry in the twentieth century may be classified as lyrical.

 Rhetoric: In literary criticism, this term denotes the art of ethical persuasion. In its strictest sense, rhetoric adheres to various principles developed since classical times for arranging facts and ideas in a clear, persuasive, appealing manner. The term is also used to refer to effective prose in general and theories of or methods for composing effective prose.

 Rhetorical Question: A question intended to provoke thought, but not an expressed answer, in the reader. It is most commonly used in oratory and other persuasive genres. The following lines from Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” ask rhetorical questions: Can storied urn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Can Honour’s voice provoke the silent dust, Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

 Short Story: A fictional prose narrative shorter and more focused than a novella. The short story usually deals with a single episode and often a single character. The “tone,” the author’s attitude toward his or her subject and audience, is uniform throughout. The short story frequently also lacks denouement, ending instead at its climax.

 Onomatopoeia: The use of words whose sounds express or suggest their meaning. In its simplest sense, onomatopoeia may be represented by words that mimic the sounds they denote such as “hiss” or “meow.” At a more subtle level, the pattern and rhythm of sounds and rhymes of a line or poem may be onomatopoeic.

 Tone: The author’s attitude toward his or her audience may be deduced from the tone of the work. A formal tone may create distance or convey politeness, while an informal tone may encourage a friendly, intimate, or intrusive feeling in the reader. The author’s attitude toward his or her subject matter may also be deduced from the tone of the words he or she uses in discussing it. The tone of John F. Kennedy’s speech, which included the appeal to “ask not what your country can do for you” was intended to instill feelings of camaraderie and national pride in listeners.

(Source: Gale Cengage Learning. (n.d.). Glossary of terms. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://solutions.cengage.com/Gale/Free-Resources/Glossary/QR/)