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English IV
Common Core Literary Concepts
Dixon High School
Mrs. Lenhart
Unit 1...................................3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Allegory
Anonymity
Caesura
“Dance of death”
Epic
Fabliaux
Farce
Foil
Framed narrative
Hyperbole
Icon (religious art)
Miracle, mystery,
and morality plays
13. Perspective (art and
literature)
14. Symbol
Unit 2.................................14
1. Allusion
2. Classicism
3. Divine proportion
(golden ratio, golden
mean)
4. Divine right of kings
5. Eclogue
6. Epistle
7. Fate
8. Free will
9. The Great Chain of
Being
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Humanism
Iambic pentameter
Iambic tetrameter
Idyll
Ode
Satire
Sonnet
Symmetry
Unit 3.................................23
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Aesthetics
Allegory
Allusion
Argumentation
Authorial intent
Blank verse
Conceit
Dissent
Doubt
Dramatic irony
Enlightenment
Ethics
Fate
Free will
“In medias res”
Inductive reasoning
Metaphysical poetry
Paradox
Personification
Rationalism
Satire
Tragic flaw
Unit 4.................................37
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Allegory
Allusion
Assonance
Defamiliarization
Digression
Elegy
Grotesque
Metaphor
Moral imperative
Narrative devices
Pastoral
Satire
Science fiction
Sturm und drang
Supernatural
Tall tale
Unreliable narrator
Unit 5.................................48
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Antihero
Adventure
Caste systems
Decadence
Edwardian
Feminism
Foreshadowing
Framed narrative
Gender
Gothic
Horror
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12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Narrator
Romanticism
Scientific realism
Social satire
Sprung rhythm
Symbol
Victorian
Worldview
Unit 6.................................59
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Absurd
Affirmation
Anxiety
Dystopia
Existentialism
Free verse
Modernism
Negation
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Neologism
Postmodernism
Rhetorical device
Satire
Totalitarianism
Understatement
To compile this collection of literary concepts, the following sources have been utilized:
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All American Glossary of Literary Terms
(http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm#g )
Virtual Salt (http://www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm)
Gale Cengage Learning (http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/glossary/ )
Literary Devices (http://literary-devices.com )
Literary Terms and Definitions (http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_A.html )
River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
(http://www.library.rochester.edu/robbins/home )
Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam Webster Dictionary (through NC WiseOwl)
(http://www.school.eb.com )
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Unit 1
15. Allegory
allegory (AL-eh-GOR-ee): a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. Allegories are written in the
form of fables, parables, poems, stories, and almost any other style or genre. The main purpose of an
allegory is to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well as other types of symbols, that have both
literal and figurative meanings. The difference between an allegory and a symbol is that an allegory is a
complete narrative that conveys abstract ideas to get a point across, while a symbol is a representation of
an idea or concept that can have a different meaning throughout a literary work (A Handbook to
Literature). One well-known example of an allegory is Dante’s The Divine Comedy. In Inferno, Dante is
on a pilgrimage to try to understand his own life, but his character also represents every man who is in
search of his purpose in the world (Merriam Webster Encyclopedia of Literature). Although Virgil
literally guides Dante on his journey through the mystical inferno, he can also be seen as the reason and
human wisdom that Dante has been looking for in his life. See A Handbook to Literature, Merriam
Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. Machella Caldwell, Student, University of North Carolina at
Pembroke
16. Anonymity
A notable amount of medieval literature is anonymous (a person not identified by name;
unknown person). This is not only due to the lack of documents from a period, but also due to an
interpretation of the author's role that differs considerably from the romantic interpretation of the
term in use today. Medieval authors often deeply respected the classical writers and the Church
Fathers and tended to re-tell and embellish stories they had heard or read rather than invent new
stories. And even when they did, they often claimed to be handing down something from an
auctor (originator) instead. From this point of view, the names of the individual authors seemed
much less important, and therefore many important works were never attributed to any specific
person.
17. Caesura
Caesura. A pause, metrical or rhetorical, occurring somewhere in a line of poetry. The
pause may or may not be typographically indicated (usually with a comma). An example
from George Herbert's "Redemption":
At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth
Of theeves and murderers: there I him espied,
Who straight, Your suit is granted, said, and died.
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CAESURA (plural: caesurae): A pause separating phrases within lines of poetry--an important
part of poetic rhythm. The term caesura comes from the Latin "a cutting" or "a slicing." Some
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editors will indicate a caesura by inserting a slash (/) in the middle of a poetic line. Others insert
extra space in this location. Others do not indicate the caesura typographically at all.
18. “Dance of death’
Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Art Terms) a pictorial, literary, or musical representation, current esp in the
Middle Ages, of a dance in which living people, in order of social precedence, are led off to their graves,
by a personification of death Also called (French) danse macabre
Additional information available connecting the concept to the Black Plague at
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/Deathbooklet.htm
Table of Contents
Preface
The Black Death
Preparing for Death
Death Itself
The Afterlife
Bibliography
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The Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, was a popular artistic motif in the late Middle Ages.
The Danse Macabre frequently showed the inevitable death of each class, from peasant to knight;
the victim is often resistant, but is pulled along by a grinning skeleton to the grave. Below, two
examples are from The Danse Macabre of Women, a text depicting every possible social class
falling prey to death. Here, the bride, at the prime of her life, has no more power over death than
does the shepherdess, who pauses in the dance to bid farewell to her small dog
Death and the Sheperdess: (translation from Harrison)
Death: I will not leave you behind.
Come along, take my hand,
Listen, pretty Shepherdess,
We walk along hand in hand.
You won't go to the fields any more, morning or evening,
To watch the sheep and care for your animals.
There will be nothing left of you tomorrow.
After the vigils come the holidays.
The Shepherdess: I say goodbye to the stout shepherd
Whom I regret leaving greatly.
He won't ever have another hawthorne cap,
For here is sad news.
Goodbye shepherds, goodbye shepherdesses,
Goodbye fair fields that God made grow,
Goodbye flowers, goodbye red roses.
We must all obey the Master.
Death and the Bride: (translation from Harrison, p. 112)
Death: To show you your folly
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And to show that people ought to watch out for Death,
Take my hand, pretty Bride.
Let's go take off our clothes;
There's no more work for you
You will come to bed in another place.
You shouldn't get too excited.
God's acts are marvelous.
The Bride: On the very day I desired
To have a special joy in my life,
I only get grief, unhappiness,
And I must die so suddenly.
Death, why do you lust
For me, why take me so quickly?
I haven't deserved such a blow.
But we must praise God for everything.
19. Denouement
denouement (day-noo-mon): literally meaning the action of untying, a denouement is the final
outcome of the main complication in a play or story. Usually the climax (the turning point or
"crisis") of the work has already occurred by the time the denouement occurs. It is sometimes
referred to as the explanation or outcome of a drama that reveals all the secrets and
misunderstandings connected to the plot. In the drama Othello, there is a plot to deceive Othello
into believing that his wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful to him. As a result of this plot,
Othello kills his wife out of jealousy, the climax of the play. The denounement occurs soon after,
when Emilia, who was Desdemona's mistress, proves to Othello that his wife was in fact honest,
true, and faithful to him. Emilia reveals to Othello that her husband, Iago, had plotted against
Desdemona and tricked Othello into believing that she had been unfaithful. Iago kills Emilia in
front of Othello, and she dies telling Othello his wife was innocent. As a result of being mad with
grief, Othello plunges a dagger into his own heart. Understanding the denouement helps the
reader to see how the final end of a story unfolds, and how the structure of stories works to affect
our emotions. See Encyclopedia of Literature, Miriam Webster. Shelby Locklear, Student,
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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DENOUEMENT: A French word meaning "unknotting" or "unwinding," denouement refers to
the outcome or result of a complex situation or sequence of events, an aftermath or resolution
that usually occurs near the final stages of the plot. It is the unraveling of the main dramatic
complications in a play, novel or other work of literature. In drama, the term is usually applied
to tragedies or to comedies with catastrophes in their plot. This resolution usually takes place
in the final chapter or scene, after the climax is over. Usually the denouement ends as quickly as
the writer can arrange it--for it occurs only after all the conflicts have been resolved.
20. Epic
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Epic. An extended narrative poem recounting actions, travels, adventures, and heroic
episodes and written in a high style (with ennobled diction, for example). It may be written
in hexameter verse, especially dactylic hexameter, and it may have twelve books or twenty
four books. Characteristics of the classical epic include these:
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The main character or protagonist is heroically larger than life, often the source and
subject of legend or a national hero
The deeds of the hero are presented without favoritism, revealing his failings as well
as his virtues
The action, often in battle, reveals the more-than-human strength of the heroes as
they engage in acts of heroism and courage
The setting covers several nations, the whole world, or even the universe
The episodes, even though they may be fictional, provide an explanation for some of
the circumstances or events in the history of a nation or people
The gods and lesser divinities play an active role in the outcome of actions
All of the various adventures form an organic whole, where each event relates in
some way to the central theme
Typical in epics is a set of conventions (or epic machinery). Among them are these:
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Poem begins with a statement of the theme ("Arms and the man I sing")
Invocation to the muse or other deity ("Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles")
Story begins in medias res (in the middle of things)
Catalogs (of participants on each side, ships, sacrifices)
Histories and descriptions of significant items (who made a sword or shield, how it
was decorated, who owned it from generation to generation)
Epic simile (a long simile where the image becomes an object of art in its own right
as well as serving to clarify the subject).
Frequent use of epithets ("Aeneas the true"; "rosy-fingered Dawn"; "tall-masted
ship")
Use of patronymics (calling son by father's name): "Anchises' son"
Long, formal speeches by important characters
Journey to the underworld
Use of the number three (attempts are made three times, etc.)
Previous episodes in the story are later recounted
Examples:
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Homer, Iliad
Homer, Odyssey
Virgil, Aeneid
Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered
Milton, Paradise Lost
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EPIC: An epic in its most specific sense is a genre of classical poetry. It is a poem that is (a) a
long narrative about a serious subject, (b) told in an elevated style of language, (c) focused on
the exploits of a hero or demi-god who represents the cultural values of a race, nation, or
religious group (d) in which the hero's success or failure will determine the fate of that people or
nation. Usually, the epic has (e) a vast setting, and covers a wide geographic area, (f) it contains
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superhuman feats of strength or military prowess, and gods or supernatural beings frequently
take part in the action. The poem begins with (g) the invocation of a muse to inspire the poet and,
(h) the narrative starts in medias res (see above). (i) The epic contains long catalogs of heroes or
important characters, focusing on highborn kings and great warriors rather than peasants and
commoners.
J. A. Cuddon notes that the term primary epic refers to folk epics, i.e., versions of an epic
narrative that were transmitted orally in pre-literate cultures; the term secondary epic refers to
literary epics, i.e., versions that are actually written down rather than chanted or sung (284).
Often, these secondary epics retain elements of oral-formulaic transmission, such as staggered
intervals in which the poet summarizes earlier events, standardized epithets and phrases
originally used by singers to fill out dactylic hexameters during extemporaneous performance,
and so on.
The term epic applies most accurately to classical Greek texts like the Iliad and the Odyssey.
However, some critics have applied the term more loosely. The Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf has
also been called an epic of Anglo-Saxon culture, Milton's Paradise Lost has been seen as an epic
of Christian culture, and Shakespeare's various History Plays have been collectively called an
epic of Renaissance Britain. Other examples include Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered and the
anonymous Epic of Gilgamesh, which is the oldest example known. Contrast with mock epic.
See epic simile below. Click here to a download a PDF handout discussing the epic's
conventional traits.
21. Epigram
epigram (ep-e-gram): a short poem or verse that seeks to ridicule a thought or event, usually
with witticism or sarcasm. These literary works were very popular during the Renaissance in
Europe in the late 14th century and the Neoclassical period, which began after the Restoration in
1660. They were most commonly found in classic Latin literature, European and English
literature. In Ancient Greek, an epigram originally meant a short inscription, but its meaning was
later broadened to include any very short poems. Poems that are meditative or satiric all fall into
this category. These short poems formulated from the light verse species, which concentrated on
the tone of voice and the attitude of the lyric or narrative speaker toward the subject. With a
relaxed manner, lyricists would recite poems to their subjects that were comical or whimsical.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1771-1834), an English poet, essayist and critic, constructed an
epigram to show humor in Romanticism. His thoughts, “On a Volunteer Singer,” compares and
contrasts the death of swans with that of humans:
Swans sing before they die- ‘twere no bad thing
Should certain people die before they sing!
The ballad, “Lord Randall” illustrates a young man who set off to meet his one true love and
ends up becoming “sick at heart” with what he finds. The young man later arrives home to his
family about to die and to each family member he leaves something sentimental. When asked
what he leaves to his true love, he responds:
I leave her hell and fire…
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This epigram tried to depict what happens to love gone sour. Epigrams have been used
throughout the centuries not only to criticize but also to promote improvement. See Benet’s
Reader’s Encyclopedia, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (unabridged), and A
Glossary of Literary Terms. Melanie P. Stephens, Student, University of North Carolina at
Pembroke
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EPIGRAM (from Greek epigramma "an inscription"): (1) An inscription in verse or prose on a
building, tomb, or coin. (2) a short verse or motto appearing at the beginning of a longer poem or
the title page of a novel, at the heading of a new section or paragraph of an essay or other literary
work to establish mood or raise thematic concerns. The opening epigram to Edgar Allan Poe's
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is one such example. (3) A short, humorous poem, often
written in couplets, that makes a satiric point. Coleridge once described this third type of
epigram using an epigram himself: "A dwarfish whole, / Its body brevity, / and wit its soul."
22. Fabliaux
FABLIAU (plural, fabliaux): A humorous, frequently ribald or "dirty" narrative popular with
French poets, who traditionally wrote the story in octosyllabic couplets. The tales frequently
revolve around trickery, practical jokes, sexual mishaps, scatology, mistaken identity, and bodily
humor. Chaucer included several fabliaux in The Canterbury Tales, including the stories of the
Shipman, the Friar, the Miller, the Reeve, and the Cook. Examples from French literature include
Les Quatre Souhais Saint Martin, Audigier, and Beranger au Long Cul (Beranger of the Long
Ass).
23. Farce
Farce: A type of Comedy characterized by broad humor, outlandish incidents, and often vulgar
subject matter.
Much of the "comedy" in film and television could more accurately be described as farce.
(Compare with Burlesque.) (See also drama.)
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FARCE (from Latin Farsus, "stuffed"): A farce is a form of low comedy designed to provoke
laughter through highly exaggerated caricatures of people in improbable or silly situations. Traits
of farce include (1) physical bustle such as slapstick, (2) sexual misunderstandings and mix-ups,
and (3) broad verbal humor such as puns. Many literary critics (especially in the Victorian
period) have tended to view farce as inferior to "high comedy" that involves brilliant dialogue.
Many of Shakespeare's early works, such as The Taming of the Shrew, are considered farces.
Contrast with comedy of manners.
24. Foil
Foil: A character in a work of literature whose physical or psychological qualities contrast
strongly with, and therefore highlight, the corresponding qualities of another character.
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In his Sherlock Holmes stories, Arthur Conan Doyle portrayed Dr. Watson as a man of normal
habits and intelligence, making him a foil for the eccentric and wonderfully perceptive Sherlock
Holmes.
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FOIL: A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another
character. For instance, in the film Chasing Amy, the character Silent Bob is a foil for his partner,
Jay, who is loquacious and foul-mouthed. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Laertes the unthinking man
of action is a foil to the intelligent but reluctant Hamlet. The angry hothead Hotspur in Henry IV,
Part I, is the foil to the cool and calculating Prince Hal.
25. Framed narrative
FRAME NARRATIVE: The result of inserting one or more small stories within the body of a
larger story that encompasses the smaller ones. Often this term is used interchangeably with both
the literary technique and the larger story itself that contains the smaller ones, which are called
pericopes, "framed narratives" or "embedded narratives." The most famous example is Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales, in which the overarching frame narrative is the story of a band of pilgrims
traveling to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The band passes the time in a
storytelling contest. The framed narratives are the individual stories told by the pilgrims who
participate. Another example is Boccaccio's Decameron, in which the frame narrative consists of
a group of Italian noblemen and women fleeing the plague, and the framed narratives consist of
the tales they tell each other to pass the time while they await the disease's passing. The 1001
Arabian Nights is probably the most famous Middle Eastern frame narrative. Here, in Bagdad,
Scheherazade must delay her execution by beguiling her Caliph with a series of cliffhangers.
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Frame. A narrative structure that provides a setting and exposition for the main narrative
in a novel. Often, a narrator will describe where he found the manuscript of the novel or
where he heard someone tell the story he is about to relate. The frame helps control the
reader's perception of the work, and has been used in the past to help give credibility to the
main section of the novel, through the implication or claim that the novel represents a true
account of events, written by someone other than the author. In the 16th through the 18th
centuries, frames were sometimes used to help protect the author and publisher from
persecution for the ideas presented. Examples of novels with frames:
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Mary Shelley Frankenstein
Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter
26. Hyperbole
hyperbole (hi-per-bo-lee): an extravagant exaggeration. From the Greek for "overcasting,"
hyperbole is a figure of speech that is a grossly exaggerated description or statement. In
literature, such exaggeration is used for emphasis or vivid descriptions. In drama, hyperbole is
quite common, especially in heroic drama. Hyperbole is a fundamental part of both burlesque
writing and the “tall tales” from Western America. The conscious overstatements of these tales
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are forms of hyperbole. Many other examples of hyperbole can be found in the romance fiction
and comedy genres. Hyperbole is even a part of our day-to-day speech: ‘You’ve grown like a
bean sprout’ or ‘I’m older than the hills.’ Hyperbole is used to increase the effect of a
description, whether it is metaphoric or comic. In poetry, hyperbole can emphasize or dramatize
a person’s opinions or emotions. Skilled poets use hyperbole to describe intense emotions and
mental states. Othello uses hyperbole to describe his anger at the possibility of Iago lying about
his wife’s infidelity in Act III, Scene III of Shakespeare’s play Othello:
If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more; abandon all remorse;
On horror’s head accumulate;
Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed;
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
Greater than that.
In this passage, Othello is telling Iago that if he is lying then Othello will have no pity and Iago
will have no hope for salvation. Adding horrors with still more horrors, Othello is describing his
potential rage. Othello even declares that the Earth will be confounded with horror at Othello’s
actions in such a state of madness. See A Glossary of Literary Terms , A Handbook to Literature.
Andy Stamper, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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HYPERBOLE: the trope of exaggeration or overstatement: "His thundering shout could split
rocks." Or, "Yo' mama's so fat. . . ."
27. Icon (religious art)
In Eastern Christian tradition, a representation of sacred personages or events in mural painting,
mosaic, or wood. After the iconoclastic controversy of the 8th–9th century, which disputed the
religious function and meaning of icons, the Eastern Church formulated the doctrinal basis for
their veneration: since God had assumed material form in the person of Jesus Christ, he also could
be represented in pictures. Icons are considered an essential part of the church and are given
special liturgical veneration. They also serve as mediums of instruction for the uneducated faithful
through the iconostasis (q.v.), a screen shielding the altar, covered with icons depicting scenes
from the New Testament, church feasts, and popular saints. In the classical Byzantine and
Orthodox tradition, iconography is not a realistic but a symbolical art; its function is to express in
line and colour the theological teaching of the church.
28. Miracle, mystery, and morality plays
MORALITY PLAY: A genre of medieval and early Renaissance drama that illustrates the way
to live a pious life through allegorical characters. The characters tend to be personified
abstractions of vices and virtues. For instance, characters named Mercy and Conscience might
work together to stop Shame and Lust from stealing Mr. Poorman's most valuable possession, a
box of gold labeled Salvation. Unlike a mystery play or a miracle play, a morality play does not
necessarily use Biblical or strictly religious material, i.e., the morality play usually does not
contain specific characters found in the Bible, such as saints or the disciples or Old Testament
figures. Unlike the miracle play, which depicts astonishing and moving miraculous events
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believed to have occurred literally to specific historical figures in specific settings, the morality
play takes place internally and psychologically in every human being. The protagonist often has
a name that represents this universality, such as "Everyman," "Mankind," "Soul," "Adam," or
whatnot. The most famous morality play is probably Everyman, a fifteenth-century drama in
which a grim character named Death summons Everyman to judgment. On his way to meet
Death, Everyman discovers that all his old buddies are abandoning him except one. His friend
Good Deeds is the only one that will accompany him to meet Death, while Beauty, Fellowship,
Kindred, Knowledge, and Strength fall by the wayside on his journey. Other famous examples
include The Castle of Perseverance and Mankind. Contrast with mystery play and miracle play.
29. Perspective (art and literature) (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Main Entry: 2perspective
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French, probably modification of Old Italian prospettiva, from prospetto view,
prospect, from Latin prospectus -- more at PROSPECT
Date: 1563
1 a : the technique or process of representing on a plane or curved surface the spatial relation of
objects as they might appear to the eye; specifically : representation in a drawing or painting of
parallel lines as converging in order to give the illusion of depth and distance b : a picture in
perspective
2 a : the interrelation in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed <places the issues in
proper perspective>; also : POINT OF VIEW b : the capacity to view things in their true relations or
relative importance <urge you to maintain your perspective and to view your own task in a larger
framework -- W. J. Cohen>
3 a : a visible scene; especially : one giving a distinctive impression of distance : VISTA b : a
mental view or prospect <to gain a broader perspective on the international scene -- Current
Biography>
4 : the appearance to the eye of objects in respect to their relative distance and positions
30. Point of view
point of view (point ov veww): a way the events of a story are conveyed to the reader, it is the
“vantage point” from which the narrative is passed from author to the reader. The point of view
can vary from work to work. For example, in the Book of Genesis the objective third person
point of view is presented, where a “nonparticipant” serves as the narrator and has no insight into
the characters' minds. The narrator presents the events using the pronouns he, it, they, and
reveals no inner thoughts of the characters. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of
Amontillado” the first person point of view is exhibited. In this instance the main character
conveys the incidents he encounters, as well as giving the reader insight into himself as he
reveals his thoughts, feelings, and intentions. Many other points of view exist, such as
omniscient (or “all knowing”) in which the narrator “moves from one character to another as
necessary” to provide those character’s respective motivations and emotions. Understanding the
point of view used in a work is critical to understanding literature; it serves as the instrument to
relay the events of a story, and in some instances the feelings and motives of the character(s).
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See A Handbook to Literature, Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.
Stephanie White, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
31. Setting
setting (set-ting): the time, place, physical details, and circumstances in which a situation occurs. Settings
include the background, atmosphere or environment in which characters live and move, and usually
include physical characteristics of the surroundings. Settings enables the reader to better envision how a
story unfolds by relating necessary physical details of a piece of literature. A setting may be simple or
elaborate, used to create ambiance, lend credibility or realism, emphasize or accentuate, organize, or even
distract the reader. Settings in the Bible are simplistic. In the book of Genesis, we read about the creation
of the universe and the lives of the descendants of Adam. Great detail is taken in documenting the lineage,
actions, and ages of the characters at milestones in their lives, yet remarkably little detail is given about
physical characteristics of the landscape and surroundings in which events occurred. In Genesis 20, we
learn that because of her beauty, Sarah’s identity is concealed to prevent the death of her husband,
Abraham. Yet, we have no description of Sarah or Abraham’s hair, eye or skin color, height, weight,
physical appearance, or surroundings. Detailed settings that were infrequent in some ancient writings like
the Bible are common in today’s literature. In recent literature, settings are often described in elaborate
detail, enabling the reader to vividly envision even imaginary characters and actions like the travels of
Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Settings have a way of drawing the reader into a piece of
literature while facilitating understanding of the characters and their actions. Understanding the setting is
useful because it enables us to see how an author captures the attention of the reader by painting a mental
picture using words. See Literature, An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Kate Endriga, Student,
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
32. Theme
theme (theem): a common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work. A
theme is a thought or idea the author presents to the reader that may be deep, difficult to understand, or
even moralistic. Generally, a theme has to be extracted as the reader explores the passages of a work. The
author utilizes the characters, plot, and other literary devices to assist the reader in this endeavor. One
theme that may be extracted by the reader of Mark Musa’s interpretation of Dante’s The Divine Comedy
Volume I: Inferno is the need to take account of one’s own behavior now, for it affects one's condition in
the afterlife. One example of this theme can be found in Canto V - “...when the evil soul appears before
him, it confesses all, and he [Minos], who is the expert judge of sins, knows to what place in Hell the soul
belongs: the times he wraps his tail around himself tells just how far the sinner must go down” (7-12). In
addition, Dante’s use of literary techniques, such as imagery, further accentuates the theme for the
consequences of not living right, for he describes “the cries and shrieks of lamentation” (III:22), “…the
banks were coated with a slimy mold that stuck to them like glue, disgusting to behold and worse to
smell” (XVIII:106-108) and many other terrifying examples of Hell. In truly great works of literature, the
author intertwines the theme throughout the work and the full impact is slowly realized as the reader
processes the text. The ability to recognize a theme is important because it allows the reader to understand
part of the author’s purpose in writing the book. See Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and
Drama, NTC’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, and Literary Terms: A Dictionary. Susan Severson,
Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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33. Symbol
symbol (sim-bol): a symbol is a word or object that stands for another word or object. The object or word
can be seen with the eye or not visible. For example a dove stands for Peace. The dove can be seen and
peace cannot. The word is from the Greek word symbolom. All language is symbolizing one thing or
another. However when we read the book of Genesis it talked about a few symbols. In the story of Adam
and Eve when Eve ate the apple, the apple stood for sin. Another reading Cain and Able. The two brothers
stood for good and evil, humility and pride. Cain pulled Able to the fields and killed him. In this it is a
hidden symbol. It is showing that Cain stands for the bad and Able stands for the good. See The
Encyclopedia of Literature and A Handbook to Literature. Misty Tarlton, Student, University of North
Carolina at Pembroke
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SYMBOL: A word, place, character, or object that means something beyond what it is on a
literal level. For instance, consider the stop sign. It is literally a metal octagon painted red with
white streaks. However, everyone on American roads will be safer if we understand that this
object also represents the act of coming to a complete stop--an idea hard to encompass briefly
without some sort of symbolic substitute. In literature, symbols can be cultural, contextual, or
personal. (See cultural symbol, contextual symbol, and personal symbol.) An object, a setting,
or even a character can represent another more general idea. Allegories are narratives read in
such a way that nearly every element serves as an interrelated symbol, and the narrative's
meaning can be read either literally or as a symbolic statement about a political, spiritual, or
psychological truth. See also allegory, or click here to download a pdf handout contrasting
allegory and symbolism in greater detail.
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Unit 2
1. Allusion
allusion (a-LOO-zhuhn): a reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or
another work of literature. Allusions are often indirect or brief references to well-known
characters or events. Specific examples of allusions can be found throughout Dante’s Inferno. In
a passage, Dante alludes to the Greek mythological figures, Phaethon and Icarus, to express his
fear as he descends from the air into the eighth circle of hell. He states:
I doubt if Phaethon feared more - that time
he dropped the sun-reins of his father's chariot
and burned the streak of sky we see today or if poor Icarus did - feeling his sides
unfeathering as the wax began to melt,
his father shouting: "Wrong, your course is wrong" (Canto XVII: 106-111).
Allusions are often used to summarize broad, complex ideas or emotions in one quick, powerful
image. For example, to communicate the idea of self-sacrifice one may refer to Jesus, as part of
Jesus' story portrays him dying on the cross in order to save mankind (Matthew 27:45-56). In
addition, to express righteousness, one might allude to Noah who "had no faults and was the only
good man of his time" (Genesis 6:9-22). Furthermore, the idea of fatherhood or patriarchial love
can be well understood by alluding to Abraham, who was the ancestor of many nations (Genesis
17:3-6). Finally, Cain is an excellent example to convey banishment, rejection, or evil, for he
was cast out of his homeland by God (Genesis 4:12). Thus, allusions serve an important function
in writing in that they allow the reader to understand a difficult concept by relating to an already
familiar story. See A Handbook to Literature, Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and
Drama. Stacey Ann Singletary, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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ALLUSION: A casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of
literature, often without explicit identification. Allusions can originate in mythology, biblical
references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works. Authors often use
allusion to establish a tone, create an implied association, contrast two objects or people, make
an unusual juxtaposition of references, or bring the reader into a world of experience outside the
limitations of the story itself. Authors assume that the readers will recognize the original sources
and relate their meaning to the new context. For instance, if a teacher were to refer to his class as
a horde of Mongols, the students will have no idea if they are being praised or vilified unless
they know what the Mongol horde was and what activities it participated in historically. This
historical allusion assumes a certain level of education or awareness in the audience, so it should
normally be taken as a compliment rather than an insult or an attempt at obscurity.
2. Classicism
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Classicism: A term used in literary criticism to describe critical doctrines that have their roots in
ancient Greek and Roman literature, philosophy, and art. Works associated with classicism
typically exhibit restraint on the part of the author, unity of design and purpose, clarity,
simplicity, logical organization, and respect for tradition.
Examples of literary classicism include Cicero's prose, the dramas of Pierre Corneille and Jean
Racine, the Poetry of John Dryden and Alexander Pope, and the writings of J. W. von Goethe, G.
E. Lessing, and T. S. Eliot.
3. Divine proportion (golden ratio, golden mean) (Encyclopedia Britannica)
also known as the golden section, golden mean , or divine proportion
in mathematics, the irrational number (1 + 5)/2, often denoted by the Greek letters  or , and
approximately equal to 1.618. The origin of this number and its name may be traced back to about
500 BC and the investigation in Pythagorean geometry of the regular pentagon, in which the five
diagonals form a five-pointed star. On each such diagonal lie two points of intersection with other
diagonals, and either of those points divides the whole diagonal into two segments of unequal
lengths so that the ratio of the whole diagonal to the larger segment equals the ratio of the larger
segment to the smaller one. In terms of present day algebra, letting the length of the shorter
segment be one unit and the length of the larger segment be x units gives rise to the equation
(x + 1)/x = x/1; this may be rearranged to form the quadratic equation x2 – x – 1 = 0, for which the
positive solution is x = (1 + 5)/2, the golden ratio.
The ancient Greeks recognized this “dividing” or “sectioning” property and described it generally
as “the division of a line into extreme and mean ratio,” a phrase that was ultimately shortened to
simply “the section.” It was more than 2,000 years later that both “ratio” and “section” were
designated as “golden” in references by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler and others. The
Greeks also had observed that the golden ratio provided the most aesthetically pleasing
proportion of sides of a rectangle, a notion that was enhanced during the Renaissance by, for
example, work of the Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci and the publication of De divina
proportione (1509; Divine Proportion) by the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli, and illustrated
by Leonardo (see the photograph).
The golden ratio occurs in many mathematical contexts. It is geometrically constructible by
straightedge and compass, and it occurs in the investigation of the Archimedean and Platonic
solids. It is the limit of the ratios of consecutive terms of the Fibonacci number sequence 1, 1, 2, 3,
5, 8, 13, …, in which each term beyond the second is the sum of the previous two, and it is also
the value of the most basic of continued fractions, namely 1 + 1/(1 + 1/(1 + 1/(1 + ….
In modern mathematics, the golden ratio occurs in the description of fractals, figures that exhibit
self-similarity and play an important role in the study of chaos and dynamical systems.
Stephan C. Carlson
4. Divine right of kings (Encyclopedia Britannica)
doctrine in defense of monarchical absolutism, which asserted that kings derived their authority
from God and could not therefore be held accountable for their actions by any earthly authority
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such as a parliament. Originating in Europe, the divine-right theory can be traced to the medieval
conception of God's award of temporal power to the political ruler, paralleling the award of
spiritual power to the church. By the 16th and 17th centuries, however, the new national
monarchs were asserting their authority in matters of both church and state. King James I of
England (reigned 1603–25) was the foremost exponent of the divine right of kings, but the
doctrine virtually disappeared from English politics after the Glorious Revolution (1688–89). In the
late 17th and the 18th centuries, kings such as Louis XIV (1643–1715) of France continued to
profit from the divine-right theory, even though many of them no longer had any truly religious
belief in it. The American Revolution (1775–83), the French Revolution (1789), and the Napoleonic
wars deprived the doctrine of most of its remaining credibility.
5. Eclogue
Eclogue: In classical literature, a poem featuring rural themes and structured as a dialogue
among shepherds. Eclogues often took specific poetic forms, such as elegies or love poems.
Some were written as the Soliloquy of a shepherd. In later centuries, "eclogue" came to refer to
any poem that was in the pastoral tradition or that had a dialogue or Monologue structure.
A classical example of an eclogue is Virgil's Eclogues, also known as Bucolics. Giovanni
Boccaccio, Edmund Spenser, Andrew Marvell, Jonathan Swift, and Louis MacNeice also wrote
eclogues. (Compare with Pastoral.)
6. Epistle
EPISTLE: (1) A poem addressed to a patron, friend, or family member, thus a kind of "letter" in
verse. (2) An actual prose letter sent to another. (3) A distinct part or section of such a poem or
letter.
7. Fate (Encyclopedia Britannica)
wyrd (fate) that comes to all men
8. Free will (Encyclopedia Britannica)
in humans, the power or capacity to choose among alternatives or to act in certain situations
independently of natural, social, or divine restraints. Free will is denied by some proponents of
determinism. Arguments for free will are based on the subjective experience of freedom, on
sentiments of guilt, on revealed religion, and on the universal supposition of responsibility for
personal actions that underlies the concepts of law, reward, punishment, and incentive (for
additional discussion of free will and determinism, see moral responsibility, problem of). In theology
the existence of free will must be reconciled with God's omniscience and goodness (in allowing
people to choose badly) and with divine grace, which allegedly is necessary for any meritorious
act. A prominent feature of existentialism is the concept of a radical, perpetual, and frequently
agonizing freedom of choice. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80), for example, spoke of the individual
“condemned to be free.”
9. The Great Chain of Being
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Great Chain of Being: The belief that all things and creatures in nature are organized in a
hierarchy from inanimate objects at the bottom to God at the top. This system of belief was
popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
A summary of the concept of the great chain of being can be found in the first epistle of
Alexander Pope's An essay on Man, and more recently in Arthur O. Lovejoy's The Great Chain
of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea.
10. Humanism
Humanism. The new emphasis in the Renaissance on human culture, education and
reason, sparked by a revival of interest in classical Greek and Roman literature, culture, and
language. Human nature and the dignity of man were exalted and emphasis was placed on
the present life as a worthy event in itself (as opposed to the medieval emphasis on the
present life merely as preparation for a future life).
+
HUMANISM: A Renaissance intellectual and artistic movement triggered by a "rediscovery" of
classical Greek and Roman language, culture and literature. The term was coined in the sixteenth
century from "studia humanitatis," or what we would today call the humanities (grammar,
rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy). Humanists emphasized human culture, reason,
learning, art, and education as a means of improving humanity. They exalted the dignity of man,
and emphasized present life as a worthwhile focus for art, poetry, and literature. This attitude
contrasted sharply with the late medieval emphasis on the sinful, bestial aspects of humanity,
which called for treating the present life as a cesspool of temporary evil that humans must reject
through ascetic practices in preparation for the afterlife.
11. Iambic pentameter
(METER: A recognizable though varying pattern of stressed syllables alternating with syllables of less stress. Compositions written in meter are
said to be in verse. There are many possible patterns of verse. Each unit of stress and unstressed syllables is called a "foot." The following
examples are culled from M. H. Abrams' Glossary of Literary Terms, seventh edition, which has more information. You can also click here to
download a PDF handout giving examples of particular types of feet, or click here for a longer PDF handout discussing meter and scansion.)
Iambic (the noun is "iamb" or "iambus"): a lightly stressed syllable followed by a heavily
stressed syllable. + We name a metric line according to the number of "feet" in it. If a line has five feet,
it is pentameter.
12. Iambic tetrameter
(METER: A recognizable though varying pattern of stressed syllables alternating with syllables of less stress. Compositions written in meter are
said to be in verse. There are many possible patterns of verse. Each unit of stress and unstressed syllables is called a "foot." The following
examples are culled from M. H. Abrams' Glossary of Literary Terms, seventh edition, which has more information. You can also click here to
download a PDF handout giving examples of particular types of feet, or click here for a longer PDF handout discussing meter and scansion.)
Iambic (the noun is "iamb" or "iambus"): a lightly stressed syllable followed by a heavily
stressed syllable. + We name a metric line according to the number of "feet" in it. If a line has four
feet, it is tetrameter.
13. Idyll
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IDYLL: A composition in verse or prose presenting an idealized story of happy innocence. The
Idylls of Theocritus (c. 250 BC), for example, is a work that describes the pastoral life of rustic
Sicily. Tennyson's poem, Idylls of the King, presents the idealized, poetic account of Camelot's
innocent existence before its fall to the forces of barbarism, impurity, and vice.
14. Lyric
lyric (LEER-ick): a lyric is a song-like poem written mainly to express the feelings of emotions or
thought from a particular person, thus separating it from narrative poems. These poems are generally
short, averaging roughly twelve to thirty lines, and rarely go beyond sixty lines. These poems express
vivid imagination as well as emotion and all flow fairly concisely. Because of this aspect, as well as their
steady rhythm, they were often used in song. In fact, most people still see a "lyric" as anything that is
sung along to a musical instrument. It is believed that the lyric began in its earliest stage in Ancient Egypt
around 2600 BC in the forms of elegies, odes, or hymns generated out of religious ceremonies. Some of
the more note-worthy authors who have used the lyric include William Blake, William Wordsworth, John
Keats, and William Shakespeare-who helped popularize the sonnet, another type of lyric. The importance
of understanding the lyric can best be shown through its remarkable ability to express with such
imagination the innermost emotions of the soul. See The American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language. Jerry Taylor, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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LYRIC (from Greek lyra "song"): The lyric form is as old as Egypt (surviving examples date
back to 2600 BCE), and examples exist in early Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and other sources. If
literature from every culture through the ages were lumped into a single stack, it is likely that the
largest number of writings would be these short verse poems. There are three general meanings
for lyric:
(1) A short poem (usually no more than 50-60 lines, and often only a dozen lines long) written in
a repeating stanzaic form, often designed to be set to music. Unlike a ballad, the lyric usually
does not have a plot (i.e., it might not tell a complete story), but it rather expresses the feelings,
perceptions, and thoughts of a single poetic speaker (not necessarily the poet) in an intensely
personal, emotional, or subjective manner. Often, there is no chronology of events in the lyrics,
but rather objects, situations, or the subject is written about in a "lyric moment." Sometimes, the
reader can infer an implicit narrative element in lyrics, but it is rare for the lyric to proceed in the
straightforward, chronological "telling" common in fictional prose. For instance, in William
Wordsworth's "The Solitary Reaper," the reader can guess from the speaker's words that the
speaker has come unexpectedly upon a girl reaping and singing in the Scottish Highlands, and
that he stops, listens, and thinks awhile before continuing on his way. However, this chain of
events is not explicitly a center of plot or extended conflict between protagonist and antagonist.
Instead it triggers a moment of contemplation and appreciation. Thus it is not a plot in the normal
sense of the word.
(2) Any poem having the form and musical quality of a song
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(3) As an adjective, lyric can also be applied to any prose or verse characterized by direct,
spontaneous outpouring of intense feeling. Often, the lyric is subdivided into various genres,
including the aubade, the dramatic monologue, the elegy, the epithalamion, the hymn, the
ode, and the sonnet. Contrast with ballad, elegy, and ode.
15. Ode
ODE: A long, often elaborate stanzaic poem of varying line lengths and sometimes intricate
rhyme schemes dealing with a serious subject matter and treating it reverently. The ode is usually
much longer than the song or lyric, but usually not as long as the epic poem. Conventionally,
many odes are written or dedicated to a specific subject. For instance, "Ode to the West Wind" is
about the winds that bring change of season in England. Keats has a clever inversion of this
convention in "Ode on a Grecian Urn," in which his choice of the preposition on implies the
poem actually exists in the artwork on the urn itself, rather than as a separate piece of literary art
in his poetry. Classical odes are often divided by tone, with Pindaric odes being heroic and
ecstatic and Horatian odes being cool, detached, and balanced with criticism. Andrew Marvell's
"Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland" is an example of a Horatian ode.
16. Rhyme scheme
rhyme scheme (rime skeem): the pattern of rhyme used in a poem, generally indicated by
matching lowercase letters to show which lines rhyme. The letter "a" notes the first line, and all
other lines rhyming with the first line. The first line that does not rhyme with the first, or "a" line,
and all others that rhyme with this line, is noted by the letter "b", and so on. The rhyme scheme
may follow a fixed pattern (as in a sonnet) or may be arranged freely according to the poet's
requirements. The use of a scheme, or pattern, came about before poems were written down;
when they were passed along in song or oral poetry. Since many of these poems were long,
telling of great heroes, battles, and other important cultural events, the rhyme scheme helped
with memorization. A rhyme scheme also helps give a verse movement, providing a break before
changing thoughts. The four-line stanza, or quatrain, is usually written with the first line rhyming
with the third line, and the second line rhyming with the fourth line, abab. The English sonnet
generally has three quatrains and a couplet, such as abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The Italian sonnet has
two quatrains and a sestet, or six-line stanza, such as abba, abba, cde, cde. Rhyme schemes were
adapted to meet the artistic and expressive needs of the poet. Henry Howard Surrey is credited
with introducing the sonnet form to England. This form differed from the Italian form because
he found that there were fewer rhyming words in English than there were in Italian.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Excerpt from Shakespeare's "Sonnet XVIII", rhyme scheme: a b a b.
See Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, Dictionary of Literary Terms, A Dictionary of Literary
Terms and Literary Theory, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Nancy Bullard, Student,
University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
+
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RHYME SCHEME: The pattern of rhyme. The traditional way to mark these patterns of rhyme
is to assign a letter of the alphabet to each rhyming sound at the end of each line. For instance,
here is the first stanza of James Shirley's poem "Of Death," from 1659. I have marked each line
from the first stanza with an alphabetical letter at the end of each line to indicate rhyme:
The glories of our blood and state --------------A
Are shadows, not substantial things; -----------B
There is no armor against fate; ------------------A
Death lays his icy hand on kings: ---------------B
Scepter and crown -------------------------------C
Must tumble down, --------------------------------C
And in the dust be equal made ------------------D
With the poor crooked scythe and spade. -----D
Thus, the rhyme scheme for each stanza in the poem above is ABABCCDD. It is conventional in
most poetic genres that every stanza follow the same rhyme scheme, though it is possible to have
interlocking rhyme scheme such as terza rima. It is also common for poets to deliberately vary
their rhyme scheme for artistic purposes--such as Philip Larkin's "Toads," in which the poetic
speaker complains about his desire to stop working so hard, and his rhymes degenerate into halfrhymes or slant rhymes as an indication that he doesn't want to go to the effort of perfection.
Among the most common rhyme schemes in English, we find heroic couplets (AA, BB, CC,
DD, EE, FF, etc.) and quatrains (ABAB, CDCD, etc.), but the possible permutations are
theoretically infinite.
17. Satire
Satire: A work that uses ridicule, humor, and wit to criticize and provoke change in human
nature and institutions. There are two major types of satire: "formal" or "direct" satire speaks
directly to the reader or to a character in the work; "indirect" satire relies upon the ridiculous
behavior of its characters to make its point. Formal satire is further divided into two manners: the
"Horatian," which ridicules gently, and the "Juvenalian," which derides its subjects harshly and
bitterly.
Voltaire's novella Candide is an indirect satire. Jonathan Swift's essay "A Modest Proposal" is a
Juvenalian satire.
18. Sonnet
sonnet (sonn-IT): a sonnet is a distinctive poetic style that uses system or pattern of metrical
structure and verse composition usually consisting of fourteen lines, arranged in a set rhyme
scheme or pattern. There are two main styles of sonnet, the Italian sonnet and the English sonnet.
The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, named after Petrarch (1304-1374) a fourteenth century writer
and the best known poet to use this form, was developed by the Italian poet Guittone of Arezzo
(1230-1294) in the thirteenth century. Usually written in iambic pentameter, it consists first of an
octave, or eight lines, which asks a question or states a problem or proposition and follows the
rhyme scheme a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a. The sestet, or last six lines, offers an answer, or a resolution to
the proposed problem, and follows the rhyme scheme c-d-e-c-d-e.
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When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
"Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"
I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."
John Milton, "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent"
The sonnet was first brought to England by Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of
Surrey, in the sixteenth century, where the second sonnet form arose. The English or
Shakespearean sonnet was named after William Shakespeare (1564-1616) who most believed
to the best writer to use the form. Adapting the Italian form to the English, the octave and
sestet were replaced by three quatrains, each having its own independent rhyme scheme
typically rhyming every other line, and ending with a rhyme couplet. Instead of the Italianic
break between the octave and the sestet, the break comes between the twelfth and thirteenth
lines. The ending couplet is often the main thought change of the poem, and has an
epigrammatic ending. It follows the rhyme scheme a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all to short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d:
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d.
By thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wandered in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Shakespeare, Sonnet XVIII. See Benet’s Readers Encyclopedia, Handbook to Literature,
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Michael Prevatte, Student,
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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SONNET: A lyric poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged
according to certain definite patterns. It usually expresses a single, complete idea or thought with
a reversal, twist, or change of direction in the concluding lines. There are three common forms:
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(1) Italian or Petrarchan
(2) English or Shakespearean
(3) Miltonic
The Petrarchan sonnet has an eight line stanza (called an octave) followed by a six line stanza
(called a sestet). The octave has two quatrains rhyming abba, abba, the first of which presents
the theme, the second further develops it. In the sestet, the first three lines reflect on or exemplify
the theme, while the last three bring the poem to a unified end. The sestet may be arranged
cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdedce.
The Shakespearean sonnet uses three quatrains; each rhymed differently, with a final,
independently rhymed couplet that makes an effective, unifying climax to the whole. Its rhyme
scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Typically, the final two lines follow a "turn" or a "volta,"
(sometimes spelled volte, like volte-face) because they reverse, undercut, or turn from the
original line of thought to take the idea in a new direction.
The Miltonic sonnet is similar to the Petrarchan sonnet, but it does not divide its thought
between the octave and the sestet--the sense or line of thinking runs straight from the eighth to
ninth line. Also, Milton expands the sonnet's repertoire to deal not only with love as the earlier
sonnets did, but also to include politics, religion, and personal matters.
+
SONNET SEQUENCE: Also called a sonnet cycle, this term refers to a gathering or
arrangement of sonnets by a single author so that the sonnets in that group or arrangement deal
with a single theme, situation, a particular lady, or alternatively deal with what appears to be a
sequential story. Petrarch, Sidney, Spenser, and Shakespeare all engaged in this practice, or at
least the early editors of their works did. The first major sonnet cycle in English was Sir Philip
Sidney's Astrophil and Stella (written in the early 1580s, published in 1591). Others include
Daniel's Delia, Lodge's Phillis, Drayton's Idea's Mirror, Constable's Diana, and Spenser's
Amoretti. Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, however, are best known of any sonnet sequences today.
19. Symmetry (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Pronunciation: si-m -tr
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -tries
Etymology: Latin symmetria, from Greek, from symmetros symmetrical, from syn- + metron
measure -- more at MEASURE
Date: 1563
1 : balanced proportions; also : beauty of form arising from balanced proportions
______________________________
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Unit 3
1. Aesthetics
Aestheticism: late 19th-century European arts movement which centred on the doctrine that art
exists for the sake of its beauty alone, and that it need serve no political, didactic, or other
purpose.
The movement began in reaction to prevailing utilitarian social philosophies and to what was
perceived as the ugliness and philistinism of the industrial age. Its philosophical foundations were
laid in the 18th century by Immanuel Kant, who postulated the autonomy of aesthetic standards,
setting them apart from considerations of morality, utility, or pleasure. This idea was amplified by
J.W. von Goethe, J.L. Tieck, and others in Germany and by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas
Carlyle in England. It was popularized in France by Madame de Staël, Théophile Gautier, and the
philosopher Victor Cousin, who coined the phrase l'art pour l'art (“art for art's sake”) in 1818.
In England, the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, from 1848, had sown the seeds of
Aestheticism, and the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, and Algernon Charles
Swinburne exemplified it in expressing a yearning for ideal beauty through conscious medievalism.
The attitudes of the movement were also represented in the writings of Oscar Wilde and Walter
Pater and the illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley in the periodical The Yellow Book. The painter James
McNeill Whistler raised the movement's ideal of the cultivation of refined sensibility to perhaps its
highest point.
Contemporary critics of Aestheticism included William Morris and John Ruskin and, in Russia, Leo
Tolstoy, who questioned the value of art divorced from morality. Yet the movement focused
attention on the formal aesthetics of art and contributed to the art criticism of Roger Fry and
Bernard Berenson. Aestheticism shared certain affinities with the French Symbolist movement,
fostered the Arts and Crafts Movement, and sponsored Art Nouveau.
??AESTHETIC DISTANCE: An effect of tone, diction, and presentation in poetry creating a
sense of an experience removed from irrelevant or accidental events. This sense of intentional
focus seems intentionally organized or framed by events in the poem so that it can be more fully
understood by quiet contemplation. Typically, the reader is less emotionally involved or
impassioned--reacting to the material in a calmer manner.
2. Allegory
ALLEGORY: The word derives from the Greek allegoria ("speaking otherwise"). The term
loosely describes any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning. This narrative acts as
an extended metaphor in which persons, abstract ideas, or events represent not only themselves
on the literal level, but they also stand for something else on the symbolic level. An allegorical
reading usually involves moral or spiritual concepts that may be more significant than the actual,
literal events described in a narrative. Typically, an allegory involves the interaction of multiple
symbols, which together create a moral, spiritual, or even political meaning. The act of
interpreting a story as if each object in it had an allegorical meaning is called allegoresis.
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If we wish to be more exact, an allegory is an act of interpretation, a way of understanding,
rather than a genre in and of itself. Poems, novels, or plays can all be allegorical, in whole or in
part. These allegories can be as short as a single sentence or as long as a ten volume book. The
label "allegory" comes from an interaction between symbols that creates a coherent meaning
beyond that of the literal level of interpretation. Probably the most famous allegory in English
literature is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678), in which the hero named Christian flees
the City of Destruction and travels through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair,
Doubting Castle, and finally arrives at the Celestial City. The entire narrative is a representation
of the human soul's pilgrimage through temptation and doubt to reach salvation in heaven.
Medieval works were frequently allegorical, such as the plays Mankind and Everyman. Other
important allegorical works include mythological allegories like Apuleius' tale of Cupid and
Psyche in The Golden Ass and Prudentius' Psychomachiae. More recent non-mythological
allegories include Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Butler's Erewhon,
and George Orwell's Animal Farm.
3. Allusion
ALLUSION: A casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of
literature, often without explicit identification. Allusions can originate in mythology, biblical
references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works. Authors often use
allusion to establish a tone, create an implied association, contrast two objects or people, make
an unusual juxtaposition of references, or bring the reader into a world of experience outside the
limitations of the story itself. Authors assume that the readers will recognize the original sources
and relate their meaning to the new context. For instance, if a teacher were to refer to his class as
a horde of Mongols, the students will have no idea if they are being praised or vilified unless
they know what the Mongol horde was and what activities it participated in historically. This
historical allusion assumes a certain level of education or awareness in the audience, so it should
normally be taken as a compliment rather than an insult or an attempt at obscurity.
4. Argumentation
argumentation--exploration of a problem by investigating all sides of it; persuasion through reason.
ARGUMENT: A statement of a poem's major point--usually appearing in the introduction of the
poem. Spenser presents such an argument in the introduction to his eclogues, Coleridge presents
such in his marginalia to The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, and Milton most famously presents
such in Book One of Paradise Lost, where he proclaims he will "assert eternal providence / And
justify the ways of God to man." Cf. thesis.
5. Authorial intent
AUTHORIAL VOICE: The voices or speakers used by authors when they seemingly speak for
themselves in a book. (In poetry, this might be called a poetic speaker). The use of this term
makes it clear in critical discussion that the narration or presentation of a story is not necessarily
to be identified with the biographical and historical author. Instead, the authorial voice may be
another fiction created by the author. It is often considered poor form for a modern literary critic
25
to equate the authorial voice with the historical author, but this practice was common in the
nineteenth century. However, twentieth-century critics have pointed out that often a writer will
assume a false persona of attitudes or beliefs when she writes, or that the authorial voice will
speak of so-called biographical details that cannot possibly be equated with the author herself. In
the early twentieth-century, New Critics also pointed out that linking the authorial voice with the
biographical author often unfairly limited the possible interpretations of a poem or narrative.
Finally, many writers have enjoyed writing in the first person and creating unreliable narrators-speakers who tell the story but who obviously miss the significance of the tale they tell, or who
fail to connect important events together when the reader does. Because of these reasons, it is
often considered naive to assume that the authorial voice is a "real" representation of the
historical author.
Famous instances in which the authorial voice diverges radically from the biographical author
include the authorial voice in the mock-epic Don Juan (here, the authorial voice appears as a
crusty, jaded, older man commenting on the sordid passions of youth, while the author Lord
Byron was himself a young man) and the authorial narrator of Cervante's Don Quixote (who
attests that the main character Don Quixote is quite mad, and despises his lunacy even while
"accidentally" unveiling the hero's idealism as a critique of the modern world's fixation with
factual reality).
Examples of unreliable narrators include the narrator of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (the
speaker, a pilgrim named Geoffrey, appears to be a dumbed-down caricature of the author
Geoffrey Chaucer, but one who has little skill at poetry and often appears to express admiration
for character-traits that the larger rhetoric of the poem clearly condemns). In a more modern
example, the mentally disabled character in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury (who is
completely unable to interpret the events taking place around him) serves as an unreliable
narrator, as does Tom Hanks' character in the film Forest Gump. See also poetic speaker.
6. Blank verse
BLANK VERSE (also called unrhymed iambic pentameter): Unrhymed lines of ten syllables
each with the even-numbered syllables bearing the accents. Blank verse has been called the most
"natural" verse form for dramatic works, since it supposedly is the verse form most close to
natural rhythms of English speech, and it has been the primary verse form of English drama and
narrative poetry since the mid-Sixteenth Century. Such verse is blank in rhyme only; it usually
has a definite meter. (Variations in this meter may appear occasionally.) The Earl of Surrey first
used the term "blank verse" in his 1540 translation of The Aeneid of Virgil. As an example, in
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Theseus' speech to Hippolyta appears in blank
verse:
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name. (5.1.12-17)
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7. Conceit
CONCEIT (also called a metaphysical conceit): An elaborate or unusual comparison-especially one using unlikely metaphors, simile, hyperbole, and contradiction. Before the
beginning of the seventeenth century, the term conceit was a synonym for "thought" and roughly
equivalent to "idea" or "concept." It gradually came to denote a fanciful idea or a particularly
clever remark. In literary terms, the word denotes a fairly elaborate figure of speech, especially
an extended comparison involving unlikely metaphors, similes, imagery, hyperbole, and
oxymora. One of the most famous conceits is John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding
Mourning," a poem in which Donne compares two souls in love to the points on a geometer's
compass. Shakespeare also uses conceits regularly in his poetry. In Richard II, Shakespeare
compares two kings competing for power to two buckets in a well, for instance. A conceit is
usually classified as a subtype of metaphor. Contrast with epic simile and dyfalu.
8. Dissent (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Main Entry: 1dis·sent
Pronunciation: di- sent
Function: intransitive verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin dissentire, from dis- + sentire to feel -- more at SENSE
Date: 15th century
1 : to withhold assent
2 : to differ in opinion
Main Entry: 2dissent
Function: noun
Date: 1585
: difference of opinion <heard voices of dissent at the meeting>: as a : religious nonconformity b :
a justice's nonconcurrence with a decision of the majority -- called also dissenting opinion c :
political opposition to a government or its policies <attempts to suppress domestic dissent>
9. Doubt (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Main Entry: 1doubt
Pronunciation: da t
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English douten, from Anglo-French duter, douter, from Latin dubitare to be in
doubt; akin to Latin dubius dubious
Date: 13th century
transitive verb
1 archaic a : FEAR b : SUSPECT
2 : to be in doubt about <he doubts everyone's word>
3 a : to lack confidence in : DISTRUST <find myself doubting him even when I know that he is
honest -- H. L. Mencken> b : to consider unlikely <I doubt if I can go>
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intransitive verb : to be uncertain
- doubt·able
\ da -t -b l\ adjective
- doubt·er noun
- doubt·ing·ly
\-ti -l \ adverb
Main Entry: 2doubt
Function: noun
Date: 13th century
1 a : uncertainty of belief or opinion that often interferes with decision-making b : a deliberate
suspension of judgment
2 : a state of affairs giving rise to uncertainty, hesitation, or suspense <the outcome is still in
doubt>
3 a : a lack of confidence : DISTRUST <has doubts about his abilities> b : an inclination not to
believe or accept <a claim met with doubt>
synonym see UNCERTAINTY
- no doubt : 1DOUBTLESS
10. Dramatic irony
Dramatic Irony: Occurs when the audience of a play or the reader of a work of literature knows
something that a character in the work itself does not know. The irony is in the contrast between
the intended meaning of the statements or actions of a character and the additional information
understood by the audience.
A celebrated example of dramatic irony is in Act V of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet,
where two young lovers meet their end as a result of a tragic misunderstanding. Here, the
audience has full knowledge that Juliet's apparent "death" is merely temporary; she will regain
her senses when the mysterious "sleeping potion" she has taken wears off. But Romeo, mistaking
Juliet's drug-induced trance for true death, kills himself in grief. Upon awakening, Juliet
discovers Romeo's corpse and, in despair, slays herself.
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irony (i-RAH-nee): a literary term referring to how a person, situation, statement, or circumstance is not
as it would actually seem. Many times it is the exact opposite of what it appears to be. There are many
types of irony, the three most common being verbal irony, dramatic irony, and cosmic irony. Verbal
irony occurs when either the speaker means something totally different than what he is saying or the
audience realizes, because of their knowledge of the particular situation to which the speaker is referring,
that the opposite of what a character is saying is true. Verbal irony also occurs when a character says
something in jest that, in actuality, is true. In Julius Caesar, Marc Antony’s reference to Brutus being an
honorable man is an example of verbal irony. Marc Antony notes all of the good deeds Julius Caesar did
for his people while, more than once, he asks the rhetorical question, “Did this in Caesar seem
ambitious?” Antony uses this rhetorical question to try to convince his audience that Caesar is not
ambitious, presenting Brutus as a dishonorable man because of his claim that Caesar was ambitious.
Dramatic irony occurs when facts are not known to the characters in a work of literature but are
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known by the audience. In The Gospel According to St. John, the Pharisees say of Jesus, “Can any
good thing come out of Nazareth?” This is dramatic irony for the reader already knows, according
to the author, that Jesus is the Savior of the world and has already done much good for the people
by forgiving their sins and healing the sick and oppressed. The Pharisees are too blinded to see
what good actually has come out of Nazareth. Cosmic irony suggests that some unknown force brings
about dire and dreadful events. Cosmic irony can be seen in Shakespeare’s Othello. Iago begs his wife to
steal Desdemona’s handkerchief so he can use this as conclusive proof that Cassio is having an affair with
Desdemona. At the end of the play, when Othello tells Iago’s wife about the handkerchief, she confesses
that Iago put her up to stealing it. Iago winds up being at Cassio’s mercy. The very handkerchief Iago
thought would allow him to become lieutenant and bring Cassio to ruins was the handkerchief that
brought Iago to ruins and exalted Cassio even higher than his position of lieutenant. Irony spices up a
literary work by adding unexpected twists and allowing the reader to become more involved with the
characters and plot. See A Handbook to Literature, The Elements of Fiction Writing: Characters and
Viewpoint. Robert Bean, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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IRONY: Cicero referred to irony as "saying one thing and meaning another." Irony comes in
many forms. Verbal irony (also called sarcasm) is a trope in which a speaker makes a statement
in which its actual meaning differs sharply from the meaning that the words ostensibly express.
Often this sort of irony is plainly sarcastic in the eyes of the reader, but the characters listening in
the story may not realize the speaker's sarcasm as quickly as the readers do. Dramatic irony (the
most important type for literature) involves a situation in a narrative in which the reader knows
something about present or future circumstances that the character does not know. In that
situation, the character acts in a way we recognize to be grossly inappropriate to the actual
circumstances, or the character expects the opposite of what the reader knows that fate holds in
store, or the character anticipates a particular outcome that unfolds itself in an unintentional way.
Probably the most famous example of dramatic irony is the situation facing Oedipus in the play
Oedipus Rex. Situational irony (also called cosmic irony) is a trope in which accidental events
occur that seem oddly appropriate, such as the poetic justice of a pickpocket getting his own
pocket picked. However, both the victim and the audience are simultaneously aware of the
situation in situational irony--which is not the case in dramatic irony. Probably the most famous
example of situational irony is Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, in which Swift
"recommends" that English landlords take up the habit of eating Irish babies as a food staple. See
also Socratic irony.
11. Enlightenment
Enlightenment, The: An eighteenth-century philosophical movement. It began in France but
had a wide impact throughout Europe and America. Thinkers of the Enlightenment valued reason
and believed that both the individual and society could achieve a state of perfection.
Corresponding to this essentially humanist vision was a resistance to religious authority.
Important figures of the Enlightenment were Denis Diderot and Voltaire in France, Edward
Gibbon and David Hume in England, and Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson in the United
States. (Compare with Neoclassicism.) (See also Humanism.)
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ENLIGHTENMENT (also called the neoclassic movement): the philosophical and artistic
movement growing out of the Renaissance and continuing until the nineteenth century. The
Enlightenment was an optimistic belief that humanity could improve itself by applying logic and
reason to all things. It rejected untested beliefs, superstition, and the "barbarism" of the earlier
medieval period, and embraced the literary, architectural, and artistic forms of the Greco-Roman
world. Enlightenment thinkers were enchanted by the perfection of geometry and mathematics,
and by all things harmonious and balanced. The period's poetry, as typified by Alexander Pope,
John Dryden, and others, attempted to create perfect, clockwork regularity in meter. Typically,
these Enlightenment writers would use satire to ridicule what they felt were illogical errors in
government, social custom, and religious belief.
For me, I have found one useful exercise to understand the difference between the Enlightenment
and the Romantic aesthetic that followed. This exercise is examining the architecture of English
and continental gardens in each period. In the Enlightenment, the garden would be kept neatly
trimmed, with only useful or decorative plants allowed to grow, and every weed meticulously
uprooted. The trees would be planted according to mathematical models for harmonious spacing,
and the shrubbery would be pruned into geometric shapes such as spheres, cones, or pyramids.
The preferred garden walls would involve Greco-Roman columns perfectly spaced from each
other in clean white marble, smoothly burnished in straight edges and lines. If a stream or well
were available, the architect might divert it down a carefully designed irrigation path, or pump it
into the spray of a marble fountain. Such a setting was considered ideal for hosting civilized
gatherings and leisurely strolls through the grounds. Such features were common in gardens from
the 1660s up through the late 1790s. Nature was something to be shaped according to the dictates
of human will and tamed according to the rules of human logic.
On the other hand, the later Romanticists might be horrified at the artificial design imposed upon
nature. The ideal garden in the Romantic period might be planted in the ruins of an ancient
cloister or churchyard. Wild ivy might be encouraged to grow along the picturesque, rough-hewn
walls. Rather than ornamental shrubbery, fruit trees would be planted. The flowers might be
loosely clustered according to type, but overgrown random patterns caused by the natural
distribution of wind and rain were considered more aesthetically pleasing. Even better, rather
than planting a garden, a Romanticist nature-lover would be encouraged to walk in the untamed
wilderness, clambering up and down the uneven rocks and gullies of a natural stream. Many
Romanticists who inherited Enlightenment gardens simply tore the structures down and allowed
the grounds to run wild. Nature was considered something larger than humanity, and the passions
it inspired in its untamed form were considered healthier (more "natural") than the faint-hearted
passions originating in falsely imposed human design. Cf. aufklärung. To download a PDF
handout that lists the major literary movements or periods in chronological order, click here. To
download Kant's definition of Enlightenment, click here.
12.
Ethics (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Main Entry: eth·ic
Pronunciation: e-thik
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Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English ethik, from Middle French ethique, from Latin ethice, from Greek
thik , from thikos
Date: 14th century
1 plural but singular or plural in construction : the discipline dealing with what is good and
bad and with moral duty and obligation
2 a : a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values <the present-day
materialistic ethic> <an old-fashioned work ethic> -- often used in plural but sing. or plural in
constr. <an elaborate ethics> <Christian ethics> b plural but singular or plural in construction
: the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group <professional ethics> c : a
guiding philosophy d : a consciousness of moral importance <forge a conservation ethic>
3 plural : a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness) <debated the ethics of human cloning>
Main Entry: situation ethics
Function: noun
Date: 1955
: a system of ethics by which acts are judged within their contexts instead of by categorical
principles -- called also situational ethics
13.
Fate (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Main Entry: 1fate
Pronunciation: f t
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin fatum,
literally, what has been spoken, from neuter of fatus, past participle of fari to speak -- more
at BAN
Date: 14th century
1 : the will or principle or determining cause by which things in general are believed to come
to be as they are or events to happen as they do : DESTINY
2 a : an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end b : DISASTER; especially :
DEATH
3 a : final outcome b : the expected result of normal development <prospective fate of
embryonic cells> c : the circumstances that befall someone or something <did not know the
fate of her former classmates>
4 plural, capitalized : the three goddesses who determine the course of human life in classical
mythology
synonyms FATE, DESTINY, LOT, PORTION, DOOM mean a predetermined state or end. FATE
implies an inevitable and usually an adverse outcome <the fate of the submarine is unknown>.
DESTINY implies something foreordained and often suggests a great or noble course or end <the
country's destiny to be a model of liberty to the world>. LOT and PORTION imply a distribution
by fate or destiny, LOT suggesting blind chance <it was her lot to die childless>, PORTION
implying the apportioning of good and evil <remorse was his daily portion>. DOOM distinctly
implies a grim or calamitous fate <if the rebellion fails, his doom is certain>.
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Main Entry: 2fate
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): fat·ed; fat·ing
Date: 1601
: DESTINE; also : DOOM
14.
Free will (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Main Entry: free will
Function: noun
Date: 13th century
1 : voluntary choice or decision <I do this of my own free will>
2 : freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine
intervention
15. “In medias res”
In medias res: A Latin term meaning "in the middle of things." It refers to the technique of
beginning a story at its midpoint and then using various flashback devices to reveal previous
action.
This technique originated in such epics as Virgil's Aeneid.
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IN MEDIAS RES (Latin: "In the middle[s] of things"): The classical tradition of opening an
epic not in the chronological point at which the sequence of events would start, but rather at the
midway point of the story. Later on in the narrative, the hero will recount verbally to others what
events took place earlier. Usually in medias res is a technique used to heighten dramatic tension
or to create a sense of mystery. This term is the opposite of the phrase ab ovo, when a story
begins in the beginning and then proceeds in a strictly chronological manner without using the
characters' dialogue, flashbacks, or memories. (Contrast with flashback, in which the past events
are experienced as a memory, and anastrophe, in which the entire story is cut into chronological
pieces and experienced in a seemingly random or inverted pattern.)
16. Inductive reasoning
INDUCTION: The logical assumption or process of assuming that what is true for a single
specimen or example is also true for other specimens or examples of the same type. For instance,
if a geologist found a type of stone called adamantium, and he discovered that it was very hard
and durable, he could assume through induction that other stones of adamantium are also very
hard and durable. The danger in such an assertion is the risk of hasty generalization. This process
is the opposite of deduction. Induction fashions a large, general rule from a specific example.
Deduction determines the truth about specific examples using a large general rule. See
deduction, logic, and logical fallacies, and syllogism handouts.
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17. Metaphysical poetry
Metaphysical Poetry. The term metaphysical was applied to a style of 17th Century poetry
first by John Dryden and later by Dr. Samuel Johnson because of the highly intellectual and
often abstruse imagery involved.
Chief among the metaphysical poets are John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw,
Andrew Marvell, and Henry Vaughan. While their poetry is widely varied (the metaphysicals
are not a thematic or even a structural school), there are some common characteristics:




1. Argumentative structure. The poem often engages in a debate or persuasive
presentation; the poem is an intellectual exercise as well as or instead of an
emotional effusion.
2. Dramatic and colloquial mode of utterance. The poem often describes a dramatic
event rather than being a reverie, a thought, or contemplation. Diction is simple and
usually direct; inversion is limited. The verse is occasionally rough, like speech,
rather than written in perfect meter, resulting in a dominance of thought over form.
3. Acute realism. The poem often reveals a psychological analysis; images advance
the argument rather than being ornamental. There is a learned style of thinking and
writing; the poetry is often highly intellectual.
4. Metaphysical wit. The poem contains unexpected, even striking or shocking
analogies, offering elaborate parallels between apparently dissimilar things. The
analogies are drawn from widely varied fields of knowledge, not limited to traditional
sources in nature or art. Analogies from science, mechanics, housekeeping, business,
philosophy, astronomy, etc. are common. These "conceits" reveal a play of intellect,
often resulting in puns, paradoxes, and humorous comparisons. Unlike other poetry
where the metaphors usually remain in the background, here the metaphors
sometimes take over the poem and control it.
Metaphysical poetry represents a revolt against the conventions of Elizabethan love poetry
and especially the typical Petrarchan conceits (like rosy cheeks, eyes like stars, etc.).
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METAPHYSICAL POETS: In his 1693 work, Discourse of Satire, John Dryden used the term
metaphysical to describe the style of certain poets earlier in the 17th century. Later, Samual
Johnson popularized the term in 1779. The term metaphysical implies the poetry is abstract and
highly complex. The chief metaphysical poets include John Donne, Richard Crashaw, Andrew
Marvell, George Herbert, and Henry Vaughan. The group shares certain traits, but their themes,
structures, and assorted tones in their poetry vary widely. (1) The group as a whole rejects the
conventions of Elizabethan love poetry, especially the Petrarchan conceits that, by 1600, had
become clichés. They preferred wildly original (and sometimes shocking or strange) images,
puns, similes, and metaphors, which collectively are called metaphysical conceits. (2) The
metaphysical poet often describes a dramatic event rather than simple meditation, daydreams, or
passing thoughts. (3) The metaphysical poets employed inconsistant or striking verse--often
imitating the rhythmic patterns of everyday speech, rather than attempting to create perfect meter
in the manner later favored by neoclassical poets. Basically, the metaphysical poets would not let
metrical form interfere with the development of a line of thought. (4) The poem often expresses
an argument--often using wild flights of logic and unusual comparisons. As an example, John
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Donne in "The Flea" presents a speaker who attempts to seduce a young maiden. The basis of his
argument is the comparison between sex and a flea-bite. In "Holy Sonnet 14," Donne fashions a
prayer in which he compares God to a rapist and himself to a besieged city.
18. Paradox
Paradox: A statement that appears illogical or contradictory at first, but may actually point to an
underlying truth.
"Less is more" is an example of a paradox. Literary examples include Francis Bacon's statement, "The
most corrected copies are commonly the least correct," and "All animals are equal, but some animals
are more equal than others" from George Orwell's Animal Farm
+
PARADOX (also called oxymoron): Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on
a deeper level. Common paradoxes seem to reveal a deeper truth through their contradictions,
such as noting that "without laws, we can have no freedom." Shakespeare's Julius Caesar also
makes use of a famous paradox: "Cowards die many times before their deaths" (2.2.32). Richard
Rolle uses an almost continuous string of paradoxes in his Middle English work, "Love is Love
That Lasts For Aye." Oscar Wilde's "Ballad of Reading Gaol" notes "And all men kill the thing
they love." The taoist master Lao-Tzu makes extraordinary use of paradox in the Tao-te Ching in
his discussion of "the Way."
19. Personification
personification {PER-son-E-fih-ka-shEn): A figure of speech where animals, ideas or inorganic objects
are given human characteristics. One example of this is James Stephens’s poem "The Wind" in which
wind preforms several actions. In the poem Stephens writes, “The wind stood up and gave a shout. He
whistled on his two fingers.” Of course the wind did not actually "stand up," but this image of the wind
creates a vivid picture of the wind's wild actions. Another example of personification in this poem is
“Kicked the withered leaves about….And thumped the branches with his hand.” Here, the wind is kicking
leaves about, just like a person would and using hands to thump branches like a person would also. By
giving human characteristics to things that do not have them, it makes these objects and their actions
easier to visualize for a reader. By giving the wind human characteristics, Stephens makes this poem more
interesting and achieves a much more vivid image of the way wind whips around a room. Personification
is most often used in poetry, coming to popularity during the 18th century. Jennifer Winborne, Student,
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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PERSONIFICATION: A trope in which abstractions, animals, ideas, and inanimate objects are
given human character, traits, abilities, or reactions. Personification is particularly common in
poetry, but it appears in nearly all types of artful writing. Examples include Keat's treatment of
the vase in "Ode on a Grecian Urn," in which the urn is treated as a "sylvan historian, who canst
thus express / A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme," or Sylvia Plath's "The Moon and the Yew
34
Tree," in
which the moon "is a face in its own right, / White as a knuckle and terribly upset. / It
drags the sea after it like a dark crime." When discussing the ways that animistic religions
personify natural forces with human qualities, scientists refer to this process as
"anthropomorphizing," sometimes with derogatory overtones. A special sub-type of
personification is prosopopoeia, in which an inanimate object is given the ability of human
speech. Apostrophe (not to be confused with the punctuation mark) is a special type of
personification in which a speaker in a poem or rhetorical work pauses to address some
abstraction that is not physically present in the room. See also prosopopoeia, apostrophe
therianthropic, and theriomorphic.
20.
Rationalism (Encyclopedia Britannica)
in Western philosophy, the view that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge.
Holding that reality itself has an inherently logical structure, the rationalist asserts that a class of
truths exists that the intellect can grasp directly. There are, according to the rationalists, certain
rational principles—especially in logic and mathematics, and even in ethics and metaphysics—that are
so fundamental that to deny them is to fall into contradiction. The rationalist's confidence in
reason and proof tends, therefore, to detract from his respect for other ways of knowing. . . .
Common to all forms of speculative rationalism is the belief that the world is a rationally ordered
whole, the parts of which are linked by logical necessity and the structure of which is therefore
intelligible. Thus, in metaphysics it is opposed to the view that reality is a disjointed aggregate of
incoherent bits and is thus opaque to reason. In particular, it is opposed to the logical atomisms of
such thinkers as David Hume (1711–76) and the early Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), who held
that facts are so disconnected that any fact might well have been different from what it is
without entailing a change in any other fact. Rationalists have differed, however, with regard to
the closeness and completeness with which the facts are bound together. At the lowest level, they
have all believed that the law of contradiction “A and not-A cannot coexist” holds for the real
world, which means that every truth is consistent with every other; at the highest level, they have
held that all facts go beyond consistency to a positive coherence; i.e., they are so bound up with
each other that none could be different without all being different. . . . .
In ethics, rationalism holds the position that reason, rather than feeling, custom, or authority, is
the ultimate court of appeal in judging good and bad, right and wrong. Among major thinkers, the
most notable representative of rational ethics is Kant, who held that the way to judge an act is to
check its self-consistency as apprehended by the intellect: to note, first, what it is essentially, or
in principle—a lie, for example, or a theft—and then to ask if one can consistently will that the
principle be made universal. Is theft, then, right? The answer must be “No,” because, if theft
were generally approved, no one's property would be his own as opposed to anyone else's and
theft would then become meaningless; the notion, if universalized, would thus destroy itself, as
reason by itself is sufficient to show.
In religion, rationalism commonly means that all human knowledge comes through the use of
natural faculties, without the aid of supernatural revelation. “Reason” is here used in a broader
sense, referring to human cognitive powers generally, as opposed to supernatural grace or faith—
though it is also in sharp contrast to so-called existential approaches to truth. Reason, for the
rationalist, thus stands opposed to many of the religions of the world, including Christianity, which
have held that the divine has revealed itself through inspired persons or writings and which have
required, at times, that its claims be accepted as infallible, even when they do not accord with
natural knowledge. Religious rationalists hold, on the other hand, that if the clear insights of
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human reason must be set aside in favour of alleged revelation, then human thought is
everywhere rendered suspect—even in the reasonings of the theologians themselves. There cannot
be two ultimately different ways of warranting truth, they assert; hence rationalism urges that
reason, with its standard of consistency, must be the final court of appeal. Religious rationalism
can reflect either a traditional piety, when endeavouring to display the alleged sweet
reasonableness of religion, or an antiauthoritarian temper, when aiming to supplant religion with
the “goddess of reason.”
21. Satire
Satire. A literary mode based on criticism of people and society through ridicule. The
satirist aims to reduce the practices attacked by laughing scornfully at them--and being
witty enough to allow the reader to laugh, also. Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and several
other techniques are almost always present. The satirist may insert serious statements of
value or desired behavior, but most often he relies on an implicit moral code, understood by
his audience and paid lip service by them. The satirist's goal is to point out the hypocrisy of
his target in the hope that either the target or the audience will return to a real following of
the code. Thus, satire is inescapably moral even when no explicit values are promoted in
the work, for the satirist works within the framework of a widely spread value system. Many
of the techniques of satire are devices of comparison, to show the similarity or contrast
between two things. A list of incongruous items, an oxymoron, metaphors, and so forth are
examples. See "The Purpose and Method of Satire" for more information.
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SATIRE: An attack on or criticism of any stupidity or vice in the form of scathing humor, or a
critique of what the author sees as dangerous religious, political, moral, or social standards.
Satire became an especially popular technique used during the Enlightenment, in which it was
believed that an artist could correct folly by using art as a mirror to reflect society. When people
viewed the satire and saw their faults magnified in a distorted reflection, they could see how
ridiculous their behavior was and then correct that tendency in themselves. The tradition of satire
continues today. Popular cartoons such as The Simpsons and televised comedies like The Daily
Show make use of it in modern media. Conventionally, formal satire involves a direct, firstperson-address, either to the audience or to a listener mentioned within the work. An example of
formal satire is Alexander Pope's Moral Essays. Indirect satire conventionally employs the
form of a fictional narrative--such as Byron's Don Juan or Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Ridicule,
irony, exaggeration, and similar tools are almost always used in satire. Horatian satire tends to
focus lightly on laughter and ridicule, but it maintains a playful tone. Generally, the tone is
sympathetic and good humored, somewhat tolerant of imperfection and folly even while
expressing amusement at it. The name comes from the Roman poet Horace (65 BCE-8 CE), who
preferred to ridicule human folly in general rather than condemn specific persons. In contrast,
Juvenalian satire also uses withering invective, insults, and a slashing attack. The name comes
from the Roman poet Juvenal (60-140 CE), who frequently employed the device, but the label is
applied to British writers such as Swift and Pope as well. Compare with medieval estates satire
and spoof.
22. Tragic flaw
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Tragic Flaw: In a tragedy, the quality within the hero or heroine which leads to his or her
downfall.
Examples of the tragic flaw include Othello's jealousy and Hamlet's indecisiveness, although
most great tragedies defy such simple interpretation. (Compare with Hamartia.)
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TRAGIC FLAW: Another term for the tragic hero's hamartia. See discussion under hamartia
and tragedy.
o HAMARTIA: A term from Greek tragedy that literally means "missing the mark."
Originally applied to an archer who misses the target, a hamartia came to signify a
tragic flaw, especially a misperception, a lack of some important insight, or some
blindness that ironically results from one's own strengths and abilities. In Greek
tragedy, the protagonist frequently possesses some sort of hamartia that causes
catastrophic results after he fails to recognize some fact or truth that could have saved
him if he recognized it earlier. The idea of hamartia is often ironic; it frequently
implies the very trait that makes the individual noteworthy is what ultimately causes
the protagonist's decline into disaster. For instance, for the character of Macbeth, the
same ambition that makes him so admired is the trait that also allows Lady Macbeth
to lure him to murder and treason. Similarly, what ennobles Brutus is his unstinting
love of the Roman Republic, but this same patriotism causes him to kill his best
friend, Julius Caesar. These normally positive traits of self-motivation and patriotism
caused the two protagonists to "miss the mark" and realize too late the ethical and
spiritual consequences of their actions. See also hubris.
o TRAGEDY: A serious play in which the chief character, by some peculiarity of
psychology, passes through a series of misfortunes leading to a final, devastating
catastrophe. According to Aristotle, catharsis is the marking feature and ultimate
end of any tragedy. He writes in his Poetics (c. 350 BCE): "Tragedy is an imitation of an
action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; . . . through pity [eleos] and fear
[phobos] effecting the proper purgation [catharsis] of these emotions" (Book 6.2).
Traditionally, a tragedy is divided into five acts. The first act introduces the
characters in a state of happiness, or at the height of their power, influence, or fame.
The second act typically introduces a problem or dilemma, which reaches a point of
crisis in the third act, but which can still be successfully averted. In the fourth act, the
main characters fail to avert or avoid the impending crisis or catastrophe, and this
disaster occurs. The fifth act traditionally reveals the grim consequences of that
failure. See also hamartia, hubris, anagnorisis, peripeteia, and catharsis. Click the
following links to download a handout discussing medieval tragedy, some general
thoughts about tragedy, or a comparison of comedy and tragedy.
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Unit 4
1. Allegory
allegory (AL-eh-GOR-ee): a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. Allegories are
written in the form of fables, parables, poems, stories, and almost any other style or genre.
The main purpose of an allegory is to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well as
other types of symbols, that have both literal and figurative meanings. The difference
between an allegory and a symbol is that an allegory is a complete narrative that conveys
abstract ideas to get a point across, while a symbol is a representation of an idea or concept
that can have a different meaning throughout a literary work (A Handbook to Literature).
One well-known example of an allegory is Dante’s The Divine Comedy. In Inferno, Dante is
on a pilgrimage to try to understand his own life, but his character also represents every man
who is in search of his purpose in the world (Merriam Webster Encyclopedia of Literature).
Although Virgil literally guides Dante on his journey through the mystical inferno, he can
also be seen as the reason and human wisdom that Dante has been looking for in his life. See
A Handbook to Literature, Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. Machella
Caldwell, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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ALLEGORY: The word derives from the Greek allegoria ("speaking otherwise"). The term
loosely describes any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning. This narrative acts as
an extended metaphor in which persons, abstract ideas, or events represent not only themselves
on the literal level, but they also stand for something else on the symbolic level. An allegorical
reading usually involves moral or spiritual concepts that may be more significant than the actual,
literal events described in a narrative. Typically, an allegory involves the interaction of multiple
symbols, which together create a moral, spiritual, or even political meaning. The act of
interpreting a story as if each object in it had an allegorical meaning is called allegoresis.
If we wish to be more exact, an allegory is an act of interpretation, a way of understanding,
rather than a genre in and of itself. Poems, novels, or plays can all be allegorical, in whole or in
part. These allegories can be as short as a single sentence or as long as a ten volume book. The
label "allegory" comes from an interaction between symbols that creates a coherent meaning
beyond that of the literal level of interpretation. Probably the most famous allegory in English
literature is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678), in which the hero named Christian flees
the City of Destruction and travels through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair,
Doubting Castle, and finally arrives at the Celestial City. The entire narrative is a representation
of the human soul's pilgrimage through temptation and doubt to reach salvation in heaven.
Medieval works were frequently allegorical, such as the plays Mankind and Everyman. Other
important allegorical works include mythological allegories like Apuleius' tale of Cupid and
Psyche in The Golden Ass and Prudentius' Psychomachiae. More recent non-mythological
allegories include Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Butler's Erewhon,
and George Orwell's Animal Farm.
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2. Allusion
allusion (a-LOO-zhuhn): a reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or
another work of literature. Allusions are often indirect or brief references to well-known
characters or events. Specific examples of allusions can be found throughout Dante’s Inferno. In
a passage, Dante alludes to the Greek mythological figures, Phaethon and Icarus, to express his
fear as he descends from the air into the eighth circle of hell. He states:
I doubt if Phaethon feared more - that time
he dropped the sun-reins of his father's chariot
and burned the streak of sky we see today or if poor Icarus did - feeling his sides
unfeathering as the wax began to melt,
his father shouting: "Wrong, your course is wrong" (Canto XVII: 106-111).
Allusions are often used to summarize broad, complex ideas or emotions in one quick, powerful
image. For example, to communicate the idea of self-sacrifice one may refer to Jesus, as part of
Jesus' story portrays him dying on the cross in order to save mankind (Matthew 27:45-56). In
addition, to express righteousness, one might allude to Noah who "had no faults and was the only
good man of his time" (Genesis 6:9-22). Furthermore, the idea of fatherhood or patriarchial love
can be well understood by alluding to Abraham, who was the ancestor of many nations (Genesis
17:3-6). Finally, Cain is an excellent example to convey banishment, rejection, or evil, for he
was cast out of his homeland by God (Genesis 4:12). Thus, allusions serve an important function
in writing in that they allow the reader to understand a difficult concept by relating to an already
familiar story. See A Handbook to Literature, Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and
Drama. Stacey Ann Singletary, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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ALLUSION: A casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of
literature, often without explicit identification. Allusions can originate in mythology, biblical
references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works. Authors often use
allusion to establish a tone, create an implied association, contrast two objects or people, make
an unusual juxtaposition of references, or bring the reader into a world of experience outside the
limitations of the story itself. Authors assume that the readers will recognize the original sources
and relate their meaning to the new context. For instance, if a teacher were to refer to his class as
a horde of Mongols, the students will have no idea if they are being praised or vilified unless
they know what the Mongol horde was and what activities it participated in historically. This
historical allusion assumes a certain level of education or awareness in the audience, so it should
normally be taken as a compliment rather than an insult or an attempt at obscurity.
3. Assonance
Assonance: The repetition of similar vowel sounds in Poetry.
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The following lines from Gerald Manley Hopkins's "God's Grandeur" contain several
patterns of assonance:
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
(Compare with Alliteration, Dissonance, and rhyme.)
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ASSONANCE: Repeating identical or similar vowels (especially in stressed syllabes) in nearby
words. Assonance in final vowels of lines can often lead to half-rhyme.Deutsche notes that
assonance is a common technique in the poetry of G. M. Hopkins, Dylan Thomasp, and more
generally in popular ballads; an example appears in the second and fourth lines of this stanza
from "Fair Annie":
Bind up, bind up your yellow hair,
And tie it on your neck;
And see you look as maiden-like
As the day that first we met. (qtd in Deutsche 140).
If combined with consonnance, assonance can create actual full rhyme.Cf. alliteration.
4. Defamiliarization
DEFAMILIARIZATION: The literary theoretical term "defamiliarization" is an English
translation for Viktor Shklovsky's Russian term ostranenie. Shklovsky coined the phrase in 1917
in his essay "Art as Technique." In this artistic technique, a writer, poet, or painter takes
common, everyday, or familiar objects and forces the audience to see them in an unfamiliar way
or from a strange perspective. It is especially common in satire, Dadaism, postmodernism, and
science fiction. Although Shklovsky coined this term to mark a distinction between poetic
language and practical, communicative language, he and later critics argued it applied to all
effective art, which ideally would force the viewer/reader to perceive the subject in a new way.
5. Digression
digression--a temporary departure from the main subject in speaking or writing.
(Encyclopedia Britannica)
Main Entry: di·gres·sion
Pronunciation: - gre-sh n
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 : the act or an instance of digressing in a discourse or other usually organized literary work
2 archaic : a going aside
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- di·gres·sion·al
\- gresh-n l, - -n l\ adjective
- di·gres·sion·ary
\- gre-sh - ner- \ adjective
6. Dramatic monologue
dramatic monologue (dra-MA-tik mon'-O-lôg): a literary device that is used when a character reveals his
or her innermost thoughts and feelings, those that are hidden throughout the course of the story line,
through a poem or a speech. This speech, where only one character speaks, is recited while other
characters are present onstage. This monologue often comes during a climactic moment in a work and
often reveals hidden truths about a character, their history and their relationships. Also it can further
develop a character's personality and also be used to create irony. The most famous examples of this
special type of monologue can be found within the poems of Robert Browning, poem such as "My Last
Duchess," "The Bishop Orders his Tomb," and "Andrea Del Santo". Browning's use of dramatic
monologue has a special effect on his works. The revelations of his characters not only develop
themselves, but they also create settings within the monologues with their use of vivid imagery. In
Browning's works, the characters almost seem to take control of the story line, creating a poem of their
own. Other authors whose works included dramatic monologues are Robert Frost and T.S. Elliot. See A
Reader's Companion to World Literature. Jacob Gersh, Student, University of North Carolina at
Pembroke
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DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE: A poem in which a poetic speaker addresses either the reader or
an internal listener at length. It is similar to the soliloquy in theater, in that both a dramatic
monologue and a soliloquy often involve the revelation of the innermost thoughts and feelings of
the speaker. Two famous examples are Browning's "My Last Duchess" and "Soliloquy of the
Spanish Cloister." Cf. interior monologue and monologue.
7. Elegy
elegy (EL-e-je): a type of literature defined as a song or poem, written in elegiac couplets, that expresses
sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who has died. This type of work stemmed out of a Greek work
known as a "elegus," a song of mourning or lamentation that is accompanied by the flute. Beginning in
the 16th century, elegies took the form we know today. Two famous elegies include Thomas Gray’s
"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" and Walt Whitman’s "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom’d". Gray’s elegy is notable in that it mourned the loss of a way of life rather than the loss of an
individual. His work, which some consider to be almost political, showed extreme discontent for strife
and tyranny set upon England by Oliver Cromwell. This work also acted as an outlet for Gray’s
dissatisfaction with those poets who wrote in accordance with the thoughts and beliefs of the upper
class. In his elegy, Gray mourned for his country and mourned for its citizens. Whitman, inspired by the
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assassination of Abraham Lincoln, wrote his elegy in its classic form, showing sorrow for the loss of an
individual. See A Reader’s Companion to World Literature, and Dictionary of World Literature.
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ELEGY: In classical Greco-Roman literature, "elegy" refers to any poem written in elegiac
meter (alternating hexameter and pentameter lines). More broadly, elegy came to mean any
poem dealing with the subject-matter common to the early Greco-Roman elegies--complaints
about love, sustained formal lamentation, or somber meditations. Typically, elegies are marked
by several conventions of genre:
(1) The elegy, much like the classical epic, typically begins with an invocation of the muse, and
then continues with allusions to classical mythology.
(2) The poem usually contains a poetic speaker who uses the first person.
(3) The speaker raises questions about justice, fate, or providence.
(4) The poet digresses about the conditions of his own time or his own situation.
(5) The digression allows the speaker to move beyond his original emotion or thinking to a
higher level of understanding.
(6) The conclusion of the poem provides consolation or insight into the speaker's situation. In
Christian elegies, the lyric reversal often moves from despair and grief to joy when the speaker
realizes that death or misfortune is but a temporary barrier separating one from the bliss of
eternity.
(7) The poem tends to be longer than a lyric but not as long as an epic.
(8) The poem is not plot-driven.
In the case of pastoral elegies in the 1600s, 1700s, and early 1800s, there are several other
common conventions:
(1) The speaker mourns the death of a close friend; the friend is eulogized in the highest possible
terms, but represented as if he were a shepherd.
(2) The mourner charges with negligence the nymphs or guardians of the shepherd who failed to
preserve him from death.
(3) Appropriate mourners appear to lament the shepherd's death.
(4) Post-Renaissance poets often include an elaborate passage in which flowers appear to deck
the hearse or grave, with various flowers having symbolic meaning appropriate to the scene.
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Famous elegies include Milton's "Lycidas," Shelley's "Adonais," and Arnold's "Thyrsis." Closely
related to the pastoral elegy, the dirge or threnody is shorter than the elegy and often
represented as a text meant to be sung aloud. The term monody refers to any dirge or elegy
presented as the utterance of a single speaker. Various Anglo-Saxon poems such as "The Wife's
Lament" and "The Wanderer" are also considered elegies, though the term might not be perfectly
applicable since the influence of the Greek elegy was never pervasive in Anglo-Saxon literature,
making it unlikely the anonymous authors were familiar with the genre per se.
8. Grotesque
Grotesque: In literary criticism, the subject matter of a work or a style of expression
characterized by exaggeration, deformity, freakishness, and disorder. The grotesque often
includes an element of comic absurdity.
Early examples of literary grotesque include Francois Rabelais's Pantagruel and Gargantua and
Thomas Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller, while more recent examples can be found in the
works of Edgar Allan Poe, Evelyn Waugh, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Eugene Ionesco,
Gunter Grass, Thomas Mann, Mervyn Peake, and Joseph Heller, among many others. (See also
Black Humor.)
9. Metaphor
metaphor (met-AH-for) [from the Gk. carrying one place to another]: a type of figurative
language in which a statement is made that says that one thing is something else but, literally, it
is not. In connecting one object, event, or place, to another, a metaphor can uncover new and
intriguing qualities of the original thing that we may not normally notice or even consider
important. Metaphoric language is used in order to realize a new and different meaning. As an
effect, a metaphor functions primarily to increase stylistic colorfulness and variety. Metaphor is a
great contributor to poetry when the reader understands a likeness between two essentially
different things. In his Poetics, Aristotle claims that for one to master the use of metaphor is “…a
sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in
dissimilars” (The Poet's Dictionary). A metaphor may be found in a simple comparison or
largely as the image of an entire poem. For example, Emily Dickinson’s poem “My Life had
stood – a Loaded Gun” makes use of a series of comparisons between the speaker and a gun.
Dickinson opens the work with the following: “My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun - / In corners
– till a Day / The Owner passed – identified - / And carried me away”. Of course, the narrator is
not really a gun. The metaphor carries with it all the qualities of a “Loaded Gun”. The speaker in
the poem is making a series of comparisons between themselves and the qualities of a gun. The
narrator had been waiting a long time before their love found them. The narrator loves her fellow
so desperately that she feels as a protective gun that would kill anyone wishing to harm him. To
this effect, Dickinson writes, "To foe of His – I’m deadly foe –." Dickinson’s poem ends up
being one extended comparison through the use of metaphor between herself and a gun with
“…but the power to kill.” See A Handbook to Literature, The Poet’s Dictionary, or A Glossary
of Literary Terms (7th edition). Andy Stamper, Student, University of North Carolina at
Pembroke
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METAPHOR: A comparison or analogy stated in such a way as to imply that one object is
another one, figuratively speaking. When we speak of "the ladder of success," we imply that
being successful is much like climbing a ladder to a higher and better position. Another example
comes from an old television add from the 1980s urging teenagers not to try drugs. The camera
would focus on a close-up of a pair of eggs and a voice would state "This is your brain." In the
next sequence, the eggs would be cracked and thrown onto a hot skillet, where the eggs would
bubble, burn, and seeth. The voice would state, "This is your brain on drugs." The point of the
comparison is fairly clear. Another example is how Martin Luther wrote, "A mighty fortress is
our God, / A bulwark never failing." (Mighty fortress and bulwark are the two metaphors for
God in these lines.)
A metaphor is an example of a rhetorical trope, and such metaphors have a long history of
critical discussion. Aristotle, for instance, claimed "the greatest thing by far is to have a
command of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to
make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances" (qtd in Deutsche 84). Often, a metaphor
suggests something symbolic in its imagery. For instance, Wordsworth uses a metaphor when he
states of England, "she is a fen of stagnant waters," which implies something about the state of
political affairs in England as well as the island's biomes. Sometimes, the metaphor can be
emotionally powerful, such as John Donne's use of metaphor in "Twickenham Garden," where
he writes, "And take my tears, which are love's wine" (line 20).
If we break down a metaphorical statement into its component parts, the real-world subject (first
item) in a metaphoric statement is known as the tenor. The second item (often an imaginary one
or at least not present in a literal sense) to which the tenor refers is called the vehicle. For
example, consider the metaphorical statement, "Susan is a viper in her cruel treacheries." Here,
Susan is the tenor in the metaphor, and viper is the vehicle in the same metaphor. The tenor,
Susan, is literally present or literally exists. The vehicle, the hypothetical or imagined viper, is
not necessarily physically present.
An unusual metaphor that requires some explanation on the writer's part is often called a
metaphysical conceit. If the metaphorical connection is merely implied rather than directly
stated, such as talking about "the ladder of success," the term is a subdued metaphor. The
combination of two different metaphors into a single, awkward image is called a "mixed
metaphor" or abusio. See also tenor, vehicle, subdued metaphor, and telescoped metaphor.
Contrast with simile.
10.
Moral imperative (Encyclopedia Britannica)
In the ethics of the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant, founder of critical
philosophy, a moral law that is unconditional or absolute for all agents, the validity or claim of
which does not depend on any ulterior motive or end. “Thou shalt not steal,” for example, is
categorical as distinct from the hypothetical imperatives associated with desire, such as “Do not
steal if you want to be popular.” For Kant there was only one such categorical imperative,
which he formulated in various ways. “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at
the same time will that it should become a universal law” is a purely formal or logical
statement and expresses the condition of the rationality of conduct rather than that of its
morality, which is expressed in another Kantian formula: “So act as to treat humanity,
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whether in your own person or in another, always as an end, and never as only a means.”
11.
Narrative devices (Encyclopedia Britannica)
NARRATION, NARRATIVE: Narration is the act of telling a sequence of events, often in
chronological order. Alternatively, the term refers to any story, whether in prose or verse,
involving events, characters, and what the characters say and do. A narrative is likewise the
story or account itself. Some narrations are reportorial and historical, such as biographies,
autobiographies, news stories, and historical accounts. In narrative fiction common to
literature, the narrative is usually creative and imaginative rather than strictly factual, as
evidenced in fairy tales, legends, novels, novelettes, short stories, and so on. However, the
fact that a fictional narrative is an imaginary construct does not necessarily mean it isn't
concerned with imparting some sort of truth to the reader, as evidenced in exempla, fables,
anecdotes, and other sorts of narrative. The narrative can begin ab ovo (from the start and
work its way to the conclusion), or it can begin in medias res (in the middle of the action,
then recount earlier events by the character's dialogue, memories, or flashbacks). See
exemplum and fable.
12. Pastoral
Pastoral: A term derived from the Latin word "pastor," meaning shepherd. A pastoral is a
literary composition on a rural theme. The conventions of the pastoral were originated by the
third-century Greek poet Theocritus, who wrote about the experiences, love affairs, and pastimes
of Sicilian shepherds. In a pastoral, characters and language of a courtly nature are often placed
in a simple setting. The term pastoral is also used to classify dramas, elegies, and lyrics that
exhibit the use of country settings and shepherd characters.
Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Adonais" and John Milton's "Lycidas" are two famous examples of
pastorals.
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PASTORAL (Latin pastor, "shepherd"): An artistic composition dealing with the life of
shepherds or with a simple, rural existence. It usually idealized shepherds' lives in order to create
an image of peaceful and uncorrupted existence. More generally, pastoral describes the
simplicity, charm, and serenity attributed to country life, or any literary convention that places
kindly, rural people in nature-centered activities. The Greek Theocritus (316-260 BCE) first used
the convention in his Idylls, though pastoral compositions also appear in Roman literature, in
Shakespeare's plays, and in the writings of the Romantic poets. Typically, pastoral liturgy depicts
beautiful scenery, carefree shepherds, seductive nymphs, and rural songs and dances.
Conventional names for the shepherds and nymphs come from bastardized Latin nicknames such
as Mopsy, Flopsy, and Dorcas (from Mopsius, Doricas, etc.). See also pastoral elegy under
elegy.
13. Satire
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Satire: A work that uses ridicule, humor, and wit to criticize and provoke change in human nature and
institutions. There are two major types of satire: "formal" or "direct" satire speaks directly to the reader
or to a character in the work; "indirect" satire relies upon the ridiculous behavior of its characters to
make its point. Formal satire is further divided into two manners: the "Horatian," which ridicules gently,
and the "Juvenalian," which derides its subjects harshly and bitterly.
Voltaire's novella Candide is an indirect satire. Jonathan Swift's essay "A Modest Proposal" is a
Juvenalian satire.
14. Science fiction
Science Fiction: A type of narrative about or based upon real or imagined scientific theories and
technology. Science fiction is often peopled with alien creatures and set on other planets or in
different dimensions.
Karel Capek's R.U.R. is a major work of science fiction. (Compare with Fantasy.)
15. Sturm und drang
Sturm und Drang: A German term meaning "storm and stress." It refers to a German literary
movement of the 1770s and 1780s that reacted against the order and rationalism of the
enlightenment, focusing instead on the intense experience of extraordinary individuals.
Highly romantic, works of this movement, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Gotz von
Berlichingen, are typified by realism, rebelliousness, and intense emotionalism. (Compare with
Enlightenment, The.)
16.
Supernatural (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Main Entry: su·per·nat·u·ral
Pronunciation: sü-p r- na-ch -r l, - nach-r l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin supernaturalis, from Latin super- + natura nature
Date: 15th century
1 : of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe; especially : of or
relating to God or a god, demigod, spirit, or devil
2 a : departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of
nature b : attributed to an invisible agent (as a ghost or spirit)
- supernatural noun
- su·per·nat·u·ral·ly
\- na-ch r- -l , - nach-r -, - na-ch r-l \ adverb
- su·per·nat·u·ral·ness noun
The finest of the ballads are deeply saturated in a mystical atmosphere imparted by the presence
of magical appearances and apparatus. “The Wife of Usher's Well” laments the death of her
children so inconsolably that they return to her from the dead as revenants; “Willie's Lady” cannot
be delivered of her child because of her wicked mother-in-law's spells, an enchantment broken by
a beneficent household spirit; “The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry” begets upon an “earthly” woman a
son, who, on attaining maturity, joins his seal father in the sea, there shortly to be killed by his
mother's human husband; “Kemp Owyne” disenchants a bespelled maiden by kissing her despite
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her bad breath and savage looks. An encounter between a demon and a maiden occurs in “Lady
Isabel and the Elf-Knight,” the English counterpart of the ballads known to the Dutch-Flemish as
“Herr Halewijn,” to Germans as “Ulinger,” to Scandinavians as “Kvindemorderen” and to the
French as “Renaud le Tueur de Femme.” In “The House Carpenter,” a former lover (a demon in
disguise) persuades a wife to forsake husband and children and come away with him, a fatal
decision as it turns out. In American and in late British tradition the supernatural tends to get
worked out of the ballads by being rationalized: instead of the ghost of his jilted sweetheart
appearing to Sweet William of “Fair Margaret and Sweet William” as he lies in bed with his bride,
it is rather the dead girl's image in a dream that kindles his fatal remorse. In addition to those
ballads that turn on a supernatural occurrence, casual supernatural elements are found all
through balladry.
17. Tall tale
Tall Tale: A humorous tale told in a straightforward, credible tone but relating absolutely impossible
events or feats of the characters. Such tales were commonly told of frontier adventures during the
settlement of the west in the United States.
Tall tales have been spun around such legendary heroes as Mike Fink, Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett,
Johnny Appleseed, and Captain Stormalong as well as the real-life William F. Cody and Annie Oakley.
Literary use of tall tales can be found in Washington Irving's History of New York, Mark Twain's Life on
the Mississippi, and in the German R. F. Raspe's Baron Munchausen's Narratives of His Marvellous
Travels and Campaigns in Russia
18. Unreliable narrator
unreliable narrator (un-re-LIE-ah-bel nar-ra-AY-tor): one who gives his or her own understanding of a
story, instead of the explanation and interpretation the author wishes the audience to obtain. This type of
action tends to alter the audience’s opinion of the conclusion. An author quite famous for using unreliable
narrators is Henry James. James is said to make himself an inconsistent and distorting “center of
consciousness” in his work, because of his frequent usage of deluding or deranged narrators. They are
very noticeable in his novella The Turn of the Screw, and also in his short story, “The Aspern Papers.”
The Turn of the Screw is a story based solely on the consistency of the Governess’s description of the
events that happen. Being aware of unreliable narrators are essential, especially when you have to
describe the characters and their actions to others, since the narrator, unreliable as they are, abandons you
without the important guidance to make trustworthy judgments. See The Turn of the Screw and A
Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Starlet Chavis, Student, University of North
Carolina at Pembroke
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NARRATOR, UNRELIABLE: An unreliable narrator is a storyteller who "misses the point" of
the events or things he describes in a story, who plainly misinterprets the motives or actions of
characters, or who fails to see the connections between events in the story. The author herself, of
course, must plainly understand the connections, because she presents the material to the readers
in such a way that readers can see what the narrator overlooks. This device is sometimes used for
purposes of irony or humor. See discussion under authorial voice.
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Unit 5
1. Antihero
Anti-hero: A central character in a work of literature who lacks traditional heroic qualities such
as courage, physical prowess, and fortitude. Anti-heros typically distrust conventional values and
are unable to commit themselves to any ideals. They generally feel helpless in a world over
which they have no control. Anti-heroes usually accept, and often celebrate, their positions as
social outcasts.
A well-known anti-hero is Yossarian in Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22.(Compare with
Antagonist, Hero, and Protagonist.)
2. Adventure
ADVENTURE NOVEL: Any novel in which exciting events and fast paced actions are more important than
character development, theme, or symbolism. Examples include Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte
Cristo and The Three Musketeers, H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines, or Edgar Rice Burrough's
Tarzan of the Apes.
3.
Caste systems (Encyclopedia Britannica)
any of the ranked, hereditary, endogamous social groups, often linked with occupation, that
together constitute traditional societies in South Asia, particularly among Hindus in India.
Although sometimes used to designate similar groups in other societies, the “caste system” is
uniquely developed in Hindu societies.
Use of the term caste to characterize social organization in South Asia, particularly among the
Hindus, dates to the middle of the 16th century. Casta (from Latin castus, “chaste”) in the sense
of purity of breed was employed by Portuguese observers to describe the division of Hindu society
in western and southwestern India into socially ranked occupational categories. In an effort to
maintain vertical social distance, these groups practiced mutual exclusion in matters relating to
eating and, presumably, marrying. Subsequently, cast, or caste, became established in English and
major European languages (notably Dutch and French) in the same specific sense. Caste is
generally believed to be an ancient, abiding, and unique Indian institution upheld by a complex
cultural ideology.
4.
Decadence (Encyclopedia Britannica)
a period of decline or deterioration of art or literature that follows an era of great achievement.
Examples include the Silver Age of Latin literature, which began about AD 18 following the end of
the Golden Age, and the Decadent movement at the end of the 19th century in France and England.
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In England the Decadents were 1890s figures such as Arthur Symons (“the blond angel”), Oscar
Wilde, Ernest Dowson, and Lionel Johnson, who were members of the Rhymers' Club or contributors
to The Yellow Book.
5. Edwardian
Edwardian: Describes cultural conventions identified with the period of the reign of Edward
VII of England (1901-1910). Writers of the Edwardian Age typically displayed a strong reaction
against the propriety and conservatism of the Victorian Age. Their work often exhibits distrust of
authority in religion, politics, and art and expresses strong doubts about the soundness of
conventional values.
Writers of this era include George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, and Joseph Conrad. (Compare
with Victorian.)
6. Feminism
FEMINIST WRITING: Writing concerned with the unique experience of being a woman or
alternatively writing designed to challenge existing preconceptions of gender. Examples of
feminist writings include Christine de Pisan's medieval work, The City of Ladies; Aemilia
Lanyer's Renaissance treatise, Salve Deus, Rex Judaeorum (which presented the then-shocking
idea that Adam was just as much to blame for the fall of man as Eve was in the Genesis account);
Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication, and Susan B. Anthony's nineteenth-century essays (which
presented the equally shocking idea that women in America and Canada should have the right to
vote).
Many female students in my class preface their discussions of feminist writings by stating, "I'm
not a feminist, but . . . ." This tendency always puzzled me, since it implies that feminism is
something negative, radical, or always liberal. Worse yet, it implies that it's bad for women to
want crazy, misguided things like education, equal health insurance, similar pay to what men
earn in similar professions, freedom from harassment, and funding for medical problems
concerning women, such as breast and uterine cancer research, which are the primary concerns
of feminism. Somewhere toward the end of the twentieth-century, detractors of such writers have
caricatured these demands as "man-hating" or "anti-family." As an antidote to such thinking,
keep in mind the broader definition: a feminist is anyone who thinks that women are people too.
7. Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing: A device used in literature to create expectation or to set up an explanation of
later developments.
In Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, the graveyard encounter at the beginning of the novel
between Pip and the escaped convict Magwitch foreshadows the baleful atmosphere and events
that comprise much of the narrative.
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Foreshadowing. The literary device foreshadowing refers to the use of indicative words/phrases and hints
that set the stage for a story to unfold and give the reader a hint of something that is going to happen
without revealing the story or spoiling the suspense. Foreshadowing is used to suggest an upcoming
outcome to the story.
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FORESHADOWING: Suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a
narrative. Foreshadowing often provides hints about what will happen next. For instance, a
movie director might show a clip in which two parents discuss their son's leukemia. The camera
briefly changes shots to do an extended close-up of a dying plant in the garden outside, or one of
the parents might mention that another relative died on the same date. The perceptive audience
sees the dying plant, or hears the reference to the date of death, and realizes this detail
foreshadows the child's death later in the movie. Often this foreshadowing takes the form of a
noteworthy coincidence or appears in a verbal echo of dialogue. Other examples of
foreshadowing include the conversation and action of the three witches in Shakespeare's
Macbeth, or the various prophecies that Oedipus hears during Oedipus Rex.
8. Framed narrative
FRAME NARRATIVE: The result of inserting one or more small stories within the body of a
larger story that encompasses the smaller ones. Often this term is used interchangeably with both
the literary technique and the larger story itself that contains the smaller ones, which are called
pericopes, "framed narratives" or "embedded narratives." The most famous example is Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales, in which the overarching frame narrative is the story of a band of pilgrims
traveling to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The band passes the time in a
storytelling contest. The framed narratives are the individual stories told by the pilgrims who
participate. Another example is Boccaccio's Decameron, in which the frame narrative consists of
a group of Italian noblemen and women fleeing the plague, and the framed narratives consist of
the tales they tell each other to pass the time while they await the disease's passing. The 1001
Arabian Nights is probably the most famous Middle Eastern frame narrative. Here, in Bagdad,
Scheherazade must delay her execution by beguiling her Caliph with a series of cliffhangers.
9. Gender
GENDER, GRAMMATICAL: A grammatical category in most Indo-European languages.
Three genders commonly appear for pronouns, nouns (and in inflected languages adjectives):
masculine, feminine, and neuter. Note that these categories are only vaguely related to biological
gender.
10. Gothic
Gothicism: In literary criticism, works characterized by a taste for the medieval or morbidly
attractive. A gothic novel prominently features elements of horror, the supernatural, gloom, and
violence: clanking chains, terror, charnel houses, ghosts, medieval castles, and mysteriously
slamming doors. The term "gothic novel" is also applied to novels that lack elements of the
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traditional Gothic setting but that create a similar atmosphere of terror or dread.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is perhaps the best-known English work of this kind.
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Gothic (goth-IK): a literary style popular during the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the
19th. This style usually portrayed fantastic tales dealing with horror, despair, the grotesque and other
“dark” subjects. Gothic literature was named for the apparent influence of the dark gothic architecture of
the period on the genre. Also, many of these Gothic tales took places in such “gothic” surroundings. Other
times, this story of darkness may occur in a more everyday setting, such as the quaint house where the
man goes mad from the "beating" of his guilt in Edgar Allan Poe's “The Tell-Tale Heart.” In essence,
these stories were romances, largely due to their love of the imaginary over the logical, and were told
from many different points of view. This literature gave birth to many other forms, such as suspense,
ghost stories, horror, mystery, and also Poe's detective stories. Gothic literature wasn't so different from
other genres in form as it was in content and its focus on the "weird" aspects of life. This movement
began to slowly open may people's eyes to the possible uses of the supernatural in literature. Jerry
Taylor, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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Gothic novel. A novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terror
pervades the action. The setting is often a dark, mysterious castle, where ghosts and
sinister humans roam menacingly. Horace Walpole invented the genre with his Castle of
Otranto. Gothic elements include these:
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Ancient prophecy, especially mysterious, obscure, or hard to understand.
Mystery and suspense
High emotion, sentimentalism, but also pronounced anger, surprise, and especially
terror
Supernatural events (e.g. a giant, a sighing portrait, ghosts or their apparent
presence, a skeleton)
Omens, portents, dream visions
Fainting, frightened, screaming women
Women threatened by powerful, impetuous male
Setting in a castle, especially with secret passages
The metonymy of gloom and horror (wind, rain, doors grating on rusty hinges, howls
in the distance, distant sighs, footsteps approaching, lights in abandoned rooms,
gusts of wind blowing out lights or blowing suddenly, characters trapped in rooms or
imprisoned)
The vocabulary of the gothic (use of words indicating fear, mystery, etc.: apparition,
devil, ghost, haunted, terror, fright)
Examples:
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Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto
William Beckford, Vathek
Anne Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca
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GOTHIC NOVEL: A type of romance wildly popular between 1760 up until the 1820s that has
influenced the ghost story and horror story. The stories are designed to thrill readers by providing
mystery and blood-curdling accounts of villainy, murder, and the supernatural. As J. A. Cuddon
suggests, the conventions include wild and desolate landscapes; ancient buildings such as ruined
monasteries, cathedrals, and castles with dungeons, torture chambers, secret doors, and winding
stairways; apparitions such as phantoms, demons, and necromancers; an atmosphere of brooding
gloom; and youthful, handsome heroes and fainting (or screaming!) heroines who face off
against corrupt aristocrats, wicked witches, and hideous monsters. Conventionally, powerful or
impetuous male figure threaten virtuous female characters. The description functions through a
metonymy of fear by presenting details designed to evoke horror, disgust, or terror (see Cuddon's
discussion, 381-82).
The term Gothic originally was applied to a tribe of Germanic barbarians during the dark ages
and their now-extinct language, but eventually historians used it to refer to the gloomy and
impressive style of medieval architecture common in Europe, hence "Gothic Castle" or "Gothic
Architecture." The term became associated with ghost stories and horror novels because early
Gothic novels were often associated with the Middle Ages and with things "wild, bloody, and
barbarous of long ago" as J. A. Cuddon puts it in his Dictionary of Literary Terms (381).
Alternatively, the label gothic may have come about because Horace Walpole, one of the early
writers, wrote his works in a faux medieval castle). The best known early example is Horace
Walpole's The Castle of Otranto. Later British writers in the Gothic tradition include "Monk"
Lewis, Charles Maturin, William Beckford, Ann Radcliffe, and Mary Shelley. American Gothic
writers include Charles Brockden Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe. Famous
novels such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula are also considered
gothic novels. In modern cartoons, Scooby Doo would also fall into the category of mock gothic
drama in animated form. Gothic novels are also called gothic romances.
11. Horror
HORROR STORY: A short story, novel, or other work of prose fiction designed to instill in the
reader a sense of fear, disgust, or horror. The modern and postmodern horror story, as typified by
H. P. Lovecraft, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Poppy Z. Brite, and Anne Rice, grows out of the
earlier conventions of gothic literature from the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries. See gothic,
gothic novel, and gothic literature.
12. Narrator
Narrator: The teller of a story. The narrator may be the author or a character in the story
through whom the author speaks.
Huckleberry Finn is the narrator of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (See also
narration and narrative.)
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NARRATOR: The "voice" that speaks or tells a story. Some stories are written in a first-person
point of view, in which the narrator's voice is that of the point-of-view character. For instance, in
The Adventures of Huck Finn, the narrator's voice is the voice of the main character, Huck Finn.
It is clear that the historical author, Mark Twain, is creating a fictional voice to be the narrator
and tell the story--complete with incorrect grammar, colloquialisms, and youthful perspective. In
other stories, such as those told in the third-person point of view, scholars use the term narrator
to describe the authorial voice set forth, the voice "telling the story to us." For instance, Charles
Dickens' Oliver Twist presents a narrative in which the storyteller stands outside the action
described. He is not a character who interacts with other characters in terms of plot. However,
this fictionalized storyteller occasionally intrudes upon the story to offer commentary to the
reader, make suggestions, or render a judgment about what takes place in the tale. It is tempting
to equate the words and sentiments of such a narrator with the opinions of the historical author
himself. However, it is often more useful to separate this authorial voice from the voice of the
historical author. For further discussion, see authorial voice, unreliable narrator, and point of
view.
13. Romanticism
Romanticism: This term has two widely accepted meanings. In historical criticism, it refers to a
European intellectual and artistic movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
that sought greater freedom of personal expression than that allowed by the strict rules of literary
form and logic of the eighteenth-century neoclassicists. The Romantics preferred emotional and
imaginative expression to rational analysis. They considered the individual to be at the center of
all experience and so placed him or her at the center of their art. The Romantics believed that the
creative imagination reveals nobler truths — unique feelings and attitudes — than those that
could be discovered by logic or by scientific examination. Both the natural world and the state of
childhood were important sources for revelations of "eternal truths." "Romanticism" is also used
as a general term to refer to a type of sensibility found in all periods of literary history and
usually considered to be in opposition to the principles of classicism. In this sense, Romanticism
signifies any work or philosophy in which the exotic or dreamlike figure strongly, or that is
devoted to individualistic expression, self-analysis, or a pursuit of a higher realm of knowledge
than can be discovered by human reason.
Prominent Romantics include Jean-Jacques Rousseau, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Lord
Byron, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (Compare with Neoclassicism, and
Transcendentalism.)
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ROMANTICISM: The term refers to the artistic philosophy prevalent during the first third of
the nineteenth century (about 1800-1830). Romanticism rejected the earlier philosophy of the
Enlightenment, which stressed that logic and reason were the best response humans had in the
face of cruelty, stupidity, superstition, and barbarism. Instead, the Romantics asserted that
reliance upon emotion and natural passions provided a valid and powerful means of knowing and
a reliable guide to ethics and living. The Romantic movement typically asserts the unique nature
of the individual, the privileged status of imagination and fancy, the value of spontaneity over
"artifice" and "convention," the human need for emotional outlets, the rejection of civilized
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corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and escape the spiritual destruction of
urban life. Their writings often are set in rural, pastoral or Gothic settings and they show an
obsessive concern with "innocent" characters--children, young lovers, and animals. The major
Romantic poets included William Blake, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy Bysshe
Shelley, and Lord Gordon Byron. Contrast with Enlightenment. You can click here to download
a PDF handout placing these periods of literary history in chronological order.
14. Scientific realism
Realism: A nineteenth-century European literary movement that sought to portray familiar
characters, situations, and settings in a realistic manner. This was done primarily by using an
objective narrative point of view and through the buildup of accurate detail. The standard for
success of any realistic work depends on how faithfully it transfers common experience into
fictional forms. The realistic method may be altered or extended, as in stream of consciousness
writing, to record highly subjective experience.
Seminal authors in the tradition of Realism include Honore de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, and
Henry James.
15.
Social satire (Encyclopedia Britannica)
satire--a literary work in which vices, abuses, absurdities. etc. are held up to ridicule and contempt; use of ridicule,
sarcasm. irony, etc. to expose vices, abuses, etc.
[Satire is an] artistic form, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices,
follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque,
irony, parody, caricature, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to inspire social reform.
Satire is a protean term. Together with its derivatives, it is one of the most heavily worked
literary designations and one of the most imprecise. The great English lexicographer Samuel
Johnson defined satire as “a poem in which wickedness or folly is censured,” and more elaborate
definitions are rarely more satisfactory. No strict definition can encompass the complexity of a
word that signifies, on one hand, a kind of literature—as when one speaks of the satires of the
Roman poet Horace or calls the American novelist Nathanael West's A Cool Million a satire—and,
on the other, a mocking spirit or tone that manifests itself in many literary genres but can also
enter into almost any kind of human communication. Wherever wit is employed to expose
something foolish or vicious to criticism, there satire exists, whether it be in song or sermon, in
painting or political debate, on television or in the movies. In this sense satire is everywhere. In
literary works, satire can be direct or indirect. With direct satire, the narrator speaks directly to
the reader. With indirect satire, the author's intent is realized within the narrative and its story.
Although this article deals primarily with satire as a literary phenomenon, it records its
manifestations in a number of other areas of human activity as well.
The nature of satire
By their practice, the great Roman poets Horace and Juvenal set indelibly the lineaments of the
genre known as the formal verse satire and, in so doing, exerted pervasive, if often indirect,
influence on all subsequent literary satire. They gave laws to the form they established, but it
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must be said that the laws were very loose indeed. Consider, for example, style. In three of his
Satires (I, iv; I, x; II, i) Horace discusses the tone appropriate to the satirist who out of a moral
concern attacks the vice and folly he sees around him. As opposed to the harshness of Lucilius,
Horace opts for mild mockery and playful wit as the means most effective for his ends. Although I
portray examples of folly, he says, I am not a prosecutor and I do not like to give pain; if I laugh at
the nonsense I see about me, I am not motivated by malice. The satirist's verse, he implies, should
reflect this attitude: it should be easy and unpretentious, sharp when necessary, but flexible
enough to vary from grave to gay. In short, the character of the satirist as projected by Horace is
that of an urbane man of the world, concerned about folly, which he sees everywhere, but moved
to laughter rather than rage.
Juvenal, more than a century later, conceives the satirist's role differently. His most
characteristic posture is that of the upright man who looks with horror on the corruptions of his
time, his heart consumed with anger and frustration. Why does he write satire? Because tragedy
and epic are irrelevant to his age. Viciousness and corruption so dominate Roman life that, for an
honest man, it is difficult not to write satire. He looks about him, and his heart burns dry with
rage; never has vice been more triumphant. How can he be silent (Satires, I)? Juvenal's
declamatory manner, the amplification and luxuriousness of his invective, are wholly out of
keeping with the stylistic prescriptions set by Horace. At the end of the scabrous sixth satire, a
long, perfervid invective against women, Juvenal flaunts his innovation: in this poem, he says,
satire has gone beyond the limits established by his predecessors; it has taken to itself the lofty
tone of tragedy.
The results of Juvenal's innovation have been highly confusing for literary history. What is satire if
the two poets universally acknowledged to be supreme masters of the form differ so completely in
their work as to be almost incommensurable? The formulation of the English poet John Dryden has
been widely accepted. Roman satire has two kinds, he says: comical satire and tragical satire, each
with its own kind of legitimacy. These denominations have come to mark the boundaries of the
satiric spectrum, whether reference is to poetry or prose or to some form of satiric expression in
another medium. At the Horatian end of the spectrum, satire merges imperceptibly into comedy,
which has an abiding interest in human follies but has not satire's reforming intent. The distinction
between the two modes, rarely clear, is marked by the intensity with which folly is pursued: fops
and fools and pedants appear in both, but only satire has a moral purpose. And, although the
great engine of both comedy and satire is irony, in satire, as the 20th-century critic Northrop Frye
has said, irony is militant.
Nicolas Boileau, Dryden, and Alexander Pope, writing in the 17th and 18th centuries—the modern
age of satire—catch beautifully, when they like, the deft Horatian tone; however, satire's wit can
also be sombre, deeply probing, and prophetic, as it explores the ranges of the Juvenalian end of
the satiric spectrum, where satire merges with tragedy, melodrama, and nightmare. Pope's
Dunciad ends with these lines:
Lo! thy dread Empire, Chaos! is restor'd;
Light dies before thy uncreating word:
Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall;
And Universal Darkness buries All.
It is the same darkness that falls on Book IV of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, on some of Mark
Twain's satire—The Mysterious Stranger, To The Person Sitting in Darkness—and on George
Orwell's 1984. . . .
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From the publication of Thomas More's eponymous Utopia (1516), however, satire has been an
important ingredient of utopian fiction. More drew heavily on the satire of Horace, Juvenal, and
Lucian in composing his great work. For example, like a poem by Horace, Utopia is framed by a
dialogue between “Thomas More” (the historical man a character in his own fiction) and a
seafaring philosopher named Raphael Hythloday. The two talk throughout a long and memorable
day in a garden in Antwerp. “More's” function is to draw Hythloday out and to oppose him on
certain issues, notably his defense of the communism he found in the land of Utopia. “More” is
the adversary. Hythloday's role is to expound on the institutions of Utopia but also to expose the
corruption of contemporary society. Thus he functions as a satirist. Here Hythloday explains why
Englishmen, forced off their land to make way for sheep, become thieves:
Forsooth . . . your sheep that were wont to be so meek and tame and so small eaters, now
as I hear say, be become so great devourers and so wild, that they eat up and swallow
down the very men themselves. They consume, destroy, and devour whole fields, houses,
and cities. For look in what parts of the realm doth grow the finest and therefore dearest
wool, there noblemen and gentlemen, yea and certain abbots, holy men no doubt, not
contenting themselves with the yearly revenues and profits that were wont to grow to
their fore-fathers and predecessors of their lands, nor being content that they live in rest
and pleasure nothing profiting, yea, much annoying the weal-public, leave no ground for
tillage. They enclose all into pastures; they throw down houses; they pluck down towns
and leave nothing standing but only the church to be made a sheep-house.
(More's Utopia, Everyman edition, 1951.)
Here are characteristic devices of the satirist, dazzlingly exploited: the beast fable compressed
into the grotesque metaphor of the voracious sheep; the reality-destroying language that
metamorphoses gentlemen and abbots into earthquakes and a church into a sheep barn; the irony
coldly encompassing the passion of the scene. Few satirists of any time could improve on this.
Just as satire is a necessary element of the work that gave the literary form utopia its name, so
the utopias of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, and Houyhnhnmland are essential to the satire of More's great
follower Jonathan Swift. He sent Gulliver to different lands from those Hythloday discovered, but
Gulliver found the same follies and the same vices, and he employed a good many of the same
rhetorical techniques his predecessor had used to expose them. Gulliver's Travels, as one scholar
points out, is a salute across the centuries to Thomas More. With this kind of precedent, it is not
surprising that in the 20th century, when utopia turned against itself, as in Aldous Huxley's Brave
New World (1932), the result was satire unrelieved.
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The Middle Ages
Medieval literature in both Latin and the vernacular is full of sharp, often bitter criticism of the
world's evils: the injustice of rulers, churchmen's avarice and hypocrisy, corruption among
lawyers, doctors' quackery, and the wiles and deceits of women. It appears in pious and didactic
literature and, as authorial comment, in other genres but more usually in general terms than as
particular, corrective satire. Human vice and folly also serve purely comic ends, as in the fabliaux.
These fairly short verse tales composed between the late 12th and the 14th centuries—most of
which are anonymous, though some are by leading poets—generate laughter from situations
extending from the obscene to the mock-religious, built sometimes around simple wordplay and
frequently elaborate deceptions and counterdeceptions. They are played out in all classes of
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society but predominantly among the bourgeoisie. Many fabliaux carry mock morals, inviting
comparison with the didactic fables. Realistic in tone, they paint instructive pictures of everyday
life in medieval France. They ultimately yielded in importance to the farces, bequeathing a fund
of anecdotes to later writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio.
The Renaissance period: 1550–1660
In this period England's population doubled; prices rocketed, rents followed, old social loyalties
dissolved, and new industrial, agricultural, and commercial veins were first tapped. Real wages
hit an all-time low in the 1620s, and social relations were plunged into a state of fluidity from
which the merchant and the ambitious lesser gentleman profited at the expense of the aristocrat
and the labourer, as satires and comedies current from the 1590s complain. Behind the
Elizabethan vogue for pastoral poetry lies the fact of the prosperity of the enclosing sheep farmer,
who sought to increase pasture at the expense of the peasantry. Tudor platitudes about order and
degree could neither combat nor survive the challenge posed to rank by these arrivistes. The
position of the crown, politically dominant yet financially insecure, had always been potentially
unstable, and, when Charles I lost the confidence of his greater subjects in the 1640s, his
authority crumbled. Meanwhile, the huge body of poor fell ever further behind the rich; the
pamphlets of Thomas Harman (1566) and Robert Greene (1591–92), as well as Shakespeare's King
Lear (1605–06), provide glimpses of a horrific world of vagabondage and crime, the Elizabethans'
biggest, unsolvable social problem.
16. Sprung rhythm
Sprung Rhythm: Versification using a specific number of accented syllables per line but
disregarding the number of unaccented syllables that fall in each line, producing an irregular
rhythm in the poem.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, who coined the term "sprung rhythm," is the most notable practitioner
of this technique. (See also Accent, Rhythm, and Versification.)
17. Symbol
symbol (sim-bol): a symbol is a word or object that stands for another word or object. The object or word
can be seen with the eye or not visible. For example a dove stands for Peace. The dove can be seen and
peace cannot. The word is from the Greek word symbolom. All language is symbolizing one thing or
another. However when we read the book of Genesis it talked about a few symbols. In the story of Adam
and Eve when Eve ate the apple, the apple stood for sin. Another reading Cain and Able. The two brothers
stood for good and evil, humility and pride. Cain pulled Able to the fields and killed him. In this it is a
hidden symbol. It is showing that Cain stands for the bad and Able stands for the good. See The
Encyclopedia of Literature and A Handbook to Literature. Misty Tarlton, Student, University of North
Carolina at Pembroke
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SYMBOL: A word, place, character, or object that means something beyond what it is on a
literal level. For instance, consider the stop sign. It is literally a metal octagon painted red with
white streaks. However, everyone on American roads will be safer if we understand that this
object also represents the act of coming to a complete stop--an idea hard to encompass briefly
without some sort of symbolic substitute. In literature, symbols can be cultural, contextual, or
personal. (See cultural symbol, contextual symbol, and personal symbol.) An object, a setting,
or even a character can represent another more general idea. Allegories are narratives read in
such a way that nearly every element serves as an interrelated symbol, and the narrative's
meaning can be read either literally or as a symbolic statement about a political, spiritual, or
psychological truth. See also allegory, or click here to download a pdf handout contrasting
allegory and symbolism in greater detail.
18. Victorian
Victorian: (Also known as Victorian Age and Victorian Period.) Refers broadly to the reign of
Queen Victoria of England (1837-1901) and to anything with qualities typical of that era. For
example, the qualities of smug narrowmindedness, bourgeois materialism, faith in social
progress, and priggish morality are often considered Victorian. This stereotype is contradicted by
such dramatic intellectual developments as the theories of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and
Sigmund Freud (which stirred strong debates in England) and the critical attitudes of serious
Victorian writers like Charles Dickens and George Eliot. In literature, the Victorian Period was
the great age of the English novel, and the latter part of the era saw the rise of movements such
as decadence and symbolism.
Works of Victorian literature include the Poetry of Robert Browning and Alfred, Lord Tennyson,
the criticism of Matthew Arnold and John Ruskin, and the novels of Emily Bronte, William
Makepeace Thackeray, and Thomas Hardy.
19.
Worldview (Encyclopedia Britannica)
a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint
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Unit 6
15. Absurd
Theater of the Absurd: A post-World War II dramatic trend characterized by radical theatrical
innovations. In works influenced by the Theater of the absurd, nontraditional, sometimes
grotesque characterizations, plots, and stage sets reveal a meaningless universe in which human
values are irrelevant. Existentialist themes of estrangement, absurdity, and futility link many of
the works of this movement.
The principal writers of the Theater of the Absurd are Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Jean
Genet, and Harold Pinter. (See also Existentialism.)
16.
Affirmation (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Looking back from the perspective of Modernism, which is characteristic of 20th-century culture,
it is clear that its predecessor, Romanticism, did not stop in the middle of the 19th. Rather, it
evolved and branched out into the phases known as Realism, Neo-Classicism, Naturalism, and
Symbolism. All the tendencies and techniques that gave passing unity to these actions and
reactions are found in germ in the original flowering of art and thought that dates from about
1790.
By concentrating on one purpose, by specializing as it were in one affirmation, the succeeding
movements after 1848 made their emphatic mark, until the original inspiration was exhausted. It
is thus that cultural movements end—in sterile imitation and pointlessness—and thereby earn the
scorn of the next generation. This in turn explains why in the decade before World War I one
finds, besides a fresh surge of energy and shocking creations, the driving force of antiRomanticism, anti-Victorianism, anti-everything that was not some form of the new and
“Modern.”
17.
Anxiety (Encyclopedia Britannica)
For example, The Age of Anxiety, a poem by W.H. Auden, published in 1947. Described as a “baroque
eclogue,” the poem was the last of Auden's long poems; it won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1948.
The poem highlights human isolation, a condition magnified by the lack of tradition or religious
belief in the modern age. The setting is nighttime at a bar in New York City, where four strangers—
three men and one woman—meet, talk, and drink. The carousing ends in the woman's apartment.
Two men leave, and the third disappoints her by passing out drunk.
After exploring the spiritual emptiness, the loneliness, and the anxiety-ridden purposelessness of
these characters' lives, the poem ends at dawn on the streets of the city.
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18. Dystopia
Dystopia: An imaginary place in a work of fiction where the characters lead dehumanized,
fearful lives.
Jack London's The Iron Heel, Yevgeny Zamyatin's My, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World,
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four, and Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale portray
versions of dystopia. (Compare with Utopia.)
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DYSTOPIA (from Greek, dys topos, "bad place"): The opposite of a utopia, a dystopia is an
imaginary society in fictional writing that represents, as M. H. Abrams puts it, "a very unpleasant
imaginary world in which ominous tendencies of our present social, political, and technological
order are projected in some disastrous future culmination" (Glossary 218). For instance, while a
utopia presents readers with a place where all the citizens are happy and ruled by a virtuous,
efficient, rational government, a dystopia presents readers with a world where all citizens are
universally unhappy, manipulated, and repressed by a sinister, sadistic totalitarian state. This
government exists at best to further its own power and at worst seeks actively to destroy its own
citizens' creativity, health, and happiness. Examples of fictional dystopias include Aldous
Huxley's Brave New World, George Orwell's 1984, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale,
and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed.
19. Existentialism
Existentialism: A predominantly twentieth-century philosophy concerned with the nature and
perception of human existence. There are two major strains of existentialist thought: atheistic and
Christian. Followers of atheistic existentialism believe that the individual is alone in a godless
universe and that the basic human condition is one of suffering and loneliness. Nevertheless,
because there are no fixed values, individuals can create their own characters — indeed, they can
shape themselves — through the exercise of free will. The atheistic strain culminates in and is
popularly associated with the works of Jean-Paul Sartre. The Christian existentialists, on the
other hand, believe that only in God may people find freedom from life's anguish. The two
strains hold certain beliefs in common: that existence cannot be fully understood or described
through empirical effort; that anguish is a universal element of life; that individuals must bear
responsibility for their actions; and that there is no common standard of behavior or perception
for religious and ethical matters.
Existentialist thought figures prominently in the works of such authors as Eugene Ionesco, Franz
Kafka, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Simone de Beauvoir, Samuel Beckett, and Albert Camus.
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EXISTENTIALISM: A twentieth-century philosophy arguing that ethical human beings are in a
sense cursed with absolute free will in a purposeless universe. Therefore, individuals must
fashion their own sense of meaning in life instead of relying thoughtlessly on religious, political,
and social conventions. These merely provide a façade of meaning according to existential
philosophy. Those who rely on such conventions without thinking through them deny their own
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ethical responsibilities. The basic principles of existentialism are (1) a concern with man's
essential being and nature, (2) an idea that existential "angst" or "anguish" is the common lot of
all thinking humans who see the essential meaninglessness of transitory human life, (3) the belief
that thought and logic are insufficient to cope with existence, and (4) the conviction that a true
sense of morality can only come from honestly facing the dilemma of existential freedom and
participating in life actively and positively. The ethical idea is that, if the universe is essentially
meaningless, and human existence does not matter in the long run, then the only thing that can
provide a moral backdrop is humanity itself, and neglecting to build and encourage such morality
is neglecting our duty to ourselves and to each other.
The major existential philosophers include the Danish theologian Kierkegaard, Martin
Heidegger, and Hans Georg Gadamer. The major existential literary figures include Jean-Paul
Sartre, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Samuel Beckett, and Franz Kafka. While the
movement is largely atheistic, a profound branch of Christian existentialism has emerged in
writers such as Jacques Maritain, Paul Tillich, and Gabriel Marcel.
20. Free verse
Free Verse: (Also known as Vers libre.) Poetry that lacks regular metrical and rhyme patterns
but that tries to capture the Cadences of everyday speech. The form allows a poet to exploit a
variety of rhythmical effects within a single poem.
Free-verse techniques have been widely used in the twentieth century by such writers as Ezra
Pound, T. S. Eliot, Carl Sandburg, and William Carlos Williams.
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FREE VERSE: Poetry based on the natural rhythms of phrases and normal pauses rather than
the artificial constraints of metrical feet. Commonly called vers libre in French (the English term
first appears in print in 1908), this poetry often involves the counterpoint of stressed and
unstressed syllables in unpredictable but clever ways. Its origins are obscure. Early poetry that is
similar to free verse includes the Authorized Bible translations of the Psalms and the Song of
Songs; Milton clearly experimented with something like free verse in Lycidas and Samson
Agonistes as well. However the Enlightenment's later emphasis on perfect meter during the
1700s prevented this experimentation from developing much further during the 18th century.
The American poet Walt Whitman first made extended successful use of free verse in the 19th
century, and he in turn influenced Baudelaire, who developed the technique in French poetry. In
the late 19th and early 20th centuries, we find several poets using some variant of free verse-including Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, William Carlos Williams, and
e. e. cummings. Do note that, within individual sections of a free verse poem, a specific line or
lines may fall into metrical regularity. The distinction is that this meter is not sustained through
the bulk of the poem. For instance, consider this excerpt from Amy Lowell's "Patterns":
I shall go
Up and down,
In my gown.
Gorgeously arrayed,
Boned and stayed.
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And the softness of my body will be guarded from embrace
By every button, hook, and lace.
For the man who should loose me is dead,
Fighting with the Duke in Flanders,
In a pattern called a war.
Christ! What are patterns for?
Here, we find examples of rhythmical regularity such as the near-anapestic meter in one line
("and the SOFTness of my BOdy, will be GUARDed from em BRACE"). However, the poet
deviates from this regularity in other lines, which often vary wildly in length--in some passages
approaching a prose-like quality.
21. Modernism
Modernism: Modern literary practices. Also, the principles of a literary school that lasted from
roughly the beginning of the twentieth century until the end of World War II. Modernism is
defined by its rejection of the literary conventions of the nineteenth century and by its opposition
to conventional morality, taste, traditions, and economic values.
Many writers are associated with the concepts of Modernism, including Albert Camus, Marcel
Proust, D. H. Lawrence, W. H. Auden, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, William Butler
Yeats, Thomas Mann, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, and James Joyce.
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MODERNISM: A vague, amorphous term referring to the art, poetry, literature, architecture,
and philosophy of Europe and America in the early twentieth-century. Scholars do not agree
exactly when Modernism began--most suggest after World War I, but some suggest it started as
early as the late nineteenth century in France. Likewise, some assert Modernism ended with
World War II or the bombing of Nagasaki, to be replaced with Postmodernism, or that
modernism lasted until the 1960s, when post-structural linguistics dethroned it. Others suggest
that the division between modernism and postmodernism is false, and that postmodernism is
merely the continuing process of Modernism. Under the general umbrella of Modernism, we find
several art movements such as surrealism, formalism, and various avante-garde French
movements. Professor Frank Kermode further divides modernism into paleo-modernism (19141920) and neo-modernism (1920-1942). However, these divisions are hardly agreed upon by
historians and critics. In general, modernism is an early twentieth-century artistic marked by the
following characteristics: (1) the desire to break away from established traditions, (2) a quest to
find fresh ways to view man's position or function in the universe, (3) experiments in form and
style, particularly with fragmentation--as opposed to the "organic" theories of literary unity
appearing in the Romantic and Victorian periods, and (4) a lingering concern with
metaliterature. Cf. postmodernism. To see where modernism fits into a chronological listing of
the major literary periods, click here for a pdf handout.
22.
Negation (Encyclopedia Britannica)
The example of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
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Moral fantasy novel by Oscar Wilde, published in an early form in Lippincott's Magazine in 1890.
The novel had six additional chapters when it appeared in book form in 1891. The novel, an
archetypal tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul, was a
romantic exposition of Wilde's own Aestheticism.
Dorian Gray is a handsome and wealthy young Englishman who gradually sinks into a life of
dissipation and crime. Despite his unhealthy behaviour, his physical appearance remains youthful
and unmarked by dissolute life. Instead, a hidden portrait of himself catalogues every evil deed by
turning his once handsome features into a hideous, grotesque mask. When Gray destroys the
painting, his face turns into a human replica of the portrait, and he dies.
Gray's final negation, “ugliness is the only reality,” neatly summarizes Wilde's Aestheticism, both
his love of the beautiful and his fascination with the profane. Publication of the novel scandalized
Victorian England, and The Picture of Dorian Gray was used as evidence against Wilde in his 1895
trial for homosexuality. The novel became a classic of English literature.
23. Neologism
NEOLOGISM: A made-up word that is not a part of normal, everyday vocabulary. Often
Shakespeare invented new words in his place for artistic reasons. For instance, "I hold her as a
thing enskied." The word enskied implies that the girl should be placed in the heavens. Other
Shakespearean examples include climature (a mix between climate and temperature) and abyssm
(a blend between abyss and chasm), and compounded verbs like outface or un-king. Contrast
with kenning. Occasionally, the neologism is so useful it becomes a part of common usage, such
as the word new-fangled that Chaucer invented in the 1300s. A neologism may be considered
either a rhetorical scheme or a rhetorical trope, depending upon whose scholarly definition the
reader trusts. See compounding, infixation, epenthesis, proparalepsis, and prosthesis.
24. Postmodernism
Postmodernism: Writing from the 1960s forward characterized by experimentation and
continuing to apply some of the fundamentals of modernism, which included existentialism and
alienation. Postmodernists have gone a step further in the rejection of tradition begun with the
modernists by also rejecting traditional forms, preferring the anti-novel over the novel and the
anti-hero over the hero.
Postmodern writers include Alain Robbe-Grillet, Thomas Pynchon, Margaret Drabble, John
Fowles, Adolfo Bioy-Casares, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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POSTMODERNISM: A general (and often hotly debated) label referring to the philosophical,
artistic, and literary changes and tendencies after the 1940s and 1950s up to the present day. We
can speak of postmodern art, music, architecture, literature, and poetry using the same generic
label. The tendencies of postmodernism include (1) a rejection of traditional authority, (2) radical
experimentation--in some cases bordering on gimmickry, (3) eclecticism and multiculturalism,
(4) parody and pastiche, (5) deliberate anachronism or surrealism, and (6) a cynical or ironic
self-awareness (often postmodernism mocks its own characteristic traits). In many ways, these
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traits are all features that first appeared in modernism, but postmodernism magnifies and
intensifies these earlier characteristics. It also seems to me that, while modernism rejected much
of tradition, it clung to science as a hopeful and objective cure to the past insanities of history,
culture and superstition. Modernism hoped to tear down tradition and longed to build something
better in its ruins. Postmodernism, on the other hand, is often suspicious of scientific claims, and
often denies the possibility or desirability of establishing any objective truths and shared cultural
standards. It usually embraces pluralism and spurns monolithic beliefs, and it often borders on
solipsism. While modernism mourned the passing of unified cultural tradition, and wept for its
demise in the ruined heap of civilization, so to speak, postmodernism tends to dance in the ruins
and play with the fragments.
Some of the new literary movements growing from postmodernism include the darker or horrific
tales of science fiction, neo-Gothic literature, late twentieth-century horror stories, concrete
poetry, magic realism, Theater of the Absurd, and so on. Finally, postmodernism is often used
loosely and interchangeably with the critical movements following post-structuralism--the
growing realms of Marxist, materialist, feminist, and psychoanalytical approaches to literature
that developed during and after the 1970s. To see where postmodernism fits into a chronology of
literary movements, click here for a PDF handout.
25. Rhetorical device: Figures of speech such as schemes and tropes
SCHEMES -- Schemes are figures of speech that deal with word order, syntax, letters, and
sounds, rather than the meaning of words, which involves tropes. Here are a few examples:
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Parallelism -- when the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and
length. For instance, "King Alfred tried to make the law clear, precise, and equitable."
The previous sentence has parallel structure in use of adjectives. However, the following
sentence does not use parallelism: "King Alfred tried to make clear laws that had
precision and were equitable."
Antithesis (plural antitheses) -- contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence. It can
be a contrast of opposites: "Evil men fear authority; good men cherish it." Or it can be a
contrast of degree: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind."
Climax (also called Auxesis and "Crescendo") -- arrangement in order of increasing
importance: "Let a man acknowledge his obligations to himself, his family, his country,
and his God."
The opposite is called bathos (not to be confused with pathos or emotional appeal).
Bathos is usually used humorously. Here, the least important item appears
anticlimactically in a place where the reader expects something grand or dramatic. For
instance, "I am making a stand in this workplace for human decency, professional
integrity, and free doughnuts at lunch-break."
TROPES -- Tropes are figures of speech with an unexpected twist in the meaning of words, as
opposed to schemes, which only deal with patterns of words. Here are some examples:
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Metaphor -- when something is something else: the ladder of success (i.e, success is a
ladder).
"Carthage was a beehive of buzzing workers." Or, "This is your brain on drugs."
Simile -- when something is like something else:
"Her skin was like alabaster." "He was as unpleasant as a veneral disease."
Metonymy -- using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea:
CROWN for royalty; the PEN is mightier than the SWORD. "If we cannot strike
offenders in the heart, let us strike them in the wallet." We use metonymy in everyday
speech when we refer to the entire movie-making industry as a mere suburb of L.A.,
"Hollywood," or when we refer to the collective decisions of the United States
government as "Washington," or the "White House."
Puns -- A pun twists the meaning of words. Homonymic Puns -- "Johnny B. Good" is a
pun for "Johnny be good." Sound similarities -- "Casting perils before swains" (instead of
"pearls before swine").
Personification -- giving human qualities to inanimate objects: "The ground thirsts for
rain; the wind whispered secrets to us."
Apostrophe -- (not to be confused with the punctuation mark): addressing someone or
some abstraction that is not physically present: "Oh, Death, be not proud" (John Donne).
"Ah, Mr. Newton, you would be pleased to see how far we have progressed in physics."
Onomatapoeia -- echoic words or words that create an auditory effective similar to the
sound they represent: Buzz; Click; Rattle; Clatter; Squish; Grunt.
Hyperbole -- exaggeration: "His thundering shout could split rocks." Or, "Yo' mama's so
fat. . . ."
Meiosis -- understatement (opposite of exaggeration): "I was somewhat worried when the
psychopath ran toward me with a chainsaw." (i.e., I was terrified)
Oxymoron (plural oxymora also called Paradox)-- Using contradiction in a manner that
oddly makes sense. Examples of oxymora include jumbo shrimp, sophisticated rednecks,
and military intelligence. The best oxymora seem to reveal a deeper truth through their
contradictions. For instance, "without laws, we can have no freedom." Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar also makes use of a famous oxymoron: "Cowards die many times before
their deaths" (2.2.32).
26. Satire
Satire: A work that uses ridicule, humor, and wit to criticize and provoke change in human nature and
institutions. There are two major types of satire: "formal" or "direct" satire speaks directly to the reader
or to a character in the work; "indirect" satire relies upon the ridiculous behavior of its characters to
make its point. Formal satire is further divided into two manners: the "Horatian," which ridicules gently,
and the "Juvenalian," which derides its subjects harshly and bitterly.
Voltaire's novella Candide is an indirect satire. Jonathan Swift's essay "A Modest Proposal" is a
Juvenalian satire.
27.
Totalitarianism (Encyclopedia Britannica)
form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to
subordinate all aspects of the individual's life to the authority of the government. Italian dictator
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Benito Mussolini coined the term totalitario in the early 1920s to describe the new fascist state of
Italy, which he further described as: “All within the state, none outside the state, none against
the state.” By the beginning of World War II, “totalitarian” had become synonymous with absolute
and oppressive single-party government.
In the broadest sense, totalitarianism is characterized by strong central rule that attempts to
control and direct all aspects of individual life through coercion and repression. Examples of such
centralized totalitarian rule include the Maurya dynasty of India (c. 321–c. 185 BC), the Ch'in
dynasty of China (221–206 BC), and the reign of Zulu chief Shaka (c. 1816–28). The totalitarian
states of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler (1933–45) and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin (1924–
53) were the first examples of decentralized or popular totalitarianism, in which the state
achieved overwhelming popular support for its leadership. This support was not spontaneous; its
genesis depended on a charismatic leader; and it was made possible only by modern developments
in communication and transportation.
Totalitarianism is often distinguished from dictatorship, despotism, or tyranny by its supplanting
of all political institutions with new ones and its sweeping away of all legal, social, and political
traditions. The totalitarian state pursues some special goal, such as industrialization or conquest,
to the exclusion of all others. All resources are directed toward its attainment regardless of the
cost. Whatever might further the goal is supported; whatever might foil the goal is rejected. This
obsession spawns an ideology that explains everything in terms of the goal, rationalizing all
obstacles that may arise and all forces that may contend with the state. The resulting popular
support permits the state the widest latitude of action of any form of government. Any dissent is
branded evil, and internal political differences are not permitted. Because pursuit of the goal is
the only ideological foundation for the totalitarian state, achievement of the goal can never be
acknowledged.
Under totalitarian rule, traditional social institutions and organizations are discouraged and
suppressed; thus the social fabric is weakened and people become more amenable to absorption
into a single, unified movement. Participation in approved public organizations is at first
encouraged and then required. Old religious and social ties are supplanted by artificial ties to the
state and its ideology. As pluralism and individualism diminish, most of the people embrace the
totalitarian state's ideology. The infinite diversity among individuals blurs, replaced by a mass
conformity (or at least acquiescence) to the beliefs and behaviour sanctioned by the state.
Large-scale, organized violence becomes permissible and sometimes necessary under totalitarian
rule, justified by the overriding commitment to the state ideology and pursuit of the state's goal.
In Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union, whole classes of people, such as the Jews and the
kulaks (wealthy peasant farmers) respectively, were singled out for persecution and extinction. In
each case the persecuted were linked with some external enemy and blamed for the state's
troubles, and thereby public opinion was aroused against them and their fate at the hands of the
military and the police was condoned.
Police operations within a totalitarian state often appear similar to those within a police state,
but one important difference distinguishes them. In a police state the police operate according to
known, consistent procedures. In a totalitarian state the police operate without the constraints of
laws and regulations. Their actions are unpredictable and directed by the whim of their rulers.
Under Hitler and Stalin uncertainty was interwoven into the affairs of the state. The German
constitution of the Weimar Republic was never abrogated under Hitler, but an enabling act passed
by the Reichstag in 1933 permitted him to amend the constitution at will, in effect nullifying it.
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The role of lawmaker became vested in one man. Similarly, Stalin provided a constitution for the
Soviet Union in 1936 but never permitted it to become the framework of Soviet law. Instead, he
was the final arbiter in the interpretation of Marxism–Leninism–Stalinism and changed his
interpretations at will. Neither Hitler nor Stalin permitted change to become predictable, thus
increasing the sense of terror among the people and repressing any dissent.
28. Understatement
Understatement: This literary device refers to the practice of drawing attention to a fact that is already
obvious and noticeable. Understating a fact is usually done by way of sarcasm, irony, wryness or any other
form of dry humor. Understating something is akin to exaggerating its obviousness as a means of humor.
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MEIOSIS: Understatement, the opposite of exaggeration: "I was somewhat worried when the
psychopath ran toward me with a chainsaw." (i.e., I was terrified). Litotes (especially popular in
Old English poetry) is a type of meiosis in which the writer uses a statement in the negative to
create the effect: "You know, Einstein is not a bad mathematician." (i.e., Einstein is a good
mathematician.) "That pustulant wart is somewhat unbeautiful" (i.e., That pustulant wart is ugly).
Litotes is recognizable in English by negatives like not, no, non- and un-.)
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understatement--deliberately representing something as much less than it really is. Jonathan Swift wrote. Last
week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her appearance.