LIT TERMS #5

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.
ex: "Like father, like son."

Parody:  an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist.
ex: James Franco and Seth Rogen made a parody of Kayne West's Bound 2 music video.

Pathos:  the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness.
ex: Those really sad commercials where they show the sad abused animals and ask for donations are an appeal to pathos.

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.
ex: If you ask someone a simple question and they go on and on using irrelevant information and extreme vocabulary then you can say they are being pedantic.

Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or  abstract ideas.
ex: In Alice in Wonderland the rabbit, flowers, and playing cards are all personified.

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.
ex: The plot of Catch-22 doesn't follow the traditional plot diagram style.

Poignant:  eliciting sorrow or sentiment.
ex: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green is a poignant novel and you will cry when you read it.

Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing.
ex: 1st person, 3rd person

Postmodernism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary.
ex: Catch-22 

Prose:  the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.
ex: Nonfictional prose, fictional prose, heroic prose, poetic prose

Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.
ex: Harry Potter is the protagonist of the Harry Potter series.

Pun:  play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications.
ex: An elephant's opinion carries a lot of weight.

Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.
ex: The purpose of the novel Sula was to show how human relationships change over time along with life events.

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

Refrain:  a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.
ex: Oh Captain! My Captain by Walt Whitman

Requiem:  any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead.
ex: Mozart wrote many of these.

Resolution: point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.
ex: The resolution of Sula is when Nel visits Sula's grave and apologizes.

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.
ex: yes we can, yes we can, yes we can

Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.
ex: Speeches are full of rhetoric

Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.
ex: Are you stupid?

Rising Action: plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax.
ex: The rising action in Great Expectations is when Pip travels to London.

Romanticism:  movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.
ex: Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities

Satire:  ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.
ex: The Simpsons

Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter.
ex: rhythm and meter

Setting: the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur.
ex: The setting of Sula is 1920s-1960s Ohio.