ENGL 1102

List of important terms

 

Canon – list of greatest works of literature

 

Frame of reference – your point of view, which has been shaped by social, political, and cultural forces.

 

Tone- Mood or feeling of a work

 

Theme- a distinct, recurring, and unifying quality or idea found in a work

 

Setting- Time and place a story is set

 

Climax- The point of highest emotional excitement in a story

 

Denouement – French for “unknotting”, it describes the unraveling that comes after the climax

 

Plot- What happens in a story

 

Dynamic character- One that changes throughout a story

 

Static character- One that stays the same throughout a story

 

Stereotype- an oversimplified standardized image of a person or group

 

Genre- Specific type of fiction with well-defined rules and attributes

 

Freytag’s Pyramid- A diagram showing the rising and falling action of a story

 

Chekhov’s Gun- “If a gun is introduced into a story, it must be fired by the story’s end.” ….meaning that nothing in a story should be unused or superfluous

 

Metafiction – fiction writing that deals, often playfully and parodically, with the nature of fiction, the techniques and conventions used in it, and the role of the author

 

Metacognition – knowledge of your own thoughts and the factors that influence your thinking

 

Synesthesia- literature in literature, the description of one kind of sense perception using words that describe another kind of sense perception, as in the phrase "shining metallic words"

 

Macguffin- Object around which a plot revolves. Usually, the object itself is pretty meaningless. (coined by Alfred Hitchcock)

 

Meter- Pattern of stressed and unstressed sounds in a poem

 

Foot- Basic unit of measurement in poetry.

 

Rhythm- General recurring beat in poetry

 

Stanza- Specific collection of lines in a poem

 

Iamb – unstressed, stressed foot structure

 

Trochee- stressed, unstressed foot structure

 

Anapest – unstressed, unstressed, stressed  foot structure

 

Dactyl- stressed, unstressed, unstressed foot structure

 

Spondee- stressed, stressed  foot structure

 

Pyrrhic- unstressed, unstressed foot structure

 

Monometer- one foot per line

 

Dimeter- two feet per line

 

Trimeter- three feet per line

 

Tetrameter- four feet per line

 

Pentameter- five feet per line

 

Hexameter- six feet per line

 

Heptameter- seven feet per line

 

Octameter- eight feet per line

 

Sonnet- 14-line poem with set rhyme scheme in iambic pentameter

 

Shakespearean (English) sonnet – rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

 

Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet – rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA CDECDE (or CDCDCD)

 

Volta- turn of idea found usually after 8th line in a sonnet

 

Octet- First eight lines of a sonnet

 

Sestet- last six lines of a sonnet

 

Stressed syllable- syllable that is emphasized

 

Unstressed syllable – syllable that is not emphasized

 

Irony – incongruity between what actually happens and what might be expected to happen, especially when this disparity seems absurd or laughable

 

Unreliable narrator- A narrator that may not be capable of accurately relating the story to the reader

 

Omniscient narrator—all-knowing narrator

 

Onomatopoeia – words that sound like what they mean (E.g. “boom”, “buzz”

Imagery - the figurative language, especially metaphors and similes, used in poetry, plays, and other literary works

 

Romanticism- Romanticism or Romantic Era is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution.[1] In part, it was a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature,[2] and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography[3], education[4] and natural history.[5] - -source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

 

 

Realism- Realism often refers more specifically to the artistic movement, which began in France in the 1850s. These realists positioned themselves against romanticism, a genre dominating French literature and artwork in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Purporting to be undistorted by personal bias, Realism believed in the ideology of objective reality and revolted against the exaggerated emotionalism of the romantic movement. Truth and accuracy became the goals of many Realists. Many paintings which sprung up during the time of realism depicted people at work, as during the 19th century there were many open work places due to the Industrial Revolution and Commercial Revolutions. The popularity of such 'realistic' works grew with the introduction of photography — a new visual source that created a desire for people to produce representations which look “objectively real.” -source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(arts)

 

Modernism –  the revolutionary ideas and styles in art, architecture, and literature that developed in the early 20th century as a reaction to traditional forms. Fragmentation and non-heroic themes were important. Influenced by World Wars I and II.

 

Postmodernism- a style in architecture, art, literature, and criticism developed after and often in reaction to modernism, characterized by reference to other periods or styles in a self-conscious way and a rejection of the notion of high art.

 

ALSO LEARN THE CRITICAL MODES LISTED FROM PAGE 1536 to page 1558 – TOO ELABORATE AND LONG TO LIST HERE!!!!!!!!