Pauline Anne Estrada

TESL 604 – Integrating Language and Literature

Literary Terms

A. Part I
1. Aphorism – refers to a terse statement of a truth or dogma, a pithy generalization, which
may or may not be witty. The proverb is often aphoristic so is the maxim. (Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000)
2. Archetype – refers to a basic model from which copies are made; therefore a prototype. In
general terms, the abstract idea of a class of things which represents the most typical and
essential characteristics shared by the class. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms,
2000)
3. Aside - in drama a few words or a short passage spoken in an undertone or to the audience.
It is a theatrical convention. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000)
4. Atmosphere/ Mood – refers to the mood and feeling, the intangible quality which appeals to
extra-sensory as well as sensory perception, evoked by a work of art. (Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000)
5. Author’s purpose vs. Author’s Perspective vs. Author’s Position vs. Author’s Message

An author's perspective is his or her viewpoint on a subject. To determine an author's

perspective, first think about the author's purpose. The three main categories of author's
purpose are to use the acronym PIE, which stands for persuade, inform and entertain.

When an author writes to persuade (or sometimes even to entertain or inform) he/she will have
his/her own position on the subject. The author's position is an author's opinion about the
subject. An author’s message gives the moral of a story.

6. Ballad – like ballade and ballet, the word derives from the late Latin and Italian ballare ‘to
dance’. Fundamentally, a ballad refers to a song that tells a story and originally was a musical
accompaniment to a dance. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000)

7. Caesura (Person’s Features) – refers to a break or pause in a line of poetry which is

dictated, usually, by the natural rhythm of the language. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).

8. Carpe Diem (17th Century Cavalier Poets) – the phrase occurs in Horace’s Odes. In Latin,
‘snatch the day’. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000)

9. Characterization (4 techniques)
a. Main Character - The main character in a story is the protagonist. As readers we
share the most empathy with this character. He/she is the one fighting for a cause in the story or
movie.
b. Minor Character - A minor character is a character who has a name and does stuff
that contributes to the plot, but they aren't the main characters.
c. Static Character - is one who doesn't undergo any significant change in
character, personality or perspective over the course of a story.
d. Dynamic Character - A dynamic character, in contrast, undergoes a major transition in
one or more of these ways.

10. Cliché – refers to a trite, over-used expression which is lifeless. A very large number of
idioms have become clichés through excessive use. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary
Terms, 2000)

11. Comedy vs. Farce –

Comedy – professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches,
intended to make an audience laugh.
Farce - uses improbable situations, physical humor and silliness to entertain.
12. Comic Relief – comic episodes or interludes, usually in tragedy which are aimed to relieve
the tension and heighten the tragic element by contrast. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).

13. Complication - An intensification of the conflict in a story or play. Complication builds up,
accumulates, and develops the primary or central conflict in a literary work.

14. Conceit – this term denotes a fanciful supposition, an ingenious act of deception or a witty
or clever remark or idea. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

15. Conflict (External & Internal) – the term used for the tension between characters, on the
actual opposition of characters (usually in drama and fiction but also in narrative poetry).
Internal conflicts are character vs. self. External conflict which generally takes place between a
person and someone or something else, such as nature, another person or persons, or an event
or situation. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

16. Controlling Image - a literary device employing repetition so as to stress the theme of a
work or a particular symbol.

17. Creation Myth - also called cosmogonic myth, philosophical and theological elaboration of
the primal myth of creation within a religious community. The term myth here refers to the
imaginative expression in narrative form of what is experienced or apprehended as basic reality.
The term creation refers to the beginning of things, whether by the will and act of a transcendent
being, by emanation from some ultimate source, or in any other way.

18. Dramatic Irony – when the audience are able to understand the implication and meaning of
a situation on stage, or what is being said, but the characters do not. It is common in tragedy
and comedy. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

19. Dramatic Monologue - a poem in the form of a speech or narrative by an imagined person,
in which the speaker inadvertently reveals aspects of their character while describing a
particular situation or series of events.

20. Extended Metaphor - also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is an author's

exploitation of a single metaphor or analogy at length through multiple linked tenors, vehicles,
and grounds throughout a poem or story.

21. Fiction vs. Non-fiction –

Fiction – refers to a vague and general term for an imaginative work, usually in prose.
Fiction has been now used in general of the novel, short story and related genres. (Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).
Non- fiction - the branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose dealing with or
offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including biography, history, and the
essay (opposed to fiction and distinguished from poetry and drama).

22. Figurative Language vs. Figures of Speech (Special Types of figurative language)
Figurative Language – refers to language which uses figures of speech for example,
metaphor, simile, and alliteration. Figurative language must be distinguished from literal
language. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).
Figures of Speech - a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid
effect. For example metaphor, hyperbole, assonance and etc.

23. Flashback – a term which has been probably derived from th cinema, and which has been
now also used to describe any scene or episode in a play, novel, story or poem which has been
inserted to show events that happened at an earlier time. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).
24. Foil - is a character who contrasts with another character - usually the protagonist— to
highlight particular qualities of the other character. In some cases, a subplot can be used as
a foil to the main plot.

25. Folk Ballad vs. Folk Tale

Folk Ballad – a song that is traditionally sung by the common people of a region and
forms part of their culture.
Folk tale – like the folksong many folktales belong to oral tradition. They have been
including legends, fables, tall stories, shaggy dog stories, fairy stories, stories of giants and
saints, devils and spirits. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

26. Foreshadowing – the term used for the technique of arranging events and information in a
narrative in such a way that later events have been prepared for or shadowed forth beforehand.
(Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

27. Form – when we talk of the form of a literary work we refer to its shape and structure and to
the manner in which it is made – as opposed to its substance or what it is about. (Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

28. Frame Story – refers to one which contains either another tale, a story within a story, or a
series of stories. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

29. Genre: Four (4) Main Literary Genres:

(1) Fiction - refers to a vague and general term for an imaginative work, usually in prose. Fiction
has been now used in general of the novel, short story and related genres. (Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).
(2) Poetry - Poetry is the first major literary genre. All types of poetry share specific
characteristics. In fact, poetry is a form of text that follows a meter and rhythm, with each line
and syllable. It is further subdivided into different genres, such an epic poem, narrative,
romantic, dramatic, and lyric. Dramatic poetry includes melodrama, tragedy, and comedy, while
other poems include ode, sonnet, elegy, ballad, song, and epic.
(3) Non-fiction - the branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose dealing with or
offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including biography, history, and the
essay (opposed to fiction and distinguished from poetry and drama).
(4) Drama- a composition in prose or verse presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story
involving conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage; a
play.

29. a. Gothic Literature – a type of romance which was very popular late in the 18th
century and at the beginning of the 19th. It has had considerable influence on fiction since. Most
gothic literature were tales of mystery and horror, intended to chill the spine and curdle the
blood. . (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

30. Hero: Tragic Hero vs. Cultural hero

Tragic Hero – A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy in drama. In his Poetics,
Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the
place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be.
Cultural Hero - is a mythological hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, religious,
etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery.

31. Historical Context - refers to the social, religious, economic, and political conditions that
existed during a certain time and place. ... In analyzing historical events, context can help us
understand what motivates people to behave as they did.

32. Historical Writing - refers, on the one hand, to the past itself and, on the other hand, to the
writing of history. Narrative texts (chronicles, biographical dictionaries, etc.), written with the
explicit purpose to be preserved, have been of particular importance for studying the history.
33. Humor - the term humor was used in the Middle Ages to denote the four humors of the
body. These depended on the four fluids blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. (Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).
3 Basic Types (Humor of Situation, Humor of Character, Humor of Language)
Humor of Situation – comedy in which the comic effect depends chiefly upon the
involvement of the main characters in a predicament or ludicrous complex of circumstances —
compare comedy of character.
Humor of Character – comedy in which the emphasis is on characterization rather than
plot or lines — compare comedy of situation.
Humor of Language - Scholarly research on humor goes back to Plato and Aristotle and
extends to practically all fields of inquiry, including mathematics and medicine. There exist
several scholarly societies for the study of humor, and numerous journals and book series are
dedicated entirely to humor research. Linguistics has had a privileged role in humorology (or
gelotology), both because of its contributions, which this entry will review, and because
language is the medium of much humor. Even humor that is produced entirely outside of
language (for example, visually or musically) needs to be discussed and explained in language
by scholars wanting to analyze it. In what follows, only humor expressed linguistically will be
considered. Likewise, irony and sarcasm will be given only a very cursory treatment, despite
their obvious connections to humor, due to the exceedingly large literature on the subject and its
complexity.

34. Idioms – the term used for a form of expression, construction or phrase Peculiar to a
language and often having a meaning other than its grammatical or logical one. (Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

35. Imagery – as a general term covers the use of language to represent objects, actions,
feelings, thoughts, ideas, states of mind and any sensory or extra-sensory experience.
(Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

(1) Sensory Images- When a writer attempts to describe something so that it appeals to
our sense of smell, sight, taste, touch, or hearing; he/she has used imagery. Often, imagery is
built on other literary devices, such as simile or metaphor, as the author uses comparisons to
appeal to our senses.
(2) Synesthesia – what do you get when you take the five sense and throe them in a blender?
Synesthesia is the fancy name for mixing the senses in order to create a more complex or
meaningful description or something.
(3) Controlling Imagery- a literary device employing repetition so as to stress the theme of a
work or a particular symbol.

36. Interior Monologues (Monologue/ Stream of Consciousness) - In writing, interior

monologue is a narrative technique that shows the flow of thoughts going through
a character's head that other characters, for obvious reasons, aren't privy to.

37. Legend vs. Letters

Legends – originally had been the stories of lives of saints which, in monastic life, might
be read in church or in the refectory and therefore belonged to hagiography. The term came to
be applied to a collection of such stories (as well as the book in which they are recorded.)
(Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).
Letters – Latin rhetoricians made a convenient distinction between the private letter
(persanalis) and the letter of affairs (negotialis). A third kind is the open or general letter
addressed to an individual or a newspaper editor and intended for publication. (Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

38. Limited Point of View – in third person, limited the narrator only knows the thoughts and
feelings of one character. All characters are described using pronouns, such as 'they', 'he', and
'she'. However, one character is closely followed throughout the story, and it is typically a main
character.
39. Literary Nonfiction – Literary nonfiction also contains facts, but is meant to entertain the
reader. In this way, literary nonfiction reads like fiction and has story elements, like character,
setting and plot. Some examples of literary nonfiction include personal journals, diaries,
memoirs, letters, and essays.

40. Memoir – Memoirs are factual stories about someone's life. 'Memoir' is from the French
word mémoire, which means 'reminiscence' or 'memory.' They are a part of the nonfiction
literary genre and usually told in the first person.

41. Metaphysical Poetry vs.

Paradox – Metaphysical poetry is highly intellectualized poetry marked by bold and ingenious
conceits, incongruous imagery, complexity and subtlety of thought, frequent use of paradox and
often by deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression.
Paradox in literature are often less about logical conundrums and more about illuminating
meaning. While paradoxes may seem contradictory, literary paradoxes are often very true at the
same time

42. Mise-en-scene- the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play.

43. Mock Epic – refers to a work in verse which employs the lofty manner, the high and serious
tone and the supernatural machinery of epic to treat of a trivial subject and theme in such a way
as to make both subject and theme ridiculous. Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms,
2000).

44. Modernism- the term used for a very comprehensive term applied to international
tendencies and movements in all the creative arts since the latter end of the 19th century.
(Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

45. Monologue – a term used in a number of senses, with the basic meaning of a single person
speaking alone-with or without an audience. Most prayers, much lyric verse and all laments
have been monologues. Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

46. Motif- one of the dominant ideas in a work of literature; a part of the main theme. It may
consist of a character, a recurrent image or a verbal pattern. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).

47. Motivation – defined as a reason behind a character's specific action or behavior. This type
of behavior is characterized by the character's own consent and willingness to do something.

48. Narrator – Plato and Aristotle were able to distinguish three basic kinds of narrator: (a) the
speaker or poet who uses his own voice; (b) one who assumes the voice of another person’s,
and speaks in a voice not his own; (c) one who employs a mixture of his own voice and that of
others. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

a. Naturalism – in literary criticism, refers to a word which is sometimes used loosely as

a synonym for realism and also in reference to works, which a pronounced interest in, sympathy
with and love of natural beauty. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

49. Parallel Plot- the writer weaves two or more dramatic plots that are usually linked by a
common character and a similar theme. A Flashback: This structure conveys information about
events that occurred earlier. ... Flashbacks can occur more than once and in different parts of a
story.

50. Pastoral – refers to a minor but important mode which, by convention, is concerned with the
lives of shepherds. It is of great antiquity and interpenetrates many work in Classical and
modern European literature. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).
 51. Persona/ Speaker – originally this term refers to a mask or false ‘face of day or bark worn
by actors. From it derives the term dramatis personae and, later, the word person. In literary
and critical jargon persona has come to denote the ‘person’ an alter ego. (Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

52. Prose vs. Poetry - The divisions between poetry and prose aren't clear-cut, but here are
some generally accepted differences. The language of prose is typically straightforward without
much decoration. Ideas are contained in sentences that are arranged into paragraphs. There
are no line breaks. It is different from poetry or verse in that it is not restricted rhythm, measure
or rhyme. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

53. Point of View: (1) 1st person PV, (2) 2nd person PV, (3) 3rd person PV, (4) 3rd person
limited PV –
 First person point of view. First person is when “I” am telling the story. ...
 Second person point of view. The story is told to “you.” ...
 Third person point of view, limited. The story is about “he” or “she.” ...
 Third person point of view, omniscient.
In third person limited the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character. All
characters are described using pronouns, such as 'they', 'he', and 'she'. But one character is
closely followed throughout the story, and it is typically a main character.

54. Prologue – the term used for the opening section of a work; a kind of introduction which has
been part of the work and not prefatory. Occasionally found in novels. In plays the prologue is
usually a chorus. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

55. Prop – is a person or thing who provides support or holds something up, or an object used
on the set of a play or movie. A pole that keeps up an awning is an example of a prop.

56. Psychological Fiction- is a literary genre that emphasizes interior characterization, as well
as the motives, circumstances and internal action which is derivative from and creates external
action; not content to state what happens, but rather reveals and studies the motivation behind
it.

57. Realism – an exceptionally elastic critical term which is often ambivalent and equivocal or
confusing. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

58. Rhetorical Devices vs. Sound Devices -

59. Rhyme vs. Rhyme Scheme vs. Rhythm

60. Sarcasm vs. Satire – both use humor and wit to let a message reach an audience, but
satire can have a larger audience while sarcasm is often done in a person-to-person
conversation.

B. Part II
61. Scansion – the term used for the analysis of the metrical patterns of verse. It includes the
arrangement of accented and unaccented syllables into metrical feet and the grouping of lines
according to the number of feet. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

62. Screenplay – the script of a movie, including acting instructions and scene directions.

63. Scripture or/on the Scriptures- also called scripitures, the revered text or Holy Writ of the
world’ religions.

64. Sensory Details – includes sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. Writers employ the five
senses to engage readers’ interest.
65. Sestet – the last six lines of a sonnet.

66. Slant Rhyme – refers to a rhyme that is not true. It may be deliberate or the result of
incompetence . (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

67. Soliloquy – is a speech, often of some length, in which a character, alone on the stage,
expresses his thoughts and feelings. The soliloquy is an accepted dramatic convention of great
importance (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

68. Sound Devices -

69. Shakespearean Stanza – refers to a fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameters (with subtle
variations on the iambic pattern) consisting of three quatrains and a concluding couplet. It I so
named because Shakespeare was its greatest practitioner. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).

70. Spenserian Stanza – it consists of nine iambic lines, the first eight being pentameters and
the last a hexameter or alexandrine, with a rhyme scheme ababbcbcc . (Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

71. Speaker- is the voice behind the poem – the person we imagine to be saying the thing out
loud.

72. Sprung Rhythm – the term is used by Gerard Manley Hopkins to describe his own metrical
system, and his rediscovery of the techniques involved in sprung rhythm have had a wide
influence on the development of English poetry. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary
Terms, 2000).

73. Static Character – a literary or dramatic character who undergoes little or o inner change.

74. Stereotypes- is one which relies heavily on cultural types or names for his or her
personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics.

75. Superficial Character - is something on the surface or a person concerned only about
obvious things.

76. Stream of Consciousness

77. Structure – the sum of the relationships of the parts to each other; thus, the whole. The
formal structure of a play consists of its acts and scenes and their interdependent balance. The
non-formal structure comprises the events and actions which take place. (Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

78. Style – refers to the characteristic manner of expression in prose or verse; how a particular
writers says things. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

79. Subtlety - the quality or state of being subtle.

80. Supernatural Tale – refers to a very comprehensive term which may be applied to any sort
of story which in some way makes use of ghosts, ghouls, specters, apparitions, poltergeists,
good and evils spirits and things that go bump in the night. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).

81. Surprise Ending - A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the
direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a
story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending.

82. Suspense – the term used for a state of uncertainty and curiosity as to the outcome of a
story or play, or any kind of narrative in verse or prose . (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).

83. Symbol- derived from the Greek verb symballein means to throw together, and its noun is
symbolon or mark, emblem, token or sip. It is an object, animate or inanimate, which represents
or stands for something else. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

84. Synthesis- the combination of ideas to form a theory or system.

85. Terza Rima – THIRD RHYME, the measure which was adopted by Dante for his Divina
Commedia, consisting of a series of interlocking tercets in which the second line of each one
rhymes with the first and third lines of the one succeeding, thus: aba, bcb, cdc. (Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

86. Theme- properly speaking, the theme of a work has been not its subject but rather its
central idea which may be stated directly or indirectly. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).

87. Tone – the term used for the reflection of a writer’s attitude (especially towards hius
readers), manner, mood and moral outlook in his work. The counterpart of tone of voice in
speech, which may be friendly, detached, pompous, officious, intimate, bantering and so forth.
(Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

88. Tragedy- it almost certainly denotes a form of ritual sacrifice accompanied by a choral song
in honor of Dionysus, the god of the fields and the vineyards. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Literary Terms, 2000).

89. Tragic Flaw – the term used for a defect in a tragic hero or heroine which leads to their
downfall. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

90. Tragic Hero – is the protagonist of a tragedy in drama. In his Poetics, Aristotle records the
descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero
must play and the kind of man he must be

91. Trochee – a metrical foot having a stressed, followed by an unstressed syllable. / ∪. It is the
reverse of an iamb and thus producing a falling rhythm as opposed to a rising rhythm.
(Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

92. Turning Point – refers to the observable moment when, in a story or a play, there is a
definite change in direction and one becomes aware that it is now about to move towards its
and this is a change of fortune. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

93. Understatement – A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a

situation seem less important or serious than it is. A statement which lessens or minimizes the
importance of what is meant. Restraint or lack of emphasis in expression, as for rhetorical
effect.

94. Universal Theme – is an idea that applies to anyone regardless of cultural differences, or
geographic location. Universal themes are ways to connect ideas across all disciplines. It is a
central idea about the human condition. It is a generalization about life or human nature; they
deal with basic human concerns.

95. Verbal Irony – is when what is said is the opposite of the literal meaning. One type
of verbal irony is sarcasm, where the speaker says the opposite of what he or she means in
order to show contempt or mock. Other types of verbal irony include overstatement (or
exaggeration) and understatement.

96. Verisimilitude – Likeness to the truth, and therefore the appearance of being true or real
even when fantastic. But then fantasy is, or should be, rooted in reality. (Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2000).

97. Villanelle – originally used for pastoral poetry in various forms. Jean Passerat very probably
fixed the standard form: five three-lined stanzas or tercet recur alternately in the following
stanzas as a refrain form a final couplet. (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Literary Terms,
2000).

98. Voice – is the author's style, the quality that makes his or her writing unique, and which
conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character; or. Voice is the characteristic speech
and thought patterns of the narrator of a work of fiction.

99. Word Choice – refers to a writer's selection of words as determined by a number of factors,
including meaning (both denotative and connotative), specificity, level of diction, tone, and
audience.

100. Word Play - is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the
main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement.