Lit. Terms #5

1. 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."
2. parody-A parody imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a particular literary work in order to make fun of those same features.
3. pathos-In its rhetorical sense, pathos is a writer or speaker's attempt to inspire an emotional reaction in an audience--usually a deep feeling of suffering, but sometimes joy, pride, anger, humor, patriotism, or any of a dozen other emotions.
4. pedantry- an adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish
5. personification- a figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animasl, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions
6. plot- The structure and relationship of actions and events in a work of fiction. In order for a plot to begin, some sort of catalyst is necessary.
7. poignant-evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret.
8. point of view- The way a story gets told and who tells it. It is the method of narration that determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story unfolds.
9. 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.
10. prose-Any material that is not written in a regular meter like poetry.
11. protagonist-The main character in a work, on whom the author focuses most of the narrative attention.
12. pun-A play on two words similar in sound but different in meaning.
13. purpose-the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
14. realism-the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly.
15. refrain-stop oneself from doing something.
16. requiem-a Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead.
17. resolution-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.
18. restatement-A revised statement
19. rhetoric-he art of persuasive argument through writing or speech--the art of eloquence and charismatic language.
20. rhetorical question-a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered; "he liked to make his points with rhetorical questions"
21. rising action-The rising action of a story is the series of events that begin immediately after the exposition (introduction) of the story and builds up to the climax.
22. romanticism-a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual.
23. satire-the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
24. scansion-the action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm.
25. setting- the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place.