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Varsity Jacket by Megan L
Front
Varsity Jacket by Megan L
Back
Denise Levertov
"two by two in the arK of/the ache of it"
Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones)
"there was no one there..."
Adze
Chuck. Chuck. Chuck.
John Wieners
Christmas star, christmas tree, mistletoe, and holly/(but mother under everything in festival paralysis).
Jeff Mangum (with his band Neutral Milk Hotel; Jeff is the one holding the angel)
The only girl I ever loved was born with roses in her eyes
William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
"Returning, I had to cross before the looking-glass; my fascinated glance involuntarily explored the depth it revealed.... and the strange little figure there gazing at me...had the effect of a real spirit: I though it like one of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half imp..."
Song of Myself by Walt Whitman
"I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable..."
Translations by Brian Friel
"I set out for somewhere but I couldn't remember where. So I came back here."
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
"I remember watching myself brush my hair and how my eyes looked back at me. The girl I saw was myself yet not quite myself.... What am I doing in this place and who am I?"
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
"Who knows, but that on the lower frequencies I speak for you?"
34 comments:
End Rhyme
A rhyme in the final syllable(s) of a verse.
Examples:
I went to school full of joy,
Eager to meet each girl and boy.
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Full Rhyme
When the later part of the word or phrase is identical sounding to another.
Examples:
- true / blue
- mountain / fountain
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Near/Off/Half/Slant Rhyme
These are all general terms referring to rhymes that are close but not exact.
Examples:
- ill / shell
- dropped / wept
Paradox:
A statement that is seemingly contradictory.
ex. The midnight silence rung in my ears.
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Synesthesia:
When one type of stimulation evokes the sense of another.
ex. Hearing a sound produces the visualization of a color.
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Denotation:
The accepted meaning of a word or phrase.
ex. "Wind" is the natural movement of air.
Diction: word choice (which contributes to a style of speaking or writing).
-there are many compilations of rules and guidelines concerning diction, but ones we discussed in class were Origin of Language (concrete, abstract, cultural, etc) and Register (vocab from a social setting among a particular social group).
For example:
How different registers describe what we might call “friends” (not my words, theirs!)
Taboo – bitches’n’hoes, niggers
Slang – Homeies, G’s, chicas, amigos,
Colloquial – guys, “the boys”, “the girls”,
Standard – friends, pals
Formal – associates, acquaintances
Frozen – chum, companion
Syntax: sentence structure (deliberate use of words, grammar, sentence type and organization to convey a style of speaking or writing).
-syntax can create tension in a sentence or relive it, and can convey relationships between words. Think passive voice versus active voice.
For example:
The jars broke open and hundreds of baby lizards emerged.
Vs.
Hundreds of baby lizards emerged as the jars broke open.
Vs.
Lizards came out of jars that broke.
In the first sentence, the focus is on the jars breaking open, but in the second, the reader’s focus is directed at the baby lizards as the subject changes. The third sentence uses more simple language to make the action more apparent.
Tone: the quality of some piece of writing that reflects the attitude or intentions of the author.
-Tone isn’t something that is concrete- there isn’t a formula to create one or even a set way of deciphering a tone. Tone is used by authors to communicate emotion or an attitude through a piece.
For example:
Sarcasm – saying something but meaning another: “No mom, I’ve never thought of putting soap in the wash before I start it.”
Serious – no joke: “Electing a black president in the U.S. will change global politics around the world.”
Joking – to colloquial friends…:”fancy seeing you here!”
Etc, etc.
And of course, tones are best deciphered when heard out loud, which is why it’s such a challenge to create them in writing, but such a success when achieved.
Conceit- an elaborate, fanciful metaphor, esp. of a strained or far-fetched nature.
Ex. found in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. . “Shall I compare thee to a summers day?”
Hyperbole- Exaggeration or overstatement
Ex. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
Pun- A pun is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. A pun can rely on the assumed equivalency of multiple similar words (homonymy), of different shades of meaning of one word (polysemy), or of a literal meaning with a metaphor. Bad puns are often considered to be cheesy.
Ex. The sign at the rehab center said "Keep Off The Grass".
Sources:
http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/14-conceit-poetry-type.htm
http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/conceit
Dramatic Irony:
A situation of irony where the words or actions of a character in a play have a different meaning for the audience then the characters themselves. The audience usually understands as a result of having more knowledge than the characters.
Example: In "Romeo and Juliet", the audience knows that Juliet is feigning death. When Romeo hears of her funeral and sees her still body, he kills himself. When Juliet wakes and sees Romeo dead, she kills herself too.
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Situational Irony:
A contradiction in literature of what might be expected to occur and what actually happens.
Example: In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery", the reader has the impression beforehand that a lottery is a good thing, usually resulting in a prize. Jackson plays on this fact when she has the winner of her short story's lottery stoned to death, which contrasts greatly with what is expected in the beginning.
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Narration:
The method that the author chooses to tell a story by a particular point of view. (The voice of the story is the narrator, which should not be confused with the author, as the narrator and author may have different intentions when telling the story.)
Example: There are several kinds of narration. In "Jane Eyre", Jane tells her own story. The narration is in her voice, called first person narration.
Stream of Consciousness
Definition: the continuous unedited chronological flow of conscious experience through the mind, characterized by a flow of thoughts and images which might not always appear to have any structure or cohesion. Also known as Interior Monologue.
Example:
His father told him that story: his father looked at him through a glass: He had a hairy face.
He was baby tuckoo. The moocow came down the road where Betty Byrned lived: she sold lemon platt.
O, the wild rose blossoms
On the little green place.
He sang that song. That was his song.
- from "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce
Style
Definition(literary): an experienced writer's distinctive use of language, resulting from a unique combination of expressive elements which arise from his/her experience with language.
Examples/Types:
20th century plain style (Of Mice and Men)
19th century ornate (Jane Eyre)
17th century poetic (Shakespeare)
_
More types of style: figurative, elusive, explicit, implicit
_____________________________
Voice
Definition: Voice is defined two ways in literature.
Voice is the author's unique style witch conveys the author's attitude, personality and character, or
Voice is characteristic speech and thought patterns of a first-person narrator.
Example: The poet Sylvia Plath’s voice may be deemed that of a victimized daughter, mother and wife.
Round Character:
A round character is one that is fully developed throughout a work of literature. That is, they have complex personalities that are meant to seem realistic and may change over the course of a work. Round characters are usually protagonists or other main characters.
Ex. Stephen Dedalus is a round character. He has a complex personality which is developed over the course of the novel as he struggles to deal with the influences of his environment.
Flat Character:
A flat character is one that has a one-dimensional, undeveloped personality. These personalities tend to focus on a single character trait and are not meant to be wholly realistic. Minor characters are most often flat characters in works of literature.
Ex. Mr. Brocklehurst is a flat character. He is only portrayed as a hypocritical and cruel man. He has an important role in Jane Eyre but he is not developed to the point that he seems realistic.
Foil:
A foil is a character that emphasizes the traits of another character through contrast with their own.
Ex. Helen Burns is (in some ways) a foil. Her doctrine of humility emphasizes Jane’s own belief in fighting to maintain one’s place in society and to escape subservience. Note: Helen Burns isn’t only a foil; she also highly influences Jane’s outlook in the rest of the novel.
Simile: A simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often introduced with the word "like" or "as".
Even though similes and metaphorsare both forms of comparison, similes allow the two ideas to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas metaphors seek to equate two ideas despite their differences. For instance, a simile that compares a person with a bullet would go as follows: "John was a record-setting runner and as fast as a speeding bullet." A metaphor might read something like, "John was a record-setting runner. That speeding bullet could zip past you without you even knowing he was there."
A mnemonic for a simile is that "a simile is similar or alike."
Similes have been widely used in literature for their expressiveness as a figure of speech:
Curley was flopping like a fish on a line.
The very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric.
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus.
Metaphor: is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things not using like or as. A metaphor is a rhetorical trope that describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way. Thus, the first subject can be economically described because implicit and explicit attributes from the second subject are used to enhance the description of the first. This device is known for usage where with few words, emotions and associations from one context are associated with objects and entities in a different context. In a simpler definition, it is comparing two things without using the words "like" or "as." Metaphors can also be comparisons that show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way.
• Curley was a flopping fish on a line.
• The very mist on the Essex marshes was a gauzy and radiant fabric.
Metonymy: a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept.
Metonymy may be instructively contrasted with metaphor. Both figures involve the substitution of one term for another. In metaphor, this substitution is based on similarity, while in metonymy, the substitution is based on contiguity.
Metaphor example: That man is a pig (using pig instead of unhygienic person. An unhygienic person is like a pig, but there is no contiguity between the two).
Metonymy example: The White House supports the bill (using White House instead of President. The President is not like the White House, but there is contiguity between them).
Metonymy works by the contiguity (association) between two concepts, whereas metaphor works by the similarity between them
indirect characterization-The qualities of a character are not directly stated but rather are shown through the character’s speech, thoughts, actions, dress, and interactions with other characters
Ex. “HEDDA (concealing an involuntary smile of scorn): Then you have reclaimed him—as the saying goes— my little Thea.” -Excerpt from Hedda Gabler by Henrick Ibsen
From this and other instances, we can tell that Hedda enjoys mocking and looking down on people she doesn’t like.
dynamic character- “…a character who undergoes a permanent change in outlook or character during the story…”-from dictionary.com
Ex. In Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man, Stephen Daedalus goes from accepting the views of his society to trying to invent his own views and rebelling against those of his society.
static character-“a literary character who remains basically unchanged throughout a work”-from dictionary.com
Ex. In Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen’s father, Simon is a static character.
Sources: http://micemen.wordpress.com/2007/03/25/direct-and-indirect-characterization/
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dynamic%20character
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Static+Character&fromAsk=true
Anaphora:
The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs;
Example: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills"
Epistrophe:
The repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences, as in
Example: “I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong.
Inversion:
Any change from a basic word order or syntactic sequence, as in the placement of a subject after an supporting verb in a question or after the verb in an exclamation
Example: “When will you go?” and “How beautiful is the rose!”
Anaphora:
The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs;
Example: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills"
Epistrophe:
The repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences, as in
Example: “I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong.
Inversion:
Any change from a basic word order or syntactic sequence, as in the placement of a subject after an supporting verb in a question or after the verb in an exclamation
Example: “When will you go?” and “How beautiful is the rose!”
Mood: The climate of feeling in a literary work. The choice of setting, objects, details, images, and words all contribute towards creating a specific mood.
Ex. If an author is trying to create a sad mood, he or she will use sad words, descriptions, and details in order to accomplish this.
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Dialect: A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists
Ex. People from the northeast will pronounce certain words differently than people from the south, even though they both speak English.
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Colloquialism: a style of writing characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing
Ex. The word "man" in colloquialism would be dude.
Brian Hand
Vernacular-a language or dialect that is naturally spoken by the people or a particular area.
Ex. the vernacular of the United States is English
Characterization-the personality a character displays or the means by which the author reveals that personality.
Ex. Charlotte Bronte characterizes Brocklehurst as cruel and unbending man through her descriptions of him and his "harsh" and "stiff" features
direct characterization-the author makes statements about the character's personality and tells what the character is like as opposed to describing actions that would allow the reader to infer about the character.
Ex. Brian Hand is really kind.
Couplet:
(n.)- Two successive lines of verse, usually rhyming and of the same metre.
Ex. “Whether or not we find what we are seeking
is idle, biologically speaking.”
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
Enjambment:
(n.)- The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of verse into the next line without
a pause.
Ex.
Trees
by
Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Sonnet sequence:
(n.)- A group of sonnets having a single subject or controlling idea. Also called “sonnet
cycle”.
Ex.
The Sweet Flow Of Love Evolves Over Time
CarrieAnn Thunell
The sweet flow of love evolves over time
as season after season etches change.
Two lives tango and waltz a duet’s rhyme.
Their priorities and roles rearrange.
A garden planted in spring long ago
now yields its third season of hardy fruit.
He gave to her his ring so all would know
the commitment that flowed from his pursuit.
Two lives have intertwined to braid and wind
past courtship’s sweet garden to greater depths
of deepening friendship of heart and mind,
the gestalt when a sun and moon eclipse.
The greatest adventure of a lifetime,
marriage is a journey dense and sublime.
Marriage Is A Journey Dense And Sublime
Source: http://www.emule.com/2poetry/phorum/read.php?4,220046
Synecdoche: A part of something substituted for the whole. Meaning is inferred by the specific part used.
Example: "His parents bought him a new set of wheels." Refers to a car
“50 head of cattle" refers to 50 complete cows.
Personification: Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
Example: "The cruel hand of Fate." or "A one-armed bandit."
Apostrophe: A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead OR something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present.
Example: Take Something Like a Star: A poem begins, "O Star," (Person addresses the star throughout the poem.)
INCITING ACTION
The disturbance that launches the conflict/resolution process of a story.
: Mr. Cook assigns Lucy three vocabulary terms to define.
RISING ACTION
The central part of a story during which various problems arise, leading up to the climax.
: Lucy takes the assignment lightly, decides that it isn't urgent. Lucy spends her free time watching movies, scanning groceries, burning cookies, getting lost in Boston.
CLIMAX
The highest point (turning point) in the action of a story.
: Sunday night approaches and it occurs to Lucy that she has used up all of her available time doing everything but be productive. She remembers that she still hasn't applied to college, finished her bildungsroman essay, worked on her writing for publication project, written an introduction to her poetry anthology, or blocked a scene for tomorrow's rehearsal. When her level of panic is at an alarming high her friend Abigail chooses to mention the blog post that is also due the following morning.
Alliteration
n. The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in "on scrolls of silver snowy sentences"
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Assonance
Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: "that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea"
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Consonance
The use of the repetition of consonants or consonant patterns as a rhyming device. As in, Dark clocks spark sharks to leave a mark.
Rhyme Scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme.
Example:
Bid me to weep, and I will weep (A)
While I have eyes to see; (B)
And having none, and yet I will keep (A)
A heart to weep for thee. (B)
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Volta
The shift or point of dramatic change in a poem or sonnet.
Example:
Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart;
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life's common way,
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay.
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Stanza
A fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem
Example:
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
(3 stanzas)
English (Shakespearean) Sonnet: English (or Shakespearean) sonnets are composed of three quatrains and a final couplet, with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. English sonnets are written generally in iambic pentameter.
EX: Sonnet XVIII
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:
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;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet: Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnets are divided into two quatrains and a six-line “sestet,” with the rhyme scheme abba abba cdecde (or cdcdcd)
EX: "London, 1802"
Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart;
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life's common way,
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay.
Iambic Pentameter: a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable.
EX: from Romeo and Juliet is “But soft!/ What light/ through yon/der win/dow breaks?”
SYMBOL
something that stands for, represents, or suggests another thing; esp., an object used to represent something abstract
ex: a dove symbolizes peace
EPIGRAPH
An epigraph is a quotation at the beginning of a poem, short story, book chapter, or other piece of literature introducing the larger themes of the piece: in a way, it may help draw the reader's attention to these ideas, setting the stage.
Unlike normal quotes, they stand without quotation marks.
ex: the second-ish page of our poetry anthology
EPIPHANY
Epiphany literally means "a manifestation," and by Christian thinkers was used to signify a manifestation of God's presence in the created world.
In the early draft of A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, entitled Stephen Hero (published posthumously in 1944), James Joyce adapted the term to secular experience, to signify a sense of a sudden radiance and revelation while observing a commonplace object. "By an epiphany [Stephen] meant a sudden spiritual manifestation." "Its soul, its whatness, leaps to us from the vestment of its appearance. The soul of the commonest object... seems to us radiant. The object achieves its epiphany." Joyce's short stories and novels include a number of epiphanies..
epiphanies are also known as "moments" or "spots in time"
Terza Rima
An interlocking three-line rhyme scheme: aba, bcb, cdc, ded, and so on.
Example:
The Supporting Cast, Sotto Voce
As all the pigs have turned back into men
And the sky is auspicious and the sea
Calm as a clock, we can all go home again.
Yes, it undoubtedly looks as if we
Could take life as easily now as tales
Write ever-after: not only are the
Two heards silhouetted against the sails
--And kissing, of course--well built, but the lean
Fool is quite a person, the fingernails
Of the dear old butler for once quite clean,
(etc.)
Ballad
A four-line stanza, known as a quatrain, consisting of alternating eight- and six-syllable lines. Usually only the second and fourth lines rhyme (an abcb pattern).
Example:
All in a hot and copper sky
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
Figurative Language
Figurative language or speech contains images. The writer or speaker describes something through the use of unusual comparisons, for effect, interest, and to make things clearer. The result of using this technique is the creation of interesting images.
Appealing to the imagination, figurative language provides new ways of looking at the world. It always makes use of a comparison between different things. Figurative language compares two things that are different in enough ways so that their similarities, when pointed out, are interesting, unique and/or surprising.
Example:
“All the world’s a stage”, “He worships the ground she walks on”, “My belly is screaming for food”, and “you just had a burst of brilliance!”
Unfortunately I forgot to bring home the list of literary terms so I've decided that I'm fairly certain that the following were the terms assigned to me, and if they weren't I apologize.
Protagonist: The central character of a literary work or drama.
(Often other terms 'main character' and 'hero' are linked to protagonist.)
example: The protagonist of 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' is our young hero, Stephen Dedalus.
Plot: The plan/scheme/main story of a literary work or drama.
example: The basic plot of most romantic comedies these days goes as follows: man and woman meet, man and woman must separate because of some contrived obstacle, and through a series of less-and-less hilarious hijinks, realize their love for each other and reunite.
Exposition: Description, dialogue, etc., at the beginning of a literary work or drama, that provides background information about characters and situations to be explored.
example: The beginning of Jane Eyre - Jane's passionate nature is set up to play out for the rest of the plot, information is given about how she came to live with the Reed family and her life with the family up until she is sent off to Lowood.
CONNOTATION- the emotionally associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning.
EXAMPLE: All of the following words/phrases refer to a young person, but their connotations may be quite different depending, in part, on the context in which they appear: youngster, child, kid, little one, small fry, brat, urchin, juvenile, minor. Some of these words tend to have favorable connotations (little one), some unfavorable (brat), and others fairly neutral connotations (child).
IRONY- an incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.
EXAMPLE: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a story filled with irony. Dorothy travels to a wizard in hopes that he can grant her wish to go home, but later discovers that she had the ability to go back home all along. The Scarecrow longs for a brain, only to discover he is already a genius, and the Tinman longs for a heart, only to discover that he is already capable of loving and caring. The Lion, who at first appears to be a coward, years for courage, but he turns out fearless and brave.
VERBAL IRONY- language device, either in spoken or written form in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the literal meanings of the words. A technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.
EXAMPLE: From The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne- Dimmesdale confesses to his congregation that he is the “worst of sinners.” but his congregation “did but reverence him the more”; they said that if “a saint on earth” could find sin in himself than they must truly be terrible. Dimmesdale wants the people to shun him as they did Hester, but they do and say the exact opposite.
Meter
A particular arrangement of words in poetry, such as iambic pentameter, determined by the kind and number of metrical units in a line.
i.e. Iambic: That time of year thou mayst in me behold
Trochaic: Tell me not in mournful numbers
Iamb
A metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable or a short syllable followed by a long syllable, as in delay.
i.e. Come live/ with me/ and be/ my love
Blank Verse
unrhymed verse, esp. the unrhymed iambic pentameter most frequently used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse.
i.e. You stars that reign'd at my nativity,
Whose influence hath allotted death and hell,
Now draw up Faustus like a foggy mist
Into the entrails of yon labouring clouds,
That when they vomit forth into the air,
My limbs may issue from their smoky mouths,
So that my soul may but ascend to Heaven.
Alyssa D'Antonio
Antagonist: a character or group of characters, or, sometimes an institutio
n of a happening who represents the opposition against which the protagonis
t(s) must contend.
ex.] In the book Grendel the “fish” or the Beowulf c
haracter is the antagonist to Grendel’s protagonist, in that he opp
oses the views and ideals of Grendel’s character.
Hero: a hero can refer to any lead character in a work or literature. This
of course is a broaden definition form the original Greek definition of the
offspring of a god or demi-god, and the later definition of “chara
cters (fictional or historical) that, in the face of danger and adversity o
r from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrif
ice – that is, heroism – for some greater good, originally
of martial courage or excellence but extended to more general moral excelle
nce.”
ex.] Stephen is the hero of James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man
Anti-Hero: a protagonist whose character and goals are oppositional to trad
itional heroism. These are often depictions of heros as mortal men, with fl
aws and shortcomings.
ex.] In Jane Eyre Rochester is a traditional anit-hero in that he is
bitter and jaded, yet still manages to be the champion of Jane’s heart.
Kyle Smith
First Person Narration – A story that is narrated by one person who explicitly refers to themselves using “I” and “we.” This allows the reader to see only the point of view of the narrator.
Ex. Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Notes From the Underground”
Third Person Limited Narration – This is when the story is told by a narrator, but the narrator is limited to the thoughts and facts of just a single person.
Ex. Orson Card’s “Ender’s Game”
Third Person Omniscient Narration – This story is told by a narrator who knows all the facts and thoughts about a character. This makes them “omniscient” of the plot line.
Ex. Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”
The first batch of comments from Mr. Cook:
VERBAL IRONY
“language device, either in spoken or written form in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the literal meanings of the words. A technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.
EXAMPLE: From The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne- Dimmesdale confesses to his congregation that he is the “worst of sinners.” but his congregation “did but reverence him the more”; they said that if “a saint on earth” could find sin in himself than they must truly be terrible. Dimmesdale wants the people to shun him as they did Hester, but they do and say the exact opposite.”
This example gave me pause for thought.
Thought #1: Normally with VERBAL IRONY the speaker **intends** for his words to be taken as meaning something that contrasts with the literal meaning. In the above example if Dimmesdale **intends** the people to shun him as one of the “worst of sinners” then he **intends** his words to be taken literally. It is the people who misunderstand him (and misunderstand who he really is). So this would **not** be verbal irony
Thought #2: However, the example is a misleading when it states that “Dimmesdale wants the people to shun him”. He wants to confess his sins but does so in a vague enough manner that he is not shunned like Hester. If he really wanted to be fully shunned he would fully confess. So if Dimmesdale **intends** the people to only partially understand the literal meaning of what he say this **is** a kind of VERBAL IRONY called EQUIVOCATION.
Thought #3: The example is also an example of DRAMATIC IRONY; to quote from Chloe R: “[in dramatic irony] the words or actions of a character in a play have a different meaning for the audience th[a]n [for] the characters themselves.
In the example above the reader knows that Dimmesdale really is the “worst of sinners” though the characters (other than Dimmesdale, Hester, and Chillingworth) think he is quite the opposite.
Thought #4: The other kind of VERBAL IRONY is often also SARCASM: Oh, great. I’m so glad you decide to come on the trip with us since there’s plenty of room in our Mini Cooper.
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PLOT
“The plan/scheme/main story of a literary work or drama.”
The emphasis here is on the “plan or scheme” (or perhaps outline of the story) as distinguished from the story itself. I know that is a subtle distinction but it is one worth maintaining.
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FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
“Figurative language or speech contains images. The writer or speaker describes something through the use of unusual comparisons, for effect, interest, and to make things clearer. The result of using this technique is the creation of interesting images.”
Here’s another definition: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (or figures of speech) are a way of implying something beyond the literal meaning of the words you are using. Simile, metaphor, synecdoche, personification, apostrophe, conceit, hyperbole, punning, double entendre, rhetorical questioning, oxymoron, paradox, and literary synesthesia are all figures of speech.
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EPIPHANY
"sudden...revelation"
Lucy F has done an outstanding job with this definition. By quoting Joyce she get into a few things that I had hoped to get into while studying A Portrait. In case you want Lucy’s nuanced discussion of the term boiled down into a study-able form look above.
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STANZA
"A fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem"
1. Some critics define a STANZA as having to consist of a "fixed" or set number of lines. (See above.)
2. These critics often call irregular sections of a poem VERSE PARAGRAPHS.
3. Other critics (including me) use the term STANZA to refer to the units or sections of a poem regardless of whether they consist of a set number of lines or an irregular number of lines.
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Britta A
OXYMORON
the combination of seemingly contradictory terms
example:
living dead
[Mr. Cook sez: "darkness visible" from John Milton; William Golding author of _Lord of the Flies_ used the phrase for a title to one of his books too.]
RHETORICAL QUESTION
A question asked merely for effect, it is sometimes answered quickly by the one who poses the question.
[Mr. Cook sez: A RHETORICAL QUESTION can be a useful persuasive tool: (1) the answer is unstated (2) so the reader must come up with the answer but (3) the answer is so heavily implied by the question and the context that the answer is obvious. Therefore you persuade the audience members by in a sense forcing them -- in their minds -- answer the question with answer you want. (This, of course, can also make the audience feel manipulated and annoyed.)
example: "Marriage is a wonderful institution but who would want to live in an institution?"
[Mr. Cook sez: wow! that's a pun (on "institution") and a rhetorical question]
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
A phrase that can be interpreted in different ways, one way usually being risque.
Example
"If I told you that you had a good body would you hold it against me?"
[Mr. Cook sez in this example "good body" could either refer to physiology (a body that works well, that is athletic, that is healthy) or sexual attraction. Is that right?]
I think that a Canadian Irony should be renamed as a Funny Coincidence because that's usually what they are. Like having people give you "a thousand spoons when you need a fork"
DENOUEMENT (Resolution) - the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel, or the place in the plot at which this occurs.
Example: In Jane Eyre the denouement is when, at the end of the book, Jane and Rochester get married.
FLASHBACK - a device in the narrative of a motion picture, novel, etc., by which an event or scene taking place before the present time in the narrative is inserted into the chronological structure of the work or an event or scene so inserted
Example: In the movie Seven Pounds Will Smith's character has many flashbacks that show the reader an event in his past to further the plot of what is happening in the future.
FORESHADOWING - to present an indication or a suggestion of beforehand
Example: In Romeo and Juliet, both Romeo and Juliet say (before their deaths) that they would rather die than live apart. This is foreshadowing of how they are told that they must live apart, and therefore kill themselves to be together.
(with help from dictionary.com)
Kat L
SESTINA – (n.) A poem in verse form consisting of six six-line stanzas and ending in a three-line (envoy) stanza that concludes the poem (serving as a dedication of sorts) in a rhyming fashion.
VILLANELLE – (n.) A short poem with a fixed form, written in five sections of three-line verses (usually rhyming), followed by a quatrain and all being based on two rhymes.
FREE VERSE – (n.) A verse composed of usually unrhymed lines having no fixed metrical pattern.
Here are examples:
Sestina by Elizabeth Bishop
September rain falls on the house.
In the failing light, the old grandmother
sits in the kitchen with the child
beside the Little Marvel Stove,
reading the jokes from the almanac,
laughing and talking to hide her tears.
She thinks that her equinoctial tears
and the rain that beats on the roof of the house
were both foretold by the almanac,
but only known to a grandmother.
The iron kettle sings on the stove.
She cuts some bread and says to the child,
It's time for tea now; but the child
is watching the teakettle's small hard tears
dance like mad on the hot black stove,
the way the rain must dance on the house.
Tidying up, the old grandmother
hangs up the clever almanac
on its string. Birdlike, the almanac
hovers half open above the child,
hovers above the old grandmother
and her teacup full of dark brown tears.
She shivers and says she thinks the house
feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.
It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.
I know what I know, says the almanac.
With crayons the child draws a rigid house
and a winding pathway. Then the child
puts in a man with buttons like tears
and shows it proudly to the grandmother.
But secretly, while the grandmother
busies herself about the stove,
the little moons fall down like tears
from between the pages of the almanac
into the flower bed the child
has carefully placed in the front of the house.
Time to plant tears, says the almanac.
The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove
and the child draws another inscrutable house.
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One Art [a villanelle]
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something everyday. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing further, losing faster:
places and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
--Elizabeth Bishop
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This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
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