Topics: Entertainment › Actors
Type: Argumentative Essays
Sample donated: Tanya Burgess
Last updated: April 26, 2019
theme
the point or main idea of a literary work
setting
the time, place, and social conditions in which literary work occurs
grotesque character
(from Sherwood Anderson) a person who takes one of the many truths, calls it his/his own, and tries to live by it; implies a character who is wounded, scarred, obsessed, who has tunnel vision about some aspect of life.
round character
(from E.M. Forster) a character who has the emotional and psychological complexities associated with “real” people, a character who is capable of surprising the reader.
flat character
a “stock” or one-dimensional character, one who lacks the multifaceted qualities associated with real people, a character who is not capable of surprising the reader in a realistic way.
alliteration
reptition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words
allusion
a brief, often casual reference to a work of art, person, place or thing
assonance
the reptition of vowel sounds
caesura
a pause in a line of poetry
connotation
the emotional associations of a word beyond its dictionary definition
couplet
a two-lined, usually rhymed stanza
dramatic situation
“what’s going on” in a story, poem, play etc. the events, setting, and relationships that contribute to the piece
ephiphany
a moment of a sudden insight, a revelation
form
the way a poem is arranged on a page
free verse
a poem written in open form, without the constrictions of traditional rhyme and meter
haiku
traditionally a 17-syllable poem (5/7/5) that emphasizes imagery and conciseness
hyperbole
an overstatement, a statement containing exaggeration
image
sense experience expressed in language, a picture made with words
metaphor
a direct comparison, a statement that one thing is another thing
controlling/implied metaphor
a metaphor developed more subtley, throughout an entire work, a metaphor that uses neither a connective (like or as) or a form of the verb to be (is, am, are, was, were)
Sonnet
a “little song,” 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter
Shakespearean Sonnet
a sonnet that rhymes with the following pattern: abab cdcd efef gg (4 quatrains and a final couplet)
Italian/Petrachan sonnet
a sonnet that rhymes in one of the following patterns: abba abba (the octave) cdcdcd or cdecde or cdccdc
narrative poem
a poem that tells a story
onomatopeia
when the sounds of the words in a line of poetry imitate an “actual sound”
persona
the identity of “the speaker” in a poem, often different that the identity of the poet her(him)self
personification
giving human qualities to non-human things
prosody
the study of metrical structures (rhythm) in poetry
rhythm
the recurrence of stresses and pauses in poetry
refrain
the repetition of words, phrases, or lines in a poem or song
simile
a comparision using like or as
stanza
a group of lines in a poem
villanelle
a 19 line French form that emphasizes repetition. Uses the following rhyme pattern: aba aba aba aba aba abaa. Lines one and three repeat in their entirety throughout the poem!
Irony
the difference between what is expected to happen and what actually occurs
Automatic writing
“unconscious” writing , a stream of consciousness technique used to generate a great deal of content quickly; in automatic writing, writers record thoughts on paper as soon as they occur without analyzing them
Brainstorming
a rapidly made list. When writers brainstorm they do not “second guess”
Thesis statement
traditionally in the first paragraph of the analytic/argumentative papers.
Presents topics the paper will address in an organized way and expresses the essay’s argument/opinion
Topic sentence
It’s like, “the thesis statement for a paragraph.” Organizes the paragraph and prepares readers for both topic of the paragraph and the argument opinion that the paragraph will address
Romanticism
an artistic movement in the late 18th/early 19th centuries that emphasized the personal freedom of the individual. Includes such ideas/ideals as pantheism, the “noble savage,” the transcendent aspects of nature, and the idea that humans can find/know G-d directly.
Archetype
a symbol, character, situation, or image that evokes a deep universal response
Concrete poetry
when poetry makes designs (shapes) out of letters and words
Denouement
the conclusion, outcome, resolution of a story
Elegy
a sadly mediatative poem (a lament) sometimes written on the occasion of death
Soliloquy
words spoken when the actor is alone or in an aside (out of hearing range from the other actors); purpose: to reveal the character’s thoughts and/or other information essential for the audience to know
Symbol
a thing (action, object, place gesture, etc.) that suggests more than its literal meaning
Tragedy
a play usually in 5 acts, meant to arouse the emotions of pity and fear in the audience and thus produce a catharsis (purging) of these emotions [from Aristotle]
Tragic flaw
the shortcoming in the tragic hero that contributes to his/her downfall