Literary Time Periods
a 19th century literary movement that portrays life in a realistic manner
What is Realism?
a group of lines in a poem
What is a Stanza?
the central idea of a work
What is Theme?
the central idea of a work
What is Theme?
the arrangement of sentence structure
What is Syntax?
the time period of Francisco Petrarch
What is Italian Renaissance?
unrhymed lines in poetry; blank verse
What is Free Verse?
technique of writing that undertakes to reproduce the raw flow of a character's thoughts
What is Stream of Conscousness?
a seemingly contradictory statement that is actually true
What is Paradox?
humorous speeches and incidents in a tragedy used to lighten the mood
What is Comic Relief?
writing that employs dark picturesque scenery, melodramatic devices, & atmosphere of mystery in the 19th Century
What is Gothic Literature?
a fourteen line poem with a single theme written in iambic pentameter
What is a Sonnet?
A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows
What is Dramatic Irony?
a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.
What is Paradox?
literary works that deal with the pleasures of a simple rural life
What is Pastoral?
literary movement that not only rejects tradition but posits no absolute truth & embraces chaos
What is Postmodernism?
poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another,
What is Juxtaposition?
a very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life.
What is a Fable?
a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing
What is Colloquialism or Colloquial Language?
when a solitary character in a play speaks his innermost thoughts
What is a Soliloquy?
20th century philosophy that perceives human existence as futile, empty, & meaningless
What is Existentialism?
the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.
What is Inversion?
a character whose traits are the opposite of another & illuminates the strengths & weakness
What is a Foil?
an elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different. Often an extended metaphor.
What is a Conceit?
an exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes
What is Parody?