Types of writing
A long piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a subject
What is essay
a literary movement that originated in late nineteenth century France, in which writers rearranged the world of appearances in order to reveal a more truthful version of reality.
Symbolism
The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the hero or anti-hero; in a tragic hero, like John Proctor of The Crucible, there is always a hamartia, or tragic flaw in his character which will lead to his downfall.
The protagonist
two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.
Couplet
Constructing a sentence so that both halves are about the same length and importance. Sentences can be unbalanced to serve a special effect as well.
Balance
A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style.
Parody
a style of writing, developed in the nineteenth century, that attempts to depict life accurately without idealizing or romanticizing it.
Realism
Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story.
Antagonist
In poetry, a type of rhetorical balance in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first, but with the parts reversed. Coleridge: “Flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike.” In prose this is called antimetabole.
Chiasmus
the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.
Inversion
Form of persuasion that appeals to reason instead of emotion to convince an audience to think or act in a certain way.
What is an argumentative essay
literature that emphasizes a specific geographic setting and that reproduces the speech, behavior, and attitudes of the people who live in that region.
Regionalism
Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.
Antihero
poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.
Free verse
sentence that places the main idea or central complete thought at the end of the sentence, after all introductory elements.
Periodic
A relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life.
What is a parable
a term for the bold new experimental styles and forms that swept the arts during the first third of the twentieth century.
Modernism
A character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero.
Foil
A poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.
What is Quatrain
Sentence of three parts of equal importance and length, usually three independent clauses.
Tricolon
An outrageously exaggerated, humorous story that is obviously unbelievable.
a nineteenth-century movement in literature and art which advocated a recording of the artist’s personal impressions of the world, rather than a strict representation of reality.
Impressionism
attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object
ANTHROPOMORPHISM
a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem
What is refrain
Sentence which uses a conjunction with NO commas to separate the items in a series. Instead of X, Y, and Z... Polysyndeton results in X and Y and Z... Kurt Vonnegut uses this device.
What is POLYSYNDETON