Literary Terminology
Prose/Literary Movements
Whose that Character?/ Novel Descriptions
Types of novels/ Novel descriptions
Poetry
100
A reference to another work, concept, or situation which generally enhances the meaning of the work that it is citing. There are many different types of these.
What is an allusion?
100
Plot is a series of episodes in a narrative carried out by the characters. It consists of: intial incident, rising action, the climax, falling action, and denouement.
What is plot and what are the components of a plot?
100
A protagonist is the main character who is the central focus of the story. The antagonist is his opposing force. This does not always have to be a person. A static character remains the same throughout the story. Lastly, a dynamic character refers to characters who undergo major changes.
What is a protagonist, antagonist, a static, and a dynamic character.
100
These novels utilize the convention of letter writing.
What is an epistolary novel?
100
Highly personal and emotional poetry. Subjective and melodious .
What is lyric poetry?
200
A work that operates on another level. The characters and events may be interpreted for both literal and symbolic meaning.
What is allegory?
200
A type of writing concerned with truth and actuality, detail, psychology, lack of sentimentality. Works such as Anna Karenina, The Sun Also Rises, Crime and Punishment can be put into this category.
What is realism?
200
Tragic hero- noble birth, larger than life, basically good, has an epiphany. Romantic- larger than life, charismatic, "saves the day", mysterious. I.E. Robin Hood modern- has human weakness, can be anyone, struggles for insight. I.E. Tom Joad in Grapes of Wrath Antihero- Protagonist is lacking in heroic qualities.
What is a tragic hero, romantic hero, modern hero, and antihero?
200
This early, epidsodic novel concentrates on the misadventures of a young rogue. I.E. Huckleberry Finn.
What is a picaresque novel?
200
A formal lyric poem that addresses subjects of elevated stature.
What is an ode?
300
An allegorical story that is intended to teach. It generally provides a moral lesson or illustrates a guiding principle.
What is a parable?
300
Writing in this movement is concerned with the following: emotions and passion, imagination and wonder, the individual, dreams and idealism. The following works fall into this category: The Scarlet Letter, Jane Eyre, Don Quixote.
What is romanticism?
300
The protagonist and narrator of the novel, _______ is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. Although she meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, _______ repeatedly succeeds at asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity, and morality. She also values intellectual and emotional fulfillment. Her strong belief in gender and social equality challenges the Victorian prejudices against women and the poor.
Who is Jane Eyre?
300
This readily identifiable type is always told in first person and allows the reader to interact with the protagonist.
What is an autobiographical novel?
300
Name this type of poem: Adonais I weep for Adonais- he is dead! O, weep for Adonais! Though our tears Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head! And thouh, sad Hour, selected from all years To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers, And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me Died Adonaise; till the Future dares Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be An echo and a light unto eternity!"
What is an elegy
400
This is an image that also represents something else. I.E. The Scarlet Letter is an example of this.
What is a symbol?
400
Literature in this movement is concerned with appealing to the senses, mood and effects, emotions and feelings, sensations into words. The following works fall under this category: Heart of Darkness, The Awakening
What is impressionism?
400
N ick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island, a wealthy but unfashionable area populated by the new rich, a group who have made their fortunes too recently to have established social connections and who are prone to garish displays of wealth. Nick’s next-door neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a gigantic Gothic mansion and throws extravagant parties every Saturday night.
What is The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald?
400
This type of novel is concerned with the supernatural and exotic. I.E. Frankenstein.
What is a gothic novel?
400
One of T.S. Eliot's most famous poems.
What is the Wasteland.
500
The subtle feeling that the author creates through diction.
What is tone?
500
The __________ writer generally exhibits or is concerned with the following: subjective responses, inner reality, abstract and mystical ideas, symbols and masks, man and society in chaos. Dubliners, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and The Metamorphois are all in this category.
What is expressionism?
500
T he setting is the last decade of the eighteenth century. The British naval warship H.M.S. Bellipotent impresses, or involuntarily recruits, the young sailor Billy Budd, extracting him from duty aboard the Rights-of-Man, a merchant ship. Billy’s commanding officer, Captain Graveling, though reluctant to let one of his best men go, has little choice in the face of the superior ship’s demands. Billy packs up his gear without so much as a protest and follows the boarding officer of the Bellipotent, Lieutenant Ratcliffe, across the gangway to his new assignment. After a cheery good-bye to his old mates, Billy settles in quickly among the company of the Bellipotent. He proves most industrious and eager in his role as foretopman and soon earns the affection of his more experienced fellow sailors.
What is Billy Budd?
500
This novel form is idealistic, imaginative, and adventuresome.
What is a romantic novel?
500
A type of poetry in which the poets rejectedmainstream American values, experimentation with drugs and alternate forms of sexuality, and an interest in Eastern spirituality. Poets such as: Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
What are the beat generation poets?