Interior monologue: the expression
of a character’s thoughts, feelings, and impressions in a narrative. Can be indirect- in which the author serves
as selector, presenter, guide, and commentator… or direct- in which the author
doesn’t exist and the interior self of the character is given directly as
though the reader is overhearing an articulated stream of thought and feeling
flowing through the character’s mind
“It really made you feel like an
idiot, raising your hand this way.”
Inversion: changing the conventional
placement of words
“The dark side, I see in you.”
Juxtaposition: when an author
places a person, concept, place, idea or theme parallel to each other to
highlight the contrast in comparing them
“Her rosy lips touched her withered
cheek.”
Lyric: having the form and musical
quality of a song and especially the character of a songlike outpouring of the
poet’s own thoughts and feelings as distinguished from epic and dramatic poetry
Turn back the heart you've turned
away
Give back your kissing breath
Leave not my love as you have left
The broken hearts of yesterday
Magic(al) realism: characterized by
elements of the fantastic woven into the story with a deadpan sense of
presentation.
Like Water for Chocolate is an
example of magical realism.
Metaphor (extended, controlling,
& mixed): refers to a meaning or identity ascribed to one subject by way of
another. One subject is implied to be
another so as to draw comparison between their similarities and shared traits
Henry was a lion on the battlefield.
Metonymy: not using a formal word
for an object/subject and instead referring to it by using another word that is
intricately linked to the formal name/word.
“The white house is releasing a
statement…” The white house is actually
the president because a house itself cannot do that.
• Modernism: Marked by a
strong and intentional break with tradition. This break includes a strong
reaction against established religious, political, and social views.
• Belief that the world is created in the act of
perceiving it; that is, the world is what we say it is.
• There is no such thing as absolute truth. All things
are relative.
• No connection with history or institutions. Their
experience is that of alienation, loss, and despair.
• Championship of the individual and celebration of
inner strength.
• Life is unordered.
Concerned with the
sub-conscious.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
Great Gatsby is an example of modernism.
Monologue: a part of a drama in
which a single actor speaks alone but to others
St. Crispin’s Day Speech could qualify
as a monologue.
Mood: the definitive stance the
author adopts in shaping a specific emotional perspective towards the subject
of the literary work
The mood the author gave in the Kite Runner was optimistic.
Motif: an element, subject, idea or
concept that is constantly present through the entire body of literature.
In Paper Towns, ‘paper towns’ was a consistent motif in the
novel. It was about being fake and
unrealistic.
Myth: traditional or legendary
story usually concerning some being or hero or event with or without a
determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is
concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite or
phenomenon of nature
Hercules is a myth.
Narrative: a story or account of
events, experiences, or the like, whether true of fictitious
When I told my mom how my day went,
it was a narrative.
Narrator: a person who gives an
account or tells the story of events, experiences, etc.
I was the narrator of the story
when I was talking about my day.
Naturalism: a specialized variety
of realism which shows that people are fated to whatever station in life their
heredity, environment, and social conditions prepare them for… Emphasis on
environment and survival of the fittest.
The Hatchet is an example of
naturalism.
Novelette/novella: a short novel, a
fictional prose narrative that is longer and more complex than a short story
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is considered
a novella.
Omniscient point of view: a method
of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all
the characters in the story
“She looked down and saw the cracks
in the sidewalk and thought about how she cracked she was, just like the
pavement.”
Onomatopoeia: a formation of a word
by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent
Buzzzz, Snnnnaaaap, Zipp, HONK!
Oxymoron: a figure of speech by
which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect
Cruel Kindness. Big Shrimp.
Pacing: the movement of a literary
piece from one point or one section to another
This well-paced novel will keep you
turning its pages long past your bedtime.
Parable: a short, descriptive story
that illustrates a moral attitude or religious idea, a fable in its lack of
fantastic or anthropomorphic characters but is similar in length simplicity
The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a
parable.
Paradox: a figure of speech in
which a statement appears to contradict itself
"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy
tales again."
(C.S. Lewis to his godchild, Lucy Barfield, to whom he
dedicated The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
![]()
