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Essential background information about plot & events to come
May also include flashbacks of events which have already occurred
1st part of Freytag's pyramid |
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Story & events leading up to climax
May transition from exposition with an "inciting incident"; also known as complication/development
May contain mini climaxes that precede the overarching climax |
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| Point of a work of literature at which crisis(es) are reached and a resolution is imminent; highest point of tension in a work of literature |
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| Falling Action & Denouement (of Plot) |
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4th and 5th elements of Freytag's pyramid
Falling action provides "resolution" to climax
Denouement provides resolution & closure for reader of entire story |
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Greek for "suffering/feeling"
Quality of art that evokes feelings of pity or sorrow
E.g. And of Clay We Are Created - vivid descriptions of Azucena's predicament being trapped in the clay allowed the reader to truly become emotionally invested |
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| Characters who fulfill stock roles; often 2ndary characters in a story |
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| Direct vs. Indirect Characterization |
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Direct - author TELLS US with specific words when describing character; we learn from what author tells us
Indirect - when author makes a character behave in certain manner; we learn through their thoughts or actions |
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Greek = "mark/emblem/sign"
Any object that stands in for something else; combines image w/ a concept
Typically a concrete image symbolizes an abstract concept |
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Authors of...
1) Storyteller
2) A Good Man is Hard to Find
3) And of Clay we are Created
4) Rocking Horse Winner |
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1) Silko
2) O'Connor
3) Allende
4) Lawrence |
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| Types of 3rd Person Narration? |
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Omniscient - knows all characters thoughts
Limited Omniscient - knows only 1-2 characters thoughts
Dramatic-Objective - knows no characters' thoughts (e.g. The Lottery) |
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| Element of Fiction - PLOT |
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Events that take place in that work; more than a "list", relates emotional and dramatic connections between the events in the work
Traditionally follow structure outlined by Freytag's Pyramid |
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| Element of Fiction - CONFLICT |
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Tension present in literary work
Can include relationships between characters that propel actions which alter the plot (events) of a story
Often, resolution or lackthereof of the conflict is paramount in expressing the theme in the work of art
E.g. A Good Man Is Hard To Find - ostensible conflict between G'ma & misfit; actual conflict between good & evil (theme of the story) |
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A reference in one work to another work, person, event, etc.
Allusions allow reader to share a common experience with author; enrich work by association, adding depth
E.g. Allusion to "Self" magazine in Tiny Smiling Daddy (Gaitskill) |
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| Element of Fiction - VIEWPOINT |
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Refers to "person" who is telling the story; refers to narrator
Relationship of the narrator to the reader
Can be - 1st, 2nd, 3rd (lim, omnisc, dram-obj) |
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A language or manner of speaking peculiar to specific individuals, classes, or regions
Typically differs from standard English in vocab, accent, etc.
Use dialect to lend VERISIMILITUDE to their dialogue
E.g. The Man Who Was Almost A Man |
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| Element of Fiction - SETTING |
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Refers to both the time AND place where the literary work takes place
Setting can create an emotional response in the reader - ATMOSPHERE
Can be - specified, unspecified, general; dynamic, static
E.g. The Lottery - general setting; adds universality to the themes |
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Greek = "recognition"
Moment of recognition when ignorance gives way to knowledge; moment of truth - can be in context of reader or character (epiphany - usually w/ characters)
Often coincides with peripeteia - reversal of fortune from prosperity to ruin
E.g. The Lottery - reader realizes that the winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the village; assume that winning the lottery is a good thing, but nah son, shit gon kill u |
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A reversal of fortune from prosperity to ruin (often coincides with anagnorisis = moment of truth where ignorance gives way to knowledge)
E.g. Rocking Horse Winner - Paul's change of luck from fortune to death (materialistic needs of society can be fatal) |
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Syntax = related to rules and patterns of sentence construction; how the words are STRUCTURED
Semantics = relating to words & their meanings; the MEANINGS of the words used |
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| Examples of Semantic Devices: |
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| Diction, Imagery, Symbolism, Irony, Figures of Speech |
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| Denotative vs. Connotative Meaning? |
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Unusual use of language; figurative instead of literal
E.g. Rhetorical figures, tropes |
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| Examples of Rhetorical Figures... |
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Antithesis
Apostrophe
Chiasmus
Parallelism
Rhetorical questions
Syllepsis |
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Fundamentally contrasting ideas, sharpened by the use of opposite or noticeably different meanings; can indicate irony
E.g. Code of the Woosters - Bertie is rich but incompetent; Jeeves is his servant but is actually much more competent than Bertie himself |
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A figure of speech in which a thing, a place, an abstract quality or idea is addressed as if present and capable of understanding
E.g. should probs find one |
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A question that is asked not expecting an answer (answer may be self-evident)
E.g. I Stand Here Ironing - mother asks herself rhetorical quesitions (could I have helped my daughter; what was I expected to do) to ease her guilt |
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Use of one word or phrase to mean or represent another word or phrase
E.g. Metaphor, metonymy, personification, simile, synechdoche |
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Figure of speech (trope) in which one thing is described in terms of another; usually an IMPLICIT comparison (compared to the explicit comparison in simile)
E.g. find one |
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The embodiment of some quality or abstraction; typically done by bestowing human qualities upon inanimate objects
E.g.find... |
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A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, recognized by use of the words "like" or "as"; EXPLICIT comparison (compared to implicit comparison in metaphor)
E.g. find one |
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A figure of speech (trope) in which one part stands in for the whole - allowing something else to be understood within what is mentioned
E.g. find one... |
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Greek = "manifestation"
Insight or revelation gained when one suddenly understands the essence of something; "Eureka" moment with an instantaneous discovery that imparts new insight - in context of the character
E.g. A Good Man Is Hard To Find (O'Connor) - moments of grace for the G'ma and Misfit; G'ma has the epiphany that we are all God's children (major theme) |
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| Element of Fiction - TONE |
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Refers to the narrator's attitude towards the events in a work of fiction, events in it, and sometimes the reader
Is the emotional component of VIEWPOINT (how narrator's place influences the emotional aspect of the story) |
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| Difference between TONE and ATMOSPHERE |
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Tone = emotional component of VIEWPOINT
Atmosphere = emotional component of SETTING |
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One of the dominant ideas in a work, part of central theme (motif; e.g. colour red/red tin in Storyteller)
Leitmotif = recurrent, dominant motif that occurs throughout an author's entire oeuvre (e.g. Kilgore Trout in Vonnegut Jr's work) |
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| Element of Fiction - THEME |
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The main idea, acting as the intellectually apprehensible meaning inherent or implicit within the work of literature
Can be multiple present in a given work, sometimes depends on who interprets it |
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Greek = "dissimulation"
Perception or awareness of an incongruity between:
Words & meaning (verbal irony)
Actions & results/appearance vs. reality (situational irony)
E.g. |
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Recall that irony = awareness of a discrepancy/incongruity between words & meaning or appearance and reality
Dramatic irony = when the audience understands the implication and meaning of a situation (situational) or what is being said (verbal) but the characters do not |
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A device likely derived from cinema, depicting events that happened at an earlier time; often used in the exposition of the plot of a piece of literature
E.g. Slaughterhouse-Five (Vonnegut) - flashbacks throughout PIlgrim's life; corresponds with the disjointed nature of Billy's thought processes - suggest psychological unrest in the mind of the protagonist |
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German = "formation novel"
Account of youthful development of a main character; describes process by which character achieves maturity through life experience
E.g. Maurice - coming of age story of Maurice; life experiences make him comfortable in his homosexuality |
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Ascription of human feelings to the inanimate; arrange natural landscape so it seems to be in sympathy with a human being (similar to personification)
E.g. having weather mirror emotional states; grey & bleary as in Storyteller
E.g. think of another better one |
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Devotion to beauty & taste; movement that held that art is autonomous, and need serve no other need than being beautiful (led by Wilde)
Reaction against materialism & repressiveness of late Victorian age
E.g. Maurice - something about that |
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Highest or most noble form on love in that which gives insight into the devine (man loves another man because of absolute beauty, taking into account inner virtues)
Transcends love that only considers mere outward beauty
E.g. MAURICE DUH. |
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Latin = "leaf"
A SECONDARY character whose main purpose is to create contrast with another character (usually protagonist); contrast can be physical, emotional, literal, or symbolic
E.g. Risley in Maurice - foil to the Platonic love existing between Clyde & Maurice; Risley is also a satire |
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Greek = "again rubbed away"
Surface used more than once for writing on; now used metaphorically to refer to multiple layers of meaning, multiple points of view, etc.
E.g. Maurice...find something |
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Figure of speech (trope); closely related to a metaphor, name of an attribute of a thing is substituted for the thing itself (e.g. Stage = theatrical production; Crown = metonym for Monarchy)
E.g. - was not "Science speaking" - when Maurice tells Dr. Barry about his love for men; feels as though it is all of the scientific community (Science) cutting him off, as though his love is not real - cannot reveal true identity and remain true to self |
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Literary art of diminishing or derogating a subject by making it ridiculuos; kind of protest, sublimation of anger by evoking attitudes of amusement, contempt or indignation towards a subject which has been diminished
E.g. The Gorilla/Spode - is a black shorts, pokes fun at black shirts - satire towards fascists; Blackshirts were led by Mussolini
E.g. Bertie - satirizing the upperclass of Britain; doesn't need to follow rules because he realizes he will have few consequences |
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Greek = "overcasting"
Figure of speech containing an exaggeration for emphasis
E.g. Find something in Slaughterhouse V about Dresden probs something like that
E.g. Mentioned for Code of Woosters - Bertie describing his hangover - "as if he was going to die in 5 minutes" - satirizes the perceived "problems" of the upperclass, which aren't really problems, more unfortunate luxuries |
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Opposite of hyperbole; figure of speech containing an understatement for emphasis (opposite of hyperbole)
E.g. Code of the Woosters (Wodehouse) - "rather unpleasant feeling as if you would die in 5 minutes; both litote and hyperbole |
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Greek = "mock song"
Imitative & exaggerated use of someone else's words, style, attitude tone to make them look ridiculous; satirical mimicry
E.g. Menippean satire - parody of the blackshirts by the "blackshorts" movement that Spode is a part of in CoW |
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Genre that concerns itself with conduct of people living under inscribed moral requirements, usually of the upper classes; elegance, wit, sophistication; characters use manners as weapons
E.g. CoW |
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