Literary Language

Literary Language.By: Kiersten Kio

Places to go

alliteration

allusion

analogy

antagonist

apostrophe

character

characterization

cliché

climax

conflict

dialect

dialogue

euphemism

exposition

fable

flashback

foil

foreshadowing

genre

hyperbole

idiom

imagery

irony

Dramatic irony

Situational irony

Verbal irony

jargon

metaphor

mood

narrator

onomatopoeia

oxymoron

parody

personification

plot

Point of view

First person

Third person omniscient

Third person limited

Second person

protagonist

pun

resolution

sarcasm

satire

tone

alliterationdefinition

example

definition Repetition of the initial sounds of several

words in a group.

example “Rabbits running over roses”

allusiondefinition

example

definition A reference in one literary work to a

character or theme found in another literary work.

example “Harriet Tubman was called the Moses of

her time”

analogy

definition

example

definition A comparison of two things made to explain

something unfamiliar through its similarities to something familiar.

example “A street light is like a star. Both provide

light at night, both are in predictable locations, both are overhead, and both serve no function in the daytime. “

antagonist

definition

example

definition The character who opposes the main

character.

example an example of an antagonist in Harry Potter

would be Voldemort.

apostrophedefinition

example

definition A statement, question, or request

addressed to an inanimate object or nonexistent or absent person.

example "Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou

art"

characterdefinition

example

definition The people (or animals, things, etc.

presented as people) appearing in a literary work.

example Who is your favorite character in the

notebook? My favorite character is either noah, or ally.

characterization

definition

example

definition The way in which a writer reveals the

nature of a character.

example So all we could do is Sit!

Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one bit.

cliche

definition

example

definition An expression that has lost its power or

originality from overuse.

example “There's no place like home.”

Climaxdefinition

example

definition The high point of interest or suspense in a

story or play.

example "Nothing has been left undone to cripple

their minds, debase their moral stature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind."

conflict

definition

example

definition Dramatic struggle between two forces in a

story.

example “An eagle has strong wings and may,

therefore, symbolize something within you that can lift you - perhaps out of depression, towards the "light". “

dialect

definition

example

definition Language used that is different from the

formal language of an area or region.

example “Language dialect is like the type of

language that you speak in a particular region. It is like, in Tennessee, you wouldn't usually say you, you would say y'all.“

dialogue

definition

example

definition Conversation between people in a literary

work.

example Jake: (enthusiastically) "Hey! What's up?"

Selena: (grimly) "Nothing...just doing boring homework" Jake: (grinning) "Yeah, its boring alright, but if you get it done by nerd, he'll happily do it for you. Just as long as you pay him, that is. Selena: (amused) "Don't you EVER get caught?" Jake: (still grinning) "Some people are just plain lucky. Like me!" Selena: (shaking her head) "Someday, you're gonna pay for it and you'll wish you'd never done it" Jake: "Maybe, but for now just let it go as it is, OK?

euphemismdefinition

example

definition The substitution of a mild or less negative

word or phrase

example “Her mother kicked the bucket yesterday.”

exposition

definition

example

definition The part of a story or play that provides

background information and introduces the setting and main character.

example Most expositions begin from the first line

fable

definition

example

definition A brief tale designed to illustrate moral

lesson. Characters are usually animals.

example "A fox, seeing some sour grapes hanging

within an inch of his nose, and being unwilling to admit that there was anything he would not eat, solemnly declared that they were out of his reach."

flashback

definition

example

definition An interruption in the sequence of a story to

describe an event that took place earlier.

example "For a flashback to succeed as part of your beginning, it

should meet three criteria.

"First, it should follow a strong opening scene, one that roots us firmly in your character's present. . . .

"In addition, the second-scene flashback should bear some clear relation to the first scene we've just witnessed. . . .

"Finally, don't let your readers get lost in time. Indicate clearly how much earlier the flashback

foildefinition

example

definition A character whose physical or

psychological qualities contrast strongly with, therefore highlight, the qualities of another character (usually protagonist).

example Mercutio says, "If love be rough with you,

be rough with love." Who would think the opposite of that statement? The nurse tells dirty jokes. Who would be shocked at that behavior? Juliet is practical about how Romeo arrived under her balcony. Who would be the opposite of practical there?

foreshadowing

definition

example

definition The technique of giving hints about events

that have no yet happened.

example In the opening of The Wizard of Oz, set in

Kansas, the transformation of Miss Gulch into a witch on a broomstick foreshadows her reappearance as Dorothy's enemy in Oz.

genredefinition

example

definition A category of literary work.

example "Genre, as many students of the subject have

observed, functions much like a code of behavior established between the author and his reader. When we agree to attend a formal dinner, we tacitly accept the assumption that we will don the appropriate attire; the host in turn feels an obligation to serve a fairly elaborate meal and to accompany it with wine rather than, say, offering pizza and beer. Similarly, when we begin to read a detective novel, we agree to a willing suspension of disbelief."

hyperboledefinition

example

definition Deliberate exaggeration used to achieve

and effect.

example "she bought out Mary Kay just to have

enough makeup for one day!"

idiomdefinition

example

definition An expression with a meaning different

from the literal meaning of the individual words.

example "Every cloud has its silver lining but it is

sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint."

imagerydefinition

example

definition Words and phrases that appeal to the

reader’s senses.

example sight: the rose is bright red

hearing: it sounds like the chirping of several birds, with their high voices.smell: the air smells like going to the countryside. fresh and green. no smell of smoke but the fresh waters and the leaves.touch: it feels bumpy yet gives off a welcoming warmthtaste: it tastes sweet yet spicy at once, with a tinge of orange taste.

ironydefinition

example

definition A mode of expression, through words or

events, conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation.

example ”Crying to be delivered from the mess

you've built. Had the beaver not created the mess to begin with, there'd be no need to be delivered from it. “

Dramatic ironydefinition

example

definition The reader or viewer knows something the

character does not know.

example The audience knows that Juliet had taken

the potion from Friar Lawrence, but Romeo did not. But, when Romeo rushes in and find his Juliet "dead," he kills himself. Juliet wakes up finally, and then commits suicide as well.

Situational irony

definition

example

definition An event occurs that is unexpected.

example "Seated in a stenographer's chair, tapping

away at a typewriter that had served him through four years of college, he wrote a series of guidebooks for people forced to travel on business." The writer hated travel.

Verbal ironydefinition

example

definition Speech that does not mean what the

speaker says or that is unexpected.

example Mother comes into the TV room and

discovers her 11-year-old watching South Park instead of doing his homework, as he was set to a dozen minutes ago.  Pointing to the screen she says, "Don't let me tempt you from your duties, kiddo, but when you're finished with your serious studies there, maybe we could take some time out for recreation and do a little math."

jargondefinition

example

definition Language that is used or understood by a

select group of people.

example A word can be both slang and jargon as is

seen in the use of the word “say.”  The word “say” is not slang unless it is used at the beginning of a sentence as in “tell me.”  For example, the following uses of the word “say” are considered slang: 

“Say, how much does that cost?”  “Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light.” 

metaphordefinition

example

definition A comparison is made between two unlike

things without the use of “like” or “as”

example "Between the lower east side tenements

the sky is a snotty handkerchief."

mooddefinition

example

definition The feeling or atmosphere that a writer

creates for the reader.

example "Life is full of misery, loneliness, and

suffering--and it's all over much too soon."

narratordefinition

example

definition The teller of the sory.

example Holden Caulfield, the narrator and main

character in The Catcher in the Rye, one of the most famous books of all time. He tells the story.

onomatopoeiadefinition

example

definition A literary device wherein the sound of a

word echoes the sound it represents.

example Knock-knock Who's there?

BooBoo who?Don't cry, I was only joking

oxymorondefinition

example

definition A phrase combining two contradictory

terms.

example "O brawling love! O loving hate! . . .

O heavy lightness! serious vanity!Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!

parodydefinition

example

definition A work that comically imitates another work

example "'And that boy of his, Frito,' added bleary-eyed

Nat Clubfoot, 'as crazy as a woodpecker, that one is.' This was verified by Old Poop of Backwater, among others. For who hadn't seen young Frito, walking aimlessly through the crooked streets of Boggietown, carrying little clumps of flowers and muttering about 'truth and beauty' and blurting out silly nonsense like 'Cogito ergo boggum?'"

personificationdefinition

example

definition Giving human qualities to abstract ideas,

animals, and inanimate objects.

example The sun kissed the flowers.

The wind was whistling. The grass was dancing.The car was humming.The washer gurgled the detergent.The computer began to talk.Opportunity began to knock on my door

plotdefinition

example

definition What happens in a story; the sequence of

events

example "Captain Stronghead piloted his spacecraft

to Proxima Centauri," is an event with no plot. "Captain Stronghead piloted his spacecraft to Proxima Centauri in order to escape the despotic regime on Earth," has the beginning of a plot.

Point of view

definition

definition The perspective or vantage point from

which a story is told.

First persondefinition

example

definition Relates events as they are perceived by a

single character.

example "I was walking down the street when all of a

sudden..."

Third person omniscient

definition

example

definition Outside of any single character’s

perception. It is an “all-knowing” point of view.

example uses pronouns such as he, she, it, or the

name of the character.

Third person limited

definition

example

definition Outside of any single character’s

perception but not all-knowing.

example is the same as omnicient except the

narrator only knows the thoughts and emotions of one, sometimes two, characters .

Second persondefinition

example

definition Relates the events to another character

using “you”, so that the story is being told through the addressee’s pint of view. Least used in literature.

example You are not the kind of guy who would be

at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.

protagonistdefinition

example

definition The main character in a story.

example Harry potter

BatmanSuperman

pundefinition

example

definition a humorous play on words, often involving

double meanings.

example He drove his expensive car into a tree and

found out how the Mercedes bends.

resolutiondefinition

example

definition The final outcomes of the story.

example The time period during which the

authorizations are effective

sarcasmdefinition

example

definition A form of sneering criticism in which

disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise.

example And your crybaby whinny opinion would be...?

Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed. If I throw a stick, will you leave?If I want to hear the pitter patter of little feet, I'll put shoes on my cats. Does your train of thought have a caboose? Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?

satiredefinition

example

definition Ideas, customs, behaviors or institutions

are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society and may be witty, mildly abrasive or bitterly critical and often uses exaggeration to force readers to see something in a more critical light.

example "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift.

tonedefinition

example

definition The attitude of the writer toward his

audience/literary work.

example animated ambivalent apathetic accusatory

amused absurd aggressive acerbicangry abstruse assertive aggrievedarrogant awestruck admiringadmiring assertive ardent acerbicbefuddled benevolent bitter belligerentcompliant cautionary condescending callouscynical colloquial comic confusedcritical compassionate complaining chatty complex cheerful contemptuous causticcruel celebratory candid conciliatorydetached depressed disapproval docileevasive docile derisive dignifieddisparaging distressed disheartened diplomaticdefiant dispassionate demeaning excited empathetic egotistical earnest farcicalfrustrated forceful formal frankfawning flippant faultfinding frivolousfuming ghoulish grim gulliblegentle hard hard-hearted hypercriticalhumble intense incensed imploringindignant intimate impressionable sulkinginane irreverent impassioned informativeincredulous indifferent impartial ironicjaded joyous laudatory loving malicious mocking modest macabremourning mean-spirited naive nastynarcissistic nostalgic objective outraged obsequious optimistic outspoken placatingpompous pragmatic pretentious prayerful playful pathetic pessimistic pensivepatronizing philosophical persuasive reflectiveresentful reverent resigned regretfulrighteous reticent reflective restrainedsentimental satirical sympathetic skepticalscornful scathing subjective self-pityingsensationalistic submissive scorning subjectivesolemn sorrowful tragic thoughtfultolerant unassuming unbiased uneasyvirtuous vindictive witty world-wearywretched wonder worried whimsical