Senior Project

After taking the AP test for English its nice to just relax with friends and make a video for remembering our high school year. We are making a compilation of funny moments that we had during our high school. This will be a nice cherry on the top of a great four years.

In Class Essay - Thou Blind Man's Mark

"Desiring naught but how to kill desire". The idea that one has to get rid of all desires would be a tough challenge. As Sir Philip Sydney describes the troubles that a blind man has he uses tone, diction, and shift to make his point stronger.

As one might think becoming blind is the end of the world, they would use a depressing vocabulary to describe how they feel. Sydney used phrases like "mangled mind" and "worthless ware" to show just how hard it can be to be blind. He also repeated the word "vain" in an attempt to really get the point across of how hopeless things are.

The poem starts off as a sort of rant about how miserable things are. When several reasons are given he switches the mood to be more accepting to the idea. "But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought". In this line the author begins to fuel acceptance for the condition and begins to start a new life.

Between the rant and depressed beginning and the acceptance of a new life, the author has fulfilled in getting his point of view across. Sydney created an overall sense of what it feels like to have a desire. When one form of desire takes place, like the blind man wanting to see again, another will soon form overpowering the old, "desiring naught but how to kill desire."

Sir Philip Sydney used an overall tone about desire by his use of a shift to separate two feelings and by his use of word choice in creating a better sense of how he feels.

Party Like It's 1999

The prompts can be found here.

Question 2:
_________

When a death occurs that someone is close too it becomes a hard thing to grasp. As the character described is responding to the death of this animal it means that the wolf must have been a very important part in his life. McCarthy used several different techniques including diction, imagery, and point of view to get an emotional response from the reader. This emotional response shows just how well written the section of the story was in order to keep the reader interested.

McCarthy used specific words to create a sense of attachment to the wolf that the main character had. One of the lines that stands out about this is "He cradled the wolf in his arms". The word cradled is something you would associate with a newborn baby or some small creature that you have to care for. "He touched the cold and perfect teeth" the word perfect is describing something as being the best and he is talking not only about the teeth but the wolf in general. McCarthy used a certain diction to pinpoint the feelings that the main character has about the wolf.

A main feeling in the spectrum of human emotion is an image. One image can be described with thousands of words but there are some words that can let your imagination run wild with emotion. "Running in the starlight where the grass was wet and the sun's coming as yet had not undone the rich matrix of creatures passed in the night before her." this one sentence describes the entire feelings of the main character about the wolf. When McCarthy mentions "runnning in the starlight" he is referring to the beauty that is the wolf. Images help give the reader a greater attachment to the main character's feelings towards the wolf.

McCarthy used a third person point of view and constantly mentions the main character with the word "he". This constant mentioning of the word "he" is used to make sure the reader still thinks of the connection with the wolf between the main character and the wolf. This constant mentioning of the main character is very strong at making a connection.

McCarthy used several different ways to get the emotional response from the reader about the main character and his wolf. He used literary techniques such as imagery, point of view, and diction. The main character is was a great example of how McCarthy can create such an impressive bond between two characters.

Question 3:
_________

Macbeth is the quintessential character of conflict within their own minds. Shakespeare created a wonderful character with the dilemma of whether or not to kill the king. The entire point of Macbeth making a decision is that on one side he can either stay where he is in life as a fairly high up position and live a good life, or kill the king and become the new king but live with that decision for the rest of his life. Shakespeare used this dilemma to convey a set a choices to the reader and get them to think about their actions.

Macbeth's first choice is to become the Thane of Cawdor and live a nice life in the honor of his fighting skills on the battlefield. Shakespeare had this be one of the options that Macbeth had to choose from because it shows that even if someone could have a perfectly fine and peaceful life more often than not a person will want more. The main thing that is influencing him to choose this option is the fact that he really does not want to betray people he knows just to move up in the social ladder. This choice really shows how if you just follow the natural rule of life than things will be just fine.

Macbeth's second choice is to kill the current king in order to become the new king. Shakespeare led Macbeth down this path in order to create the story in the first place but to also show the consequences of an action that is horrible against another person. Lady Macbeth is almost seen as the little devil on Macbeth's shoulder saying "do it, do it". She convinces him to do the unthinkable and kill the king in search of more power. If you choose to do something like this Shakespeare is sure to make you think about your action with the guilty mind being a powerful tool.

Both of these options that Macbeth had are used a lesson by Shakespeare. In one you can either betray friends and gain power at the cost of a your conscience or you can live a life where you don't have to worry about anything but what you are going to eat and where you will work. Having Shakespeare pick the option for Macbeth to start killing everyone should be seen as a lesson to anyone who may think about doing something in a manner that will make you regret it for the rest of your life.

At Least Two Essays

POETRY ESSAY PROMPT #2

Promp: 1983 Poem: “Clocks and Lovers” (W. H. Auden)

Prompt: Write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the attitude of the clocks with that of the lover. Through careful analysis of the language and imagery, show how this contrast is important to the meaning of the poem.

Poem I am used: Eldorado

"In sunshine and in shadow," the power that this one line has throughout this poem is very strong. It is the beginning of a search for a place called Eldorado. Poe uses imagery and language against one another to create a better sense of emotion in the reader. Eldorado is just the dream of something better than reality that cannot be attained even after a lifetime of searching. 

The first stanza starts out with an image of an energetic young knight who can't wait to start on their adventure for a place called Eldorado. As the story progresses Poe uses phrases like "and o'er his heart like a shadow," and "as his strength failed him at length" to convey a sense of hopelessness in the knights search of a better place. This shift of the poem is very important to create an emotion bond with the reader and the journey that the knight is on.

Poe uses repetition to make his point clear about the changing of the knight. The word shadow is used in all four of the stanzas, but they all have different meanings in each one. In the first stanza the meaning is that the knight is going to search knight and day for this place, while in the second one he has given up hope as a shadow covers his heart. In the third stanza shadow is used to represent a person or spiritual being giving the knight information. Finally in the last stanza "Valley of Shadows" means after death. With all these different meanings of one word Poe is able to create a vibrant emotional connection between the reader and the knight.

Poe used imagery and language throughout this poem to tell a tale of a knight through his search of a place better than reality. Eldorado is the essence of a dream place where this knight is trying to reach which after a lifetime of searching for finds the answer after death.



POETRY ESSAY PROMPT #1

[1994] Poems: “To Helen” (Edgar Allan Poe) and “Helen” (H.D.)

Prompt: The following two poems are about Helen of Troy. Renowned in the ancient world for her beauty, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, a Greek King. She was carried off to Troy by the Trojan prince Paris, and her abduction was the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Read the two poems carefully. Considering such elements as speaker, diction, imagery, form, and tone, write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the speakers’ views of Helen.

With all great works of art there are multiply ways to interpret them. As we see in the two poems "To Helen" and "Helen" there are two very different viewpoints. These viewpoints are both very well said and can be right either way. Edgar Allan Poe and Hilda Doolittle both share their opinions on Helen by their use of diction, tone, and imagery.

Poe talked about Helen as a part of something beautiful and elegant. He imagined it like a wondrous place and referred to it as the “Holy Land”. On the other side Doolittle talked about how after what had happened Greece was now a thinking of evil that had happened to them.

The way Poe embraces his words as a lovely array of symbols and warmth is very different compared to the harsh and cold way Doolittle sees it. With the first line in both poems you can tell which way their viewpoints are. “Helen, thy beauty is to me” Poe just embraces every part that is good in Helen. “All Greece hates the still eyes in the white face” Doolittle immediately shows how much she hates what has happened. Both of these poems tones are drastically different.

The images that are produced through the powerful words of Poe and Doolittle can be seen throughout their text. Poe’s words describe and immediate sense of serenity with the world that is Helen. Meanwhile Doolittle’s words create a sense of coldness and depression. Both of these images are very strong within the work.

Both Poe and Doolittle have very strong opinions about Helen and are shown through the powerful images and diction which create a powerful tone. These two authors both shared great opinions on Helen through their work.

Practice Poetry MC Questions

These are my answers to the questions here.

Do Not Gentle Into That Good Night
1.B
2.A
3.C
4.C
5.A

Departmental
1.C
2.D
3.D
4.C
5.C
6.B
7.B
8.A
9.A
10.E

Groupthink

In class today I talked with my group about the three poems we did and it really helped me understand the meanings of the poems. For the poem Eldorado we talked among each other and came to an understanding that the shadow's meaning changes throughout the poem which creates a deeper sense of emotion. For the poem Enigma we found out that what Poe meant to do was reference influential writers in every other line. This was the whole point of the poem to appreciate the work the authors had done. Finally the last poem we did was Epigram for Wall street and I found out that the point was to make fun of the people who think there is an easy way out of doing things when in reality you are going to always have to work for what you get.

The ironic part about groupthink is that we actually used everyones minds to make a solid understanding for each of us about the poems. Rather than there only being one opinion we had several that we used to make one comprehension.

Inspirational Video

I have realized that I have been way to irresponsible with the amount of work I have put into this semester. Grades came and a realization hit me of what I was doing wrong. I remembered back to when I saw this video that inspired me about starting new things and decided to watch it again. As I was watching it he says that there are two mistakes that people make: Not Starting, and Not FINISHING. This last part really caught my attention this time because I realized that I had become just another person who did not finish. There is still time left in this school year that I will do everything in my power to finish as best I can and not feel like I could have done better.

Gridlock

Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe

Meaning - Eldorado is a place that represents the idea of a dream that a person has. It shows how a young person might grow old searching for their dream; and to never give up on it.

Antecedent Scenario - Before the poem there was a child who heard of all these stories about a wonderful place like Eldorado and wants to look for it. Once he becomes a knight he realizes he can search for it and sets off on his quest.

A Division into Structural Parts - The first stanza shows a charismatic knight looking onward to a wonderful place. As we move into the next stanza the knight has become old and his dream covered by the ash of memories. In the third stanza, he meets what seems to be a ghost and it reignites his passion and desire to find Eldorado. In the final stanza, you find out that the ghost knows where Eldorado is but that it may be unattainable in the living world and that it actually lies past the "Valley of Shadow" which seems to be death.

The Climax - The knight is an old man who has given up hope and begins to talk to a shadow who brings back hope into the knight's eyes.

The Other Parts - Throughout the poem, Poe continues to use the word shadow in the middle of each stanza and with each use it seems to have a different meaning which really highlights the changes in the Knight's life. In the first stanza, shadow is used to mean a literal shadow where the sun is blocked out meaning that he travels by day and night. In the second stanza, shadow is used to represent the doubt and despair the knight feels for spending his whole life chasing a place he hasn't found. In the third stanza, shadow is used to represent a ghost or a ghostly figure when the knight meets the pilgrim shadow. In the last stanza, shadow is used in the phrase "the Valley of Shadow" which signifies that Eldorado may only be attainable after death.

The Skeleton - The curve of emotion in the poem seems to go from brightness and excitement in the beginning to depression and despair in the middle, and finally in the last two stanzas, the knight seems to be content and accepting of his life.

Games the Poet Plays with the Content Genre - The genres that this poem seems to apply to seem to be: Travel, Nature, Solitude, and possibly Love.

Tone - The tone in this poem is very similar to what the curve of emotion is in the skeleton. It starts out with joy and apprehension and transfers into gloom and ends with acceptance and mystery.

Agency - The main agent of the poem is the knight from the beginning of the story and he undergoes extreme changes in almost every stanza.

Roads Not Taken - I think that the author could have easily written several more stanzas either before or after the start of the poem, but I also believe that if he did so it would remove a great amount of the mystery and interpretation required by the reader which would leave it sounding bland and boring. I also believe that each stanza he did write was extremely crucial to the body of the poem.

Speech Act - The speech act of the poem seems to be an explanation of the events that took place throughout the Knight's life.

Outer and Structural Forms - Inner structural forms of tense seems to be from the future looking back on the life of the Knight. As for sentences, it seems that the author used the word shadow in the middle of each stanza on purpose to signify a change in the Knight's attitude or outlook on his quest. The outer structure shows that the rhyming scheme for the first three stanzas is aabccb and for the last one it is xxabba. The rhyming couplets are written in iambic duometer seemingly mimicking the clattering of horses hooves in search of Eldorado.

Imagination - The imagination used by the author regarding the Knight's impossible quest for Eldorado and the changes he undergoes seems adventurous and thought provoking.

I worked on this with August Blundell and we are looking forward to see what the rest of our group did with the other poems.

Seventh Reading

After a long day of tennis getting back and doing a lot of work reading these poems were not on the top or my priority list. But i was able to get it done and am interested in talking with a group about how they interpreted them also. These are the three poems I chose to read.

"Epigram For Wall Street"

"Eldorado"

"Enigma"

Micro AP Test Feedback

As I was taking the test I focused on what I remembered from the book and how I could correlate it with what I believed the prompt was asking. I do not think I did terribly but I also do not think it was the best paper I could have written. I know that there is a still a lot of progress I need to make in order to enhance my ability to write well organized and rounded essays.

Lit Circles Response: MC Questions

Picture of Dorian Gray:
1. D
2.C
3.A
4.B
5.D
6.C

The Five People You Meet In Heaven:
1.D
2.A
3.C
4.A
5.D
6.C
7.B
8.A
9.C
10.A
11.C
12.B
13.D
14.A
15.C

Crime and Punishment:

1.D
2.D
3.D
4.E
5.A
6.D
7.E
8.C
9.C
10.D
11.A
12.A
13.C
14.B
15.B
16.C
17.E
18.A
19.C

Life of Pi:

1.A
2.C
3.D
4.E
5.B
6.A
7.A
8.C
9.C
10.D
11.A
12.A
13.C
14.B
15.B
16.A
17.E
18.A
19.C
20.B
21.A
22.A
23.A
24.C
25.A
26.B
27.C
28.B
29.B
30.B
31.C
32.A
33.A
34.B
35.A
36.A
37.A
38.C
39.A
40.B
41.C
42.C
43.B
44.C
45.C
46.B
47.B
48.B
49.C
50.B

Macbeth Act 5 Notes

Lady Macbeth is being assessed for a sleepwalking behavior.
She reveals that she my feel guilty after all about the murders that have taken place.
Macbeth is furious when the doctor says that she cannot be cured except by some divination.
Macbeth is not afraid to die and does not want to live life into old age after all the things he has done.
Macbeth will not give up and wants to fight to the death.
He is able to kill the English generals son.
Macduff challenges Macbeth in a fight and is victorious.
Macduff walks out with Macbeth's head.
Macduff is crowned the new king of Scotland.

Macbeth Act 4 Notes

The witches show Macbeth three apparitions. The first warns him against Macduff, the second tells him to fear no man born of woman, and the third prophesizes that he will fall only when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane castle.

Macduff's whole family gets killed and he is going to use his anger to his advantage in the war against Macbeth.

Macbeth Act 3 Notes

Macbeth remembers of the prophecy and hires murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance.
Banquo is killed by the three murderers but Fleance manages to escape.
As Macbeth is eating at a banquit Banquo's ghost appears sending him into a panic of terror.
Lady Macbeth tries to get everything settled but the dinner ends early.
Macbeth visits the three witches again to see what they have to say.
Macduff joins the union of King Edward and prepare to go to war against Macbeth.

Macbeth Act 2 Notes

Macbeth sees a vision of a bloody dagger which foreshadows the event that is soon to come.
Duncan is killed by Macbeth.
Macbeth is filled with regret as soon as Lady Macbeth plants the dagger on the bodyguard.
The guards are killed by Macbeth because he was feeling nervous.
Lennox and Macduff flee because they are scared from what happened to Duncan.
People see the fleeing as a suspicious sign.

Macbeth Act 1 Notes

The play begins with an introduction to Macbeth being seen as a brave and valient warrier.

Duncan says he will give the title of Thane of Cawdor to Macbeth

 “By each at once her choppy finger laying upon her skinny lips. You should be women, and yet that your beards forbid me to interpret....” Description of the witches.

The witches fortell that Macbeth will become the king.

Banquo insists of Macbeth knowing his future.

Macbeth sees Duncan as a threat to the thrown and his wife poisons his ear into doing what she wants in order to get more power.

Lady Macbeth wants to be a man mentally and physically. “unsex me”

When Macbeth came back, the first thing Lady Macbeth says to him is let's kill the King tonight. 

Macbeth is scared and hesitates to follow Lady Macbeth's plan to kill the King

People honors Macbeth of his success; he doesn’t want to give it away right away.

Macbeth asks “If we should fail?” and Lady Macbeth responses by if you want to do, you will not fail.

Their plan is to make Duncan and his guards drunk; make his guards felt guilty of Duncan’s death.

First Quarter Review

So far in this semester I started out behind by not really taking this class to seriously, but I have since then improved in my ways and have begun to work harder at this class. I have already started on my senior project which is a collaboration with several other students in this class and will be a video as a finished project. Next grading period I expect myself to start working harder at doing assignments correctly and diligently. I will not hover procrastinate like I did this beginning and fall behind. What I think will help out people the most in this class is being able to see a visual of how others think of where they are at in the course. When I saw that I was at the bottom of the list on Ming's BoB I I realized i had to change something in what I was doing or else things would not turn out that well. So maybe we should have a more visual board that everyone can see that is also really easy to access and update.

Literature Terms 109-133

Rising Action: plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement toward climax.

Romanticism: movement in western culture begining in the eighteenth and pearking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.

Satire: ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of indivduals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.

Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter.

Setting: the time and place in whcih events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur. 

Simile: a figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.

Soliloquy: an extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.

Spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme.

Speaker: a narrator, the one speaking.

Stereotype: cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story.

Stream of Consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a 
character's thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.

Structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.

Style: the manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.


Subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important structures of language.


Surrealism: a style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational aspects of man's existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.


Suspension of Disbelief: suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.


Symbol: something which stands for something else; yet has a meaning of its own.


Synesthesia: the use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.


Synecdoche: another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.


Syntax: the arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence. 


Theme: main idea of the story; its message(s).


Thesis: a proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or disaproved: the main idea.


Tone: the devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the author's perceived point of view.


Tongue in Cheek: a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; a.k.a. "dry" or "dead pan"     

BOB I

Ming Chen: http://mchenrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Danielle Galindo: http://danig14.blogspot.com/
Reed Conforti: http://rconfortirhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Samantha Garrison: http://sgarrisonrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Valerie Gonzalez: http://vgonzalezrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Megan Hardisty: http://mhardistyrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Abby Kuhlman: http://akuhlmanrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Josh Ng: http://jngrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Isiah Mabansag: http://isiahmabansag.blogspot.com/ 
Conor McNamara: http://www.csmrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Erika Snell: http://www.esnellrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Nathan Oh: http://norhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Matthew Patel: http://mpatelrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Felicitas Ruiz: http://fruizrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 

Justin Thompson http://jthompson2rhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Dulce Vargas: http://dvargasrhsenglitcomp1.blogspot.com/  
Ashley Wilburn: http://awilburnrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Chanel Yamaguchi: http://cyamaguchirhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Devon Tomooka: http://dtomookarhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Tanner Tuttle: http://ttuttlerhsenglitcomp1.blogspot.com/ 
Ryunhee Kim: http://rkimrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Travis Knight: http://tmkrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Cassidy Ashlock:  http://cashlockrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Sebastian Guillen: http://sguillenrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Alicia Hernandez: http://ahernandezrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Haleigh Jones: http://hjonesrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/  
Alex Lane: http://alanerhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Troy Prober: http://tproberrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Brady Redman:http://bredmanrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Jason Reinwald: http://www.jreinwaldrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
August Blundell: http://ablundellrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Kristofer Green: http://kgreenrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Brittany Cunningham: http://bcunninghamrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Carly Koertge: http://ckoertgerhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Bailey Nelson: http://bnelsonrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/

Conner Patzman: http://cpatzmanrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ 
Karianne LaPlante: http://kariannelaplantesblog.blogspot.com/
Lacey Mougeotte: http://lmougeotterhsenglitcomp1.blogspot.com/
Colleen Livingstone: http://clivingstonerhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com

Sorry I do not have the links working right now, the color matching was not working. Just going to have to do it the old fashion way and copy and paste the links.

I AM HERE!

I know it may seem like I have been lacking in my responsiblities of posting (which is true) I am trying to catch back up to what I need to be at. Outside of this class however I have been playing a lot of tennis getting ready for my last season this year. I have also started my senior project with a group of people that I have made lots of videos for other classes and we are working on this one to make all of them seem trivial. Lets hope I can get back into the swing of things before its too late.

Literature Terms 82-108

Onomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning.
Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox

Pacing: rate of movement; tempo

Parable: a story designed to convey some religious principle, moral lesson, or general truth

Paradox: a statement apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally accepted ideas.

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.

Parody: an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist

Pathos: the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake

Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose

Poignant: eliciting sorrow or sentiment

Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing

Postmodernism:  literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness, and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary

Prose:  the ordinary from of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern

Protagonist:  the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.

Pun: play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications

Purpose:  the intended result wished by an author

Realism:  writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightforward manner to reflect life as it actually is

Refrain:  a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus

Requiem:  any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead

Resolution:  a point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis

Rhetoric:  use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade

Rhetorical Question:  question suggesting its own answer, or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion

Literature Terms 56-81

Genre:  a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content

Gothic Tale:  a style in literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent grotesque action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence

Hyperbole:  an exaggerate statement often used as a figure of speech or to prove a point

Imagery:  figure of speech or vivid description, conveying images through any of the sense

Implication:  a meaning or understanding that is to be arrived at by the reader but that is not fully and explicitly stated by the author

Incongruity:  the deliberate joining of opposites or of elements that are not appropriate to each other

Inference:  a judgement or conclusion based on evidence presented; the forming of an opinion which possesses some degree of probability according to the facts already available

Irony:  a contrast or incongruity between what is said and what is meant, or what is expected to happen and what actually happens, or what is thought to be happening and what is actually happening

Interior Monologue:  a form of writing which represents the inner thoughts of a character; the recording of the internal, emotional experiences of an individual; generally the reader is given the impression of overhearing the interior monologue

Inversion: words out of order for emphasis

Juxtaposition:  the intentional placement of a words, phrase, sentence or paragraph to contrast with another nearby

Lyric:  a poem having musical form and quality; a short outburst of the author's innermost thoughts and feelings

Magical Realism:  a genre developed in Latin America which juxtaposes the everday with the marvelous or magical

Metaphor:  an analogy comparing two different things imaginatively; can be  extended, controlling, or mixed

Metonymy:  literally "name changing" a device of figurative language in which the name of an attribute or associated thing is substituted for the usual name of the thing

Mode of Discourse:  argument, narration, description, and exposition

Modernism:  literary movement characterized by stylistic experimentation, rejection of tradition, interest in symbolism and psychology

Monologue:  an extended speech by a character in a play, short story, novel, or narrative poem

Mood:  the predominating atmosphere evoked by a literary piece

Motif:  a recurring feature (name, image, or phrase) in a piece of literature

Myth:  a story, often about immortals, and sometimes connected with religious rituals, that attempts to give meaning to the mysteries of the world

Narrative:  a story or description of events

Narrator:  one who narrates or tells a story

Naturalism:  extreme form of realism

Novelette/Novella:  short story; short prose narrative, often satirical

Omniscient Point of View:  knowing all things, usually the third person

Literature Terms 31-56

Dialect: the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others

Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth

Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things

Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words

Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education

Dogmatic: rigid in beliefs and principles

Elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting

Epic: a long narrative poem unified by a hero who reflects the customs, morals, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time

Epigram: witty aphorism

Epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone

Epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone's character, characteristics

Euphemism: the use of an indirect, mild, or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt

Evocative: a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality

Exposition: beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas, and/or characters, in a detailed explanation

Expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or feeling(s).

Fable:  a short simple story, usuall with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth

Fallacy: from Latin word "to deceive", a false or misleading notion, belief or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound

Falling Action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax

Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue

Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech (such as metaphor and simile)

Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events

Foil: a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more promient

Folk Tale: a story passed on by word of mouth

Foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; "planing" to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away

Free Verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme

Literature Terms 6-30

Analogy: a comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them

Analysis: a method in which a work or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts given rigorous and detailed scrutiny

Anaphora: a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the begining of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences

Anecdote: a very short story used to illustrate a point

Antagonists: a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative

Antithesis: a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness

Aphorism: a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life

Apologia: a defense or justification of some doctrine, piece of writing, cause, or action; also apology

Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly

Argument(ation): the process of convincing a reader by proving either the truth or falsity of an idea in proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself

Assumption: the act of supposing, or taking for granted that a thing is true

Audience: the intended listener or listeners

Characterization: the means by which a writer reveals a character's personality

Chiasmus: a reversal in the order of words so that the second half of a statement balances the first half in inverted word order

Circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served

Classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome (tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance)

Cliche: a phrase or situation overused within society

Climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the point of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved

Colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation

Comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed to provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter

Conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension

Connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition

Contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity

Denotation: plain dictionary definition

Denouement: loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, conclusion

Literature Terms 1-5

Allegory: a tale in prose or verse in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities; a story that uses symbols to make a point


Alliteration: the repetition of similar initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words


Allusion:  a reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects a reader to recognize


Ambiguity: something uncertain as to interpretation


Anachroism:  something that shows up in the wrong place or the wrong time