Askjagden's Guide to Literature: Literary Terms A-D
In this I shall not talk about famous pieces of literature; I shall just introduce important and rudimentary literary terms that takes people off their feet in tests. Perhaps I shall talk about famous pieces in the future.
The first term is an act, which is a major division of a play. Just as books are divided into chapters, plays are divided into acts.
The second term is an alliteration, which is the repetition of sounds at the beginnings of words. This usually refers to consonant sounds, because the term assonance (which we will discuss) is the repetition of vowel sounds at the beginning of words. In this sentence, It is what sent the snake coiling and flowing forward. from the poem The Black Sentence, an alliteration is used.
The third term is an allusion, which is a reference in a work of literature to a character, place, or situation from another work of literature, music, art, or from history. Martin Luther King, Jr. alluded to the Gettysburg Address in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
The fourth term is an analogy, which is a comparison based on a smilarity between things that are otherwise dissimilar. The most prominent analogies are similes and metaphors.
The fifth term is an anaphora, which is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several consecutive clauses, verses, or paragraphs. For example, "I don't like peas, I don't want beans, I don't like green, and I don't want to eat!"
The sixth term is an anecdote, whih is a brief account of an interesting or amusing incident. Raconteurs are people who tell good anecdotes. If someone is telling you a story, the story is an anecdote. An anecdote can be real; it can be fictional; it just has to be a brief account.
The seventh term is the antagonist, which is a person or force in society or nature that opposes the protagonist, or central character (which I discuss in future works), in a literary work. Voldemort is the antagonist in the Harry Potter novels, because he opposes the main character, Harry Potter. The antagonist can be good or bad (for some reasons everything seems to think the antagonist is an "evil fellow"); he just has to be against the main character.
The eighth term is the apostrophe, which is, in literature, the addressing of an absent thing or being or a direct personification of something. This is another definition of the word apostrophe, not the "'" sign. When you trip over something, you might say something like, "You stupid chair!" "You idiotic book!" The chair or the book is nonliving. Or if you talk to the stars as if they were humans, that would also be an apostrophe, because you are directly personifying the stars.
The ninth term is an argument, which is nonfiction writing in which reason is used to influence people's ideas or actions. Kids argue all the time with their parents, don't they? If I am writing something to support a viewpoint, then my work would be an argument.
The tenth term is an aside, which, in literature, is a comment made in a play by a character that is heard by the audience or another character but is nod heard by the other characters onstage. Asides are mainly used to unveil private thoughts or feelings. In Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, there are many asides. Can you tell when?
The eleventh term is assonance, which is the repetition of similar vowel sounds within nonrhyming words, especially in poetry. Note that this does not have to be in the beginning of words. In the poem Wanderer, assonance is utilized: flying south, south to feed and nest, ride the thermals mile after guileless mile without resting. Notice how y was boldened. Remember, assonance is the repetition of similar sounds, not letters.
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