American Literature: LA-3/LA-3S

1. Abridged Edition: A condensed version of a work. It may be done to save space or to cut out passages which are thought unsuitable for some sections of the reading public. School editions of Shakespeare were often abridged.
2. Abstract: Not concrete. It does not specify one person and may not be entirely true. Abstract in a visual form maybe something like a Picasso. All the shapes and colors mix to look like a human, but very well could be something else.
3. Acronym: A word formed from of based on the initial letters or syllables of other words.
   1. Examples: MADD (Moms Against Drunk Driving), PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)
4. Addendum: An addition or an appendix to a book.
5. Allegory: An allegory is a story with double meaning: a primary meaning or surface meaning (something obvious): and a secondary meaning or an under the surface meaning (something not obvious, but understood with more research).
   1. Examples of allegories: John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), Dante’s The Divine Comedy, William Langland’s Piers Plowman, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene” (1590-1596).

 

Prefix: a-, an-:  not, without: amoral, anesthetic, apolitical, asocial

Suffix: -agog, -agogue: leader: demagogue, pedagogue

 

1. Alliteration: Consonants, at the beginning of the words, are repeated in a sentence.
   1. Example: Sally sold seashells by the sea shore.
2. Allusion: A reference to another work of literature, art, to a person, science, pop culture, music, locations, or a historical event.
3. Ambiguity: is the property of being ambiguous, where a word, term, notation, sign, symbol, phrase, sentence, or any other form used for communication, is called ambiguous if it can be interpreted in more than one way. Ambiguity is distinct from vagueness, which arises when the boundaries of meaning are indistinct. Ambiguity is context-dependent: the same communication may be ambiguous in one context and unambiguous in another context.
4. American Renaissance: The writing period before the Civil War (1861), beginning with authors such as Emerson and Thoreau with the Transcendentalist movement, and also included Whitman, Hawthorne, and Melville.
5. Anagram: When the letters of a word are transposed (or moved around) to spell a new word.
   1. Examples: Kayak = kayak,  desserts = stressed

Prefix: ab-: away from: abduction, abstain, abnormal

Suffix: -cide: kill(ing): patricide, infanticide, herbicide. suicide

 

11. Analysis: A detailed splitting up and examination of a work for literature. A close         study of the various elements and the relationship between them. An essential part          of criticism.

12. Anglo-Saxon Period (or Old English Period): The period from the invasion of           Celtic England by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the first half of the 5^th century.   Up till the conquest in 1066 by William of Normandy. After their conversion to Christianity in the 7^th century, the Anglo Saxons began to develop a written        literature (before this time stories have been passed down orally). One of the more           famous stories to come of this time period is Beowulf.

13. Annotation: Textual comment in a book. It may consist of a reader’s comment in         the margin, or printed explanations done in note form, provided by the editor.

14. Antagonist: In drama or fiction the antagonist opposes the hero or protagonist.

                  Example: The Joker is the antagonist; Batman is the protagonist.

15.Assonance: Repetition of similar  vowel sounds, to achieve a particular effect in             the same sentence.

 

Prefix: ad-: to, toward: adjoin, adjacent (lying near to)

Suffix: -ia, -y:  act, state:  amnesia, mania, democracy, anarchy

Week  4                                                                                                                         4  

 

16. Atmosphere: The mood and feeling, the intangible quality which appeals to       extra-sensory perception. “Show, not tell” feeling.

17. Autobiography and Biography:

Autobiography: An account of one person’s life by him- or herself. The person wrote their own nonfiction story for readers.

Biography: A nonfiction story about someone and told by another.

      18. Bibliography: A list of books, essays, and monographs on a subject; or a list of           works of a particular author.

      19. Black theater: Drama which, initially, was concerned with the consciousness and         identity of black Americans, and a kind of movement which has had considerable      influence outside America and which has in turn been affected by the Black   Power and Civil Rights movements.

      20. Blank Verse:  This consists of unrhymed five-stress lines; properly, iambic       pentameters. It has become the most widely used of English verse forms and is the one closest to the rhythms of everyday English speech.

 

 

Prefix: neo- : new, recent:  neologism, neo-liberal, neonatology. neolithic

Suffix: ory: place for: Latin

 

 

 

Review previous terms and retest.

 

 

21. Blurb: A brief description of the contents of a book printed on the dust jacket.

22. Caesura: A break or pause in a line of poetry, dictated by the natural rhythm of      the language and enforced by punctuation. A caesura only uses a period,                                exclamation point, or question mark.

                                    Example: I really like the Beastie Boys,

                                                    They lay down the beat.

                                                    They jam! Those boys from the hood-

                                                    So get up off your seat.

23. Caption: Its commonest use is as a title or explanation, usually in a brief      paragraph, which is put above a picture, diagram, cartoon, or any kind of            illustration.

24. Cliché: An over- used expression which is life-less. A very large number of             idioms  
       have become clichés through excessive use.

                        Example: “Failure is not an option.”

25. Climax: The part of a story or play, at which a crisis/debacle/problem is reached.

 

Prefix: ana-: up, back, again: analogy, anatomy, anagram

Suffix: -ectomy:  cutting:  appendectomy, splenectomy

 

 

 

26. Colloquy: A dialogue or discussion.

27. Comic Relief: Comic episodes or interludes, usually in tragedy aimed to relieve
      the tension and heighten the tragic element by contrast. (You see this in a lot of
      pop-culture movies where you want to cry and then something funny happens.)

28. Community Theater: Seen as responding to the concerns and serving the needs    of the community to which is it performed. You can see this in plays such as     Avenue Q and Rent. Or, it is possible to see it in movies too, such as: Hotel             Rwanda, Brokeback Mountain, and A Beautiful Mind.

29. Comparative Literature: The examination and analysis of the relationships and      similarities of the literatures of different peoples and nations.

30. Composition: Textbooks on this subject distinguish four kinds of prose composition:

       exposition, argument, description, and narrative.

 

Prefix: anti-:  against: antipathy, antiwar, antisocial

Suffix: -ic, -tic, -ical, -ac: having to do with:  anthropomorphic, dramatic, biblical,
             cardiac

 

31. Connotation: The suggestion of implication evoked by a word or phrase, or even   

      quite a long statement of any kind, over and above what they mean or actually denote.

                        Example: If you say… “That girl is cool.”

                                                Connotation: She is a nice girl.

                                                Denotation: She is cold (as in temperature).

32. Contrast: The juxtapositions of disparate or opposed images, ideas, or both, to

      heighten or clarify a scene, theme or episode. Contrast is to show differences.

                        Example: Light vs Dark, Good vs Evil

33. Copyright: Until the middle of the 16^th century authors had little or no protection

      against plagiarism, or downright filching and pirating. When this became a serious

      problem printers’ guilds were granted rights to protect their members. The first

      English copyright law dates from 1709. Under the 1956 Act the copyright covers a

      author’s life-time and 50 years thereafter.

34. Couplet: A poetic term of two successive rhyming lines. A Heroic Couplet is two

      rhyming lines at the end of a poem.

35. Critique: A detailed review and assessment of a literary work.

 

Prefix: cata-, cat-:  down, against: catastrophe–a turning down

Suffix:  -ics: things having to do with:  optics, physics

 

 

 

36. Denotation: The most literal and limited meaning of a word, regardless of what one 

      may feel about it or the suggestions and the ideas of connotes.

                        Example: If someone says, “That’s chill.”

                                    Denotation: Something is cold in temperature.

                                    Connotation:  That is good.

37. Denotation: is the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning. Opposite of                            connotation.
38. Epilogue: a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used
      to bring closure to the work. The writer or the person may deliver a speech,
       peaking directly to the reader, when bringing the piece to a close, or the narration      
       may continue normally to a closing scene.
39. Euphamism: is the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place  
      of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener;[1] or in the
      case of doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker.
40. Flashback:  action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier time
      which is necessary to better understanding.

Prefix: com-, con-: with, together: communal, community

Suffix: -ism:  the belief in:  pacifism, terrorism, socialism, communism

 

 

Review previous terms and retest.

 

 

41. Foil: is a character that contrasts another character, often the protagonist, that
      therefore highlights certain qualities of the protagonist (or whoever the foil may be).
42. Foreshadowing: is the use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in 
      literature.
43. Hyperbole: is exaggeration or over statement.
44. Image: is language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting,
      smelling, touching.
45. Irony: is an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant.
            Three kinds of irony:
                    verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means something else.
                    dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a character in
                                             the  literature does not know.
                    irony of situation is a discrepency between the expected result and actual  
                                                 results.

Prefix: contra-: against: contradict, contravene
Suffix: -ist: one who believes in: pacifist, terrorist, socialist, communist

 

46. Metaphor: comparison of two unlike things using the verb “to be” and not using like
      or as as in a simile.
47. Motif : A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work.
48. Mood: is the emotional attitude the author takes towards his or her  subject.
49. Nemesis: The term has several possible meanings: (1) the principle of retributive
     justice (sometimes referred to as “poetic justice”) by which good characters are
     rewarded and bad characters are appropriately punished; (2) the agent or deliverer of
     such justice, who exacts vengeance and meets out rewards, as, for example the Duke
     in Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”. In classical mythology, Nemesis was the
     patron goddess of    vengeance; the expression often denotes a character in a drama
     who brings about another’s downfall, so that Hamlet may be said to be Claudius’s
     nemesis in Shakespeare’s tragedy.
50. Onomatopoeia: is a word that imitates the sound it represents.

Prefix: dia-, di-:  through, across: diameter, division
Suffix: -ite:  one connected with: meteorite, polite, cosmopolite

 

51. Oxymoron: is putting two contradictory words together.
52. Paradox: reveals a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory. Two opposing
      ideas.
53. Personification: is giving human qualities to animals or objects.
54.Prologue: is a prefatory piece of writing, usually composed to introduce a drama. The
     Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider  
     significance, embracing any kind of preface, like the Latin praefatio. The prologue is
     usually in the beginning of a book.
55. Puns: the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of
      its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound.

Prefix: dis-: apart, not: disengage, discord, discomfort
Suffix: -logy:  study field of:  biology, geology, etymology, cardiology

 

56. Satire:

 

Prefix: e-: out of, from:  elect (choose out of), eject (throw out)
Suffix: -oid:  resembling, like-shaped:  asteroid, spheroid

 

 

 

 

 

Review previous terms and retest.

 

62. Coming-of-age story. A type of novel where the protagonist is initiated into   
      adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both, often by a process of
      disillusionment. Understanding comes after the dropping of preconceptions, a
      destruction of a false sense of security, or in some way the loss of innocence.
63. Gothic novel. A novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown
      terror pervades the action. The setting is often a dark, mysterious castle, where ghosts
      and sinister humans roam menacingly.
64. Parody. A satiric imitation of a work or of an author with the idea of ridiculing the
      author, his ideas, or work. The parodist exploits the peculiarities of an author’s
      expression–his propensity to use too many parentheses, certain favorite words, or
      whatever. The parody may also be focused on, say, an improbable plot with too many
      convenient events.
65. Dramatic Monologue: a literary device that is used when a character reveals his or
      her innermost thoughts and feelings, those that are hidden throughout the course of
      the story line, through a poem or a speech. This speech, where only one character
      speaks, is recited while other characters are present onstage. This monologue often
      comes during a climactic moment in a work and often reveals hidden truths about a
      character, their history and their relationships. Also it can further develop a
      character’s personality and also be used to create irony.
66. Figurative Language: a type of language that varies from the norms of literal
      language, in which words mean exactly what they say. Also known as the “ornaments
      of language,” figurative language does not mean exactly what it says, but instead
      forces the reader to make an imaginative leap in order to comprehend an author’s
      point. It usually involves a comparison between two things that may not, at first, seem
      to relate to one another. In a simile, for example, an author may compare a person to
      an animal: “He ran like a hare down the street” is the figurative way to describe the
      man running and “He ran very quickly down the street” is the literal way to describe
      him. Figurative language facilitates understanding because it relates something
      unfamiliar to something familiar. Some popular examples of figurative language
      include a simile and metaphor

 

Suffix: -or, -er:  one who takes part in:  doctor, actor, teacher, driver

 

 

 

67. Genre: a type of literature. We say a poem, novel, story, or other literary work
      belongs to a particular genre if it shares at least a few conventions, or standard
      characteristics, with other works in that genre.
68. Point of View: The way a story gets told and who tells it. It is the method of
      narration that determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story        
      unfolds. Point of view governs the reader’s access to the story.
                         First person (the narrator speaks as “I” and the narrator is a character in
                         the story who may or may not influence events within it).
                         Third-person narrative (the narrator seems to be someone standing
                         outside the story who refers to all the characters by name or as he, she,
                         they, and so on). When the narrator reports speech and action, but never          
                         comments on the thoughts of other characters, it is the dramatic third
                         person point of view or objective point of view.
                     omniscient–a narrator who knows everything that needs to be known about
                     the agents and events in the story, and is free to move at will in time and
                     place, and who has privileged access to a character’s thoughts, feelings, and
                     motives.             
                     limited–a narrator who is confined to what is experienced, thought, or felt
                     by a single character, or at most a limited number of characters.
                     unreliable narrator (a narrator who describes events in the story, but seems
                     to make obvious mistakes or misinterpretations that may be apparent to a    
                     careful reader). Unreliable narration often serves to characterize the narrator
                     as someone foolish or unobservant.
69. Pastoral: An artistic composition dealing with the life of shepherds or with a
      simple, rural existence. It usually idealized shepherds’ lives in order to create an
      image of peaceful and uncorrupted existence. More generally, pastoral describes the
      simplicity, charm, and serenity attributed to country life, or any literary convention
      that places kindly, rural people in nature-centered activities.
70. Fable: A brief story illustrating human tendencies through animal characters. Unlike
      the parables, fables often include talking animals or animated objects as the principal
      characters. The interaction of these animals or objects reveals general truths about
      human nature, i.e., a person can learn practical lessons from the fictional antics in a
      fable.
71. Flat Character: Also called a static character, a flat character is a simplified
      character who does not change or alter his or her personality over the course of a
      narrative, or one without extensive personality and characterization. The term is used
      in contrast with a round character.

Prefix: ex-:  out of, from: exhume, exhale, exodus
Suffix: -phobia:  exaggerated fear: photophobia, claustrophobia, agoraphobia

 

 

72. Round Character: A round character has depth and detail that he or she seems like a
      “real” person. The round character changes or evolves over the course of a narrative
       or appears to have the capacity for such change, the character is also dynamic.
73. Taboo: A taboo is a socially prohibited activity.
74. Theater in the Round: A performance taking place on an arena stage.
75. Dialogue: is a reciprocal conversation between two or more entities.
76. Digression: a section of a composition or speech that is an intentional change of
      subject.

Prefix: hyper-: over :  hypertension, hypersensitive, hyperactivity

Suffix: -sis: act, state, condition of: analysis

 

77. Elegy: used for a poem of mourning, a reflection on the death of someone or on a
      sorrow generally – which is a form of lyric poetry.
78. Haiku: are traditionally written in three lines to equate to the three metrical phrases
      of a haiku in Japanese that consist of five syllables, seven syllables, and five
      syllables.
                       Example:
                                    The red blossom bends
                             and drips its dew to the ground.
                                         Like a tear it falls
79. Hubris: is a term used in modern English to indicate overweening pride, self-
      confidence, superciliousness, or arrogance, often resulting in fatal retribution.
80. Ideology: an organized collection of ideas. An ideology can be thought of as a
      comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things, as in common sense  and several
      philosophical tendencies, or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society
      to all members of this society.
81. Lament/Lamentation: is a song, poem or piece of music expressing grief, regret or
      mourning

 

Suffix: ty-: condition of, quality of: Latin

 

Review previous terms and retest.

 

 

 

82. Logos: logic (Greek).
83. Ethos: Ethics (Greek).
84. Pathos: Emotions (Greek).
85. Modernism: describes an array of cultural movements rooted in the changes in
      Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The term covers a
      series of reforming movements in art, architecture, music, literature and the applied
      arts which emerged during this period.
86. Parody:  contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at 
      an original work, its subject, or author, by means of humorous or satiric imitation.

Prefix: ir-: not:  irregular, irrational, irredeemable

Suffix: ment: a means, product, act, state: Latin

87. Prose is writing that resembles everyday speech.
88. Realism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in
      everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation.
89. Theme is a broad idea in a story, or a message or lesson conveyed by a work. This
      message is usually about life, society or human nature. Themes explore timeless and
      universal ideas. Most themes are implied rather than explicitly stated.
90. Tragic hero is a literary character who makes errors in judgment, in his or her
      actions, that inevitably leads to his or her own downfall.
91. Transcendentalism: a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and
      philosophy that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century.
      Transcendentalism began as a protest against the general state of culture and society
      at the time, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard and the doctrine
      of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard Divinity School. Among transcendentalists’
      core beliefs was an ideal spiritual state that ‘transcends’ the physical and empirical and
      is only realized through the individual’s intuition, rather than through the doctrines of
      established religions.

Prefix: mal, male-:  bad, evil: malediction malevolent, malnutrition

Suffix: ive: of, belonging to, quality of: Latin

 

 

 

 

 

 

92. Wit: is a form of intellectual humor.
93. Stereotype: is a simplified and/or standardized conception or image with specific
      meaning, often held in common by people about another group.
94. Stream of Consciousness: is a literary technique that seeks to portray an individual’s
      point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character’s thought processes,
      either in a loose interior monologue, or in connection to his or her sensory reactions
      to external occurrences. Stream-of-consciousness writing is strongly associated with
      the modernist movement.
95. Subplot: sometimes referred to as a “B story” or a “C story” and so on, is a secondary
      plot strand that is auxiliary to the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in
      either time and place or in thematic significance.
96. Literary criticism: is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of
      literature.

Prefix: meta-: beyond: metaphysical
Suffix: ence: state, fact, quality: Latin

 

97. Juxtaposition: two random objects moving in parallel, a technique intended to
      stimulate creativity.
98. Villain: an “evil” character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a
      work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have
      a negative effect on other characters. A female villain is sometimes called a
      villainess.
99. Proverb: (a) A short saying in frequent and widespread use that expresses a basic
      truth. (b) A book of the Bible.
100. Archetypes: An original model or type after which other similar things are 
        patterned.

Prefix: mono-:  one, single: monologue, monotheism, monarchy, monogamy
Suffix: ate: to become associated with: Latin

 

 

Review previous terms and retest. Vocabulary final exam!

 

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