terms

UNit ONe

• Address: ​a formal speech that honors an occasion or the speaker.
  • Ex.) Abraham's Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" was an address because it was read at the opening of a military cemetery. ​​
• ​Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
  • Ex.) ​"The c​andy was ​killing my ​c​avity"
• Allusions: ​References to well-known people or events from history or literature
  • Ex.) "That man is quite the Romeo with the ladies."
• Almanac: ​a book published every year that contains facts about the movements of the sun and moon, changes in the tides, and information of general interest
  • Ex.) Benjamin Franklin wrote an almanac titled "Poor Richard's Almanack".
• ​Antithesis: ​using strongly contrasting words, images, or ideas
  • Ex.) "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
• ​Apostrophe: ​a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses a person who is dead or not physically present, a personified object or non-human thing, or an abstract idea
  • Ex.) In "Huswifery", the spinning wheel is an apostrophe because it is personified.
• ​Aphorism: ​short sayings with a message
  • Ex.) "Poor Richard's Almanack" contained many aphorisms that were short but had a deep lesson within them.
• ​Archetypes: ​symbols, patterns, or character types that repeat across cultures
  • Ex.) The color purple is an archetype because all over the world it represents royalty.
• ​Author's Purpose: ​the author's reason for writing
  • Ex.) Olaudah's purpose for writing his slave narrative was to reveal to readers that slavery was cruel and wrong.
• ​Autobiography:​ a written account of the life of a person written by that person
  • Ex.) Benjamin Franklin wrote his own autobiography called "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"​
• ​Conceit: extended metaphor, consistent throughout text 
  • Ex.) "Huswifery" contains a conceit because it compares the job of making cloth to the gift of God's salvation throughout the poem.
• ​Consonance: ​the repetition of final consonant sounds in words
  • Ex.) "sad" and "loud" are examples of consonance.
• Deism: ​the religious belief that God made the world but no longer plays a part in it.
  • Ex.) Benjamin Franklin was a deist.
• Diction: ​the author's word choice within a literary work
  • Ex.) Olaudah used words like "shrieks" and "groans" in the diction of his slave narrative.
• Ethos: the rhetorical appeal to credibility and reliability
  • Ex.) Olaudah Equiano used ethos in his slave narrative because he was once a slave and therefore experienced the mistreatment firsthand, giving him credibility.
• Exploration Narratives: ​firsthand accounts of explorers' travels
  • Ex.) "A Journey Through Texas" is an exploration narrative by Cabeza de Vaca.
• ​Free Will: ​we, as humans, have the ability to construct our own lives. We can choose for ourselves
  • Ex.) As Christians, we believe God has given us free will to choose Him or sin.
• Parallelism: repeating a grammatical structure
  • ​​Ex.) "With malice towards none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right." -Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
• ​Pathos: ​the rhetorical appeal to an audience's feelings and emotions
  • Ex.) Olaudah describes horrific events about the harsh treatment in his slave narrative to appeal to his audience's emotions and get them to choose his side.
• ​Persuasion: ​writing or speech meant to get readers or listeners to think or act in a certain way.
  • Ex.) Jonathan Edwards used persuasion to get his audience to repent.
• Persuasive Techniques: ​the methods that a speaker or writer uses to appeal to the audience
  • Ex.) Ethical, logical, and emotional appeals are all persuasive techniques that authors can use.
• ​Poem of Praise:​ celebrate the deeds of a hero, the natural world, or ordinary objects
  • Ex.) Phillis Wheatley's "His Excellency General Washington" is a poem of praise.
• Political Speech: ​a speech about an issue relating to government or politics in a certain way.
  • Ex.) Patrick Henry's "Speech in the Virginia Convention" is a political speech.
• ​​​Puritan Plain Style: ​a type of writing in which uncomplicated sentences and ordinary words are used to make simple, direct statements
  • Ex.) Edward Taylor's ​Huswifery ​is an example of Puritan Plain Style.
• Repetition: ​restating an idea using the same words.
  • Ex.) "’T is so much joy! ’T is so much joy" - Emily Dickinson's T' is So Much Joy
• ​Restatement: ​expressing the same idea in different words
  • Ex.) "But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate-- we can not consecrate-- we can not hallow-- this holy ground." -Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
• Rhetoric: the study/art of effective or persuasive speaking and writing
  • ​ Ex) Rhetoric was used in Martin Luther's "I Have a Dream" speech to persuade the audience.
• ​Rhetorical Questions:​ asking questions with obvious answers
  • Ex.) "Who let the dogs out?" is a rhetorical question.
• ​Logos: ​the rhetorical appeal to logic
  • ​​Ex.) Rhetorical questions are generally an example of logos, because they get the audience to think logically.
• Oral Tradition: America's earliest form of literature where stories were passed down orally
  
  • Ex.) Native American origin myths were examples of oral tradition because they were passed down through generations orally.
    
• ​Origin Myths: a traditional story that explains how life began
  • ​Ex.) The story "When Grizzlies Walked Upright" is an origin myth.
• Sermon​: a speech that has a definite point of view and is given from a pulpit in a house of worship
  • Ex.) "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" was a sermon by Jonathan Edwards.
• ​Slave Narrative: ​an autobiographical account of life as a slave.
  • Ex.) ​The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Oluadah Equiano ​is a slave narrative.
• Speech: ​a nonfiction work that is delivered orally to an audience
  • Ex.) Martin Luther's ​I Have A Dream​ speech is an example of a speech.
• ​Tabula Rasa: the human mind, at birth, is a blank slate, it has no innate ideas.
  • ​Ex.) Tabula Rasa was an idea that was directly opposed to Puritan thinking. ​​​​​​

Unit Two

• ​Allegory: ​a story with both a literal and symbolic meaning
  • Ex.) Edgar Allen Poe's ​The Fall of the House of Usher​ is an allegory.
• ​Gothic Style:​ writing that employs remote settings, violent or macabre acts, tormented characters, and/or supernatural elements
  • Ex.) ​The Fall of the House of Usher ​implements all four of these characteristics, therefore it fits into the Gothic literary style.
• ​Nationalism: ​any concept that creates a sense of cohesion, especially among disparate groups
  • Ex.) The victory in the Revolutionary War sparked nationalism among Americans.
• ​Oversoul: The divine spirit or mind that was present in every man and in all of nature. It was an all- pervading, omniscient, supreme mind​. Each part of nature or of humanity was a reflection of a divine mind.
  • Ex.) Transcendentalists believed everyone could be good because they all have the Oversoul within them.
• ​Parable: ​a short, simple story with a moral message
  • Ex.)The story of the Prodigal Son from the Bible is a parable.
• Romanticism: ​Literary and artistic movement of the 19th century that served as a critique for the Enlightenment and placed a premium on imagination, emotion, nature, and individuality
  • Ex.) Ralph Waldo Emerson was an author during Romanticism.
• Single Effect: ​writing constructed to achieve a particular effect. every character, incident, and detail contributes to an overall impression​
  • Ex.) The melancholy setting in ​The Fall of the House of Usher​ is a single effect.
• ​Style: ​the manner in which a writer puts his or her thoughts into words
  • Ex.) The style of Henry David Thoreau is that he repeatedly builds up to the climax.
• ​Symbol: ​something has meaning in and of itself and also stands for something else
  • Ex.) An olive branch is a symbol for peace.
• Theme: ​​a central message or insight revealed by a literary work
  • Ex.) The theme in Moby Dick​ is don't waste your life attached to a physical goal.

UNit Three

• ​Diaries/Journals: ​personal records of daily events, usually written prose
  • Ex.) Mary Chestnut's ​​Civil War ​was a diary/journal.
• ​Diction:​ a writer's choice and arrangement of words
  • Ex.) Abraham's diction in the ​Gettysburg Address​ include a lot of "we's" because he wanted to make the point that they were one nation together.
• Limited Third Person Point of View: ​narrator relates the inner thoughts and feelings of a single character
  • Ex.) ​The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ​demonstrates limited third person point of view in parts 2 and 3 when it reveals the thoughts of Peyton.
• Naturalism: Depicted real people in real situations like realism, but believed that forces larger than the individual - nature, fate, heredity- shaped individual destiny​
  • Ex.) ​An Episode of War ​was a literary work that fell under naturalism because it gave the trees a position over the soldiers in the story.
• ​Omniscient Point of View: ​the narrator is an objective observer of everything that happens
  • Ex.) The beginning of ​An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ​was omniscient because it discusses the soldiers as well as the main character.
• ​Personal Letters: ​written without the intention of being published
  • Ex.) ​​​An Account of the Battle of Bull Run ​was a personal letter from Stonewall Jackson to his wife.
• ​Primary Sources: ​firsthand accounts of specific historical periods or events, written by eyewitnesses or participants
  • Ex.) An Episode of War ​is a primary source because it was written by Mary Chestnut, who experienced firsthand what went on in the diary.
• Public Letter: ​in the form of a personal letter but intended for publication
  • Ex.) ​Reaction to the Emancipation Proclamation ​by Reverend Henry M. Turner was a Public letter he expected the president to see.
• ​Realism: the literary movement that developed towards the end of the Civil War and stressed the actual (reality) as opposed to the imaginary​
  • Ex.) ​The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ​was a literary work under realism because it talked about a hanging, which was a real thing during that time.
• ​Stream of Consciousness: ​technique of narration that captures the chaotic nature of the human thought process by jumping from one idea to another without transition
  • Ex.) Stream of consciousness is demonstrated in ​An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge​ because Peyton's mind is jumping from one thought to the next with no transitions.

UNit Four

• Blank Verse: poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
  • ​Ex) Robert Frost’s Birches  is an example of a poem that uses blank verse.    
• ​Characterization: the revelation of character’s personalities
  • Ex) F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characterization to create a portrait of the characters Dexter and Judy in Winter Dreams
• Direct Characterization: the writer tells the reader what the character is like
  • Ex) In Winter Dreams, Fitzgerald writes that “Dexter was unconsciously dictated by his winter dreams”. This revealed that Dexter was a dreamer and optimistic.
• Dramatic Monologue: a poem or speech in which a character addresses a silent listener
  • Ex) The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is an example of a dramatic monologue because in the story J. Alfred is speaking to someone that never responds.
• Extended Metaphor: a comparison that is developed throughout several lines or an entire poem
  • Ex) Storm Ending is an example of an extended metaphor.
• Humor: writing meant to evoke laughter
  • Ex) James Thurber’s The Night the Ghost Got In is a considered a humor because it has a comedic element to it that makes the reader laugh.
• Imagist Poems: focus on evoking emotion and sparking the imagination through the vivid presentation of a limited number of images
  • Ex) In a Station of the Metro is an Imagist poem because Pound only uses 14 words to describe a scene, but the reader can interpret what he’s referencing in different ways based on the imagination.
• Images: words or phrases that appeal to the senses
  • Ex) Ezra Pound uses the two images of “apparition of faces” and “petals on a wet black bough” to appeal to the reader’s senses and spark imagination.
• Imagism: rejection of 19th century poetic forms. Short poems that used ordinary language and free verse to create sharp, exact, concentrated picture.
  • Ex) In a Station of the Metro is an example of Imagism, because the few words Pound uses provide the reader with a clear picture.
• Indirect Characterization: characters’ traits are revealed through their thoughts, actions, and words, and by what the other characters say about them
  • Ex) In Winter Dreams, Mr. Mortimer Jones said that Dexter was the best caddy he had ever seen, revealing that Dexter was a hard-worker at what he did.
• Informal Essay: brief nonfiction pieces characterized by a relaxed, conversational style and structure
  • Ex) James Thurber’s The Night the Ghost Got In is an informal essay because it's a true story from his life, but it is relaxed and comedic, making it informal.
• Metaphor: a comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things that does not use a connecting word.
  • Ex) The comparison between the storm and flowers is an example of metaphor in Storm Ending.
• Modernism: the artistic rendering of the experience of modernity (the latest phase)
  • Ex) The literary period of Modernism started in 1914.
• Motivations: characters’ reasons for acting as they do
  • Ex) Dexter’s motivation for acting as he does is because of his “winter dreams”.
• Pastorals: poems that feature rural settings
  • Ex) Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem Birches is a pastoral because the setting is in the countryside within the woods. Personification: figurative language in which a non-human subject is given human qualities
• ​​Personification: figurative language in which a non-human subject is given human qualities
  • Ex) In Carl Sandburg’s Grass, the way the grass speaks and says “I cover all” is an example of personification.
• Simile: a comparison between two seemingly different things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
  • Ex) “A poem should be palpable and mute/ As a globed fruit”.
• Social Context: the attitudes and customs of the culture in which the writer lived.
  • Ex) In Zora Neale Hurston’s excerpt from her autobiography, the reader gets to see the social context of an African American woman living in the South.
• Tone: a quality that reveals a writer’s attitude toward his or her subject, characters, or audience.
  • Ex) In E. E. Cummings anyone lived in a pretty how town, the author’s tone is biting because of how he names his characters “noone” and “anyone”.

Unit Five

• Anti-Hero​: a protagonist in a story who does not display heroic qualities
  • Boo Radley is an example of an anti-hero because he is a mysterious character throughout the story, until the end when he saves the children. He never demonstrates heroic qualities, but saves the children from Bob Ewell.
• Epiphany: a moment when a character has a flash of insight that may alter the nature of the conflict without resolving it
  • ​Ex) In The First Seven Years, Mr. Feld has an epiphany when Sobel explains that he likes his daughter, Miriam, which causes him to go back over the past.
• ​​Foil Character: a character that has traits that contrast with the protagonist and highlight important features of the main character's personality
  • Ex) Bob Ewell is the foil of Atticus Finch because he demonstrates the opposite of courage and honor in the story, two traits that Atticus does demonstrate.
• ​Grotesque Character: one who has become bizarre or twisted, usually through some kind of obsession.
  • Ex) Tom Shiftlet from The Life You Save May Be Your Own is a grotesque character because he is described with the physical attributes of only having part of his left arm and an odd gait because he leaned slightly.
• ​Hero:​ a character who displays courage or honor in a story
  • ​​Ex) Atticus Finch is an example of a hero because he defends Tom Robinson despite risking his reputation and his life 
• Metanarrative: story that transcends time and place and brings cohesion to a community
  • ​Ex) The story of Jesus Christ and Christianity is an example of a meta-narrative
• ​Retrospective Narrative: Story told from first person point of view, narrated by a character looking back on past events
  
  • Ex) ​To Kill A Mockingbird​ is a retrospective narrative because Scout is narrating the story from an unspecified point in the future.