English 2132: American Literature II: literary terms

Showing posts with label literary terms. Show all posts

epiphany

A sudden realization or insight experienced by a character. This higher level of clarity might reveal the truth about a situation, but most often, an epiphany is a sudden insight into oneself. In fiction, the epiphany is a useful tool to mark a significant moment of change in a character; moreover, because an epiphany is sudden, the moment is usually a surprise twist in the story, making use of situational irony to involve the reader in a new level of understanding.

climax

In a work of literature, the highest point of anxiety or tension in the story being told. The climax is an element of the plot and is usually placed near the end of a story, but not right at the end. Following a climax, which sometimes leads to catharsis, is a period of restoration of order and stability. At the climactic moment, however, the central character confronts and deals with the consequences of all actions and choices or faces the antagonist in a battle or conflict. The easiest way to identify the climax in a story is to ask yourself, "when does the main character change?" Leading up to this climactic moment is usually a crisis during which tension and anticipation build.

catharsis

The purging of emotional tension that an audience is meant to experience at the climactic moment of a story or play. This experience can provide relief and, at the same time, allow us to think more clearly about the consequences of a character's decisions, our sympathy with them, and our concern that we might find ourselves in a similar situation if we are not careful. The emotions we feel during this purging experience are generally pity and fear, pity for the suffering of the character and fear that we might be just as vulnerable in our own lives. Catharsis, therefore, is an occasion to engage our ethical sensibility. This release of tension is usually associated with tragedy, in which the main character suffers from his own weaknesses; however, comedies, which always end happily, can produce emotional tension as well.

historical sense

The "historical sense" is an important part of writing and reading poetry in a mature way, according to T. S. Eliot: "the historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence; the historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole of the literature of Europe from Homer and within it the whole of the literature of his own country has a simultaneous existence and composes a simultaneous order." If a writer has this sense, then he will not merely express personal emotions in poetry or try to be original but open himself up to the past and see how he is part of a tradition bigger than himself. Each new work of art is influenced by this tradition and changes this tradition. The historical sense can also help us, as readers of literature, not think only of ourselves when we try to understand a work of literature.

"make it new"

This Modernist concept suggests that writers look to the past for help in the search for meaning. Although "make it new" might suggest originality or creativeness, it primarily means that the old can be resurrected in order to show the present age what has been lost. If meaning is difficult to find here and now, perhaps the past can show us the way. The use of allusions is one way to "make it new" because the reader then has to look up the past to understand the present.

Romanticism

An approach to storytelling and poetry writing that elevates the self as the main subject and the most important concern, especially when the individual is uncommon or extraordinary, stands out in some way from the rest. Romantic literature tends to emphasize explorations of identity and relationships with others and the world that influences that identity. Nature is often valued in this approach because of its untouched condition, with which the pure self can identify. The poet himself is a central figure in this literary movement because of his expressive power; he is sometimes treated like a hero who has come to show everyone else how to live to the fullest through sensation and experience. But the Romantic hero (or heroine) can just as easily be a character in a work of fiction.

Realism

An approach to storytelling that attempts to show how the world really is: social forces, moral choices, historical settings. The important word here is attempts. What the reader reads on the page is not reality, obviously, but the illusion of reality is a strong goal in some writing. Realist literature tends to emphasize characters who are faced with moral dilemmas because of social forces pressing down on them.

Impressionism

An approach to storytelling that attempts to show how the world seems to the consciousness and/or senses of a character with a limited point of view. The important word here is attempts. What the reader reads on the page is but the illusion of an impression of reality. Impressionist literature tends to emphasize the way characters experience the world, not necessarily the way the world actually is. As a result, this approach often deals with ambiguity and partial understanding. For some writers, such as Henry James, impressions are all that we have to make sense of the world because we are on the outside looking in, trying to interpret our surroundings.

Naturalism

An approach to storytelling that attempts to show how mankind is somehow at the mercy of the forces of nature. Naturalist literature tends to emphasize the way characters struggle to survive when up against the dangerous phenomena of the universe, not the social forces that mankind itself creates. Although it might seem that the universe is against mankind in this worldview, usually nature is considered to be indifferent to man's existence or survival. As a result, this approach often deals with life-death situations in which moral concerns are insignificant.

Modernism

A movement in literature that attempts to find meaning in a broken world by (a) looking to the past and "making it new" or (b) using the mind to create meaningful order. Modernist literature tends to emphasize the loss of confidence in the present world by showing how it has fallen apart due to war, social injustice, and empty materialism. Although it might seem that Modernist writers are pessimistic and judgmental, they are interested in finding a solution to the predicament and restoring meaning to a world that has lost its way. As a result, this approach to making art often deals with moral concerns, the consequences of bad choices, and philosophical confusion.

Modernist literature also tends to be more difficult, less direct, more experimental than its predecessors. At the same time, the roots of Modernism ARE its predecessors, including Romanticism. Not all Modernist writers are "impossible to understand," such as Robert Frost, but many of them approach this level of difficulty because they are trying to convey how difficult and complex the modern world is, such as Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot.

Modernists tends to be preoccupied with meaning: where it comes from, how we make it, and why its important. But they are equally preoccupied with ambiguity, or the uncertainty of meaning.

Post-Modernism

A movement in literature that attempts to communicate the instability of truth and the ways in which meaning is largely a matter of personal perspective. In the absence of a reliable or universal code of ethics, we must make do with the truth as we see it instead of pretending that there is a set truth out there waiting to be discovered. Post-Modernist literature tends to emphasize the broken condition of the present world without passing judgment on it; the world may be falling apart, but there is not much we can do about it. Language itself becomes less and less stable in this movement because authors begin to think that the older conventions of storytelling were based on a false confidence in the ability of language to get at the truth.

Minimalism

An approach to writing literature that tries to say as much as possible using as few words as possible. There are several possible motivations for this method. Minimalist writing can put a lot of pressure on the reader to read carefully and look for significance behind the bland surface of reality; this experience might help the reader relate to the characters in a story. This method also comes out of a belief that language is unstable and limited; it must be carefully controlled to avoid creating deceptive illusions in writing. Related to but not the same as the Iceberg Principle, Minimalism is a kind of realism because it allows a writer to tell a story in the most direct way possible.

allegory

A type of storytelling in which the characters and events stand for other ideas; in other words, there is a figurative meaning above and beyond the literal appearance of the story. Sometimes allegory is obvious; imagine a character named "Hope" who is attempting to escape an abusive family situation. Other times, the allegorical meaning is difficult to see without breaking down the elements of the story. Of course, not all stories are allegorical, so we need to be careful not to look for allegorical meanings when we should be more interested in the literal meaning. You can think of an allegory as an extended simile. Instead, of just one comparison, there is a whole string of comparisons that together tell a universal story through a particular situation.

Iceberg Principle

Also known as the "theory of omission," the iceberg principle was proposed by Ernest Hemingway: "If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing." This principle is about dignity and movement in fiction. Leaving out the obvious makes writing more dignified because it is not bloated with details that make the reader's experience with the story too easy. These omissions help move a story along because the reader is permitted to witness just enough to figure out what is happening.

Read the passage from Death in the Afternoon (1932) on character and ice-bergs.

parable

A type of story meant to teach a lesson by representing an abstract value with a concrete example. Parables seem simple on the surface but are actually deeply mysterious and can only be understood by those who are willing to humble themselves to grasp the truth they contain. Most often found in the New Testament, parables have become a model for all kinds of fictional stories that are meant to inspire thought more than teach obvious moral lessons.

free indirect discourse

A narrative technique in which the representation of a character's thoughts and actions showcases the word choice and tone that the character would use. This style requires a covert narrator so that the "voice" and "attitude" of the character shines through the surface of the narration, even though it is not written in first-person. It is "free" because the narration can jump from one mind to another, or one feeling to another, without the logic normally associated with conventional narration. It is "indirect" because we are not reading the "actual" thoughts and words of the character in quotation marks. It is discourse because it is a particular way of using language to tell a story. Here is an example from "The Dead" by James Joyce: "Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet." In fact, she still has her feet, but she is very busy and feels as if she is "literally" run off her feet. Presumably, she would use this kind of language to describe her feelings at the moment and is generally inclined to see herself as "the caretaker's daughter," in case anyone is interested in who she is.

character

This term refers to two distinct ideas: 1) an individual in a short story, novel, or play and 2) the personality or identity of that individual. The double meaning of this term is important to understanding how a writer tells the story. We usually ask, for instance, "what motivates this character?" and "how does this character change over time?" while analyzing the a short story or a novel. In that case, we are talking about character as an individual: what kind of characters does this writer put in his novel? But we can also consider the term character to mean the sum of qualities in an individual: does her character change as the story unfolds?

Additionally, we should think about the term "character" as a certain kind of personality trait, right? If we say, "My father is a man of strong character," we mean that he has integrity, that he is genuine and honest. But when thinking about "character" as an idea involved in appreciating a novel or story, we have to look at the more abstract definition: character is who a person is, the dimension of a person that defines his or her identity and values.

point of view

The position from which an event or character is seen, often determining its significance. Just as plot is different from story, point of view is different from looking at something. Plot refers to the way a story is told, and point of view refers to the way something is seen. The point of view of a narrator is frequently objective and external, but the way a narrative might be written to suggest that the point of view is subjective, belonging to or related to a particular character in the work.

flashback

A moment in a narrative that describes a past action or event. The past tense of a short story or novel, a flashback is one plot technique for rearranging the chronological events of a story.

English 2132: American Literature II

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Literary Terms