What is Abstract? What is Concrete?
Ans: Abstract
words refer to ideas, conditions, and qualities we cannot directly perceive:
truth, love, courage, evil, wealth, poverty. Concrete words indicate things
that we can know with our sense: tree, chair, perfume, thunder, water, soup.
The use of concrete words lends vigor and clarity to writing. Writers often
begin a paragraph with a general statement full of abstract words and then they
often go on to give examples and present evidence in sentences full of concrete
words.
What is Absurdism?
Absurdism is
a literary and philosophical movement that flourished after the Second World
War. Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphius offers a most familiar presentation
of the movement's central ideas: in a world without God, human life and human
sufferings have no intrinsic meaning. This sense of fundamental incongruity
between human beings and the conditions of their existence is a recognition of
the absurd and calls for a response that mixes humor and despair.
What is Aestheticism?
Aestheticism
is defined as an attitude or sensibility that promotes beauty as an end in
itself and views the creation of beauty as the only proper function of the
artist, rejecting all utilitarian or moralistic end for arts.
What is Allegory?
A narrative
in which characters and events represent larger ideas. The isolated elements
function much like symbols, allowing the reader to make correspondences from
the particular to the general. Allegory is often used to impart moral
instruction. For example, in the medieval drama Everyman, Fellowship, Kindred
and Goods, the friends of the title character, will not accompany him in his
end-of-life journey, and he must depend on Good Works, whom he has previously
neglected.
What is Alliteration?
Repetition
of the same consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words. "Peter
Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" is alliteration taken to humorous
extremes. Alliteration is usually used to create a desired emphasis or a
pleasing music. Allusion: An author's indirect reference to something outside
the work, often to another work with which the reader may be acquainted.
Usually brief, an illusion is a space-saving way to convey much meaning.
What is Ambiguity?
Ambiguity is
the capacity of certain texts to allow more than one interpretation. So much of
the richness and subtlety of literary works results from ambiguity that it may
be considered the defining characteristic of poetic language. Authors often use
ambiguity to bring complexity to their portrayals and to deepen the thematic
resonance of their work.
What is Analogy?
Analogy is a
form of exposition that uses an extended comparison based on the like features
of two unlike things: one familiar or easily understood, the other unfamiliar,
abstract or complicated: "A good speech should be like a woman's skirt;
long enough to over the subject and short enough to create interest."
What is Analysis?
Analysis is
a method of investigation in which the object of study is described or evaluated
by being broken down into its constituent elements.
What is Antagonist?
The
character in a work who opposes the central character, or protagonist It is a
sudden descent from higher to lower.
What is Anticlimax?
A trivial
event following immediately after significant events. Aphorism: Aphorism is a
terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation: "Power
tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
What is Archetype?
Archetypes
are universal symbols, often felt to represent fundamental truths of the human
spirit. The psychologist Jung believed that archetypes are an essential part of
our psychic makeup and that when we encounter them in literature we feel a
sense of deepened resonance. The hero quest and the journey to the underworld
are enduring literary archetypes.
What is Argument?
Argument is
one of the four varieties of writing-along with narration, description, and
exposition. The end of argument is persuasion: to move readers to accept the
writer's view-even to act on it, that is, to convince readers.
What is Aside?
A comment spoken by an actor to the audience;
other characters on stage are assumed not to hear it
What is Atmosphere?
Atmosphere
is the feeling created by mood and tone. The atmosphere takes the reader to
where the story is happening and lets them experience it much like the
characters. Bear in mind that atmosphere may vary throughout a literary piece.
Atmosphere is almost always used to describe the feeling or vibe-the
awkwardness, the creepiness, the bursting energy-that is imposed upon us in a
physical environment, situation or space So clearly, the setting (environment)
of a text is what establishes the atmosphere. Settings are usually constructed
via the description of objects in the setting (c-g. a creaking floorboard in
the haunted house), and so we can define atmosphere simply as the (not
necessarily emotional) feeling of an environment, as constructed by a writer’s
description of the environment and objects within that setting.
What is Audience?
In
composition, the reader for whom a piece of writing is intended.
What is Avant-garde?
Avant-garde
denotes any artist, movement, or artwork that breaks with precedent and uses
new and experimental ideas and methods. 335
What is Ballad?
A narrative
poem in four stanzas, often sung or recited as a folktale
What is Cause and Effect?
Cause and
effect is a form of exposition in which a writer analyzes reasons for an
action, event, or decision, or analyzes its consequences "I never brush my
teeth" (cause) - I have five cavities" (effect).
What is Character?
Character is
the figure or personality who appears in a literary work.
What is Climax?
Climax is
the point toward which the action of a plot builds as the conflicts become
increasingly intense or complex; the turning point. It is the arrangement of a series
of ideas in order of increasing importance.
What is Coherence?
Coherence is
the clear connection of the parts in a piece of effective writing This quality
exists when the reader can easily follow the flow of ideas between sentences,
paragraphs, and larger divisions, and can see how they relate successively to
one another.
What is Comedy?
A play,
light in tone, designed to amuse and entertain, that usually ends happily,
often with a marriage. A comedy has a serious conflict.
What is Comparison and Contrast?
An approach
to writing about literary works that singles out one or more elements and
discusses them in terms of their similarities and differences
What is Concrete Poetry?
Concrete
poems are objects composed of words, letters, colors, and typefaces, in which
graphic space plays a central role in both design and meaning Concrete poets experimented
boldly with language, incorporating visual, verbal, kinetic, and sonic
elements. It has developed from a long tradition of shaped poems in which the
words are arranged in such a way as to depict their subject.
What is Conflict?
The struggle
between opposing characters or forces that causes tension or suspense in the
plot. Conflict may be internal or external-that is, it may occur within a
character's mind or between a character and exterior forces. The conflict
within the story generally comes in four basic types: Conflict with the self,
Conflict with others, Conflict with the environment, and Conflict with the
supernatural.
What is Connotation and Denotation?
Connotation
and denotation are names for the two types of meanings most words have.
Denotation is the explicit, literal, dictionary definition of a word.
Connotation refers to implied meaning, resonant with associations, of a word.
For instance, the word "snake" denotes a legless reptile, while it
may connote an untrustworthy and aggressive person.
What is Deduction and Induction?
Deduction is
the method of reasoning from general to particular; induction is from
particular to general. For instance, "All cats have a keen sense of smell.
Fluffy is a cat, so Fluffy has a keen sense of smell is an example of
deduction; "All cars in this town drive on the right side of the street.
Therefore, all cars in all towns drive on the right side of the street."
is inductive argument.
What is Description?
Description
is a mode of writing that conveys sensory evidence.
What is Epigram?
Epigram is a
witty saying that often conveys a bit of wisdom: The more corrupt the state,
the more numerous the laws.
What is Epigraph?
Epigraph is
a quotation at the beginning of a poem, novel, play, or essay that suggests the
theme of the work.
What is Existentialism?
Existentialism
is a philosophical movement that stresses the individual's unique portion as a
self-determining agent responsible for making meaningful, authentic choices in
a universe seen as purposeless or irrational
What is Exposition?
Exposition
is the mode of writing that explains a subject. Its function is to inform, to
instruct, or to set forth ideas. Exposition may call various methods to its
service example, comparison and contrast, process analysis, division, classification,
analogy, cause and effect.
What is Farce?
Farce is a
comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including
crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situation. The conflict is
trivial in a farce, while it is serious in tragedy and comedy
What is Figures of Speech?
Figures of
speech occur whenever a writer, for the sake of emphasis or vividness, departs
from the literal meanings (denotations) of words. To say "She's a
jewel" doesn't mean that the subject is a shining stone; the statement
makes sense because its connotations come to mind. rare, priceless, worth
cherishing.
What is Flashback?
Flashback is
part of a narrative that interrupts the chronological O flow by relating events
from the past.
What is Folktale?
A folktale
is a tale or legend originating and traditional among a people or folk,
especially one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people. It can
be any belief or story passed on traditionally. Differing from legend or
tradition, which is usually believed, the oral fictional tale gives the
storyteller absolute freedom as to credibility so long as he stays within the
limits of local taboos and tells tales that please. Repetition, formulas both
in words and in structure, realism enough to support the marvelous in tale or song,
violent actions and simple strong emotions-these qualities generally found in
all folk literature.
What is Foreshadow?
Early clues
about what will happen later in a narrative or play Foreshadowing often appears
at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and it helps the reader develop
expectations about the upcoming events.
What is Genre?
Genre is a
style or category of art, music, or literature. For instance, classification of
literature: drama, short story, essay, poem.
What is Hyperbole?
Hyperbole is
a conscious exaggeration: ‘I am so hungry I could eat a horse and saddle.’
What is Image?
Image refers
to a word or word sequence that evokes a sensory experience. Whether literal
("We picked two red apples") or figurative (His cheeks looked like
two red apples"), an image appeals to the reader's memory of seeing,
hearing, smelling, touching, or tasting. Images add concreteness to a piece of
writing. Imagery is plural form and is used when more than one image are traced
in a work of art.
What is Irony?
Irony is the
incongruity between expectation and actuality. The tension that arises from the
discrepancy, cither between what one says and what one means (verbal irony):
"For example, a character stepping out into a hurricane and saying,
"What nice weather we're having!"); or between what a character
believes and what a reader knows (dramatic irony): "When you know a trap
has been set and watch someone walk into it."; or when we are led to
expect or believe one thing, we suddenly confront a different outcome (situational
irony): "Ralph wakes up late and thinks he is going to be late to school.
After rushing around to get dressed, he realizes it is Saturday."
What is Lyric?
A poem that
makes an appeal to the emotions or the senses and does not depend upon the
unfolding of an episodic sequence.
What is Fallacy?
Fallacies
are errors in reasoning, sometimes found in argument, and they make the
argument invalid. There are a number of different types of fallacies. In
general, a fallacy is a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound
arguments: "Since the students have no questions concerning the topics
discussed in class, the students are ready for a test."
What is Metaphor?
A Metaphor
declares one thing to be another; it makes an imaginative comparison between
two literally unlike things: "The camel is the ship of the desert."
What is Meter?
A regular
pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, each unit of which is called a
"foot." There are four basic patterns of stress and lines are classified
according to the number of metrical feet they contain: iamb, trochee, spondee,
anapest.
What is Metonymy?
A figure of
speech in which one term can stand for another with which it is closely
associated. To say, "Tell Robert 1 send my kisses," is to make a
statement using metonymy, with the kisses representing love or fond greetings.
What is Monologue?
When a
character talks to himself aloud or in thought, we call it a monologue.
What is Mood?
Mood is the
emotional content of a scene or setting, usually described in terms of feeling.
In literature, mood is the feeling created in the reader. This feeling is the
result of both the tone and atmosphere of the story. Mood may be anxious, calm,
cheerful.
What is Myth?
Myth is a
traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event,
with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation,
especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some
practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.
What is Narration?
Narration is
the mode of writing that tells a story. Narrative is a sequence of events,
often told as a story, Narrator is the person who tells the story to the
audience or reader.
What is Onomatopoeia?
A word that
sounds like what it names. It is defined as a word that sounds like the common
sound of the object it is describing. An example of onomatopoeia is a poem
about a stream written in a way to imitate the sound of a stream. Words like
whoosh, clang, babble, buzz, ring, etc. are onomatopoeic because their sound
echoes the sense.
What is Oxymoron?
Oxymoron is
a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in
conjunction, for instance, "tenderly cruel," "keenly
stupid," "soundless sound," etc.
What is Parable?
A parable is
a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral altitude or a
religious principle.
What is Paradox?
A paradox is
a seemingly self-contradictory statement that, on reflection, makes sense “The
child is father of the man.”
What is Parody?
Parody is an
imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate
exaggeration for comic effect. It imitates a piece of writing, copying some
features such as choice of words, style, and form, but changing or exaggerating
other features for humorous effect.
What is Persona?
The narrator
or speaker of a poem or story.
What is Personification?
Personification
is a simile or metaphor that assigns human traits to inanimate objects or
abstractions: "The wind cried its grief.
What is Point of view?
Point of
view in an essay is the physical position of the mental angle from which a
writer beholds a subject. It is the angle or perspective from which a story is
reported and interpreted. It is the mode of narration that an author employs to
let the readers "hear" and "see" what takes place in a
story, poem, or essay. It is the vantage from which a story is told- whether by
a character or by an author with omniscient or limited omniscient perspective.
An objective point of view tells the story or events directly, as a play does,
using only external actions, speech and gestures, whereas a subjective point of
view may include the author's comments on the action.
What is Premise?
Premise is a
name for a proposition that supports conclusion. It is an idea or theory on
which a statement or action is based. A thesis is a statement or theory that is
put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.
What is Pun?
Pun is the
use of words alike or nearly alike in sound but different in Meaning, e.g
sole-soul.
What is Purpose?
Purpose is a
writer's reason for writing. It is whatever the writer of any work tries to
achieve. In trying to define the purpose of a work you read, ask yourself.
"Why did the wTiter write this?" or "What was this writer trying
to achieve?" Although you cannot know the author's intentions with
absolute certainty, an effective writing always makes some purpose clear.
What is Rhetoric?
Rhetoric is
the study (and the art) of using language effectively. Often the modes of prose
discourse (narration, description, exposition, and argument) are called
rhetorical forms.
What is Rhetorical Question?
Rhetorical
question indicates a question posed for effect, one that requires no answer. It
lends emphasis to a point, asserts or denies something without making a direct
statement. For example, "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole
world if he lose his immortal soul?"
What is Rhyme?
Similar or
identical sounds between words, usually the end sounds in lines of verse
(brain/strain; liquor/quicker).
What is Rhythm?
Rhythm and
Meter are similar but not identical concepts. Rhythm refers to the overall
tempo, or pace, at which the poem unfolds, while meter refers to the measured
beat established by patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.
What is Sarcasm?
If irony is
delivered contemptuously with intent to hurt, we call it Sarcasm: "When
someone does something wrong, and you say, Very good. Well done!"
What is Satire?
Satire is a
form of writing that employs wit to attack folly. Its purpose is not merely to
entertain but to bring about enlightenment-even reform. Frequently, satire will
employ irony.
What is Setting?
Setting is
the time and place in which a fictional or dramatic narrative unfolds. It can
give the reader a believable impression or the impression of
verisimilitude-that this really happened. The second function is to situate us
in space and time so that we can understand the events of the story as shaped
by specific factors. The third significant use of setting has to do with the
enhancement of theme, either through suggestion or through more direct
symbolism.
What is Simile?
A simile
states a comparison between two unlike things directly, usually connecting the
two things using ‘like,’ ‘as,’ or ‘than’: ‘The moon is like a snowball.’
What is Story and Plot?
Plot is a
series of causally related events or episodes that occur in a narrative or
play. A story is a series of events recorded in their chronological order. A
plot is a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their
dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance. A plain story is like history,
but a plot is someone's telling of the story
What is Structure?
Structure is
the general plan, framework, or form of a piece of writing. It is the
arrangement of story elements according to purpose, style and genre. Structure
may be confused with plot. While the plot is the events in the story itself,
heavily affected by character, setting and theme, the structure is how these
elements are presented to the reader. The structural elements of an arrangement
are: claims, counterclaims, reasons and evidence. A claim is the main argument;
a counterclaim is the opposite of the argument, a reason tells why the claim is
made; and evidence is what supports the reason for the claim. Claims and
evidence form the "confirmation" of the argument; and
"refutation" is the counterclaim.
What is Style?
Style is the
individuality of expression, achieved in writing through the selection and
arrangement of words and punctuation.
What is Subject and Theme?
Theme is the
central meaning or idea, in a literary work. Subject can be defined as the
characters, setting, and general plot of a literary work. Theme, on the other
hand, addresses the main idea or the author's message, a statement or opinion,
and it is revealed through the feelings of character(s), their thoughts and
conversations, and actions or event. The subject of the Jurassic Park movies is
dinosaurs: the theme is "Don't mess with Mother Nature."
What is Suspense?
Suspense is
the holding over of actions or consequences by an author in order to arouse
curiosity in the reader. It is the deliberate manipulation of the reader's natural
desire to find out what happens next.
What is Symbol?
Symbol is
something that suggests or stands for an idea, quality, or concept larger than
itself: the lion is a symbol of courage; a voyage or journey can symbolize
life; a red rose, or the color red, stands for love or romance; black is a
symbol that represents evil or death; a ladder may stand as a symbol for a
connection between heaven and earth; a broken mirror may symbolize separation.
These are conventional symbols familiar to us. In writing, symbols usually
evoke a whole constellation of associations. For instance, in Melville's Moby
Dick, the whale suggests more than the large mammal; it hints at evil,
obsession, and the untamable forces of nature. Such a symbol carries meanings
too complex or elusive to be neatly defined Symbols can be used to communicate
an idea in a compact and concrete way.
What is Tall Tale?
A tall tale
is a story with unbelievable elements told in such a manner as if it were true.
It usually contains a lot of exaggeration. Tone: Tone is the attitude a writer
conveys toward his or her subject and audience. It is the writer's attitude and
sets the prevailing spirit of whatever he or she writes. In poetry this
attitude is sometimes called voice. Tone can be serious, distant, flippant,
angry, enthusiastic, sincere, sympathetic, fearful, alarmed, bored, and
impatient. Whatever tone a writer chooses, usually it informs an entire work
and helps a reader decide how to respond.
What is Tragedy?
A serious
drama which ends unhappily for the hero or heroine.
What is Understatement?
Understatement
is the opposite of hyperbole. It is a figure of speech that creates its effect
by intentionally minimizing the importance of an idea or fact and so declaring
less than is the case makes an ironic or humorous effect: "Mercutio in
Romeo and Juliet describes his death wound as 'a scratch, a scratch'."