Glossary+for+literary+terms

Here is a start to the list of words (and maybe evolving definitions) for our content glossary. Most of these definitions came from the __AP Vertical Teams Guide for English__.

//Literary Terms: // **A symbol** is any object, person, place, or action that has both a meaning in itself and that stands for something larger than itself, such as a quality, attitude, belief, or value.
 * Characterization ** is the process of presenting the different aspects of character and personality of someone in a novel or short story or any other narrative depiction of human beings.
 * Details **are the facts revealed by the author or speaker that support the attitude or tone in a piece of poetry or prose.
 * Diction ** is word choice intended to convey a certain effect. Diction occurs in many types:
 * Slang
 * Colloquial expressions
 * Jargon
 * Dialect
 * Concrete diction
 * Abstract diction
 * Denotation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Connonotation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Figures of speech **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> are words or phrases that describe one thing in terms of something else. They always involve some sort of imaginative comparison between seemingly unlike things. Not meant to be taken literally, figurative language is used to produce images in a reader's mind and to express ideas in fresh, vivid, and imaginative ways. The most common examples of figurative language, or figures of speech, used in both prose and poetry, are simile, metaphor, and personification.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Imagery **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> consists of the words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Irony **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> occurs in three types:
 * 1) **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Verbal irony **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">occurs when a speaker or narrator says on thing while meaning the opposite. (Like the smoker who says, "It's easy to stop smoking. I've done it many times.")
 * 2) **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Situational irony **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">occurs when a situation turns out differently from what one would normally expect -- though often the twist is oddly appropriate. (Like a deep sea diver drowning in a bathtub.)
 * 3) **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Dramatic irony **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> occurs when a character or speaker says or does something that has different meanings from what he or she thinks it means, though the audience and other characters understand the full implications of the speech or action. (Such as when Oedipus curses the murderer of Laius, not realizing that he is the murderer and is cursing himself.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Metaphor **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is a comparison of two unlike things not using "like" or "as".
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mood **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is the atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Narration **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is the telling of a story in writing or speaking.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Plot **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is the sequence of events or actions in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Point of view **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is the perspective from which a narrative is told.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Setting **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem take place.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Structure **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is the framework or organization of a literary selection. For example, the structure of fiction is usually determined by plot and by chapter division; the structure of drama depends upon its division into acts and scenes; the structure of an essay depends upon the organization of ideas; the structure of poetry is determined by its rhyme scheme and stanzaic form.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Style **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is the writer's characteristic manner of employing language.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Syntax **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> means the arrangement of words and the order of grammatical elements in a sentence. Syntax requires consideration of sentence structure, sentence pattern, and style.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Theme **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">is the central message of a literary work. It is not the same as subject, which can be expressed in a word or two: courage, survival, war, pride, etc. The theme is the idea the author wishes to convey about that subject. It is expressed as a sentence or general statement about life or human nature. A literary work can have more than one theme, and most themes are not directly stated buy are implied. The reader must think about all the elements of the work and use them to make inferences, or reasonable guesses, as to which themes seem to be implied. An example of a theme on the subject of pride might be that pride often precedes a fall. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tone **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">is the writer's or speaker's attitude toward a subject, character, or audience, and it is conveyed through the author’s choice of words and detail. Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, indignant, objective, etc.