Literature Desk :
Abstract Terms: Tenus that name ideas or qualities that cannot be known directly by the senses (for example, goodness; knowledge, sportsmanship).
The meaning of an abstract term generally is made up of some characteristic that many objects, events, or actions have in common. For instance, the meaning of sportsmanship is based upon an intangible quality that many specific actions occurring in many different sports have in common, although no one of these actions is itself the meaning of the word.
Act: A major division in a play. Up until the late 19th century, plays were usually divided into five acts; today, serious plays’ frequently have three. There is no set number, however.
Allegory: A narrative in which the characters and the setting stand for abstract qualities and ideas. The writer of an allegory is not primarily trying to make his characters and their actions realistic, but to make them representative of ideas or truths (as the fact that Sir Evening-Star in ‘Gareth and Lynette’ wears hardened skins is included in order to show that the habits of youth harden and become difficult to overcome as one grows old).
Allegory is related to symbolism, but allegory usually makes a one-to-one equation between things; a symbol, however, usually has a number of possible meanings.
Allusion: A-reference to a historical person or event or to a literary work or figure. The reference is usually to something well enough known so that a well-read person would be expected to recognise it (for example, ‘goat-footed / balloon Man’ in the poem ‘in Just’ – is an allusion the Greek god Pan).
Anachronism: Anything in a work of literature not existing at the time of the work’s setting (for example, the appearance of Caius wearing a kerchief in Julius Caesar because he is sick: this was an Elizabethan, not a Roman custom). Anachronisms may be used for humorous effect, as in Lamb’s essay A Dissertation upon Roast Pig.
Analogy: A comparison, usually for the purpose of making clearer something unfamiliar by likening it to something familiar. Analogy may also be used in argument to show that a certain thing which is true of one case will also be true of a similar second case.
Anecdote: A brief narrative account of an interesting incident. It is briefer than a short story, does not have a complex plot, and concerns only a single incident.
Anticlimax: Material that is of less importance or suspense than that which precedes it (when the reader has been led to expect material of greater importance or suspense). For example, in the typical detective story, the solving of the crime is the climax. If this point were to be followed by a chapter of less interest to the reader, this last chapter would be anticlimactic.
Aphorism: A short pointed saying expressing some general truth (such as Emerson’s statement that ‘A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds’). (Types of Literature)
Abstract Terms: Tenus that name ideas or qualities that cannot be known directly by the senses (for example, goodness; knowledge, sportsmanship).
The meaning of an abstract term generally is made up of some characteristic that many objects, events, or actions have in common. For instance, the meaning of sportsmanship is based upon an intangible quality that many specific actions occurring in many different sports have in common, although no one of these actions is itself the meaning of the word.
Act: A major division in a play. Up until the late 19th century, plays were usually divided into five acts; today, serious plays’ frequently have three. There is no set number, however.
Allegory: A narrative in which the characters and the setting stand for abstract qualities and ideas. The writer of an allegory is not primarily trying to make his characters and their actions realistic, but to make them representative of ideas or truths (as the fact that Sir Evening-Star in ‘Gareth and Lynette’ wears hardened skins is included in order to show that the habits of youth harden and become difficult to overcome as one grows old).
Allegory is related to symbolism, but allegory usually makes a one-to-one equation between things; a symbol, however, usually has a number of possible meanings.
Allusion: A-reference to a historical person or event or to a literary work or figure. The reference is usually to something well enough known so that a well-read person would be expected to recognise it (for example, ‘goat-footed / balloon Man’ in the poem ‘in Just’ – is an allusion the Greek god Pan).
Anachronism: Anything in a work of literature not existing at the time of the work’s setting (for example, the appearance of Caius wearing a kerchief in Julius Caesar because he is sick: this was an Elizabethan, not a Roman custom). Anachronisms may be used for humorous effect, as in Lamb’s essay A Dissertation upon Roast Pig.
Analogy: A comparison, usually for the purpose of making clearer something unfamiliar by likening it to something familiar. Analogy may also be used in argument to show that a certain thing which is true of one case will also be true of a similar second case.
Anecdote: A brief narrative account of an interesting incident. It is briefer than a short story, does not have a complex plot, and concerns only a single incident.
Anticlimax: Material that is of less importance or suspense than that which precedes it (when the reader has been led to expect material of greater importance or suspense). For example, in the typical detective story, the solving of the crime is the climax. If this point were to be followed by a chapter of less interest to the reader, this last chapter would be anticlimactic.
Aphorism: A short pointed saying expressing some general truth (such as Emerson’s statement that ‘A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds’). (Types of Literature)
