The Novel - Literary Terms for English III H

Parody- A humorous imitation of another, usually serious, work. It can take any fixed or open form, because parodists imitate the tone, language, and shape of the original in order to deflate the subject matter, making the original work seem absurd.

Satire- The literary art of ridiculing a folly or vice in order to expose or correct it. The object of satire is usually some human frailty; people, institutions, ideas, and things are all fair game for satirists. Satire evokes attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation toward its faulty subject in the hope of somehow improving it.

Tone- The author’s implicit attitude toward the reader or the people, places, and events in a work as revealed by the elements of the author’s style. Tone may be characterized as serious or ironic, sad or happy, private or public, angry or affectionate, bitter or nostalgic, or any other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience. See also style.

Anecdote- A short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always based on real life, an incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, in real places. However, over time, modification in reuse may convert a particular anecdote to a fictional piece, one that is retold but is “too good to be true”. Sometimes humorous, anecdotes are not jokes, because their primary purpose is not simply to evoke laughter, but to reveal a truth more general than the brief tale itself, or to delineate a character trait or the workings of an institution in such a light that it strikes in a flash of insight to their very essence.

Dialect- A type of informational diction. Dialects are spoken by definable groups of people from a particular geographic region, economic group, or social class. Writers use dialect to contrast and express differences in educational, class, social, and regional backgrounds of their characters.

Diction- A writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning. Formal diction consists of a dignified, impersonal, and elevated use of language; it follows the rules of syntax exactly and is often characterized by complex words and lofty tone. Middle diction maintains correct language usage, but is less elevated than formal diction; it reflects the way most educated people speak. Informal diction represents the plain language of everyday use, and often includes idiomatic expressions, slang, contractions, and many simple, common words.

Conventional Symbols- Symbols that have meanings that are widely recognized by a society or culture. Some conventional symbols are the Christian cross, the Star of David, a swastika, or a nation’s flag. Writers use conventional symbols to reinforce meanings. Kate Chopin, for example, emphasizes the spring setting in "The Story of an Hour" as a way of suggesting the renewed sense of life that Mrs. Mallard feels when she thinks herself free from her husband.

Conventional symbols are closely related to language. For example, the word "dog" the letters that spell out "dog" represent the animal that has four legs and barks. The word "dog" and the animal dog do not have an inherent relationship. The word only represents the thing because of the "convention" of the English language.

Accidental Symbols- Symbols that have no intrinsic relationship with the things they represetn and that have varying meanings according to individual interpretation. For example a red light may have positive symbolic meaning to an individual who has had a postive experience with a red light and a negative meaning to someone who has had a negative experience involving a red light.

Universal Symbols- Symbols that have an intrinsic relationship with the thing that they represent. For example, the phrases "light a fire under him/her" or the "fire in his/her eyes" are symbolic. When we say them, we do not literally mean a fire. Yet fire universally represents energy and light because of the intrinsic relationship between fire and energy and fire and light.

Elegiac- Tone of lament for death or loss.

Nostalgic- Tone of longing for the past or for home.

Glossary of Literary Terms from Bedford/St. Martin's