Lit. Terms

motif - a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc.

realism - interest in or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract, speculative, etc.; the tendency to view or represent things as they really are; a theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar, or mundane aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is.

romanticism - characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.

allegory - a symbolical narrative.

picaresque novel - a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts in realistic and often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

bildungsroman - a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.

situational irony - an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected, the difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does

dramatic irony - irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.

verbal irony - a figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant.

satire - the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.

sarcasm - a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark.

episodic plot - a story with a series of events, often unrelated, which can take place over great periods of time and in many locales; the events of an episodic plot are not necessarily causally related.

dramatic foils - characters in literature whose differing characteristics are emphasized by those traits that are opposed in another character.

hyperbole - obvious and intentional exaggeration.

unreliable narrator - a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised.

euphemism - the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.

parable - a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.

oxymoron - a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect.

antihero - a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose, and the like.

dialect - a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially.

metaphor - a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance.

simile - a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.

tone - a particular style or manner, as of writing or speech; mood.