Unit+3

1. ** alliteration **. The close repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginnings of words (__P__eter __P__iper __p__icked a __p__eck of __p__ickled __p__eppers). 2. ** antithesis **. The choice or arrangement of words to emphasize the contrast and give the effect of balance; used in parallel words, phrases, grammatical structures, or ideas.. For example:Fools rush in where angels fear to tread or to err is human, to forgive divine. 3. ** assonance **. A common method of producing an emotional effect in poetry with a succession of dominant vowel sounds. Poe produces a melancholy effect in "The Raven" through the repetition of the //O//: And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor/Shall be lifted -- nevermore! 4. ** canon **. (Greek, //kanon//, “rule” or standard of excellence). The works of an author which are accepted as genuine, for example, the Shakespeare canon. Anything which has been accepted as authentic. 5. ** colloquial ** – the diction of the common, ordinary people, especially in a specific area or region. 6. ** consonance **. The recurrence of same or similar consonant sounds in poetry. Consonance is used along with ASSONANCE and ALLITERATION as a sound effect. In the first stanza of "Kubla Khan," Coleridge emphasizes the rapid movement of water through the repetition of the //r// sound: In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: **Through caverns** measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. 7. ** diction **. The specific word choice the author uses to persuade or convey tone, purpose or effect. 8. ** epitaph **. Writing in praise of a dead person, most often inscribed upon a headstone. 9. ** euphemism **. The substitution of a less distasteful word or phrase for a more truthful but more offensive one; we have many for death. 10. ** genre **. The category to which a literary work belongs, such as epic, lyric, comedy, tragedy. 11. ** irony **. A contrast or discrepancy between expectations and reality. Irony in literature has three major categories: __Verbal irony__ occurs when a writer or speaker says one thing that actually means the opposite. The person who says, “I just love getting my teeth pulled” illustrates this. __Situational irony__ occurs when what happens is the opposite of what is expected or appropriate. In the case of __dramatic irony__, the audience or reader knows something important that a character does not. 12. ** lampoon **. (Old French, //lampons//, “let us guzzle”). A virulent or scurrilous piece of satire either in prose or verse. Lampoons, which are personal attacks, appeared widely in the 17th and 18th centuries, and were later checked by libel laws. In modern usage, this word is also a verb. 13. **motif**. A particular idea or dominant element running throughout a work of art, forming part of the main theme. An example is the idea of decay permeating //Hamlet//. 14. **narrative** a mode of discourse that tells a story of some sort and is based on sequences of connected events, usually presented in a straightforward, chronological framework. 15. **parallelism**. The use of similar forms in writing for nouns, verbs, phrases and thoughts. Fro example, “Jane enjoys, reading, writing and skiing.” Parallelism is device used to accentuate ideas or images by using grammatically similar constructions. Words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, and even larger structural units may be consciously organized into parallel constructions, thereby creating a sense of balance that can be meaningful and revealing. Charles Dickens consciously uses parallelism to emphasize antithetical but balanced ideas in the opening lines of his novel //A Tale of Two Cities// (1859) as the narrator speaks of the year 1775: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the Age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter Of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way. 16. ** polysyndeton **. The repetition of conjunctions, such as “and,” as in these verses from //Genesis:// And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light From the darkness. 17. **realism** attempting to describe nature and life without idealization and with attention to detail. Mark Twain is a realist; Thoreau is not. 18. **Rebuttal/refutation** – an argument technique wherein opposing arguments are anticipated and countered. 19. **rhetorical question**. A question put not to elicit an answer but as a more effective substitute for a statement. 20. **sarcasm** a form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually critical. Can vary in degrees. 21**. satire**. The holding up of vice or folly to ridicule. It often makes use of irony and sarcasm. 22. **Style** – the manner in which the writer combines and arranges words, shapes, ideas and utilizes syntax and structure. 23. **symbolism**. Something standing for something else. 24. **v****oice**. The acknowledged or unacknowledged source of the words of the story; the speaker or narrator’s particular take on an idea.
 * Where Alph, the sacred river, ran **