|
|
 
- Abstract:
- Language that refers to intangible concepts and qualities Ex: Love, freedom,
peace.
- Accent:
- Poetic
term that means stress. Ex: In the word "Ac-cent," the stress, or accent,
is on the first syllable.
- Action:
- The occurrences
within a literary piece that make up the plot.
- Alliteration:
- A
form of slant rhyme created by repeating the same sound at the beginning
of words. Ex: The silver sky screams at the shining beams from the shimmering
moon.
- Allusion:
- A figure-of-speech
used to make a reference to something commonly known outside of the work.
Ex: "John was not his brother's keeper" is an allusion to the biblical
story of Cain and Abel.
- Ambiguity:
- A work,
or passage within a work, which may be interpreted in several different
ways.
- Analogy:
- A way of describing one thing
by comparing it to another. Ex: He was like a tyrant and ordered us around
without explanation.
- Antagonist:
- The
character that causes conflict within a story, often the enemy or rival
of the main character. Ex: The Wicked Witch of the West is the antagonist
in The Wizard of Oz.
- Archaic:
- Language that is obsolete; generally
no longer considered appropriate for contemporary poetry. Ex: yore, thee,
hence, 'tis, o'er.
- Atmosphere:
- The
mood of the work. Ex: cheery, gloomy, nervous.
- Character:
- A personage
of the imagination in a work.
- Characterization:
-
Technique used to create a character including what that character says
and does, as well as what other characters think and feel toward that
character.
- Cliche:
- Also called
a "dead metaphor," a clichZô is a description that is overused to the point
that the metaphor is no longer even recognized Ex: "Kill two birds with
one stone," "to rise to the occasion," "passion burned," "broken heart."
- Climax:
- The moment
of a work in which the tension or conflict is at its highest; often this
is also the major turning point.
- Concrete:
- Language
that uses material, tangible objects and descriptions of their qualities
and characteristics; opposite of abstract. Ex: The leather binding on
the book was rough to the touch, and it cracked and creaked as I opened
the book to the marked page.
- Conflict:
- Tension
and actions caused by different forces within a plot.
- Connotation:
- A
subjective meaning or association held by a particular word. Ex: The word
"sauntered" creates a different image than the word "walked" in the sentence,
"Karen sauntered down the street."
- Convention:
- An accepted means of expression
within a certain literary form; the "rules" of writing works of various
structures. Ex: Starting a new paragraph in a story each time the speaker
changes is a convention of prose dialogue.
- Couplet:
- A two-line
unit in poetry.
- Denotation:
- The
dictionary definition of a word.
- Dialect:
- Regional or cultural differences
within speech; sometimes called an accent. Ex: Cajun dialect in Louisiana.
- Dialogue Tag:
- The
statements that identify a speaker within written dialogue. Ex: "he said,"
"she whispers," "they screamed."
- Diction:
- The word
choice used in a work.
- Draft:
- A version
of a work in progress.
- End Rhyme:
- Rhymes
that occur at the ends of lines of poetry.
- End-Stopped lines:
-
Lines of poetry that end in conjunction with a sense of grammatical completeness.
Ex: She ran into the street / Before she was hit by the car.
- Enjambed lines:
-
Lines of poetry that do not end in conjunction with a sense of grammatical
completeness; run-on lines. Ex: She flew past the / Rooftops and chimneys
- Epiphany:
- A sudden
realization; commonly understood as "the light bulb over the head" effect.
- Fiction:
- A narrative
created by the imagination, generally written in prose.
- Fixed Form:
- A style
of poetry that has set rules. Ex: sonnet, villanelle, limerick.
- Flashback:
- A scene
that interrupts the present action to relate an occurrence from the past
- Foot:
- A unit of
stressed and unstressed syllables of set patterns in metric poetry.
- Free Verse:
- Poetry
that does not follow a fixed form.
- Genre:
- Types, forms,
or kinds of literature that are recognized by their conventions. Ex: novel,
short story, poetry, drama (play).
- Image:
- Concrete
language used to represent sensory reality.
- Imagery:
- The collected
images of a work.
- Internal rhyme:
-
Rhyme words that appear within lines, not at the beginning or end of lines.
Ex: Peter gave the sea his heart / And the wave washed away.
- Line break:
- The
end of a line in poetry.
- Metaphor:
- A phrase
used to make an analogy by using one object to describe another. Ex: The
moon is a silver mask.
- Narrate:
- The act
of telling a story.
- Narrator:
- Person
who tells a story.
- Overwriting:
- Writing
with excessive use of adjectives and adverbs with an intent to impress.
- Paradox:
- A contradiction
that creates tension in a work.
- Persona:
- The speaker
in poetry or prose fiction that is different from the author.
- Personification:
-
The technique of giving inhuman things human traits and qualities. Ex:
The crying sky dropped tears on our heads.
- Plot:
- The planned
sequence of events in a work.
- Point of View:
-
The perspective from which a story is presented.
- Proofread:
- The
act of reading a work with the intent to identify and correct grammatical,
punctuation, and spelling errors.
- Protagonist:
- The
main character of a work.
- Resolution:
- The
moment a work's conflicts are resolved.
- Revise:
- Literally,
"to see again." The act of changing, rearranging, adding and eliminating
elements of a work with the goal of overall improvement of the piece.
- Rhythm:
- A repetition
of effort, movement, or sounds at regular intervals within a work.
- SASE:
- Self-Addressed
Stamped Envelope. Used as an abbreviation in publication submission notices.
- Simile:
- A comparison between two objects
using the words "like" or "as" Ex: She was as mad as a rabid dog.
- Stanza:
- A group
of poetic lines.
- Syntax:
- The order in which words are placed
in a sentence.
- Theme:
- The meaning
or message of a work that can be paraphrased.
- Tone:
- The speaker's attitude toward the subject.
My name is Cynthia Debes, and I will graduate in May from
a state university witha B.A. in English, including both tracks of literature
and creative writing. I also have a secondary major in Women's Studies.
As I conclude my undergraduate degree, I am applying to graduate school
with the intent of earning a Master's in English. I understand how important
having a creative outlet with supportive mentors can be for beginning
writers. In particular, female writers need to know that developing their
voice is not a "silly hobby," and that their writing is and
can be a process of self-discovery and empowerment.
|
