Source: http://www.ccd.cccoes.edu/~ksmiles/lit115/glossary.html
Source: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/
Allusion: An implied, indirect or explicit reference to something in history or in previous
literature, such as a person, place, event, thing, idea, or part of another work. Allusions are
based on the assumption that author and readers will share a similar literary or cultural
knowledge, so that the readers will understand the author's referent.
Carthasis: Catharsis means "purgation." It is a term describing the release of the emotions of
fear and pity at the end of a tragedy by an audience. Or Cathartic- stress release.
Coming-of-age story. A type of novel where the protagonist is initiated into adulthood through knowledge, experience, or
both, often by a process of disillusionment. Understanding comes after the dropping of preconceptions, a destruction of a false
sense of security, or in some way the loss of innocence.
Example: Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey
Dystopian novel. An anti-utopian novel where, instead of a paradise, everything has gone wrong in the attempt to create a
perfect society. See utopian novel. Examples:
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Epistolary novel. A novel consisting of letters written by a character or several characters. The form allows for the use of
multiple points of view toward the story and the ability to dispense with an omniscient narrator. Examples:
Samuel Richardson, Pamela
Samuel Richardson, Clarissa
Existentialist novel. A novel written from an existentialist viewpoint, often pointing out the absurdity and meaninglessness of
existence. Example:
Albert Camus, The Stranger
Farce. A type of comedy based on outlandish, riduculous, and exaggerated situations which
achieves its effects through slapstick, buffoonery and physical horseplay
Magical Realism. A Latin American literary technique in which fantastic elements are
incorporated matter-of-factly into otherwise realistic fiction. A style of writing with the clarity
and simplicity of folk tales and in which supernatural occurrences take place with the drama of
dreams.
Motivation. The "why" behind the characters' behaviors--the reasons for what they do and
say and for the decisions they make. To be believable, the characters' actions and motivations
must be both plausible and consistent with what we know of them
Paradox. A statement or situation that contains apparently contradictory or incompatible
elements, but that is nevertheless valid.
Persona. The fictional voice or "mask" a writer adopts to tell a story. Also, the term used to
describe a story's or a poem's narrator
Picaresque novel. An episodic, often autobiographical novel about a rogue or picaro (a person of low social status) wandering
around and living off his wits. The wandering hero provides the author with the opportunity to connect widely different pieces of
plot, since the hero can wander into any situation. Picaresque novels tend to be satiric and filled with petty detail. Examples:
Daniel Defoe-, Moll Flanders
Miguel de Cervantes,- Don Quixote
Henry Fielding,- Jonathan Wild
Realism. A style of writing in which the plot and action are limited to events that might
actually happen and characters are like real people in their motivations and thoughts
Regional novel. A novel faithful to a particular geographic region and its people, including behavior, customs, speech, and
history. Examples:
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Satire. A form of comedy which ridicules human vices, follies, eccentricities, and foolishness
in order to expose or correct them. The object of satire is usually some human frailty--people,
behavior, institutions, ideas, and things are all fair game for satire.
Surrealism. A form of writing that involves presenting a fantastic, hallucinatory, dream-like
world. Its influence is seen in writer's using stream-of-consciousness techniques
Utopian novel. A novel that presents an ideal society where the problems of poverty, greed, crime, and so forth have been
eliminated. Examples:
Thomas More-, Utopia
Suggestions: Books
Louisa May Alcott: Little Women
Jane Austen: Emma, Pride and Prejudice
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
Joseph Conrad: Heart Of Darkness
F.Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
Ernest Hemingway; The Old man and The Sea
Arthur Miller: The Crucible
Ayn Rand: Anthem
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
Leo Tolstory: The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Source: www.novelguide.com
*This site has chapter outlines, theme and character analysis, symbolism and much more.