Lit Terms: List 4

interior monologue- thinking in words
inversion - noun the act of turning inside out; turning upside down; setting on end; a term formerly used to mean taking on the gender role of the opposite sex; (counterpoint) a variation of a melody or part in which ascending intervals are replaced by descending intervals and vice versa
juxtaposition - noun the act of positioning close together (or side by side); a side-by-side position
metaphor - noun a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity
omniscient point of view- A narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all knowing
lyric - adj. expressing deep personal emotion; of or relating to a category of poetry that expresses emotion (often in a songlike way); relating to or being musical drama; noun a short poem of songlike quality; the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number; verb write lyrics for (a song)
magical realism- a genre where magical or unreal elements play a natural part in an otherwise realistic (often mundane) environment
metonymy - noun substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in `they counted heads')
modernism - noun practices typical of contemporary life or thought;genre of art and literature that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres; the quality of being current or of the present
monologue - noun a (usually long) dramatic speech by a single actor; a long utterance by one person (especially one that prevents others from participating in the conversation); speech you make to yourself
mood - noun verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker; a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; the prevailing psychological state
motif - noun a design that consists of recurring shapes or colors; a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of music; a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work
myth - noun a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people
narrative - adj. consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story; noun a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
narrator - noun someone who tells a story
naturalism - noun (philosophy) the doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations; an artistic movement in 19th century France; artists and writers strove for detailed realistic and factual description
novelette/novella - noun a short novel
onomatopoeia - noun using words that imitate the sound they denote
oxymoron - noun conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence')
pacing - noun walking with slow regular strides; (music) the speed at which a composition is to be played
parable - noun (New Testament) any of the stories told by Jesus to convey his religious message; a short moral story (often with animal characters)
paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself