This page is to help aid in understanding key literary terms used in studying literature. In order to fully grasp the meaning of a text understanding the techniques used to create the piece is key.
Conflict
- Definition – A struggle between 2 opposing forces. This can include:
- Man vs Man
- This form of conflict will typically include a protagonist and antagonist in a mystery or thriller piece.
- Example: Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code
- Man vs Nature
- A character will struggle with external forces such as storms or animals.
- Example: Herman Melville’s Moby Dick
- Man vs Self
- Many times as readers this type of conflict will arise in good vs evil decisions within a character. While external forces can impact a characters internal decisions the decisions reside internally.
- Example: Edgar Allan Poe’s – The Tell Tale Heart
- Man vs Technology
- A newer subcategory as man faces a manmade machine or technology.
- Example: The Matrix
- Man vs Society
- A character does not face just one individual character, but several characters in a society as a whole. This typically we be a character facing the norms or values held by the society.
- Example: J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
- Man vs Fate
- In this form a character, or protagonist, faces a foretelling of future events, such as death. This was a common form of conflict in Greek writings, as God’s would tell the fate of a hero, and it was up to the hero to ‘change the hand of fate’
- Example: Sleeping Beauty
- Man vs Man
- Origin – Noun or Verb - Middle English, from Latin conflictus: act of striking together
- Historical and Cultural context – First known use of the word conflict dates back to the 15th century.
- Significance of the term – Conflict is one of or the most well-known term used for literature and film creations. From the time we are each young and we begin to learn how to write short stories, typically one of the first things we learn is to have a protagonist and antagonist. As mentioned above there are many other forms of conflict outside of this specific type of conflict. As readers and viewers we seek out the differences that create friction between 2 opposing forces. This gives readers and viewers the chance to try to solve or relate to the challenges of the work. If an author would write a story about a boy going to school for the first time, having a good day, making friends, with no issues for one it would seem quite unreal, as we know there is always some type of conflict, and 2 it doesn’t make for an interesting story. Even as children the need for a way of solving or imagining different conflicts helps our brains to develop.
- 1 key example poem–
- Punishment by Seamus Heaney – The narrator has an internal struggle dealing with the conflicts of the girl vs society, as he includes himself in the societal group. On one hand the author just sees a deceased girl in the casket, while on the other hand he sees her as being punished for something she should not have been. The narrator struggles with if he should blame himself for this incident.
Personification-
- Definition – Describing something non-human with human qualities.
- Example: Saying the ‘Lightening danced across the sky.’ Lightening cannot truly dance, but by comparing it to the human movement of dance the author could illustrate the movement.
- Historical and Cultural context – First known use of the word personification dates back to 1728.
- Significance of the term – By using personification author’s gained the ability to help readers visualize and compared non-human items or abstractions to humans. By doing so this creates relatability.
- 1 key example poem -
- She sweeps with many-colored brooms (by Emily Dickinson)
- "She sweeps with many-colored brooms,
And leaves the shreds behind;
Oh, housewife in the evening west,
Come back, and dust the pond!"
- "She sweeps with many-colored brooms,
- She sweeps with many-colored brooms (by Emily Dickinson)
Alliteration-
- Definition – the repetition of a sounds, usually a consonant, throughout a sequence of words.
- Example: Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”
- Origin – borrowed from Latin alliteration-, alliteration, from Latin ad- AD + litera “letter” + -ation, atio-, -atio –ATION – more at LETTER
- Historical and Cultural context – dates back to 1624. The term ‘alliteration’ coined by the Italian humanist Giovanni Pontano in the dialogue (Actius) (written 1495-1499) (Merriam-Webster)
- Significance of the term – By using alliteration writers are able to create a rhythm which many times will create a sound to relate to the piece. In “The Raven” Edgar Allen Poe uses the letter ‘n’ commonly at the beginning of words “While I nodded, nearly napping”
- 1 key example poem–
- The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe
- "ONCE upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, --
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping."
- "ONCE upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
- The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe
Metonymy-
- Definition – A figure of speech in which the name of one thing is used to refer to another associated thing.
- Example: If McDonald’s would make a big announcement and say ‘McDonald’s has decided to…” by saying McDonald’s the speaker would not truly mean McDonald’s the building and business itself, but rather the administration and employees of McDonald’s.
- Origin – Latin metonymia, from Greek metonymia from meta- + -onymon -onym
- Historical and Cultural context – First known use was in 1573.
- Significance of the term – Using a Metonymy in writing authors are able to use a single term to encompass a group of people or things associated with that item.
- 1 key example poem -
- Julius Ceasar - Shakespeare
- "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"
Irony-
- Definition – an instance or statement where one thing is typically expected, but something opposite actually occurs or is stated.
- Example: A fire station burns down. Typically we know the fire station to be the ones putting out the fires for others, so the fire station to catch fire we could say it’s ‘ironic’.
- Origin – Latin ironia, from Greek eironia, from eiron dissembler
- Historical and Cultural context –First known use is in 1502.
- Significance of the term – With irony writers are able to play on known ideas or understandings of readers and create something that as readers would not expect to happen. This creates some questioning on the readers end.
- 1 key example poem–
- Fame is a Bee - Emily Dickinson
- "Fame is a bee. It has a song -- It has a sting -- Ah, too, it has a wing."
- Fame is a Bee - Emily Dickinson
Work Cited
“Alliteration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliteration. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
“Conflict.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
“Irony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature: Shorter 12th Edition with 2016 MLA Update. W.W. Norton &Company, 2016.
“Metonymy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metonymy. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
“Personification.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personification. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
“Alliteration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliteration. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
“Conflict.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
“Irony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature: Shorter 12th Edition with 2016 MLA Update. W.W. Norton &Company, 2016.
“Metonymy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metonymy. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.
“Personification.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personification. Accessed 6 Sep. 2020.